By Christ's Righteousness Alone

" The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.
 So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. 
And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins " . 
Romans 8 : 3. NLT

God gave His people through Moses instructions and laws regarding the acceptable ceremonial sacrifices for their repentance, proper cleansing, sanctification and for their purification.
 Rejection of God and the rejection and disobedience of His laws is SIN.
The law of God states that " The soul that sinneth, it shall die ..." Ezekiel 18: 20.
 In order to pacify God, the sinners had to make atonement  for their sins through the shedding of blood which was mandatory for the purging and forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 
Every time they sinned, people had to come to the temple to do ceremonial rituals of cleansing and forgiveness which they were told would make them qualified to become  righteousness before God. 
These rituals had to be performed each and every time by the priests on behalf of sinners as atonement for every sin.They entailed offerings of blood sacrifices for sins through the shedding of the blood of "clean and spotless" animals.
 Leviticus 14:19-20.
Apart from individuals offering sin offerings , the ceremonial laws stated that occasionally , the High Priest  must present blood sacrifices at the altar as national sin offerings on behalf of all the people, in order to take away their collective sin as a nation. Leviticus 4 : 13-21.
These rituals of ending blood sacrifices for sin were burdensome ; and they were not fit for the purpose of permanent remission of sin. 

This was the situation before Christ came to the earth .
Then a more excellent way for the remission of sins was presented to mankind through God's salvation plan  .
God's Salvation Plan was completed and perfected through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Son of God ,whose blood was shed on the cross as the perfect sacrifice once and for all , for the redemption of mankind.

1" But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)  
^12.he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption". 
Hebrew 9 : 11- 12.
God's Salvation plan was born out of God's mercy ,His  love  and grace.
God knew that all man's sacrifices and continuous efforts to make amends for sin could not save man neither could these bestow  mankind with His righteousness.
 Man needed a saviour to stand as the Mediator between sinful man and the wrath of God.

The Mediator who would qualify to do that had  to be sinless and had to be acceptable  to God as a perfect sacrifice for the remission of sins .

Who else qualified for such a huge task than the Jesus Christ the son of God , the spotless lamb of God chosen from the foundation of the world ? 1 Peter 1: 18 -21.
Jesus , came to the earth in human form but He was born without the Adamic seed of sin .John 1:13,14.
But He was made sin for our sakes.  
" For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 
2 Corinthians 5 : 21.
 Therefore Jesus Christ , no man else , qualified  to bear the sins of the world as the sacrificial lamb slain for sinners' sake. , Hebrew 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21
 God saw the sacrifice of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross and God was satisfied and His wrath towards the sinner was pacified. Isaiah 53:10, 11.
God accepted Christ's sacrifice as the perfect offering for the sins of the world.  

"It is finished!" 
After those words were uttered by Christ ,He died on the cross, accomplishing His redemptive mission to the world.  
Christ's sacrifice, once and for all, brought to an end the necessity for all man's efforts and endless works through which no man could achieve God's righteousness and holiness.
  Christ's sacrifice tells us that because "It is finished !", all human reliance on works of outward public shows of penance by putting on ashes and sackcloth , by performing ceremonies of unending animal blood sacrifices , alms giving and all sorts of " holy offerings"are unnecessary.
 Ali works which were supposed to buy God's forgiveness and acceptance, have been rendered  "not fit  for purpose"!, because "It is finished!"

Jesus has paid the price for all sin, for all infirmities, curses, afflictions and oppressions.
Our salvation was perfected  by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All that is required from all humans for us to accept God's love and obey Him by believing that Jesus died and resurrected for us that we might live eternally.
^" Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; " Hebrew 5:8-9.
Belief in salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved ; there is no other way to please God.
"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. 
No one can come to the Father except through me ".
John 14:6.(NLT )
  God's salvation is offered to you full and free.
Today, now ,is your day of salvation.
Please, make a definite confession of faith and acceptance of Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour  . 
Do not delay  to accept God's love  and mercy ; the alternative  to rejecting Jesus Christ  is to choose to qualify  for the wrath of God .

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36.

Maybe you have accepted Jesus some time in the past , but  since then you have gone back to trying to please God by your own methods of  attaining " righteousness ". 
Now is the time  to abandon doing it your own way and to believe in God's own perfect way through Jesus Christ. 
There is no alternative , no other way to become righteous before God , no other way to Heaven except through Jesus Christ the son of God.
God bless you as you obey His Word . Amen .
" ⁸ But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
⁹ That 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 ". Romans 10: 8 -12.

Distractions by Perversions

Galatians 2:21

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..

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).

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 .

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?

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 : 4

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.

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.

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 :
" 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 .

Pertaining to qualifications necessary for receiving the righteousness of God , faith in God coupled with working out that faith are the necessary factors.
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