Difference between revisions of "Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . . 2"

Latest revision as of 13:40, 4 May 2022

Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . .,3

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

Today is a day for repentance. Christian people are beginning to understand that because of the increasing spiritual darkness we must have a visitation of the Lord, and that such a revival of God's Presence and blessing will come only as we get on our face before God, confessing our sins and renewing our vows to the Lord.

In actuality our theology works against repentance. If God sees us only through the Lord Jesus, if our salvation has nothing to do with works of righteousness, such as praying and repenting, but rests entirely on our identification with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, then of what is there a need to repent? We are adding our "filthy works" to Christ's perfect righteousness.

We think it is true that in our time God's people indeed will repent and obey God and that an unprecedented revival will follow their actions. But how much more effective would the call to repentance be if the modern concept of "grace" (which is not Divine grace at all but the major delusion of the last days) were removed from us and we understood that the believer begins to please God only as he or she chooses to be the servant of righteousness.

Speaking to Christians:

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:12,13)

Our righteous behavior begins as we strive, with God's help, to obey the admonitions of the Apostles. As we obey the written Word, Christ is formed in us. As Christ is formed in us we begin to behave righteously. When Christ is in us there is a new creation that practices righteousness. The end of the process is a person in the image of Christ—that to which we have been predestined.

Please keep in mind, as you read further, that God has the power to remove any sin you practice, any bad habit that binds you, any form of disobedience or rebellion against God's will. God has the power. God made the galaxies of stars. He has the power to change you from the image of Adam to the image of Christ.

God is waiting for you to look to Him so He may begin the program of transforming you into His image. Believe His promises and they shall take place in your personality.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

Righteousness, that is, righteous behavior, may very well be the main topic of the entire Bible—Old and New Testaments.

Isaiah tells us that the nations are waiting to see a righteous Church so they can glorify God.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)

And the Gentiles [nations] shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. (Isaiah 62:2)

To be continued. Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . ., 4

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-====Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . .,2====
+====Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . .,3====
-Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
+Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16)
-The new righteous creation, the change into the image of the Lord, the writing of the Law of God in our heart and mind, are not placed in the same realm of importance as "making a decision for Christ."
+Today is a day for repentance. Christian people are beginning to understand that because of the increasing spiritual darkness we must have a visitation of the Lord, and that such a revival of God's Presence and blessing will come only as we get on our face before God, confessing our sins and renewing our vows to the Lord.
-New Testament verses concerning righteous behavior are discussed and believed but they do not receive nearly the attention given to believing in the atonement and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (an area which the demons understand only too well). Salvation is not seen as a change in the individual but a ticket to Heaven when we die.
+In actuality our theology works against repentance. If God sees us only through the Lord Jesus, if our salvation has nothing to do with works of righteousness, such as praying and repenting, but rests entirely on our identification with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, then of what is there a need to repent? We are adding our "filthy works" to Christ's perfect righteousness.
-How often do we hear an emphasis on the "fruit" of righteous behavior.
+We think it is true that in our time God's people indeed will repent and obey God and that an unprecedented revival will follow their actions. But how much more effective would the call to repentance be if the modern concept of "grace" (which is not Divine grace at all but the major delusion of the last days) were removed from us and we understood that the believer begins to please God only as he or she chooses to be the servant of righteousness.
-Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:20)
+Speaking to Christians:
-The Divine redemption is presented as a mental state that is of little use as a testimony to the world of God's Person.
+Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (Romans 6:12,13)
-In extreme cases our "plan of salvation" can become a kind of schizophrenia—a withdrawal from reality.
+Our righteous behavior begins as we strive, with God's help, to obey the admonitions of the Apostles. As we obey the written Word, Christ is formed in us. As Christ is formed in us we begin to behave righteously. When Christ is in us there is a new creation that practices righteousness. The end of the process is a person in the image of Christ—that to which we have been predestined.
-Adam has been permitted back into the Garden without being changed.
+Please keep in mind, as you read further, that God has the power to remove any sin you practice, any bad habit that binds you, any form of disobedience or rebellion against God's will. God has the power. God made the galaxies of stars. He has the power to change you from the image of Adam to the image of Christ.
-Christians of today call this concept "grace." It is hardly what the Bible means by grace.
+God is waiting for you to look to Him so He may begin the program of transforming you into His image. Believe His promises and they shall take place in your personality.
-Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: (Hebrews 12:28)
+Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
-According to the above verse, Divine grace is the ability whereby we are able to serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. This means to behave righteously. It is not scriptural to limit the meaning of grace to "forgiveness."
+Righteousness, that is, righteous behavior, may very well be the main topic of the entire Bible—Old and New Testaments.
-When people go to the altar, as in a Billy Graham meeting, they receive a real experience. They meet the Lord and their sins are washed away. But when they begin to attend church they are not always encouraged to keep on cultivating the Presence of the Lord, to follow the Spirit of God.
+Isaiah tells us that the nations are waiting to see a righteous Church so they can glorify God.
-Instead they are informed they have been saved (a one-time experience as it is presented) by "grace," that no one is perfect, that they will sin while they are in the world. However, they are not to worry because their salvation is a sovereign act of God that operates independently of their behavior.
+For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)
-Their main task now is to go out and save others. This is somewhat comparable to telling a baby still in the crib that its main task now is to go out and get more babies.
+And the Gentiles [nations] shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. (Isaiah 62:2)
-"We are saved by faith apart from works," it is maintained. The truth is, works are the life of faith. There is no such thing as an abstract faith.
+To be continued. [[Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . ., 4]]
-This massive deception (that righteous behavior is not an essential aspect of the Christian redemption) has produced a multitude of Christian churches composed of "believers" who are practicing all kinds of unclean behavior, who are still living in the malice and wickedness of the world, who have no intention of denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following the Lord Jesus wherever He may lead them.
-What they are being taught is almost unrelated to their salvation experience at the altar. Their salvation experience is real and of God. But it is supposed to be the entrance into the daily struggle to maintain the eternal life they have been given, not a formula for entrance into Paradise after their death.
-To be continued. [[Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . ., 3]]