3 Things God's Righteousness Stands For

Righteousness means being without blemish or having the feeling of inferiority before someone or something. As believers, we must realise that when Christ died for our sins, he did two major things for us - He identified with us and He stood as a substitute for us.

Jesus Christ identified with man when He walked this Earth, he felt everything humanly possible to feel, he was just a mortal man which is why we do not confess the Jesus who walked on Earth but the Jesus who died, was buried and was resurrected on the third day.

He stood as a substitute for man when He went up to die on the cross of Calvary. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."[KJV] Any man who will pay for his sins had to die but Christ gave us His own righteousness and took on our sinful nature (2 Corinthians 5:21). He directly bore the consequences of our sins and that was through His death. This is why we do not know how to sin anymore because our nature is now "His righteousness". OUR SINS; PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE HAD BEEN FORGIVEN!

Contrary to the fears of so many believers today, who feel that proclaiming these words of forgiveness of sins will make you sin more, the truth is that a lion does not eat grass no matter how strong the famine in the jungle is. That is the same way a person who has blood (The Blood of Jesus) speaking for him cannot go back into sin as seen in Romans 6:2, "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" [KJV] You're already "dead" in the sense of it to sin, so how can you sin?

However, when the human flesh makes him fall, he rises and declares his righteousness with all boldness because he knows that his righteousness does not decrease by what he does or does not do.

1. Righteousness is God's Response to Mediocrity

The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that the gift of God is eternal life. This means that whatever you do and everything that concerns you has eternal life. As such, it is an anomaly for you as a redeemed believer to fail, fall sick, or be mediocre in anything you do. Righteousness means that your merit is not needed because it has been paid for. It's not right for you to record losses in your business. Refuse to believe the lies the devil is feeding the world. You live above the systems of this world because the greatest God lives in you and He manifests Himself in diverse manners through you.

2. Righteousness is more than a virtue, it is the very essence of God.

The English dictionary describes righteousness as "the quality or state of being righteous" but your righteousness as a believer is definitely more than that. When you read through Romans 3:19-31, you will see the plan of God for the believer. Verse 26 says, "It was to demonstrate and prove at the present time (in the now season) that He Himself is righteous and that He justifies and accepts as righteous him who has [true] faith in Jesus." [AMP]

So, the simple equation is that: God==>Righteousness,

A Christian believes in the resurrected Christ ==>Becomes Righteous

Therefore, a believer has the essence of God's nature!

Don't be ashamed to proclaim the fact that you're righteous. It is this consciousness that makes you face the sectors and make demands without feeling self-conscious. What greater thing can a man carry than he who carries the nature of God Himself?

3.Righteousness is by faith and not by Works

We have probably heard this a lot of times but what is our response to it? Why do we still feel that it's until we confess all our sins from when we were born till present day before we can make demands of our God?  Whether or not you sin, your righteousness remains. Romans 3:22 says, "We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are." [NLT]

Am I advocating sin? Absolutely not! But, the believer must realise that so long as you have not denounced Christ, God's gift to you - His righteousness is with you. However, the reason why the believer mustn't sin even though it doesn't affect your righteousness is because sin opens the door to your life to the devil; the devil has free access to everything about you and sooner or later, you will end up denouncing Christ. Your righteousness is not by what you have done or not, it is about how ready you are to accept the gift of God because this gift which is superior in quality and superabundant in quantity is always ready for you to take.

Where then is the place of confession of sins?

Let's go back to the old covenant dear believer, Leviticus 16:21-22 says, "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat [the sin-bearer], and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is timely (ready, fit).The goat shall bear upon himself all their iniquities, carrying them to a land cut off (a land of forgetfulness and separation, not inhabited)! And the man leading it shall let the goat go in the wilderness." [AMP]

Even in the old testament, their sins were not confessed "directly" to God, they needed a sin-bearer in the form of a goat to do that. So, why do you as a believer whose ransome has been paid believe that it's until you confess before you're forgiven?

Your confession does not equal your forgiveness. Your confession is for the sake of keeping your relationship between you and God intact and not that it is necessary for God to hear it to forgive you. You've been forgiven already, let your mind be at peace!