Who Needs Righteousness?
Posted By Amazing Moments Staff on August 26, 2011
By Amazing Moments Staff
Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
REFLECTION
It is impossible for any human to get to heaven by one’s own righteousness no matter how good or humble we try to be. People often determine how good they are by the amount of good deeds they do or how at peace they are with the world or the universe. This logic represents various belief systems of religion, however, Christianity is different. Christianity, which can become religious, is not in and of itself a religion. Religion is man’s attempt to get to God through actions that they believe drive them closer to perfection (righteousness) or right standing with God. Christianity is not about appeasing God through our actions so that we can become right with God. Christianity is about God coming down to man in the form of Jesus Christ and saving humanity from our sins so we could live righteous lives in obedience to God, and love others in such a way that they believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. God knew that we were imperfect, so there was no way to become perfect (or right with God) without someone who was perfect to initiate the perfection.
APPLICATION
Just think about trying to drink clean water out of a dirty glass. The dirty glass will always make the water dirty. We as humans are the dirty glasses. No matter how hard we try to do good, our good is always a little dirty or imperfect. God gives us a choice whether or not to believe in Him for the forgiveness of our sins (or imperfection). God does not make us do anything. He loves us enough to give us a choice. If beileve in Him, he transfers His righteousness (perfect goodness) to us. Our spirit is made perfect when we give God permission to accept his salvation, meaning save us from our unrighteousness (or lack of Godliness). What is the price God requires for sin (imperfection)? Romans 3:23 is clear about our imperfection. It says, “ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” When Jesus died (taking the punishment of eternal death for us), He became our permanent payment for our sins. Since Jesus was perfect (a clean glass) He was the only one who could pour out the clean water of perfection (salvation) and make us perfect (righteous).
CHALLENGE
Remember there is nothing that we can do to “fix our self” or “get right.” Only when we choose to accept the Lord as our Savior can we be made right because of God’s righteousness, not our own. Once saved we should obey God out of our love for Him. Our obedience to God is not a ticket to heaven (Jesus promised eternal life when we accept Christ according to Romans 10:9), rather our obedience proves that we are really Christians instead of displaying a form of Godliness (profession of being a Christian without the evidence of living a Christian life). I pray that we realize that we, as Christians, are righteous not because of our actions, but because of Christ’s righteousness that was given to us. Display the righteous acts of God through love, kindness, encouragement and obedience. If you are not a Christian, I pray that you would believe in Jesus Christ through the righteous living of Christians around you, that they would love you into choosing to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Be Blessed.
The next lesson will be September 9, 2011
Comments
Leave a Reply
Please note: Comment moderation is currently enabled so there will be a delay between when you post your comment and when it shows up. Patience is a virtue; there is no need to re-submit your comment.