Receiving Righteousness: Irrevocably Loved

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

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

 We have been in an ongoing study of the Gift of Righteousness. More importantly, we are examining the vitalness of not just knowing we are Righteous the moment we believed but actively receiving of this Gift. A gift no matter how wonderfully amazing will never benefit until it is fully received.

 

 In this study, we have seen the benefits receiving Righteousness brings. Relationships flourish. We have peace knowing He is bigger than our failures. We see and understand more clearly His healing power and willingness to bring wholeness to our life. Because of Righteousness received our sins and shortcomings won't hinder or stop God's Goodness from being received in our life.

 Again what is this great Gift of Righteousness? Righteousness is that Gift that gives the believer permanent right standing before God. It's that gift whereby one has everlasting acceptance and approval with God. It's that gift where we are always welcomed in God's presence. It's that gift where we can stand before our Father without any sense of guilt, shame, condemnation, insecurity, or inferiority. It's that gift that causes one's sins never again to be imputed to their account. 

 Receiving of this great Gift of Righteousness is such a vital ingredient in walking a victorious Christian life. When sin and shame can't hold you back nothing is impossible in your walk of Faith. Instead of shying away from God believers run to God. Instead of looking down, Righteousness produces the joy and confidence to boldly look upward and gaze upon a truly loving Father.

 Righteousness is a gift we receive never a work we achieve. If it is a gift, and it is, then that means Righteousness is permanent. God's gifts are irrevocable. 

For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Romans 11:29 MEV

 Since God's gifts are irrevocable or permanent then we must conclude Righteousness is permanent and can never be removed or taken away. That leads us to therefore conclude that our salvation then is also irrevocable and permanent. We are eternally secure because of this Gift of Righteousness.

 The absolute Good News of the Gospel of Grace is that once you've trusted in Christ alone you are eternally secure. Salvation could never be earned or achieved and once received it's not kept by our continued achievements. Salvation is by Grace from start to finish. Christ once trusted in preserves us from time and all eternity. We aren't maintaining our salvation so it can't be lost, God maintains our salvation because Jesus is the author and finisher of it.

 As good as this Good News is many believers still fight this truth. They reject a Grace alone salvation for a works plus grace salvation. They insist we are saved by Grace but after we are saved we must persevere through good works and abstinence from wrongdoing to remained saved. In essence, it's a Christ begun salvation but a man completed salvation. 

 “Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life. John 5:24 MEV

And he has entered once and forever into the Holiest Sanctuary of All, not with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the sacred blood of his own sacrifice. And he alone has made our salvation secure forever! Hebrews 9:12 TPT

neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9:12 21st Century KJV

 We have conclusive proof from God that salvation is eternal and irrevocable. This is the Good News. This proves beyond doubt that Christ won and the enemy lost. That the Cross truly was a Finished Work. Yet again even in the face of this good news, works and performance-driven believers dismiss these passages and make light of God's keeping power and declare man can undo what only Christ could do.

 Eternal Security rejected leaves believers without security and diminishes hope. Everlasting hope in Christ becomes everlasting hope so. Is your salvation permanent? I hope so. This is the real fruit of rejecting Eternal Security.

Eternal Security rejected means there is no promise for eternal life once one believes. If there is no Eternal Security, there is no eternal life, for how can one know for sure they won't forfeit their salvation at some point? All that truly remains is not a promise but a possibility. Not everlasting life but temporal life. 

 When Eternal Security is rejected what we are left with is not the promise of eternal life, but the possibility of potentially obtaining eternal life in Christ. We have potential life, not eternal life. We have the possibility of eternal life but not the guarantee. Salvation becomes merely a probationary phase until we draw our last breath or Christ comes back for us. 

In summation Righteousness received brings with it great hope. The great hope and promise of sustained eternal life by God, not ourselves. It brings with it the understanding that Eternal Security rejected means all that is left is a works and performance-based salvation. Thank God though the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. Thank God, Jesus has obtained an eternal redemption for all those who believe. We are irrevocably loved and never will we be separated or apart from God. 

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Receiving Righteousness: Praying Boldly

 

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

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

We have been in an extended study of Righteousness over the last few weeks. We have seen the importance of not just knowing we are Righteous but actively receiving of this great gift. We have seen the multiple benefits of receiving Righteousness.

 Relationships, how we can have victory despite our failures, laying hold of healing, just some of the powerful truths understood and received through the precious gift of Righteousness. Today, it seems good to explore yet another benefit of Righteousness received. Our prayer life will radically change when we know we are the Righteous. 

  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16b NKJV

 Further illustrating the benefit of Righteousness, James goes on in this same chapter describing Elijah as a man of like passions as any one of us. In other words, it wasn't that the Prophet Elijah was someone unique or special in the sense that only his prayers would have worked. James is letting us know that Elijah was just as imperfect and flawed as the rest of us, but he was Righteous and God heard him.

 Prayer may seem boring or drudgery or a chore to those believers who don't understand who they are in Christ, and lack the full knowledge of just how much God loves them. Some see prayer as a spiritual rule and a task they must complete. It is not communing with a loving Father but rather an obligation that requires fulfillment. 

 We must renew our minds about prayer. Prayer is all about communing and intimate fellowship with a loving Father. It is true that there are various types of prayer, the prayer of Faith, or petition prayer, intercessory prayer, the prayer of commitment, and consecration, etc. No matter the type of prayer we pray it is still a time of communing with our Good Father.

 It is not a chore or a hard task to spend time with someone who greatly loves us and longs to bless us. It isn't a mere religious obligation needing fulfillment to fellowship with a friend. It isn't a burden to spend quality time with the one we love. Prayer and devotional time are no different. We are engaging in intimate fellowship with a loving Father, who desires our best and wants nothing but our good when we pray. The more we know how pleased God is with us and how much He rejoices over us with joy, the more exuberant and fulfilling prayer will become for us. We are gladly welcomed in the presence of God. 

 Too often though, even if we do spend time in prayer, many believers come to the Father as if they were unworthy. They see themselves as beggars. They see themselves as mere servants begging for a meager morsel to barely get by for a day. 

Is this the posture God seeks from His kids? 

This is the posture religious tradition has painted for the Church for centuries. Unworthy. Unqualified. Unfit. 

 When we receive of the Gift of Righteousness these mindsets are shattered and these strongholds in our thinking come crashing down. We rise up as the Righteous sons and daughters of God and take our place at the King's table. We boldly receive all He has provided for us.

 I am not speaking of an arrogant, petulant demanding of our Father. No, God gives Grace to the humble. I am speaking of that Cross. I am speaking of such amazing Love that gave all He was for all we are not. A wondrously loving Savior who for the joy set before Him gladly gave His all for us. We honor our Father and our Savior King Jesus when we boldly receive all He purchased for us on that cursed tree.

 For years, many taught the Church that we were the mere stewards of God. That we were God's servants. Is that our position in Christ? Did God send His Son so He could have an innumerable number of servants? This thinking is rooted in the mindset that God is the harsh taskmaster who looks for dutiful servants to complete all the tasks he assigns. 

 We are not the servants of God. In identity, we are the children of God. We are His family. God in a sense, sowed His Son to reap a family. We are the beloved children of an extravagantly loving Father who longs to fellowship and bestow kindness and mercy upon us. Our Father so loves us He eagerly lavishes us with His Goodness. We who believed are the beloved sons in whom He is well pleased.

6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth into our hearts the Spirit of His Son, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 4:6-7 MEV

 Brother, didn't Paul call himself a servant of God? Yes, he did in some of his greetings to the churches. We know the Word doesn't contradict itself. Paul was referencing his work, his calling, his purpose. Saying it this way, in identity, he, like all believers, are sons and daughters. What we do is serve the Lord, serve one another, and we even serve the lost, in the sense of providing shelter or clothing or sustenance and in showing the way of salvation through Christ alone. We are sons who operate in steward or servant principles.  The point is in our identity we aren't slaves or unworthy servants without rights and privileges that come with sonship. 

 When we receive of the great Gift of Righteousness our prayer life is transformed greatly. We are no longer the servants begging for crumbs. We no longer see ourselves as the unworthy pleading to enter the Master's presence. We arise to take our place in Christ. We boldly enter in and feast at the King's table without reservation and freely receive all He has in His hand. 

 In summation, Receiving Righteousness transforms our self image and our interaction and fellowship with God our Father. Our prayer life is infused with refreshing and joyful exuberance. Prayer isn't a chore or task. Prayer becomes something we look forward to and no longer dread. Our prayers become bolder and we see the enemy flee as we, His children, take our rightful place in Christ. Come and sit at the King's table, there is a seat waiting for you, the Righteous. 

Image by Daniel Reche from Pixabay 

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay 

Receiving Righteousness: Walking by sight? What are you looking at?

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

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

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.  

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