Take the Righteous Way

I hear a lot about God's grace and how we can abuse it by knowingly sinning, and then just getting forgiven seems unfair and contrived. It is important to realize where God's righteousness takes us when we receive Jesus, and we grow deeper in our faith walk. First of all, God's grace is just that...God's grace, not ours. Our grace has stipulations on it because of our lack of understanding of God's righteousness. God spoke the following through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 64:⁶ We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags, Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind. We can never rely on our righteousness, just like we cannot rely on our religious leanings, because our human reasoning is flawed, and it pollutes the purity of God's grace.

When I see someone point out a sin in someone else's life because they feel superior to that person, they have a righteousness problem, and it is their righteousness driving their judgmental heart. Paul wrote about God's righteousness and the need for us to immerse ourselves in the Lord's righteousness, which He has given to each of us. In other words, because of God's righteousness, we have a deep personal understanding of God's grace and fall naturally in line with God's attitude about forgiving sin in others. Paul wrote a check in this whole process in Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. ² Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

It is God's desire that we live a life of peace that is generated and made possible by the grace of God, and it is a freedom we cannot explain or define at times. It is all because of Jesus, and its origin is not because of us, but because of God. Romans 5:⁶ When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. God's grace is real, but it is also life-changing in the following way. When we sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and he shows it to us, and we have the grace of God that allows us to keep in fellowship with God through this wonderful grace. The effect of this grace does not cause us to sin more, but sin less, because the righteousness of God is healing and empowering us to walk out of that sin and walk into more grace and power. We are not capable of walking into that freedom on our own acts of righteous living, but we are able to walk a new faith walk that is progressing because of God's righteousness working in us. In our human reasoning, we might think we will abuse His grace because it is given so freely, but this grace does not minimize the life that is a result of His righteousness. It is in us and compelling to grow in our faith walk, and every time He applies His grace,it is like a bomb of truth and freedom going off in our spirit, and it draws us further and deeper in our walk with the Lord and NOT further away. Here is the explanation by Paul in Romans 5:¹⁵ But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.¹⁶ And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

I still need to heed God's Word and live the life He commands in the ten commandments, because those are "commandments" given by God for our good, and because of the blood of Jesus, God's grace is constantly changing us to desire to follow God's Word in all things. The Law of Moses brought death because the only way to pay the Lord for forgiveness was through something we needed to do. Because of Jesus, that payment has been made for eternity, and we are driven to follow Jesus free from the penalty of sin, because Jesus paid it all. God's righteousness that has been imparted to each born-again believer pulls us in our faith walk to live our lives according to the Spirit, so that we do not feed the carnal or natural man anymore. This righteousness also causes us to look at those who sin as God sees them, with hearts of grace and forgiveness. Jesus emphasized this very point in Matthew 7:“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. We don't agree with their sin, but we let God be God and just pray for them and help if they come to us with questions about what they did. There is always a wide open avenue of grace for them to stay current in their faith walk and keep growing in that faith.

All of this compels the believer to ask, seek, and knock as they figure out this new life of faith that, at times, is confusing. God's word clears up all confusion, but a heartfelt study of His Word is a vital part of that growth. So, get in the Word and take the Righteous Way, or you will flounder again and again, and miss the impact of living in God's grace as you grow in the righteousness of God. God's grace leads us to a new place of understanding the righteousness of God, and in that understanding, we learn how to treat other sinners along the way. God's ways are perfect in every way if we will kick our humanistic ways to the curb and look at ourselves like He does. I must remember, I know God, but I am not God.....

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren