God's righteousness is essential!!

plain_me

I heve been led to study this subject & my plan was to take this message to those that believe that in order to get to Heaven, we have to perform certain rituals & works of righteousness. In other religions, even some that claim to be Christians, there is a misconception that we can have something to do with our salvation other than trusting God, therefore putting our faith in Him.

I hope that this clears up some of those misconceptions, and if you disagree with what I've wrote, I hope you will voice that opinion, but if you agree, please voice that as well.

This is the order that these came to me, so please excuse the abruptness.

Titus 3:5-Not according to righteousness' we have cone, but according to His mercy HE saved us.

Isaiah 64:6-...our righteousness' are as filthy rags

The best possible acts that we can perform are still under God's feet. What we think of as "righteousness" coming from us, is not on the same level as God's righteousness, and therefore, cannot achieve the justification we need before Him.

Romans 10:3- For they being ignorant of GOD'S righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
10:4-For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth

Galatians 3:3- Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

Everyone needs to realize that the good works and acts of human righteousness will never be good enough in His sight. Never. We need to realize that we can never achieve this unattainable holiness and submit to God, ask Him for forgiveness, and ask for the pardon that is freely given through faith in Jesus Christ amd His atoning death. By faith.

Romans 10:9- ...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 3:21- But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Romans 8:1- There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Ultimately, we have come to a point where we realize that we are not going to be able to "work" our way into Heaven.

Jesus said:
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The gift of salvation is by grace, meaning unmerited favor.

But...
Romans 4:4- ...to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

And keep in mind...
Romans 3:20- ...by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight

Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, ...we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

This ia an unfinished thought, but since it is so long already, and I would like to have feedback, I'll leave you all with this.

I hope that we can have a productive discussion based on Biblical views, and God willing, some minds transformed by the truths that the Holy Spirit will guide us into through our study in His word.
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...take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
Luke 12:11, 12

christina · Cobra Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 456

lone-traveler · Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:42 am Post subject:

One of the other things that God asks us to do is to fast. I have been studying this and I found this:

Is:58:5: Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
Is:58:6: Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is:58:7: Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Is:58:8: Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
Is:58:9: Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
Is:58:10: And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
Is:58:11: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Is:58:12: And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Is:58:13: If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Is:58:14: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

I would like you to notice in the first line, verse 5, that God says is it
A Day to afflict ones soul.

Notice the following verse:

Lv:16:31: It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.

man was created in a day. yet we don't go away on the next day. we are still here every day.

If you compare a sabbath day with a fast day, I do not believe God is talking about 1- 24 hour period of a mans life. But the whole day of man.

Jesus fasted for 40 days, and Moses too, and others.
Now 40 in the old testament can refer to a whole generation. 40 years in the wilderness, 40 days in the wilderness, 40 days in mt. sinai.

I do not believe that a day with the Lord is always a 24 hour period of time, but can mean a whole lifetime.

there are 2 kinds of works.
The works I do for myself, and the works God gives me to do.

The works I do for myself, self gain, self- rightousness, they are vanity and useless.

The works God gives me to do, have love one towards another, be patient and kind, be a cheerful giver, these are those works that he is pleased with.

and plain_me, you are right, for without God's spirit we would never be able to please God of ourselves, but through Him alone are all things possible.

Lone
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Joh 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

thunder · Lion King Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 1222

When faced with ... a similar concern, Peter was asked," what shall we do? Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:38

Later, John preached," and now little children, abide in Him ( Christ ) so that when He appears, we will have confidence that by our obedience, He is not ashamed of us. When you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices the same righteousness is born again of Him." 1 John 2:27, 28

" And every one who has this hope in Him purifies him or her self, just as He is pure." 1 John 3:3

" Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement, because so as He is righteous, we are like wise in this world, by Him.
' There is no fear in love. Perfect love displaces fear. True love has no place for fear, because fear is related to torment and plague like suffering. The person experiencing fear has not been made perfect by Christ, because Christ is perfect love.

Before we can truly love Christ or anyone else, we must be baptised with the same love that He had for us before He went to the cross. Only when we are willing to give all to God are we made able to love with true love.

That love is powerful and is the love with which He loves us.' 1John 4:17-19

If true love sounds like ritual behavior, then so be it. For us, true love begins at the cross of Christ then procedes into every aspect of our life and touches absolutley everyone who meets us, hears us or knows us.

Not because we are self righteous, holier than thou or beat them down with doctrines of holiness, but because we never forget that we can only be saved by the blood of an innocent man who loved us and went to the cross for us, knowing that our sins could only be cleansed by His act of sacrifice before God.

Our knowing that and remembering that always drives us to a submitted life and others see it in us. In so doing, others see Christ in us and respect Him by our behavior in that, His righteousness shines from within us and becomes HIS light into the world.

thunder
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Submit to God in Christ

RevJP · Moderator Joined: 18 Apr 2003 Posts: 7005 Location: USA

There is none righteous, no not one.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Seems to me that anything we do is futile, it is of Jesus, and Him alone that we obtain righteousness. The thought that we could do anything to be seen righteous in the eyes of God is self-focused folly. Self-righteousness.
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JP's Mind - my blog

Star · Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:39 pm Post subject:

That was beautifully put Thunder, Amen. Abide in Him and only in Him are we fruitful. The power of Gods grace and the life of Christ (Our righteousness) born of love lives.

Without Him or abiding in Him we can do nothing, but in and through Him we become His workmanship. All Him The Vine and the Fruit of His life within us unto perfection, the love of God manisfested. Showing yourselves as my disciples, known by their love for one another. The fruit of Him who we love. Very Happy

To become a partaker of His divine nature Very Happy

Bless His name
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God love ya In Him Starlaa

Star · Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 3:46 pm Post subject:

Great post Plain me Very Happy

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God love ya In Him Starlaa