Man I just couldn't help myself......but look at those little mitts in the background just waiting for me to step away from that fruit!!....moving on........
I wanted to share what the Lord has had me on this week....Righteousness.... I've been reading Paul's epistles for a while now (currently in Galatians) and am starting to get the bigger picture of what righteousness really is....Rylan was watching Veggie tales and they asked what the word meant and went on to say that it is "doing what is RIGHT"...even the web definition of the word is "morally upright, without sin or guilt".....this is what we tell kids when we are trying to explain in sunday school.... "Do what is right and you will please God"...Now hear me out for a sec because absolutely do I want to do right and want to teach my boys what's right, that's how we show love for God, to obey His commands....but for so many years, I felt like righteousness was a distant hope and dream because of my susceptibility to failure...sin...guilt....flesh....
In Romans 3 it says that there is no one righteous, not one and we know that because it says that we are ALL sinners...then it goes on to say but there IS a righteousness from God, apart from the law, the righteousness from God comes through FAITH in Christ Jesus to all who BELIEVE...it continues on to talk about Abraham and that he believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and that all those who believe are children of Abraham and sons of God!!! (galatians 3:29 says - if you belong to christ, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
Paul knew his crowd and knew that he was dealing with a lot of people that still didn't realize that salvation came through grace, by faith....they were still relying on the law...he says in Gal 1:10 that all who rely on the law are cursed but Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us ....3:23 says before faith came we were held prisoners by the law and now that faith has come, we are no longer under supervision of the law...Isn't it funny how Abe believed and that was how he was righteous.....that was WAY before Christ!!!.....God never intended the law (what WE do)...to redeem us, but only to point out sin until Christ came to pay for our sin.. Rom 8:2-through christ jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.....
If we could be justified by observing the law then we could take credit and say "I am good, I am righteous"...I know fully that God wants us to obey the law but not in a way that I used to think- be good or else!.....He wants us to obey his commands because we LOVE Him, not because we are trying to gain personal holiness...He wants us to live in the freedom of the Spirit..BELIEVING the Lord for who He is and believing in His promises...that's what Abe did...he believed the Lord when He told him that he and his wife were going to have a baby at a very old age and that he was going to be the father of many nations....... I also looked at the passage in James that says the prayer of a righteous man is both powerful and effective and it's in the context of praying over sick people in the church and praying IN FAITH that they would be well.....
Makes me want to STOP claiming EVERYTHING because I am nothing without the Lord....makes me want to stop measuring my right standing with God by what I"VE BEEN DOING OR NOT DOING and want to BELIEVE the Lord by FAITH through GRACE and continue to be blown away by His greatness...once we start believing the Lord like that, our lives actually start to be more "upright" than ever and the thing is...we didn't even try... I think that's how He intended it or He wouldn't have died for us why we were still sinners, he would have said "Start doing what's RIGHT first...and then I will save you".....
Alright...one more pic cause I just can't stand it....we have this hanging in our living room to remind us to simply JUST BELIEVE THE LORD....and that's IT!!!
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