@everydaygodswill

Before the law: Genesis 15:6 NLT And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

During the law: Deuteronomy 6:25 NLT For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.

After the law: Romans 3:22 NLT We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

Righteous means right standing with God. Above, we see 3 types of righteousness: before the law, during the law, and after the law. Before the law, Abram believed God, and he was counted as righteous. After the law, people were counted as righteous for obeying all the commands of the Lord. After the sacrifice of Jesus, anyone who placed their faith in Jesus was made righteous.

There are some who attempt to be made righteous like Abram. They believe what God says about them. They believe God loves them and they’re a good person. The problem with this type of righteousness is that there’s no redemption. They have no Savior. They’re still separated from God because of their sinful nature (Rom. 8:8).

There are some who attempt to be made righteous by keeping the law. They believe their performance in keeping the law makes them righteous. Romans 3:20 says no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. No matter how many laws they keep, their sin makes them appear filthy in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).

Then there are those of us who have made Jesus Christ Lord. Our faith in His sacrifice for us, makes us righteous. No performance is necessary to receive this righteousness.

Our faith in what Jesus accomplished should be enough. However, there are still some believers who believe Jesus died for their sin, but they also think they need to keep the law to be fully accepted by God. For them, Jesus isn’t enough. They think they must do their part to be fully made righteous. The problem with this mentality is that as soon as they miss the mark (and they will), there’s feelings of guilt, shame, and condemnation. The burden to be made righteous is partially on them.  

Understand any righteousness before Christ is obsolete. We CANNOT be made righteous on our own, and any attempt from us to assist Jesus for our righteousness disrespects the sacrifice of Jesus.

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