I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Righteousness also known as uprightness, justice, blamelessness, is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven.
The Old Testament tells us that because of the sin of Adam, we, his descendants, have inherited his sinful nature.
The laws of God were clearly listed in the Ten Commandments as the standards to be met in order to be upright before God.
The Bible details in the Pentateuch , which is made up of the first 5 books of the Old Testament , especially in the book of Leviticus the long list of divine laws and rules regarding the appropriate preparations necessary for the cleansing and atoning rituals for sin, diseases , foods and drinks, clothing , family and community relationships and inter-racial relations and so on.
In this section of the Bible, the word sets out the divine rules and guidelines which must be met to qualify a person to become "righteous" before God and which God's people had to adhere to , strictly..
The laws of God were clearly listed in the Ten Commandments as the standards to be met in order to be upright before God.
The Bible details in the Pentateuch , which is made up of the first 5 books of the Old Testament , especially in the book of Leviticus the long list of divine laws and rules regarding the appropriate preparations necessary for the cleansing and atoning rituals for sin, diseases , foods and drinks, clothing , family and community relationships and inter-racial relations and so on.
In this section of the Bible, the word sets out the divine rules and guidelines which must be met to qualify a person to become "righteous" before God and which God's people had to adhere to , strictly..
These laws show the standards required about prayer , worship , cleansing, making right , atoning , restoring, sanctification, reconciliation.
The main reason for God's people's quest for righteousness is to please God enough for God to regard them as blameless .
Therefore people strive to please God by keeping His commandments .
But it is these same commandments which show us how far we fall short of God's very high standards.
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
(Romans 3:20, NIV).
The truth is that Faith in words cannot exist in isolation.
" For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" James 2: 26..
It is this aspect of "working out faith" which has made people to embrace the perception that the "proper" ways to express faith in God are by doing , saying or thinking of things which meet up with God's standard of righteousness
The main reason for God's people's quest for righteousness is to please God enough for God to regard them as blameless .
Therefore people strive to please God by keeping His commandments .
But it is these same commandments which show us how far we fall short of God's very high standards.
"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin."
(Romans 3:20, NIV).
Man's efforts to qualify to ascend to God's presence by works of self-righteousness, can be likened to Man's attempt to build the Tower of Babel .Genesis 11:4-9
Whenever humans attempt to set up physical and spiritual practices which are preached and practised as the " proper and acceptable " divine paths , or ladders ,ways and means to attain " God's righteousness" in order to gain qualifications to become acceptable to God,such attempts are efforts in futility and they have ended and will end , always , in chaos , failures and super-mega crashes .
" For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast ". Ephesians 2: 8, 9.
What this passage means is that no amount of works are enough to please God to make any man justified before God .
Our self-righteousness is not enough and would not get us to the place of acceptance by God.
" But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;" Isaiah 64:6.
Pertaining to qualifications necessary for receiving the righteousness of God , faith in God coupled with working out that faith are the necessary factors.
The Bible clearly states that human beings cannot achieve righteousness through their own efforts.
All mortal attempts to set up man-made standards for " God's righteousness" cannot endure because they are based on perversions of the infallible word of Almighty God.
What are God's standards to be met by Man in order to attain righteousness before God?
All mortal attempts to set up man-made standards for " God's righteousness" cannot endure because they are based on perversions of the infallible word of Almighty God.
What are God's standards to be met by Man in order to attain righteousness before God?
God set up a system in Old Testament times whereby people sacrificed animals to atone for their sins through the shedding of the blood of animals .
When Jesus entered the world, things changed.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10 : 4When Jesus entered the world, things changed.
Salvation through this crediting of righteousness is a free gift, which is the doctrine of Grace .
Salvation by grace , through faith in Jesus is the essence of Christianity. No other religion offers grace. They all require some type of works on behalf of their participants.
Efforts by Man to work out man's righteousness are distractions from the Salvation Plan of God .
These distractions are ploys by Satan to shift mankind's focus from the Lord Jesus and instead to focus attention on man's ability to save himself by setting up a "sanctification system" which is completely different from God's Salvation Plan.
What does God say pleases Him ?
"He [ God] shall see the trail of His soul and shall be SATISFIED :
by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for He shall bear their iniquities ". Isaiah 53 : 11.
Christ's cruxificion and resurrection satisfied God's justice.
Christ's shed blood not only atones for (covers ) humanity's sins, His blood was shed for the remission of our sins .This means His blood blotted away, washed and erased completely , every record of our sins .
No more sacrifices or works are required by any man .
As a Believer , what are your convictions about attaining God's righteousness ?
Beware of man-made standards which are the perversions of the word of God .
These are fallacies coated craftily with suitable scriptural references which are preached and upheld as "the God-given qualifications for men and women to become righteous ".
They are distractions from the Salvation Plan of God , which is the substance to make people to focus on self-righteousness which is the shadow.
The only solution to these distractions by perversions of the word of God is to accept AND believe God's plan of Salvation.
People , even some Christians who are the heirs of salvation through faith in Christ , have succumbed to all forms of distractions by attempting and then failing to reach God's standard of righteous through "self-help sanctification " methods forged from man-made doctrines about how to please God by saying , doing and thinking Godly stuff and trying to put up other forms of Godliness.
God's heart is accessed through faith in the gift of God expressed in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world.
People receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Christ, the sinless Son of God, took humanity's sin upon himself and became the willing, perfect sacrifice, suffering the punishment mankind deserved.
All we need do to please God is to comprehend , to believe and to live by the scriptures which teaches that :Salvation by grace , through faith in Jesus is the essence of Christianity. No other religion offers grace. They all require some type of works on behalf of their participants.
Efforts by Man to work out man's righteousness are distractions from the Salvation Plan of God .
These distractions are ploys by Satan to shift mankind's focus from the Lord Jesus and instead to focus attention on man's ability to save himself by setting up a "sanctification system" which is completely different from God's Salvation Plan.
What does God say pleases Him ?
"He [ God] shall see the trail of His soul and shall be SATISFIED :
by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many ; for He shall bear their iniquities ". Isaiah 53 : 11.
Christ's cruxificion and resurrection satisfied God's justice.
Christ's shed blood not only atones for (covers ) humanity's sins, His blood was shed for the remission of our sins .This means His blood blotted away, washed and erased completely , every record of our sins .
No more sacrifices or works are required by any man .
As a Believer , what are your convictions about attaining God's righteousness ?
Beware of man-made standards which are the perversions of the word of God .
These are fallacies coated craftily with suitable scriptural references which are preached and upheld as "the God-given qualifications for men and women to become righteous ".
They are distractions from the Salvation Plan of God , which is the substance to make people to focus on self-righteousness which is the shadow.
The only solution to these distractions by perversions of the word of God is to accept AND believe God's plan of Salvation.
People , even some Christians who are the heirs of salvation through faith in Christ , have succumbed to all forms of distractions by attempting and then failing to reach God's standard of righteous through "self-help sanctification " methods forged from man-made doctrines about how to please God by saying , doing and thinking Godly stuff and trying to put up other forms of Godliness.
Could be you are thumping your chests because you know you are " not like those other sinful men and women " because you think you can pray, fast , preach and give offerings , tithes and alms more than other people.
Maybe you are in the church daily and you are even meticulous in keeping ALL the 10 commandments and many more other religious laws .
" Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to MY righteousness, According to the cleanness of MY hands in His sight. " Psalm 18:24. ( Emphasis mine )
Passages like this are not only found in the Bible but they are expressed by millions of people today as their right to be qualified for justification before God because of their works and their offerings.
Maybe you are in the church daily and you are even meticulous in keeping ALL the 10 commandments and many more other religious laws .
" Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to MY righteousness, According to the cleanness of MY hands in His sight. " Psalm 18:24. ( Emphasis mine )
Passages like this are not only found in the Bible but they are expressed by millions of people today as their right to be qualified for justification before God because of their works and their offerings.
People receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. Christ, the sinless Son of God, took humanity's sin upon himself and became the willing, perfect sacrifice, suffering the punishment mankind deserved.
" For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast ". Ephesians 2: 8, 9.
What this passage means is that no amount of works are enough to please God to make any man justified before God .
Our self-righteousness is not enough and would not get us to the place of acceptance by God.
" But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;" Isaiah 64:6.
God-pleasing Faith is accepting , believing in and confessing God's standards for righteousness .
The truth is that Faith in words cannot exist in isolation.
" For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" James 2: 26..
It is this aspect of "working out faith" which has made people to embrace the perception that the "proper" ways to express faith in God are by doing , saying or thinking of things which meet up with God's standard of righteousness
Brethren, if all we need to do as Christians to enter heaven is to set up doctrinal standards of "righteous and sanctified works "; then what is the difference between us and Unbelievers ?
Then, of what importance is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ ?
" 20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Colossians 2 : 20-23 .
Faith is , simply, believing whatever God has said about Himself and what He said about anything even without seeing the physical manifestation / evidence . Hebrew 11: 1-3.
Faith bestows the grace and the righteousness of God upon any man who believes in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
"Without Faith it is impossible to please God ". Hebrew 11:6
God bless you as you accept and believe His word. Amen
Faith bestows the grace and the righteousness of God upon any man who believes in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
"Without Faith it is impossible to please God ". Hebrew 11:6
God bless you as you accept and believe His word. Amen
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