Jesus’ righteousness is the key to Christian overcoming

· by · in Faith. ·

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Are we all agreed to the following:

  1. Nothing we can DO can get us saved – it’s our faith in Jesus Christ that saves us. In other words, He reveals Himself and He motivates us to accept Him – then we accept Him.
  2. Nothing we can DO can make us right with God – it’s only through faith in Christ that we can become right with God.

If you agree to this, then let’s look at a scripture that cuts to the heart of it.

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. – Isaiah 64:6

“All out righteous acts are like filthy rags”. Ouch. Like a punch in the gut eh? And yet Jesus said:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. – Matthew 5:48

But… but… how can we be perfect?

We can’t. That’s right! You can’t be perfect… through your own efforts.

Covered with the robe of righteousness

But… you can be perfect.

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. – Isaiah 61:10

Ok let’s take a closer look at this prediction of what Christ the Messiah would do for us. There are TWO things:

  1. clothed me with the garments of salvation
  2. covered me with the robe of righteousness

Most of you reading this are clothed in garments of salvation. You’re marked for salavation. You’re going to spend eternity in the Presence of Almight God. Hallelujah!

But let me ask you this… are you are covered with the robe of righteousness?

I’ll let that sit there and simmer for a moment. 🙂

Yes, you’re saved, but are you covered with the robe of righteousness? Are you?

If you are not, then read on and find out how to grow in your faith and get covered. Being covered is the absolutely best place you can be – it’s the secret hiding place – the place where the enemy cannot get to you.

Did you even know you could be? Would you like to be? If you’re clothed in righteousness, then in God’s eyes you’re holy, faultless and irreproachable. Take a look for yourself!

Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence. – Col 1:22-23

So if you’re irreproachable in our Father’s presence… then can satan (the accuser) have ANYTHING to say against you?

Jesus’ righteousness is our armour and protection

in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; – 2 Corinthians 6:7

I put on righteousness as my clothing – Job 29:14

May your priests be clothed with righteousness – Psalms 132:9

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, – Ephesians 6:14

Yes. We can stand firm in our righteousness. But how do we get righteousness?

Righteousness comes by faith in Christ Jesus

Like you got salvation – through faith. Let me show you how important faith is in Christianity. A simple search for the words and their occurance:

  • “faith” shows 27 times in the NT
  • “faith” shows 230 times in the NT

Wow. The NT is teeny tiny by comparison to the huge OT. And yet the word faith is FAR more common in the NT. Interesting eh?

Let’s look more closely at how the word faith is used:

  • the phrase “by faith” occurs 42 times in the NT
  • the phrase “in faith” occurs 10 times in the NT
  • the phrase “through faith” occurs 14 times in the NT

So there are over 60 times that we are told that something or another is received or acquired by/in/through our having faith in Christ Jesus.

Here are some explicit bible verses that drive home the exact point that righteousness comes by faith in Christ Jesus:
Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3; Rom 4:5; Rom 4:9; Rom 4:11; Rom 4:13; Rom 4:20; Rom 4:22; Rom 4:24

I encourage you to read every one of those bible passages, so it clears the way for you to receive the righteousness that Jesus has made available to you.

What is it you have to believe (have faith in)?

Lay down your own works of rigteousness and through your faith in Jesus, believe that you have received *His* righteousness. Don’t earn your own, just go get His. Simple.

Yet now has [Christ, the Messiah] reconciled [you to God] in the body of His flesh through death, in order to present you holy and faultless and irreproachable in His [the Father’s] presence. – Col 1:22-23

If you believe this is true, that Jesus is the Christ that the prophets in the old testament said would come and take away the sin of the world and would strip the power of the enemy… if you believe that Jesus did this FOR YOU, then you are now holy and faultless and irreproachable in your Father’s presence.

The result of righteousness

We must not underestimate the immense change that this can have in your life. You can be clothed in salvation – yay! – but also COMPLETELY WRAPPED in the righteousness that JESUS secured for you, then you’re safe and comfortable.

All that remains is for you to LIVE in this truth. And that means that you can now be bold in going before our Father – because when He looks at you, He sees the righteousness of His own Son Jesus.

He doesn’t see your faults because

THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death. – Romans 8:1-2

No condemnation. No. None. Can you shout HALLELUJAH with me? Do you want to thank Jesus for coming and keeping the law – so you DON’T HAVE TO!

What about my faults and sins?

Yes I know that many of us have come from awfully hard background and we might do drugs or porn – or whatever – to make ourselves feel better.

And no, I’m not saying that right now you’ll live a life of comfort. It will come in time, but right now you’ll have to learn and grow and heal and the Holy Spirit will be there with you all along the way.

So what about the “sins” that you do along the way? Why doesn’t God see them? Or if He does, since He is not blind, then why aren’t my sins offensive to Him and why don’t they drive a wedge between me and Him again?

  • Firstly, we must agree that Jesus kept the whole law, so you do not have to.
  • Secondly, Romans says over and over that when you enter into Jesus’ life, you are set free from the law.

For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin and of death. – Romans 8:1-2

Thirdly, sin is not counted where there is no law.

sin is not charged to men’s account where there is no law [to transgress]. – Romans 5:13

So this is the whole of it: you’re freed from the law and the things that you do are not counted against you. There you have it.

What remains is for me to ask you some questions:

  1. Did Jesus keep the whole law and then set you free from it, if you believe?
  2. Do you agree that Jesus has made a way for you to be completely reconciled to your Father in heaven, because you are able to be perfect (just as your Father in heaven is perfect)… but this perfection is not YOURS, it is a free gifts from Jesus Christ?
  3. Do you therefore agree that the enemy has no hold over you, because you are now – through your faith in Christ Jesus – holy, pure and blameless?

If you have said yes to these things, then let me be the first to congratulate you! You’re now going to experience a whole new freedom.

But God–so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation).

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

Wow huh? How cool is that?

But pay close attention to this next bit…

For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;

Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law’s demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.] – Eph 2:4-9

Ephesians says that you are now seated with Him (Jesus) in heavenly places, but that you should not think it’s because of your own ability or specialness. It’s because Jesus came and made a way back to our Father for us. By having faith in Jesus, by believing that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world… through your faith in Him as your personal saviour… you are made holy, blameless and without reproach.

Now just in case you didn’t get it there, look at it here:

Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.

[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross]. – Col 2:14-15

Wow. Did you see that? Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note … [God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us

So the enemy has no claim on you any more. You can now send the enemy away from you, from your life, from your home, from your finances and anywhere else he has had a stronghold because of your un-righteousness before God.

Your argument is against the accuser. Remember to “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place” as Ephesians says.
Yes, stand firm – be assured of what Jesus Christ did for you. Here is a sample prayer:

“In Jesus name I declare that Jesus has made me holy, pure, blamess and beyond reproach. Because of Jesus’ righteousness (and not my own) I am made righteous and you have nothing in me. Nothing at all. satan, you have been placed under Jesus’ feet. I am in Jesus and He is in me. I am not able to do these things from my own righteousness, because I have none, but from the free gift that Jesus has given me of His own righteousness. Jesus conquered you on the cross and you are defeated. You have NOTHING to accuse me of, you have absolutely no legal rights against me, because my faith is now in Christ Jesus. In His name, in Jesus name, I command you to leave my presence.”

Slowly, slowly getting free

Now. Be careful. Do not do this too much or too quickly. If you’re deeply in bondage (those of you who are suffering and under tremendous guilt feelings or heavy burdens or constant sickness) then just go slowly.

Doing this very slowly is ok, because our freedom needs to come in layers so we can cope with it. Emotional freedom brings emotional change and that can be absolutely exhausting. Physical freedom is also a big change.

After sending the enemy away I used to feel extremely tired, peaceful, but deeply tired. Like the kind of itredness you get after putting down a great big bag of clothing or something heavy.

All these things, sickness, illness, bondage… they are all not from God. Sorrow is a part of the curse in Genesis and Jesus has taken all curses to His cross. Pain in chidbirth is also a part of that curse, send it away. Toiling for food in sweat and tears is also a part of that curse, send it away. Men wanting to dominate women is also a part of that curse, send it away too.

You might want to tackle the really big things like freemasonry or satanism or witchcraft with some other people, because the bible says that two can put 10,000 to flight.

My best advice

My best advice is to TAKE IT SLOW. There is no rush. Your freedom is not going anywhere. It’s been bought by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. It’s still there. It’s yours.

If you need to, go read Colossians and Romans and Ephesians. Buy a book that shows you the OT scripture where it shows all the promises of the coming Messiah (Jesus Christ) and what He would do for us. Compare those promises to what Paul says Jesus DID do!

Thankfulness

If you walk through this and gain some freedom, just let these words sink in

Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done. – Colossians 2:6

The bottom line is this…

When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure – it was the cutting away of your sinful nature.

You were buried with Christ… and with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.

Then God made you alive with Christ! Woohoo! 😀

He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. Can I hear an AMEN!?

In IN THIS WAY God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.

hehehe. That rocks. I couldn’t have written it better myself. In fact, I didn’t write that. It’s Colossians 2:11-15!

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