2 Corinthians 5:21, "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." There's no two ways about it: Our righteousness is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must learn to live as those who have been declared righteous.
Yes...I know you have heard me say this before. No...I don't plan on changing the message. It's for my own good (and yours as well) that we spend some time dwelling on this important fact. Seeking to establish my own righteousness in this relationship is to fall away from the grace of God. (See Paul's letter to the Galatians)
Romans 3:22, "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." How we begin this relationship with the Lord is how we continue in it. It is through our faith in Jesus Christ that we are made right with God and it is through our faith in Jesus that we walk in righteousness. Paul also asked the church in Galatia "How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" {Galatians 3:3} CAN'T HAPPEN!!!
God doesn't want our focus on becoming righteous or even maintaining our righteousness. Our focus is to be upon His kingdom. And I have seen a lot of believers waste a lot of energy trying to become what God has already declared them to be. Can you see how limited our vision has become? When we learn to rest in the grace of God then all of our effort at living a life of righteousness becomes empowered by that grace. Righteousness will actually flow from the life of God within us. We will bear the fruit of righteousness. I will even go as far to say that righteousness is something that we cannot produce apart from the Spirit of God at work in our lives.
So how can I be sure that I am living in righteousness? The way that you can ensure that you are living in righteousness is to live according to the Spirit of God within you. When we allow Him to guide us into all truth - calling to remembrance all that Christ has spoken - we will walk in the truth of God's Word. With that being said, it's important that we develop a sensitivity to the Spirit of God. Without an awareness of what the Spirit of God is doing within us will lead us to a form of godliness without power. And this my friend is the beginning of religion.
The life of the follower of Jesus Christ must be rooted in faith righteousness. It becomes the foundation upon which we build the rest of the relationship. If my foundation is upon my own effort to be right with God, what happens when I fail? I destroy the foundation. And if I am continually destroying the foundation, then my whole existence as a believer is one of rebuilding rather than moving forward.
Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God." As long as we struggle in the area of the foundation, we can never move on to maturity. Over the past year I have been doing a lot of teaching to help people get the understanding of the foundation. Why? Because I still have people who are just now getting it. The good news: When they finally get it - look out!!!
As we learn to live in relationship with the Lord, then we will learn to live righteous in the world.
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