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Posts Tagged ‘righteousness’

Spiritual Transfer of Righteousness

17 May

(Rom 4:24Rom 4:24
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;  

WP-Bible plugin)  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

The “it” of this verse is God’s righteousness.  Abraham found out about God’s righteousness when he chose to believe God in spite of his physical circumstances.  He trusted God’s promise in the face of impossible odds – it was physically impossible for his body and his wife’s body to produce children.  Because he trusted what God said, God credited Abraham’s spiritual account with His righteousness.  This is “imputation.”  Imputation is the placing of God’s righteousness to our account.  When we trust in what God says about the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, He imputes to us His righteousness.  We are no longer spiritually bankrupt.  We’ve been given all the riches and blessings of God in Christ.  We become joint-heirs with Christ Himself.  We possess the righteousness of God.

God chooses to impute righteousness to us on the basis of the finished work on the cross.  The work on the cross is a permanent work.  It produces everlasting results.  Imputation is a permanent transaction totally empowered and completed by God.  We don’t have a heavenly ATM card that permits us to transfer righteousness from God’s account to our account.  We are only responsible for believing what God did to enable the transaction.  Our sin was placed on the Son of God in order for the righteousness of God to be placed on us.

There is no provision to reverse this transaction.  We couldn’t do anything to credit ourselves with His righteousness.  We can’t do anything to remove the effects of it.  Even though we may not act like heirs, it doesn’t erase the fact that we are.  There is no “undo” button to take our sin off of Christ and place it back to our account.  Otherwise, the finished work on the cross would never be finished, would it?  Praise the Lord today that we live with the supernatural transaction of imputed righteousness!

Renewed Thought – I can face the impossible circumstances around me today because God is for me, not against me.  I can face the temptations and oppression in my spirit today because I possess and I am defined by the righteousness of God in Christ.

 
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The Right Way To Fulfill The Law – Romans 8:4

02 Feb

(Romans 8:4Romans 8:4
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  

WP-Bible plugin)  “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

We get the idea from the flesh that holiness is all about the external things.  Our church attendance, our giving, our prayers, our study, our witnessing, and all the other things that we know to be good must not be confused with the holy.  Those things we see, if they are truly motivated and empowered by the Holy Spirit, are the result of a holy life not the cause of a holy life.

The “righteousness of the law” is not fulfilled or performed by me.  The phrase “might be fulfilled” is in the Passive voice.  This means I am the recipient of the fulfillment, not the one actively doing it.  As I walk in my identity in Christ, which is “after the Spirit”, I find the holiness required by the law is actually performed in me by God Himself.  Just as my standing in righteousness is by Christ (Romans 5:1Romans 5:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
5 1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  

WP-Bible plugin), my daily life of sanctification and separation is by Christ.  It is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2Romans 8:2
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  

WP-Bible plugin) I am now free to enjoy and allow reign in me.  The pressure is gone and I can allow the wave of God’s grace to wash over me in total relaxation in Him.

What does God get out of this?  Sure, I have the assurance of eternal life and the power of the resurrection life here and now.  But to what end does this all serve God to fulfill the righteousness of the law in me?

(Ephesians 1:4Ephesians 1:4
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  

WP-Bible plugin)  “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”

God receives me as part of His creation that can now walk holy and without blame before Him in love.  I can cry with the saints surrounding His throne, “Holy, Holy, Holy!”  But now it is more than lip service.  “Holy, Holy, Holy” is a reality as I walk after the Spirit in a life that relies on His total fulfillment of all that I could never be.

Renewed Thought – True holiness is not about doing (or not doing), it is about being.

 
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Waiting For The Hope – Galatians 5:5

12 Jun

(Galatians 5:5Galatians 5:5
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.  

WP-Bible plugin)  For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.

Once again Paul is going back to the exhortation in Galatians 5:1Galatians 5:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
5 1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.  

WP-Bible plugin to “stand fast” and “be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”  These are phrases that point to the daily Christian walk.  He is showing the Galatians the contrast between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit.  This is the difference between walking under grace and walking under the law.  The flesh believes its behavior according to a system of rules can attain righteousness.  By depending on self, there is a basic assumption that a God-pleasing, consistent Christian life is possible through actions performed by self right now.  Self-righteousness assumes there is no need for external righteousness.  The flesh is consumed with self-sufficiency that blocks out the need or desire for a greater righteousness.  The flesh leads us to believe we can live righteously to the point where the flesh itself is perfected.  The flesh impatiently demands more of itself than is humanly possible.

Contrast the walk in the flesh with the spiritual mind.  We depend on the patience produced by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit of God leads us to live in dependency on a righteousness that is not ours.  We depend on the righteousness produced by Christ in us.  It is in this alone that the Spirit leads us to live a life of obedience to God.  God is not making demands on our flesh to conform.  He is shaping, molding, and guiding us in a transformation.  This takes time.  We serve a God Who makes change permanent.  The change conforming us to Christ is an everlasting change.  We are led closer and closer each day we walk in the Spirit towards living according to the true identity we have in Christ.  Looking in the mirror, we don’t see this change.  Our mortal bodies still bear the marks of sin – age, disease, imperfection.  But once again, the Holy Spirit produces patience in us to look forward in hope.  The righteousness God is producing inside of us will one day be manifest in our immortal bodies as our physical bodies are eternally transformed to match our identity in Christ.  Until then, the Holy Spirit produces patience as we wait for that day “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13Titus 2:13
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; glorious...: Gr. the appearance of the glory of the great God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ  

WP-Bible plugin)

Renewed Thought -

“My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Calvary.” – Norman J. Clayton

 
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The Big “If of the Law – Galatians 3:21

20 Apr

(Galatians 3:21Galatians 3:21
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.  

WP-Bible plugin)  Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

The legalists were shepherding the Galatian saints away from life in Christ.  They were leading them towards a system that could never impart life:  The Law of Moses.  But the Law doesn’t contradict the promises.  It is a companion to the promises of eternal life.  It complements the promises.  The Law defines our position.  However the Law could not supply life.  It is called the “ministration of death” and the “ministration of condemnation” in 2 Corinthians chapter 3:

(2 Corinthians 3:72 Corinthians 3:7
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
7 But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:  

WP-Bible plugin)  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:

The lifeless, limp spirit in the child of Adam has no hope of receiving life through a written standard of behavior.  A long time ago, I was a child of Adam.  I had a dead spirit.  I needed life that could only come through righteousness.  But it was never God’s plan to justify anyone using the Law.  We break the Law and God’s Justice demands payment.  Our soul stands condemned.  The Law brings us to the brink of death, in order for us to realize our need for life.  It cannot provide what is needed; it can only point out the need.

God only wants what is best for us.  God wants for us in our deepest need.  He wants us to possess eternal life.  If God is looking out for our best interests, and there would have been the possibility of giving us eternal life through a performance system, don’t you think God would have provided it?  In His infinite wisdom, God knew we would never be able to meet a standard through human performance.  So we could never become the source of our own righteousness.  It is through the grace and mercy of God Himself that Christ has become our source of righteousness.  The ultimate need of every human being is Christ!

Renewed Thought – “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other hope is sinking sand.”

 
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It Is Evident – Galatians 3:11

06 Apr

(Galatians 3:11Galatians 3:11
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.  

WP-Bible plugin)  But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Every piece of evidence that can be observed proves the Law cannot produce righteousness in man.  Look at the history of the nation Israel.  She was given direct revelation by God’s prophet Moses.  She was given miracles.  She was given mercy.  Yet every attempt to attain righteousness through the deeds of the Law produced failure.  They missed out because they failed to believe God’s righteousness was impossible to achieve on their own:  it had to be provided for them.  This is what we see from the record of Scripture.

(Romans 9:31Romans 9:31
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.  

WP-Bible plugin)  But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.(Romans 9:32Romans 9:32
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;  

WP-Bible plugin)  Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

Every piece of evidence that can be experienced proves the Law cannot produce righteousness in man.  Look at the experience of the Body of Christ.  We are given mercy.  We are given grace.  We are given the Spirit of God.

(Galatians 3:2Galatians 3:2
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  

WP-Bible plugin)  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

What we observe and experience only counts when it is in the sight of God.  We would like to think it is evidence before man that matters, our sense of righteousness and fairness are not worthy in the holy and pure counsel of God.  While man prefers to be his own advocate, arguing the case on his own behalf, God rejects all pleas.  Not only does God provide our righteousness, He also provides our Advocate.  While the Law condemns, we have One Who intercedes on our behalf.

(Romans 8:34Romans 8:34
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.  

WP-Bible plugin)  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

When we take God at His Word and trust what He says about our sinfulness and our Savior, we receive eternal life by faith.

Renewed Thought -   Lord, You are my Witness, You are my Advocate, You are my Judge, You are my Jury.  Help me to live today as a free person, no longer under the condemnation but under your mercy and grace.

 
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