Genuine Righteousness (2)

Dearly Beloved. I trust this finds you well and bubbling in the Lord. Philippians 3v9 (NLT) says “and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” Hallelujah. I thank God that our righteousness is hinged on Christ’s sacrifice and not on our own works or acts of obedience. I gave my life to Christ at a young age, but as I grew up, I came to a better understanding of what this salvation meant. When I was younger, it looked like at least I didn’t do that much bad things compared to some others. But I thank God that His salvation isn’t like that.

We aren’t justified by what we have done - whether little or not - or what we haven’t done.   There is no small sin, medium sin or big sin. We were all sinners and dead in our sin (see Ephesians 2:1-10, NLT, below). God also didn’t ask us to bring sacrifices in proportion to how we perceive our sin. I mean, it would be a huge weight to carry and maybe the rich would be better able to afford it! But salvation is not like that. Jesus paid the price for us all. Romans 3v23-25 (NLT) say “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood ...”. Amen.

 
Prayer
Father, we thank You so much for our salvation, not from what we have done but from our believing in the finished work of Christ. Blessed be Your holy name in Jesus name, amen.

Now, if you want that genuine righteousness and not one done by yourself, and you believe Jesus died for your sins, you can say this prayer - Heavenly Father, I come to You today acknowledging that I am a sinner. I thank You because Jesus came to die for my sins. I believe that and accept Jesus as my Lord and personal Saviour. I give You my heart and thank You because You have given me the Holy Spirit to live in me and be with me. Thank You so much o God, in Jesus name I pray.

Dear one, if you said this prayer, know that there is much jubilation in heaven because of you. God loves you and is happy you have made this decision. Do reach out if you have any questions and do find a Bible believing church and continue to grow in this new-found faith.

Supplementary Text

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” (Ephesians 2v2-10, NLT)