All in Righteousness
Are we working in unison with the Holy Spirit within us as he washes, transforms, and renews us, or do our human frailties cling to the sins of the old man, and slow to a crawl, or stop, our regeneration? Are we cheerful learners, or do we reluctantly bend to the will of God as His Spirit scrubs us clean?
How often do we, as believers, look at ourselves in satisfaction, and then, leaning back at the table, say “I am righteous Father!”? It is so easy to compare who we are with who we once were, or to stand others up next to us and judge ourselves by their actions and think we are righteous, but we are fooling ourselves. No, our righteousness is judged by God alone, and by a standard that only He can set, but there is hope, mercy, salvation, and grace through Jesus Christ... righteousness on which we can claim no personal ownership, and yet can receive in full.
We have no idea what the innocence of Adam and Eve was like before the fall. Oh, we can try to imagine it, but every thought we have is tainted by the flavor of sin. The knowledge of good came to them as promised by the serpent, but had evil as its dark shadow, and changed them, and us, forever. So now we work, and we suffer as we seek to recover in Christ what was lost in the Garden that day.
If you have proclaimed your love for God, and Jesus Christ, then don’t make peace with evil, and don’t come to terms with sin. There is no room in your life for a peaceful coexistence with the very thing that desires to destroy you.
Do you make excuses for sin? Do you make room on the seat beside you for sinful people? Do you find it noble, or gracious, to greet sin with a smile and a handshake? So often today we hear excuses made for allowing ourselves to coexist, tolerate, or even fold sin into our everyday lives. How do we approach sin in our lives? At what point does it stop being tolerated, and begin to influence our lives?
Do you suffer in your life simply because you deserve to? Is every bad thing that befalls you the result of some sin, or wrongdoing in your life? Certainly we have enough sin and disobedience in our lives to make an argument for this, but there are many times when we face hardship in the midst of our goodness, righteousness, and obedience. How should we view this seemingly unjust sorrow? Do we question God?
Are you fretting over your lack of spiritual perfection? Are you standing on the verge of abandoning your faith because you feel like you keep tripping over the world, and can’t live without sinning? Well, take heart, because you are no different than Peter, Paul, or John, who also sinned, yet just like them you are made perfect... not by your own works and doing, but by the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ. Jesus has shouldered your sin so that you have become pure in God’s eyes.
Are things not going well in your life? Do you go to work and do the same things as those around you and yet they prosper and you do not? Do you ask yourself how those around you can do so well, and yet you, who are a righteous person, fails? Well perhaps it is your association with those who are unbelievers, and not doing all that God desires of you.
There are two types of Christians in the world... those that call themselves faithful, and those who were called and made so by Christ himself; we must carefully ask ourselves which of these we are. In our quest of faith there are those who travel alone, and those who walk humbly behind their master... those of earthly substance, and those of heavenly power and treasure.
Do you spread the love of God? Do you give cups of living water to the thirsty each day, or do you worry about their dirty hands touching your polished chalice? It is so easy to turn a blind eye to the ragged, and to detest the smell of the unclean, but these are the very souls that our Lord came to feed, clothe, make clean, and to let drink from His cup. Where were you when you first lifted it to your mouth? Did you think yourself clean and your hands without blame? Did you you smell of righteousness?
Are you a branch on the vine of Jesus Christ? Do you know what that means to you? When we are grafted into the vine of Jesus, you become righteous as He is righteous, and free of sin as He is free of sin. Grafting doesn’t transform the branch’s nature, but it is from that moment on supported and fed by the new vine. Are you fed and supported by Jesus? Is your fruit made more perfect and full by its perfect new source of nourishment?
Do you feel like you aren’t working hard enough at becoming holy? Do you believe that by your efforts you can become sanctified? Well as much as we might like to think this is possible, it is not. If we depend solely on our own efforts to win holiness then we are certainly lost. So let’s look at how sanctification is possible. How am I ever to become Holy?
Do you boast in your accomplishments in faith? Do you think yourself better than another because you quote more scripture, appear more saintly, or are of greater righteousness than another? Well if you are any of these things it is not of your doing, and if you feel boastful it is to your detriment because these things are in you as a result of our God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ alone.
Do you think that God doesn't see what we do under the cover of darkness? Well, think again because God is more than familiar with darkness. We associate God with light because He created it... He radiates it, and where it exists, darkness is overcome; so if you define darkness as the absence of light then prior to creation there was only darkness, and yet God was there. God sees us, and all that we do... even in the dark.
Prayer and living make up a two lane road. When we pray we know enough to listen for God to answer, but that conversation isn’t the two lane road we will speak of today... we will consider the impact our life is having on our faith, and prayers. How we pray influences how we live, and how we live has an incredible affect on how we pray. Can you have a terrible fight with someone, and then pray a sweet prayer? What we do in life each day sets the tone for our relationship with the Lord.