Be Justified by God

Charles Spurgeon explained, "Understand that the only people who can be justified by God are those who do not attempt to justify themselves. Realize that you need God to make you just; He is the One who will enable you to stand before His judgement seat in the righteousness that only Christ can provide for you."

Be justified by God's grace through faith in Christ. Grace is the gift of God. Let us be clear, faith itself does not merit the gift but only receives it. Faith is trusting or relying upon the righteousness of Christ, and Christ alone.

Be justified by God at the cross of Jesus. All our sins are taken away. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Believers receive the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). The gospel exchanges our sins for the righteousness of Christ.

Be justified by God through faith in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God raised Jesus from the dead to justify every believer (Romans 4:24-25; 10:9). Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proves the gospel, that God justifies believers at the cross. 

Be justified by God through faith in Christ alone (Galatians 2:21). Christ is the believer's justification. Grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God. It is unmerited on our part, because it is based upon the merits of Christ alone.

The Gifts of the Spirit

"And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). These gifts of the Holy Spirit are real in the lives of those who have a personal relationship with God in Christ. That's how you know that God's Spirit is in you. 

These abiding gifts are evidence that the Holy Spirit is in you. The Holy Spirit enables your faith in Christ. He gives you hope in Christ for the future. He fills you with the love of Christ. His love works in your heart, that is your mind, will, and emotions.

Faith, hope, and love in Jesus Christ is sure evidence that the Holy Spirit is in your life. Abiding faith is your bond with Christ. Hope in Christ is your assurance of eternal life. The love of Christ in you is the greatest evidence of all, because "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16). 

If God's Spirit is in you, then you can know now, and you can know for sure. Three simple questions will tell you the truth. First, do you have faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ? Secondly, do you have the hope of eternal life in Christ? Most importantly, do you know the love of God in your heart, causing you to love the Lord and others?

Know God's Will

The mystery of God's will is revealed, "having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself" (Ephesians 1:9). God's will is revealed in the Bible (Romans 12:2). The word of God is the will of God for you.

Know God's will is good. As a believer you can say, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6). Believe in God's goodness. Because God's revealed will is good, "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). God's will for you is His good purpose.

Know God's will in Christ. God's will is love, mercy, grace, and truth in Christ. Jesus came into this world to do God the Father's will in word and deed. "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him" (Acts 10:38). God's will for us is good in Christ.

Know God's will through the Holy Spirit. God's will is in the fruit of the Spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). That's God's revealed will working in you by the Holy Spirit, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

God's Grace in You

God's grace is his good work in you (Philippians 1:6). God continues to work in you to do his good will (Philippians 2:13). Grace is sufficient for your every need. Law can tell you what you ought to be; only grace can make you what you need to be.

God's grace is in you through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). That faith is in the power of God saving you through the gospel of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Grace is the workmanship of God in your life through the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:10). God will continue working in you by faith in Christ.

God's grace to you is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). Grace is far more than a theological term or a religious song. Grace is about God Himself. He is the God of all grace. His grace is undeserved favor that you can never earn nor merit. We all fall short of God's glory, but God will work in you to the glory of God (Romans 3:23; Ephesians 1:12-14).

God's grace delivers you from unbelief unto faith in Christ. Grace finds you helpless and gives you hope. Grace brings you to Christ. God's grace in Christ cannot be bought, earned, nor deserved. Grace is unmerited favor from God through Jesus Christ. "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). Jesus our Lord is the fullness of God's grace working in you. 

How Your Faith Grows

Dwight L. Moody wrote, "I prayed for faith, and thought that some day faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, 'Now faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God'. I had closed my Bible, and prayed for faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since." 

Faith comes to you as a gift from God. It is one of the three abiding gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). Dwight Moody knew how the gift of faith comes to us. "So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). 

The Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God. The same Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to bring faith to you in our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us preach and share the Word of God, that others may come to faith in Christ. We pray for those who are not believers, but we must do more. They must hear the Word of God. 

Moody discovered that faith grows stronger as he studied the Word of God. He testified, "I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since." If you want to grow in faith, the Bible tells you what to do. To pray for stronger faith and neglect Bible study will not work. Through the Holy Spirit, your faith grows in the Word of God.

Does God Love You?

Unbelief says, How can anyone believe in love, when we see so much hatred in this world? Faith says, I believe in love, because I believe in God. The Bible says, God is love (1 John 4:8). How does God love you? He loves you through the words of truth in your Bible.

God loves you through His Son. But, you may say, How could God love me? I'm not worthy of His love. God loves sinners, and He proves it at the cross of Jesus. God loves you, because God is love. It's not about who you are. It's about who God is. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

God loves you through the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can make the love of God a real experience in your heart. People may hear about the love of God, read about it in the Bible, and hear songs about it, without ever experiencing God's love. God's great love for you only becomes real when you experience it in your heart. The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5).

God loves you through others. That includes parents and family, friends and church. It is also God's will to love others through you. Jesus said, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another (John 13:35). We may experience God loves you through others, and others may experience God's love through you.

Believers Are Righteous

Righteousness is God's gift in Christ to believers. Upon trusting in Christ,  believers are accounted righteous through our Savior and Lord. It's known as imputed righteousness. Through faith in Christ, you are accounted righteous before God. It is never self-righteousness, but the righteousness of God in Christ.

Believers are righteous by faith in the gospel of Christ. The apostle Paul speaks of the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Martin Luther called it the great exchange. Christ takes away our sin and gives us His righteousness.

Believers are righteous by faith in Christ alone. The Christian life can never be based upon our self-righteousness, which is as filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). To the contrary, you give up your self-righteousness, and become righteous before God in Christ alone. Christ gives us perfect righteousness from God. Simply stated, believers are righteous in Christ alone.

Believers are accounted righteous in Christ alone. Our sins are imputed to Christ as our sacrifice for sin at the cross. His righteousness is credited to us by faith alone. There is only one way we can be righteous with God. We are the righteousness of God by faith in Christ alone.