Understanding God's Gift of Righteousness

The love of God changes us in phenomenal ways, and one of those ways is the reality that we are made righteous in Christ when we give our lives to him. Righteousness is a wonderful characteristic of God's nature. It represents His purity, morality, and excellence, and it's the quality of always doing what is right. Before we gave our lives to Christ, none of us could make that claim. Until that blessed day that we let God's love into our hearts, we lived according to our own set of rules, and we did whatever we wanted to do. At times, we thought this was a lot of fun, but many times it left us depleted and paying consequences that sent our lives spiraling down a dark hole. We didn't have any righteousness to call our own, so after we were rescued by our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, He gave us His righteousness. He has stamped us "RIGHTEOUS" in Christ, and now we get to enjoy all the rights and privileges that come with this hefty blessing!

When we learn about Christ and begin to understand that we were never meant to steer our own lives and that God is the One who directs our paths, life has new meaning. He wants us to know that we can't make ourselves all that He wants us to be, He does this, and when we finally surrender everything to Him, we will have peace and purpose. Surrendering to God is necessary, because He knows what path we should take in life. He knows where we're supposed to be, when we're supposed to be there, and He knows how to get us there. Trusting Him and trusting all that He has given us through Jesus Christ makes us pliable to His Will. It means we understand that He's the Leader and we're the followers.

Philippians 2:13(NKJV) says, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” God is not moving us around like puppets in order to accomplish this. He doesn't make or force us to do anything. He's given us the gift of free-will, and Romans 11:29 tells us that His gifts and calling will not be withdrawn. In the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve chose to sin against God, and even though this was a catastrophic mistake with repercussions that are still impacting the earth, He allowed them to make this terrible choice. This demonstrates our Heavenly Father's commitment to His Word.

Proverbs 24:12(NLT) tells us, “Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve.” Our Heavenly Father knows what is in the heart and mind of every individual. He knew that the first man and woman would one day turn their backs on His love and sovereignty, but as hurtful as this must have been for Him, He did not prevent it. He could have slapped that ol apple out of Eve's hand and said, “Eve, what are you doing? You're going to cause tremendous trouble. Don't do this?” He's God and can do anything He likes, but He wouldn’t violate His own law. He allowed them to exercise their free-will choice.

God said in Isaiah 55:9(KJV), “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God knows the end at the beginning, and He knows the beginning at the end. His intelligence is infinitely above the capability of any human being. His plan is so brilliantly intelligent and perfect that it is not hindered in any way by anything that we do. So, He doesn't need us to walk around like robots for His plan to be fulfilled. He's a loving Father, and He didn't want robots. He wanted children that would be a part of His family and love Him because they chose to, not because they had to.

People that haven’t given their lives to Christ often say that it’s because they feel unworthy. They might have done things in their past that they are ashamed of or they just feel down about themselves and their lives. God knows everything there is to know about each of us. He knows we're not perfect, and He wants us to be His kids even with all our imperfections. In Jeremiah 29:11(NIV), He told His people living in Old Testament times, “For I know the plans I have for you,...plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” It's the same with those of us living today. God knows the plan and purpose for our lives, and He wants us to surrender to it.

Romans 5:17(NLT) says, "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." Adam's colossal mistake caused a wrong that spread to everyone born within the earth, but because of His amazing grace, God righted Adam's wrong. Through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, God has given us the gift of righteousness, and placed His Holy Spirit within us. We no longer have to live in sin, we can live by faith! We can enjoy a life of peace and blessings because our glorious Heavenly Father has given us His righteousness through Jesus Christ, and when He looks at us, His dear children, righteousness is what He sees. ∎

Understanding God's Gift of Righteousness

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