Deut 6:25 ( And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God as he hath commanded us)
Which criteria do you base your righteousness on, is it the righteousness of Christ or your own righteousness or the righteousness of the Pharisees?
The law was given in the Old Testament to keep us on the right track before God and man till Jesus comes to reveal the righteousness of God that man should follow.
This is the righteousness of the Pharisees and the prophets of old based on their perfection. That is why Jesus says, let your righteousness exceed that of the Pharisees for you to enter the kingdom of God.
Man’s righteousness can’t see the face of God; those who died before Christ’s atonement couldn’t enter the paradise above, for their sins are yet to be atone for, and they hadn’t obtained true righteousness.
They were kept inside hell waiting for their redemption by the blood of the Lamb.
They remain as servants till Christ comes to give them the spirit of adoption and imputes to them His own righteousness for them to proceed to the presence of God.
The Bible says our righteousness is like a filthy rag; most men keep the law but fail to believe in who God sent.
Most of us who desire to live righteous lives can’t meet divine expectations; keeping the law and not obeying the lord’s demands still keep man bound with the righteousness of the fallen Adam.
If man can’t meet up with the righteousness that God is demanding, how will they meet up with the righteousness of God?
Jesus came to modify the law but supplies enough grace to keep it; what was permitted in the Old Testament isn’t permitted in our generation; living in the Old Testament and neglecting the way of Christ is injurious to our spiritual life.
No human can attain this level of spirituality unless he puts his faith in the LORD and His atoning works on the cross.
It’s the faith in Jesus Christ that elevates one to meet the right standard of heaven; it’s the Christ in us that becomes the hope of our glory.
The ruler of the synagogue failed to meet the lord’s demands and lost his soul with all his belongings that he refused to give up, even though he kept all the laws since when he was young.
Man’s righteousness worked in the Old Testament, but as from the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and it’s the violence that takes it by force.
Righteousness displayed by many Christians is either the one of Pharisees or of their own self.
This is not the righteousness that God is demanding, many will say on that day, I preached in your street, I cast out demons in your name, I even dined with you at the same table, but the lord will tell them that ” I knew you not depart from me, ye workers of iniquity”.
Some will claim to be an usher in the church, while some will say, I pay my tithes and sow seed in the church of God, all these based on man’s righteousness without obedience to the law of Christ.
Even many will say, I’m a fellowship leader in my church, I was born in the church, I was baptised when I was young; all these wouldn’t meet with the righteousness of God if Christ isn’t found in it.
Some Christians’ righteousness is based on the works of others; I’m not as bad as Brother Richard. I only drink one bottle of beer, but that brother used to take his own with cocaine or Indian hemp.
I only have a boyfriend, while sister Dorcas has like six or seven; I’m not as bad as some Christians who don’t cover their head in the church.
When you challenge some Christians, their defence mechanism is that our pastors also do that; why should my own be different?
They don’t know that our righteousness isn’t measured by the standard of our church members, nor is it measured by the standard of our pastors or his preaching; it’s the LORD Jesus that becomes the standard of every believer, and also our righteousness.
What we need to do is admit to our failure and repent of our sins; this is what is needed by God, and His spirit will take over from there to perform the work of cleansing and make us perfect.
If we can’t leave the state of Adam when God accosted him for eating the fruit, all he did was blame God; he wasn’t remorseful of his misdeed.
This is what many Christians are still doing now; they’re blaming God for their predicament, not repenting for what they did that instigated it; there is always a reaction to every cause.
Some will say, “It’s because I was hungry that pushed me to steal, it wasn’t my intention to take others’ properties “
It’s because my husband divorced me that is why I committed adultery; why do you give me a husband that won’t allow me to do your Will?
This is the argument of many against God, instead of going to God and repenting of all their sin; as the bible says, all unrighteousness is a sin, even if we did it out of ignorance.
Whatever is done against the will of God and against His Christ is unrighteousness.
It’s genuine repentance that will bring a solution to this type of decadence that erodes the church of God, the ruler of the synagogue relied on his own righteousness and missed a divine opportunity for him to reconcile with God; by now, he would have understood, but it’s too late.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, give to me your righteousness, by my own power I’m not worthy to stand in you presence, in Jesus name amen
