ARE We Righteous?
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he (the Father) is righteous.
Notice it DOESN’T say that NOT sinning is DOING righteousness!
-Righteousness of man = the good deeds done by righteous men
-Righteousness of God = the good deeds done by God
When we say that a man is a HERO, we don’t say it is because the man didn’t break the law. He DID something heroic (risked his life for the benefit of others). And he doesn’t have to do something heroic every day, just ONCE can prove that he is a hero! For the rest of his life, he is honored…
When someone does a terrible criminal act (murder, rape, etc…), all of the other “good” things that he did are forgotten. Even after he’s “paid the price” in prison, he is STILL considered to be a criminal for the rest of his life… But there IS a way out!!
When an evil man changes his heart and does something HEROIC, he gets a new life! Society is willing to reconsider because he has openly risked his life for others and is no longer dangerously selfish.
Let’s consider how the righteousness of God works to set each of us free. In HIS eyes, we have all proven ourselves criminals.
Romans 4:1-6 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Romans 4:1-6 (really, most of Romans) can play with your head a little, because Paul is making some of those “flesh” and “Spirit” comparisons.
How can Abraham “do works” without doing work? “Believing” is NOT working; or why talk about it at all? Righteousness wouldn’t be “imputed” if it was already there.
Consider Jesus defending Himself for “working” on the Sabbath;
John 5:15-20 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
Jesus says that it is the Father working!!
When we offer our lives to God to use for His glory and His will, we are trusting our lives to HIM! We are sacrificing EVERYTHING to God. This, and only this, is REPENTANCE.
Some think that repentance is:
-feeling sorry about it.
-apologizing for it.
-promising not to do it again.
-admitting you were wrong.
-wishing you hadn’t done it.
-being willing to “pay it back”.
These things are expected, but do not constitute repentance!!
What we need is something HEROIC! Something amazing that will PROVE that our hearts are changed. This is exactly what God does when He gives us His Holy Spirit!
When we are born again, Jesus gives us the gift of “the comforter” (the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit begins to immediately give us decisions to make that prove whether we are selfish or loving God. Right after receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness where He had no food for 40 days…
When we choose to trust God (faith), the result is that we will suffer some painful loss. We are mocked, attacked and hurt (Jesus was attacked by the devil’s taunting and the suffering of His flesh). These things prove to those around us that we are not operating out of selfishness or for personal gain.
THEN: An awesome thing happens; the Holy Spirit moves and does something only God can do! THIS is the righteousness of God!
In my “Pentecostal” days, we would pray until we “prayed through”. What we were actually doing was praying and seeking God until we finally yielded to the Lord in some area that He insisted on having. When we “prayed through”, we were actually finally deciding to trust the Lord with our situation. That trusting is the “believing” or “faith” that moves God.
(Note: this is very tough to do; most do not do it and
just say “I have prayed about it…”).
In most church congregations, we are told that the righteousness imputed to us when we believe is the “righteousness” of Christ’s sinless life. This is because they think that not sinning is righteousness. Actually, Jesus living a sinless life is just Him doing what is expected of all of us.
(BUT; Jesus dying on the cross was HEROIC!!! He didn’t have to, but He
sacrificed His life for all of us!)
What’s left from that kind of thinking is just to try to do good works. After all, we are supposed to do good works, right? The problem is our good works are not being referred to; they are just the righteousness of man. What we need is the righteousness of God.
Consider Romans 10:2-4;
Romans 10:2-4 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
How do we submit unto the righteousness of God? By surrendering our situation to God for the Father’s glory. We are HUNGRY for the moving of God’s Spirit. We LONG for His salvation in our need. We rejoice when He does something marvelous that shows how powerful our loving Savior is!!
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (not praise to God..)
Remember; let no man deceive you!! (1 John 3:7)
1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
We do have “standing orders” to serve God; Luke 4:18-21
While we are pursuing these goals, how do we know that the Holy Spirit is leading us? Is there benefit for us personally in this choice?
Consider;
Luke 14:7-14 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them. 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;
9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.
10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.
11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.
13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Will it require the Lord to move? Usually we don’t obey the Spirit because we will lose so much (you can’t just say "it would be sooo easy if we were rich…")
Consider Matt. 6:25-34;
Matthew 6:25-34 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (you don’t even need to pray about them!)
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Don’t worry about yourself (that’s God’s job),
just go after the Kingdom of God with all your might!
(Note: there is a companion message called
What Is The Righteousness of God? in Archives #2)
1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he (the Father) is righteous.
Notice it DOESN’T say that NOT sinning is DOING righteousness!
-Righteousness of man = the good deeds done by righteous men
-Righteousness of God = the good deeds done by God
When we say that a man is a HERO, we don’t say it is because the man didn’t break the law. He DID something heroic (risked his life for the benefit of others). And he doesn’t have to do something heroic every day, just ONCE can prove that he is a hero! For the rest of his life, he is honored…
When someone does a terrible criminal act (murder, rape, etc…), all of the other “good” things that he did are forgotten. Even after he’s “paid the price” in prison, he is STILL considered to be a criminal for the rest of his life… But there IS a way out!!
When an evil man changes his heart and does something HEROIC, he gets a new life! Society is willing to reconsider because he has openly risked his life for others and is no longer dangerously selfish.
Let’s consider how the righteousness of God works to set each of us free. In HIS eyes, we have all proven ourselves criminals.
Romans 4:1-6 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Romans 4:1-6 (really, most of Romans) can play with your head a little, because Paul is making some of those “flesh” and “Spirit” comparisons.
How can Abraham “do works” without doing work? “Believing” is NOT working; or why talk about it at all? Righteousness wouldn’t be “imputed” if it was already there.
Consider Jesus defending Himself for “working” on the Sabbath;
John 5:15-20 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
Jesus says that it is the Father working!!
When we offer our lives to God to use for His glory and His will, we are trusting our lives to HIM! We are sacrificing EVERYTHING to God. This, and only this, is REPENTANCE.
Some think that repentance is:
-feeling sorry about it.
-apologizing for it.
-promising not to do it again.
-admitting you were wrong.
-wishing you hadn’t done it.
-being willing to “pay it back”.
These things are expected, but do not constitute repentance!!
What we need is something HEROIC! Something amazing that will PROVE that our hearts are changed. This is exactly what God does when He gives us His Holy Spirit!
When we are born again, Jesus gives us the gift of “the comforter” (the Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit begins to immediately give us decisions to make that prove whether we are selfish or loving God. Right after receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led into the wilderness where He had no food for 40 days…
When we choose to trust God (faith), the result is that we will suffer some painful loss. We are mocked, attacked and hurt (Jesus was attacked by the devil’s taunting and the suffering of His flesh). These things prove to those around us that we are not operating out of selfishness or for personal gain.
THEN: An awesome thing happens; the Holy Spirit moves and does something only God can do! THIS is the righteousness of God!
In my “Pentecostal” days, we would pray until we “prayed through”. What we were actually doing was praying and seeking God until we finally yielded to the Lord in some area that He insisted on having. When we “prayed through”, we were actually finally deciding to trust the Lord with our situation. That trusting is the “believing” or “faith” that moves God.
(Note: this is very tough to do; most do not do it and
just say “I have prayed about it…”).
In most church congregations, we are told that the righteousness imputed to us when we believe is the “righteousness” of Christ’s sinless life. This is because they think that not sinning is righteousness. Actually, Jesus living a sinless life is just Him doing what is expected of all of us.
(BUT; Jesus dying on the cross was HEROIC!!! He didn’t have to, but He
sacrificed His life for all of us!)
What’s left from that kind of thinking is just to try to do good works. After all, we are supposed to do good works, right? The problem is our good works are not being referred to; they are just the righteousness of man. What we need is the righteousness of God.
Consider Romans 10:2-4;
Romans 10:2-4 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
How do we submit unto the righteousness of God? By surrendering our situation to God for the Father’s glory. We are HUNGRY for the moving of God’s Spirit. We LONG for His salvation in our need. We rejoice when He does something marvelous that shows how powerful our loving Savior is!!
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Philippians 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. (not praise to God..)
Remember; let no man deceive you!! (1 John 3:7)
1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
We do have “standing orders” to serve God; Luke 4:18-21
While we are pursuing these goals, how do we know that the Holy Spirit is leading us? Is there benefit for us personally in this choice?
Consider;
Luke 14:7-14 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them. 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;
9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.
10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.
11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.
13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Will it require the Lord to move? Usually we don’t obey the Spirit because we will lose so much (you can’t just say "it would be sooo easy if we were rich…")
Consider Matt. 6:25-34;
Matthew 6:25-34 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (you don’t even need to pray about them!)
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Don’t worry about yourself (that’s God’s job),
just go after the Kingdom of God with all your might!
(Note: there is a companion message called
What Is The Righteousness of God? in Archives #2)
Photo used under Creative Commons from Dainis Matisons
