THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

THURSDAY 20 MAY 2021

God is a righteous God and He has given those in Christ, the gift of righteousness which depends on "faith in Him". Faith in Christ means absolute trust in His atonement and receiving His gift of new life. This faith positions us into one-ness with Christ, such that the life we live in that sacred one-ness becomes the life of righteousness at the expense of grace.

Reference: Romans 3:21-22 New International Version (NIV) "The righteousness of God has been made known...This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

The righteousness of God is given through faith. In other words, no one is declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law, human effort, or by any other means except through faith in Christ. Since human works and self-righteousness can never justify us before God, Paul reveals that the only way to be declared righteous in the eyes of God is through faith in Christ for all who believe.

Beloved, if you are in Christ, you have been justified and declared righteous before God - through the atoning sacrifice of Christ's blood when He died on the cross to pay for our sin. The Bible says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). So our salvation is something we could never earn. Its only God that made it possible by sending Christ to become a sin offering or sacrifice. That way, God revealed His own righteousness in us.

Our salvation is part of the manifestation of the mystery of God's plan and purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Genesis, it was recorded that God made every creation out of nothing, but not the "new creation". The new creation was made out of love, since they are those who have received the righteousness of God through faith in Christ. It is a mystery whereby sinners were crucified with Christ and made new creatures by faith, and are now of God by Jesus Christ. In fact, God made sinners righteous by their faith. That means God acted out of His love, to make it possible to remove sin which separated us from Him and then branded us His righteousness.

If you are yet to receive God's love, what are you waiting for? Don't live your life without Christ for another day. Right now, you can be reconciled to God through faith in Christ, and become as righteous as God is. But this is only possible in Christ Jesus. Are you worried about your terrible sinful life and how to come out of it? I have a golden news for you: This very moment, you can become God's righteousness and be reconciled in your relationship with Him, if you would come to Christ now. God is not counting your sins against you, but instead He is giving you credit for Christ's righteous life (2 Corinthians 5:19 NIV). In a nutshell, by His gift of grace and through your faith in Christ, you become the righteousness of God right away. That's what it means to be "in Christ." See prayer of salvation below. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Psalm 119:142; 1 Corinthians 15:34; Romans 6:18; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 6:14; 1 John 2:29.

Guided Prayer: Heavenly Father, I acknowledge today that you demonstrated your unconditional love for me in this: While I'm living without Christ, you sent Him ahead of time to die for me. Therefore, I renounce the nature of sin by believing and confessing with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of the true living God, who died for me and was raised from the dead on the third day by God. I believe that He is risen and alive forever. I accept Him into my heart and I declare His Lordship over my life now and forever. From this very moment, I'm born again; thus I've become the righteousness of God in Christ. I'm a new creation and I have eternal life: my present-moment reality! Thank you Father and my Lord Jesus for saving me and taking full charge of my life, Amen!