For if by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:17 NASB
Receiving of the Gift of Righteousness. We've been in an extended study of God's great Gift of Righteousness. We are examining the vital importance of not just knowing once you believe you are the Righteous, but also of actually receiving of this Gift of Righteousness in all areas of your life.
Righteousness received coupled with God's abundant Grace causes us to reign as kings in this life. When we receive of the Gift of Righteousness relationships are empowered to prosper and succeed. Healing and wholeness become more and more real to us and it frees us to receive apart from our works and performance.
Today, I want to continue examining this great Gift of Righteousness and the benefits of actively receiving of it. We know who the Righteous are. Those who have trusted in Christ alone, receiving His new life and forever forgiveness. Let's look again at what Righteousness means.
Righteousness is God's gift of no condemnation. Righteousness is that gift whereby we can stand before God without any sense of condemnation, guilt, shame, insecurity, or inferiority. Righteousness is that gift where we who believed are in perpetual right standing with God. Righteousness is that gift that grants us perfect acceptance and approval with our Heavenly Father. Righteousness is that blessing David spoke of, the person who God no longer imputes sin or uncleanness. This is the Gift of Righteousness.
In our last two studies, we focused on the truth that when we need healing or any answer from God we need not look at ourselves. That is focusing on how many good deeds we have done. How much we prayed or gave or volunteered. No, we don't look to our goodness to receive from God but rather we focus on His Goodness alone and freely receive.
That is amazingly good news to the weary ones who have tried to earn the blessing and Goodness of God. This frees us from trying to deserve anything from God's hands. All that the Finished Work procured and paid for is only received by Grace through Faith, not any works on our part. That said, what about the times when we sin and walk out of love?
Some ministers may even agree that we can't "do" anything to deserve the blessing and Goodness and favor of God. However, even fewer would dare suggest that our sins would not hinder us from receiving answered prayers or blessings. Most ministries and churches agree and affirm that sins will hinder your prayer life. They will cite passages like this.
Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. Jeremiah 5:25 NLT
So the question I simply want to ask is when it comes to answered prayer or receiving anything from God what are you looking at? Are you looking at your sins and shortcomings? Are you looking at your foul-ups? Or are you beholding Him? Are you seeing who He has made you now? Focusing on your failure or His forgiveness?
Remember this vital truth, the wages of sin is not unanswered prayer or God withholding from you. The wages of sin is death. It was just one sin that plunged mankind into the fall and brought the curse upon this Earth. That one sin caused God to send His only Son for us all.
When we use Old Covenant formats for prayer requests and trying to receive anything from God we are walking by sight and not Faith. We are Righteous by Faith, not our doing. We can't undo what only Christ could do.
We can have bold Faith even when we fail
As Paul was accused of saying do evil that good may come, I am of course not saying let's sin even more knowing God will still answer our prayers. Sin has consequences in this life. Sin can also hurt others besides the one committing the act. Think how shattered and emotionally wounded the man or woman whose spouse committed adultery is. We aren't encouraging sin, but are magnifying this great Gift of God's Righteousness.
Here is the too good to be true but true Good News of the Gospel. The wages of sin is death. God's gift is eternal life through Jesus. Christ paid the price for all sin. Jesus is the once for all sacrifice for sins. Jesus has forgiven our sins, past present, and future. All of our sins, even the ones we have yet to commit are already forgiven.
14 who bought our freedom with his blood and forgave us all our sins Colossians 1:14 TLB
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Colossians 2:13 NLT
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. Colossians 2:13 NLT
1 John 2:12 is just as clear. As the literal Greek renders, we are forgiven of all our sins on account of His name. If God's Word says we are forgiven of all our sins, and Jesus shed blood was the price paid for our forgiveness, then we are forgiven of all of our sins forever.
Here is another truth to look at concerning sin.
then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17 NKJV
Not only are we forgiven of all our sins, but here, the writer of Hebrews (who I believe was Paul), referencing the Finished Work of the Cross declares that God will never remember our sins again. He will never remember our sins? What about when we sin continually? He said I will remember your sins no more. What about if I sin the same sin repeatedly? He said I will remember your sins no more.
God said He will remember our sins no more. He didn't add an addendum or a clause that states I won't remember your sins except for the times in which you pray. If He has declared that our sins will not be remembered by Him, then how can our sins hinder our receiving from God? The Father answers prayer, blesses us, bestows favor upon us because He is Good not because we are. We can freely receive because we have been made the Righteousness of God in Christ.
Now we can't ignore all these passages just because they remove the harsh taskmaster image of God that so many believers have when it comes to their sin. We are seeing a pattern here in the New Covenant. He has forgiven us of all our sins. He has declared He will remember our sins no more. I think God is trying to tell us something.
Let me add one more passage to finalize what we should be focusing on when we pray or have a need that must be supplied. Look at the amazing Good News Paul proclaimed in Romans 4. This is the happiness of those who are declared Righteous without working for it. This is the benefit of receiving of this Gift of Righteousness.
just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” Romans 4:6-8 NKJV
Here is the complete New Covenant view of Righteousness and our sins. God has forgiven us of all our sins, past and present and future. God because of the Cross declared He will remember our sins and iniquities no more. The Holy Spirit through Paul reveals a powerful benefit of Righteousness. That God is no longer imputing our sins to us. God has already imputed our sins on the body of Jesus on that cursed tree. God is not requiring us to also pay for our sins when Jesus paid the final price.
What is the conclusion then? God has forgiven us forever. He has declared He will no longer remember our sins. This great Gift of Righteousness includes the too good to be true, but true great benefit of God no longer imputing our sins to our account.
With this understanding how can anyone now declare that our sins can hinder us from receiving anything from God? Again God said He would no longer remember our sins. He didn't say I will only recall them when you pray and ask me for a blessing and you will receive that blessing in correlation to how much sin is active in your life at that moment. Thanks be to God, we are Righteous, forgiven, our sins never to be recalled and never to be imputed to our accounts again.
So what are you looking at in prayer? Your sins and shortcomings? Your mistakes? Your foul-ups and failures? Or are you walking by Faith and seeing your Righteousness alone?
In summation, when you believe you are the Righteousness of God in Christ. Your sins are forever forgiven. Your sins will never be remembered by God. Because of the Finished Work, your sins will never again be inventoryied and counted to your account. With this over-the-top goodness, you can have absolute boldness in prayer. You can come to God without shame or guilt and stand in Faith believing for whatever God has promised and provided in the Word and the Finished Work. Dare to take your place as a Righteous, accepted child of the King.
.Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
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