Growing up, i have always thought do good, dont sin or do something and you will make it to heaven. I banked all my hopes on trying to be righteous(self righteousness). The harder i tried, the much difficult it became and at a point i thought to myself and realised; it is impossible. No one is righteous except God. Today, i want to share with you on this topic that has eluded many Christians and none Christians. Its not a hard one to crack yet it requires an ingredient which many people lack. To begin with; we shall look at the definition of righteousness.
WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS
Righteousness means to be in right standing with God. Righteousness is a gift and it available to all who want to receive it.
Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
This is the mystery of the origin of sin. By Adams sin by eating from the forbidden tree, we were condemn to death.If by one man, all creatures can be condemned to death, then it is only right for by one mans sake, all creatures can receive life. By the obedience of Christ, we obtained righteousness. Christ is the one who is righteous and through him, we are made righteous as well. A gift is something you get for free. It is given without paying for the cost. Meaning you cannot earn or work for it.
2 Corinthians 5:21 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
We are made righteous by believing. We get the gift of righteousness by believing in Jesus Christ. The bible is a very mysterious book full of facts with proven records. But all that is within is absolute and the scripture below is the basis of righteousness through believing.
Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Righteousness is not obtained by avoiding fornication, paying tithe or not doing what we think is not good. Its as simple as answering yes to these questions. Do you have a heart?, can you believe?, then you can become righteous.
Abraham believed unto righteousness : Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous, no not one.
None can work out his or her own righteousness on his own. That is why we need to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. We need to believe and have faith in it. And if you surely believe in him, you share in this beautiful gift.
All too soon, my message for today has come to an end. I have been sharing with you these few days principles of Christianity that you cant survive your Christian walk without. My previous articles are below. You can check them out if you missed on any of them.
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