Meaning Of Righteousness

(1 Corinthians 1:30) “It is because of God that you are in union with the Messiah Jesus, who for us has become wisdom from God, as well as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”

(Romans 6:14) “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

(Colossians 2:14) “having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.”

(2 Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and—look!—all things have become new!”

The word “righteousness” might sound alien to most of you. When I first started to read the Bible I had to look it up in the dictionary. It simply means to be in the “right – standing”, to be “blameless”, without “fault”, and even “flawless”. Basically to be without sin to the point that you can now be in God’s presence and have a relationship with him. The important question now is, “How do I become righteous, according to God”?

This is man’s quest from the beginning of time. How to be accepted by God when we die. How to walk a life that is pleasing to Him and how to connect with God right now. The one thing that God cannot stand is self-righteousness. In other words, you think that your actions, your personality, your giving, your prayers, your going to the temple of worship, or your faith is enough to make you blameless. It’s actually a lot easier than that.

We don’t have to constantly be bound by religious rules, fear of God striking us down with cancer, praying a thousand hail Marys, reciting mantras for hours on end, meditating or fasting for days, selling all you have for the poor, and living up in a mountain in the Tibet…etc. All these are man-made efforts to reach a God who simply cannot be reached because of the sin that separated us. Don’t worry, God has made a very easy and simple way for you to be righteous in His eyes.

It’s simply confessing that you are born in sin and making a decision that you will no longer walk in that sin. That you cannot pay enough for your own sins to be forgiven, that you are not god, that Christ died on the cross taking upon Him all your sins, and that He rose from the dead on the third day taking away the authority Satan has over you. Then, and only then will you be seen as righteous in the eyes of God. You will be set free from the curse of Sin and experience His grace. You become a new creation and Christ is now your righteousness.

Now, when God looks at you, He only sees Jesus and that is more than enough to have fellowship with you now and for all eternity.

Prayers

• Father, You are greatly to be praised, The Lord who bestows His riches upon all, He who gives us power to get wealth.
• Thank You, Father, for sending Jesus to die on the cross for our sins.
• Thank You, that You raised Him up from the dead on the third day giving us victory over sin.
• Forgive us for trying to make our own ways to reach heaven.
• Forgive us for thinking that we are righteous enough on our own and that You have to accept us.
• We surrender right now to Your plan of salvation for us and repent of our old ways.
• We declare that we are made new in Christ Jesus, that He is now our righteousness.
• We stand now blameless before You, because of Jesus Christ and declare that we are Your children.
• Teach us how to never go back and become slaves to sin, and help us to discover every day the depth of Your love for us.
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• We ask in Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen