A sinner cannot live a “Holy Life” just as a man can never become a woman or a woman become a man. A man or woman may travel to America, learn to speak American English, dress like an American, and mix with Americans, but many may assume such a person is an American until it is time to produce documents to back this assumption up. When the documents are unavailable, such a person will only be classified as a pretender or a fraudster or an impostor. He or she is not what He or She has claimed to be. In the same vein, a man or woman may be born in America and raised in another country. He or she may not dress like an American or talk like an American or behave like an American. Many may look at him or her and see no sign or mannerism by which they can classify such as an American but when it is time to produce the documents, he or she will be known to be an American.
Apostle Paul was a citizen of Rome, but by all intents and purposes, he was a Jew! There are many who pretend to be Christians or think they are Christians but they do not know that they are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. They had been declared righteous but they do not embrace it. They think it is pious to claim that they are sinners. As long as they claim to be what they are not, they cannot act right and therefore they struggle to live right.
Living Right is not just about morality or a certain code of conduct. Living right is living in the fullness of the grace and divine status with all the attending benefits that heaven has given unto them in Christ Jesus. A sinner is under the law of sin and death. A righteous person is operating fully in his divine nature and as such he or she is above all things For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sins; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Ask any born again Christian today this question, “Are you righteous?” He will most likely pause to think for a while and then reply, “I am working on it.” How is such a believer going to know when he or she is finally righteous?” The most likely reply you will get to this is “I will know when I get to heaven.
Many Christians don’t think they are righteous because they equate righteousness with right living. They look at their actions to rate their righteousness. But there is a difference between the two concepts. The Bible says “…. if by one man’s offense, 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” (Romans 5:17). When you received Christ into your hearts, God gave you the righteousness as a gift. It’s not something you worked for.
Righteousness is the nature of God that is impacted to your human spirit that produces in you the ability to stand before God without guilt, inferiority or condemnation. Righteousness is that nature of God that produces in you, the rightness of God, and gives you right standing with God. Now, right living on the other hand is doing what is right and required of God as a way of life. They are not the same. Right living is the product of righteousness. No man could live right until he’s first of all righteous; God can only require a man to live right after that man has been made righteous. This is the reason He imparted righteousness to you freely. The ability to do the right things can only flow naturally from a righteous person. Now some of your actions may still be imperfect but that doesn’t in any way impact on your righteousness. What you need do is get the Word of God into you and righteousness will find expression through your actions. When you were born again, you became as righteous as Jesus is, for you were made righteous with His righteousness. You can’t be more righteous than you are right now, for God’s righteousness is perfect which is what you already have in Christ–and you can’t improve on perfect. That righteousness is in your spirit, and it produces in you right living—the ability to do right! Sincerity Isn’t Righteousness. For if by one man’s offense 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 (Romans 5:17).
In your walk with God, you have to understand that there’s a huge difference between sincerity and righteousness. Sometimes, we think that God should look at our sincerity and count it for righteousness, but it’s not so. No matter how sincere you are, it’ll never amount to righteousness. God doesn’t hear and answer your prayers because you’re sincere, but because you’re righteous; because of Jesus; and your righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus. The Bible says, “Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (Romans 5:18). Righteousness is what gives you right standing in the presence of God. Your sincerity never gives you the right standing before the Father. Having been declared righteous, you have a right to be heard in the presence of God; you have peace with God. Never think of God as one you need to “impress” with your good works so He’ll accept you or do anything for you; Jesus already impressed Him on your behalf.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). The Christian has been called into liberty, to live righteously for the Lord. The divine ability to live right and please God naturally was imparted to your spirit when you were born again. That’s Christianity. A Christian doesn’t struggle to do right.
Righteousness, which is the nature of God in your spirit, is a force in you that produces the ability to live right. Some have never really understood the doctrine of righteousness as revealed in God’s Word, hence the reason they still struggle with sin. Righteousness is more than doing what is right. Righteousness is a nature that gives you the ability to do right. It’s a divine element that causes you to act, talk and live right. The Christian is not in bondage or under servitude to sin or the devil. You can never be in bondage to sin, Satan or any bad habit when you understand who you are in Christ. Hebrews 12:1 says “lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us…” This means you can decide you’re not going to do something that’s wrong and stand your ground, for you have the ability to do right. Make up your mind today to stand fast in the liberty of Christ. The Bible definition of righteousness doesn’t mean right living; right living is a result of righteousness. You can’t live right until you’re righteous. Thus, righteousness, essentially, is a nature; the nature of God that produces in a human person, the rightness of God. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 The man who’s born again is a completely new species, one that never existed before. He has only one nature, which is the divine nature—the nature of righteousness. For if by one man’s offense 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 (Romans5:17). Now that you’re born again, the life and nature of God have completely supplanted the human life and nature with which you were born by your biological parents. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Righteousness is the nature of God in you, producing in you the rightness of God: the ability to do right and fulfill the will of the Father. God is always right; it’s His nature to be right. This nature of righteousness is at work in us. So in our Kingdom, we do righteousness; we walk in righteousness and do works of righteousness; we manifest the goodness of God to the world. It was for the same reason that the Pharisees and Sadducees had a problem with the good works that Jesus did; they misunderstood Him. If in your place of work, for example, you did something you thought was good and required commendation, but instead you found yourself being persecuted for your good works, don’t feel bad about it. Just because you’re good and doing the right thing doesn’t mean everybody is going to be cheering you on. There might be those that’ll resist you, and try to make you swerve from your path; they might even call you evil, in spite of your good works; maintain your composure. Refuse to change. Stay the course with the Word of God in your heart and in your mouth. Remember, you’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus; therefore, it’s your calling to express His righteousness. See yourself that way, regardless of the pressures and challenges that may tend to provoke you to compromise. See yourself just as the Word says: “…greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4); this means that you’re greater than your adversaries, detractors and persecutors. You’re a victor forever. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not (Proverbs 1:10). The word “sinners” in our opening verse isn’t referring to the heathen or people who don’t know God. Rather, in this particular context, it refers to the children of Israel who weren’t living right; those that broke the Law, and weren’t living according to God’s instructions. That’s why the Spirit instructs, “Suppose they say, “Come on; let’s find someone to kill! Let’s attack some innocent people for the fun of it! They may be alive and well when we find them, but they’ll be dead when we’re through with them! We’ll find all kinds of riches and fill our houses with loot! Come and join us, and we’ll all share what we steal.” My child, don’t go with people like that. Stay away from them” (Proverbs 1:11-15 GNB). How instructive! Being born again, you have the nature of God to do right, and must therefore consciously live right. You’ve been separated from the world, unto God, from unrighteousness unto righteousness, and from darkness to light. You might have been a gangster, but now that you’re born again, you can’t go back to such gangs. Yes, you may preach the Word to them, but you can’t roll or stick with them anymore. “…Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good” (Romans 12:9). You must let go of any attitude that’s not of God. In 1 Corinthians 6:5-9, the Apostle Paul chided the Corinthian church because their way of life didn’t portray the new nature of righteousness they had received. As a Christian, it’s important you recognize that you’ve been completely delivered from the worldly lifestyle. You’re not the same man you were before you were born again. Your old nature of sin was supplanted by God’s nature of righteousness. Recognize your new identity. See the picture of the new you and live accordingly. You’re a new creation. Your conduct must now reflect your new personality in Christ Jesus—your new nature—which is the nature of righteousness. Christ Is Your Life When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4). Christ is our life! Blessed be God! Just the thought causes the power of God to course through my being. We’re not ordinary.
When you received Christ, something actually transpired: the life and nature of God was imparted to your spirit. You no longer have the human life; you have the Christ life, the divine life. This was the Apostle Paul’s summation when he declared, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh (in this body) I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). What an overwhelmingly deep-seated conviction! Paul referenced the same thought in Colossians 3:10 when he said that as new creations, we’ve put on the new man who’s been renewed in knowledge after the image of Christ. In other words, the more you learn about Him and experience Him in knowledge, the more He’s expressed in and through you. That’s Christian growth.
When the knowledge of the divine life in you sinks into your spirit through meditation, it becomes your constant consciousness. It becomes your practice, experience and way of life. The Bible says if Christ is in you, even if your body were dead or ravaged by sickness or disease because of sin, the Spirit gives it life because of righteousness—the life and nature of God in you (Romans 8:10). The depraved, defeated, destroyed and broken human life has been supplanted by the Christ-life—the divine life of righteousness, honour, peace and glory. Glory to God for everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe…”(Hebrews 5:13).
According to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, righteousness is firstly a nature; the nature of God, which was imparted into your spirit at the New Birth. When you were born again you were born as righteous as God Himself. You don’t become more righteous as you grow spiritually, just as a baby doesn’t become more human as he grows. Even though he is a baby, he’s still as human as any adult. Righteousness gives you the ability to stand in the presence of God without any sense of guilt, condemnation or inferiority. This is called right standing. Secondly, righteousness produces the rightness or character of God in the human spirit; it gives you the ability to do right. So right living isn’t righteousness but a product of righteousness. Like that baby, your actions may still be imperfect, but as far as God is concerned, you are as righteous as He is because His nature of righteousness has been imparted into your spirit. However, God wants you to grow from babyhood to maturity. You see, the quality of your life depends on your understanding of your righteousness in Christ. Your faith can never go beyond your understanding of righteousness. In James 5:16-18, the Bible tells us of how Elijah held rain for three and a half years until the whole nation repented of their evil deeds. This man triumphed against impossible odds and ruled over kings and kingdoms because he was cognizant of right standing with God (1 Kings 18:19-40). No wonder the Bible says, “…they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17). However, if you’re ignorant of your righteousness in Christ, you can’t rule and reign in life. Therefore, make a quality decision today to study the Word of God like never before, “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith…” (Romans 1:17).
Hallelujah!
PS: If you don’t declare you are righteous always and believe it. You are only an impostor if you claim to be a believer.
–GSW–