Embedded Files
Imagine you are sitting in church on a Sunday morning and the first words that come from the pastor’s mouth are in the form of a question, directed toward you.
He looks at you and asks, “Your name, are you righteous?”
You can’t imagine why—out of all the people lining the pews that morning—he had to single you out.
You begin to turn red, recalling the argument you had with your wife this morning.
Not to mention the name you called the guy who cut you off in rush-hour traffic Friday afternoon on your way home from work.
Oh, and what about that movie you watched in your hotel room when you were away on a business trip last month?
Wishing you could just disappear, you shake your head no and hang it in shame.
And you’re secretly hoping this is just a bad dream you’re about to wake up from …
What about you dear reader?
What would you say if you were the one singled out?
If your answer is, “No, I’m not righteous,” then whatever you do, please don’t stop reading!
Get your Bible, grab your favorite beverage, and soak in the following words from your Beloved to you.
“My blameless one, there is a vast difference between the sweat that comes from trying to be good enough to earn right standing with Me and the sweet refreshment that results from trusting that you have already been made the ‘righteousness of God’ through faith in Me.”
“If you are still trying to achieve a works-based righteousness, rather than resting in your faith-based righteousness, you are walking in delusion.”
“I implore you to examine the truth that both ways of living are mutually exclusive.”
“No one will ever be made right with God by doing what the Law commands.”
“God’s righteousness has been revealed apart from the Law.”
“It is obtained through faith in Me.”
“I am the end of the ‘law for righteousness’ to everyone who believes in Me.”
“If you could have been made acceptable to Me through obeying the Law, then it was completely unnecessary for Me to die.”
“Think about that!”
“Whoever seeks to be righteous by following certain works of the Law actually falls under the curse of the Law.”
“Everyone who doesn’t live by and do all that is written in the Law is cursed.”
“If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.”
“If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.”
“When I speak of the new covenant, it means that I have made the first one obsolete.”
“It’s out of date.”
“Expired.”
“Now, tell Me, what do you do with something that has expired?”
“Something that has lost its effectiveness?”
“And might I remind you that the old covenant Law of Moses was given exclusively to the Israelites, not Gentiles?”
“The only covenant I have ever offered to Gentiles is the new covenant—the covenant of righteousness based on faith in Me alone.”
“Whether you are a Jewish or Gentile believer is of no matter to Me.”
“You are all one in My Spirit.”
“The law of the Spirit of life in Me has set you all free from the law of sin and death.”
“So don’t ‘sweat’ your new life in Me.”
“Instead, enjoy the sweet refreshment that comes from resting in My finished work on the cross.”
Today’s post is an excerpt from my book, Fifty Days in His Pursuing Love Devotional: Getting to Know the One Who Loved You First and Loves You Most.
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If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.
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