What makes someone righteous? Is it because they act righteously? Or is it because of their belief? I whole heartedly believe that believers are found righteous (right with God) not based on their actions, but on their belief in Jesus. This seems so simple, but I believe if this VERY important truth is not understood, your foundation in Christ will be incorrect, and therefore the Spiritual house God wants to build will not stand.
The word actually says in Hebrews 5:13 "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness." So lets get aquainted with what the bible teaches about righteousness. I don't want to be an immature Christian, I want to grow and become everything God wants me to become. To grow into full maturity, the foundation must be laid correctly. I could talk about this forever, and I actually really love to talk about what Jesus did for us, but I am just going to let the word of God speak for itself.
"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 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. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law." Romans 3:20-28
I have to point out: how many of us know Romans 3:23?! "All have sinned and fallen short of God's glorious standard." But do we see the verse after it? Honestly until this year I did not know verse 24. YET GOD, who is thankful for the "yet God" statements in the bible?! Me! God declares us righteous, by his undeserved kindness (grace) because we believe on Jesus. Jesus gave us "his righteousness"! This is part of our salvation, in addition to going to heaven, we get the gift of righteousness, based on our faith in Jesus. It is key to our deliverance from what holds us captive still, be it anger, fear, worry, anxiety. You have to know your righteous because of Jesus, not by action. What a weight fell off me knowing that.
So what about when you mess up? I mean Adam messed up, and he "fell from grace", is it the same for us? Absolutely not. Because Jesus came for us. He saw into the future saw ALL your sins and forgave them at the cross. " When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,". Col 2:13
If you think you are separated from God every time you mess up and are no longer righteous then you believe what you did is more powerful than what Jesus did. It's not, his forgiveness stands and his righteousness is forever. "Glorious and majestic are his deeds, and his righteousness endures forever." Psalm 111:3. He put a robe of righteousness on you after he payed your debt at Calvary, he doesn't strip you of that robe everytime you fail, if that was the case, none of us would still have our robes on!! Either you are perfect or you need a savior. We didn't earn salvation by our works and we won't lose it by our works. We are saved by his kindness and grace, just believe it. Trust in Jesus, he is a sure foundation. Knowing we are declared righteous because of Him takes the pressure off us, and actually leads you to act holy. See we don't act right to become and maintain a right relationship with God. We act right because we are right, we act holy and set apart because in Jesus
we are a new creation. We are free!
So when you mess up declare the word out loud. " I know I messed up, but that doesn't change my position with God, because his word says: 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.- 2 Corinthians 5:21". And that is the fight of faith, believing Jesus' blood still stands, it was enough to secure us, heaven and our position with God forever.
So how is your foundation? Do you know Jesus made you right with God? Believe it!!
"When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins." Isaiah 53:11 Spoken of Jesus.
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