Tuesday, August 1, 2017, 3:17 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Praise Be Told!” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read various scriptures (in the NASB) on the subject of God’s
righteousness.
Righteousness
- divine approval; God's judicial approval; “refers to what is deemed right by
the Lord (after His examination), i.e. what is approved in His eyes” (1). It is
also morality, justice, decency, uprightness and honesty.
By God’s Doing
(1 Co. 1:30-31; 2 Co. 5:21)
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became
to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so
that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
When we are born into this
world, we are born with sin natures. We all come up short of attaining God’s
divine approval (See: Ro. 3:23). We are destined for hell without hope of
heaven or God. And, we can do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation.
We can never be good enough. No amount of good works will ever earn us our own
salvation from sin or eternal life with God in heaven. Our own righteousness is
like filthy rags in God’s sight. Only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus
Christ, can any of us be made righteous in God’s sight, and only in the power
of God’s Spirit now living within us can we live righteously, too.
So, God sent his only
begotten Son Jesus Christ to the earth to die on a cross for our sins. He who
knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus Christ took the punishment of our sin on himself so that, through faith
in him, we might be delivered both from the penalty of sin (death) and from
slavery to sin. Not only that, but he died for us so that we might live new
lives in him to his righteousness. For, his purpose in dying for us was not
just to free us from hell and to promise us heaven when we die, but he died in
order that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life
up for us (2 Co. 5:15).
Death to Sin; Alive to God (1 Pet. 2:24; Ephesians 4:17-24)
And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you
were healed.
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that
you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their
mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their
heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to
sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you
did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been
taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former
manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in
accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of
your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been
created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
When Jesus Christ gave his
life up for us on a cross, it wasn’t just so we could become the righteousness
of God positionally. What I mean by that is that it wasn’t just to forgive us
our sins and to remove the punishment of sin from us. It was that we might die
to sin and live to righteousness. If we keep on sinning (making a practice of
sin) after we have received the knowledge of the truth, it is not heaven we
have as our destination, but the fires of hell, even if we make a confession of
Christ as Savior of our lives (See: Ro. 8:1-14; Lu. 9:23-25; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph.
5:3-6; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
When we believe in Jesus
Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, the Holy Spirit of God transforms
our hearts away from living for sin and self to walking in Christ’s
righteousness and holiness. We should no longer live to gratify the evil
desires of our flesh, but we should now live to please God in everything we do
and say. Our new lives in Christ Jesus should not look just like our old lives,
only just slightly cleaned up for all appearances. For us to be born again (or
born from above) of the Spirit of God, we must have first of all put our old
lives (our former manner of life) to death by the Spirit of God. And, the new
self that we should put on is the one created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness, not the slightly cleaned up old self.
Flee and Pursue
(1 Tim. 6:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:22)
But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the
good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called,
and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness,
faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Not only are we made
righteous in God’s sight, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, but we
must live righteously if we want to have the hope of eternal life with God in
heaven. We must flee from false doctrines which give free license to continue
in sin, and which do not conform to godliness. And, we must flee all sinful
acts, attitudes and practices such as immorality, adultery, envy, impurity,
lust, idolatry, outbursts of anger, drunkenness, and the like. And, instead, we
need to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, peace and
gentleness. And, we must walk (in lifestyle) in integrity, honesty, purity,
decency, uprightness and morality.
Daily we die to sin and self,
and we put off (put to death) the deeds of the flesh, by the Spirit of God (Lu.
9:23-25; Ro. 8:1-14). We put on the armor of God with which to fight off all of
Satan’s evil attacks and schemes against us (Eph. 6:10-20). And, we throw off
every weight which hinders our walks of faith, and every sin which entangles,
so that we can run the race God has marked out for us with perseverance (See:
Heb. 12:1-2). And, then we walk (conduct our lives) according to the Spirit,
and no longer according to our sinful flesh. For, if we walk according to our
flesh we will die in our sins, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the
deeds of the flesh, we will live with Christ for eternity, and all because of
God’s grace to us in saving us.
Praise Be Told! / An
Original Work
Based off Various Scriptures / December 28, 2013
He was pierced for our
transgressions.
He was crushed for all our
sin.
Our chastisement was upon
Him.
By His stripes, we now are
healed.
He has witnessed all our
trials,
And the sins we choose to
wear.
Yet, while we were dead in
our sin,
Jesus died, our sins to bear.
He himself bore all of our
sins
In His body on a cross,
So that we might die to our
sin,
And live for His
righteousness.
By faith in the pow’r of
Jesus
And His blood shed for our
sins,
We can be forgiven our sin,
And have life with God in
heav’n.
He will lead us and He’ll
guide us
In the way that we should go.
He will comfort and protect
us,
Because Jesus, we do know.
Though He disciplines for our
good,
He will heal us – Praise be
told!
Do not fear, your Lord is
with you.
Just have faith in Christ
your Lord.
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