Be Righteous In Christ

Charles H. Spurgeon testified, "My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, HE is my righteousness."

Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ receive the gift of God's righteousness. When you believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you "become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is the imputed righteousness of God in Christ, accounted  to every believer. Be righteous by faith in Christ.

"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). We receive the imputed righteousness of God in Christ. It is the gift of God received by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are accounted righteous by God in Christ.

How did Abraham become righteous? He was righteous by faith in the Lord. He received God's imputed righteousness by faith. Abraham is our example three times in the New Testament on how to receive God's righteousness (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23)."And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6). 

How Jesus Saves

"We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves. Jesus saves!" Those words from an old hymn are true forever, because Jesus our risen Lord lives to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him (Hebrews 7:25). Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are saved (Acts 16:31). How does Jesus save us?

Jesus saves from the curse of sin unto the blessing of God. Jesus took the place of sinners, when he died on the cross in our place. All have sinned and all are under the curse of sin (Romans 3:23). To be cursed is to be cut off from the blessings of God and marked for destruction. In his humanity, Jesus was cut off from God the Father at the cross for our sins. He cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46).

Jesus saves from death unto life eternal. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). The Bible mentions two types of death. The first death is physical death. We all must die, but Jesus our Lord will raise us from the dead in glorified bodies like unto that of our risen Lord. The second death is for those who are not saved. They are cast into the lake of fire, at the great white throne judgement (Rev. 20:14-15).

Jesus saves from sin unto righteousness. Our sins are no longer counted against us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins are imputed to Christ at the cross. In exchange for our sins, the righteousness of Christ is placed upon our account (2 Corinthians 5:21). We give him our sins at the cross. He gives us his righteousness. That's how Jesus saves.

God's Will in Prayer

Charles Spurgeon said,"When your will is God's will, you will have your will." Spurgeon understood that true prayer submits to God's will. Your key to prayer says to God, "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

Prayer seeks the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). Trying to manipulate God in prayer to have it our way is wrong. Seeking a formula in prayer to always get what you want becomes sin. It misses the mark concerning God's good will. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:3).

Prayer is asking the will of God be done according to the Bible. Holy Scripture is God's revealed will. Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us. And if we know he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

Prayer is asking God's will be done to God's glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). He does all things to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). When your will becomes God's will, you desire the glory of God above all else (John 11:40). Answered prayer submits to God's will and glory in all things. 

God Transforms Us

God transforms us by the renewing of the mind. Then, you are no longer conformed to this world. Only God's Spirit is able to transform your mind in Christ. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"(Romans 12:2). 

God transforms us through new creation in Jesus Christ our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are enabled to understand the will of God in Christ. Your renewed mind understands the will of God in the Bible. Your transformed mind refuses to be conformed to the world of unbelief. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 2:5).

God transforms us by the Holy Spirit. We are able to read the Bible with understanding. The Bible is now more than old stories of people who lived long ago. It's like a new book, because your mind is renewed. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the authors of the Bible, is now continuing to renew your mind through the word of truth in the Bible.

God transforms us to understand spiritual things. "By faith we understand"(Hebrews 11:3). The spiritual man, unlike the natural man, can understand the things of God. "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:14). By the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, your mind is transformed.

God's Mercy for You

God's mercy for you is at the cross of Jesus. God's mercy has the final word over judgment. "Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13). At the judgment throne of God do you want justice or mercy? If we are without sin, we should demand justice. However, no one is without sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sinners receive mercy at the cross of Jesus.

God's mercy for you triumphs over judgment at the cross. God's judgment was placed upon Jesus at the cross for the believer's sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). In your place, Jesus was judged for your sins. Justice was served, that God could be both just and merciful to sinners. 

Justice was fully paid for our sins at the cross of Jesus. God is both just and merciful to sinners like you and me. In Christ crucified, God's mercy triumphs over judgment, "that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). 

God's mercy for you is at the cross of Jesus. His justice bends to no one. His justice must prevail in all things. Mercy triumphs over judgment only at the cross of Jesus. For believers in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, mercy triumphs over judgment. That's the gospel of Christ. Mercy triumphs over judgment in Christ crucified and risen from the dead. God's mercy is for sinners at the cross of Jesus.

Jesus Is Our Surety

"Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant" (Hebrews 7:22). A surety is a guarantee. In Bible days, the word surety was used to describe someone who guaranteed another person's debt would be paid. All of us have a sin debt to God. Believe the good news. Jesus paid it all. Jesus is our covenant surety.

We all have a sin debt to God. We have broken God's law. Our conscience testifies as much. Our salvation is sure, when Jesus is our guarantee. Believers look to the cross of Jesus, where He died in our place. Our sin debt to God's justice was paid, not in part but the whole. We are free from a debt that we could never repay. Jesus paid it all.

Jesus is our surety of God's covenant promises. In the new covenant, God makes four promises to every believer, guaranteed through Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13). These promises are: (1) God will put His laws in our hearts; (2) God will be our God and we are His people; (3) We will all know the LORD; (4) God will forgive our sins and remember them no more.

Jesus is our surety of salvation in the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is risen from the dead for our justification. We are children of God by faith in the Lord Jesus (Galatians 3:26). Jesus intercedes for believers, that the Father will "keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15). This is the present day ministry of Jesus, as every believer's High Priest (Hebrews 7:20-25). Jesus shall return to glorify all who believe in him (1 John 3:2). Jesus is our guarantee of complete salvation.

How God Is Good

The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:9). God is good in creating all. He made us and gave us life with every breath and heartbeat. He sends rain and fruitful seasons to sustain all.  He put us in a world where the heavens and earth declare His glory. For the LORD is good (Psalm 100:5). God's common grace is good to all.

God is good to all who will repent. The goodness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). When we repent, we change our minds about sin and evil. We know that we can really trust God, because we know that He is always working for good. We trust the goodness of God in our lives. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him (Psalm 34:8).

God is good to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust God's goodness through the Holy Spirit working in you. But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . goodness (Galatians 5:22). God's Spirit bears the fruit of goodness in all believers. Give Him all the glory, because God is working for good in your life.

God is good to all who love Him. For those who love God, He is working all things together for good. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). That does not mean bad things can never happen to us. It does mean that we can trust God to work all things together for our good, according to His purpose.