2003-07-04
Good Morning Cherished Readers,
I am led to continue discussing who enters the Kingdom of Heaven from Christ’s words in the Sermon on the Mount. What He has to say in MT 5: 10 [KJV] is revealing. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the Kingdom of Heaven.” We’ve looked at the issues of humility, spiritual poverty, mercy, purity of heart, peacemaking, persecution, servanthood, the Refiner’s fire, and hypocrisy. Today, we will turn to the issue of righteousness.
While it might seem elementary to some of you, we must begin with how the Lord defines the word “righteousness.” We begin to get an idea of this from a part of Moses’ conversation with God in EX 33: 12-17. “’Now if You are [pleased with me], tell me Your plans, so that I may serve You and continue to please You. Remember also that You have chosen this nation [Israel] to be Your own.’ The Lord said, ‘I will go with you, and I will l give you victory’ Moses replied, ‘If You do not go with us, do not make us leave this place. How will anyone know that you are pleased with Your people and with me if You do not go with us? Your presence with us will distinguish us from any other people on the earth.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do just as you have asked, because I am pleased with you.’” This interchange reveals that what pleases God and can be said and done in His presence without His displeasure is acceptable to Him. Anyone who has studied the book of Exodus knows that EX 24: 7-11 outlines the covenant promises that were made between Jewish people and God (through Moses) after the Ten Commandments were received. This is the sealing of the Covenant of the Law, and its purpose is discussed in RO 7: 7. “Shall we say, then, that the law itself is sinful? Of course not! But it was the Law that made me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, ‘Do not desire what belongs to someone else,’ I would not have known such as desire.” Therefore, it is appropriate to define righteousness as thinking and acting in a way which is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.
The Lord didn’t just leave it there. He shares, through the OT prophets and the writers of the NT, all kinds of stories about people whom the Lord deemed righteous. The very first one is Abram [later Abraham] in GN 15: 6, “Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.” RO 4: 3 and GA 3: 6 reiterate this important fact. From the citation in EX 33 above, we know that Moses was deemed righteous too. Job is also deemed righteous by the Lord. JOB 1: 8 [God speaking to Satan], “’Did you notice My servant, Job?’ the Lord asked. ‘There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is. He worships Me and is careful not to do anything evil.’” Daniel is esteemed by the Lord, as we see in the chief messenger angel, Gabriel’s, words in DN 10: 11-12. Daniel had been mourning and praying for 21 days before this answer came. “The angel said to me, ‘Daniel God holds you in high esteem. Stand up and listen carefully to what I am going to say. I have been sent to you.’ When he had said this, I stood up, still trembling. Then he [Gabriel] said, ‘Daniel, do not be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in to answer your prayer.’”
It is clear that many other OT figures were deemed righteous by God in addition to these.
Our understanding of the New Covenant first prophesied in JER 31: 31-34, needs to be solid. Boiling it down to its bear bones essence we may say: FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. It is through Christ’s Atonement on the cross that salvation is made possible for those willing to repent and come to faith in Him. Why is this possible? Because it is through God’s grace [undeserved merit]. That is why we can say that when a person comes to faith, he is justified. That means deemed acceptable to God, that God has imputed His righteousness to that believer’s account. While the old covenant couldn’t provide salvation, it provided a means to know what is acceptable to God and what isn’t. When the new covenant, the Covenant of Grace, was sealed with Christ’s blood [1 COR 11: 25], we now had a way to be deemed righteous by God and to be justified. It is at that time that God gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to indwell within us. We also became God adopted children. RO 8: 14-17, “Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you salves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Abba! My Abba!’ God’s Spirit joins Himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children. Since we are His children, we will possess the blessings He keeps for His people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for Him; for if we share in Christ’s suffering, we will also share His glory.” Please join me in saying, “Hallelujah,” which means “Praise the Lord!”
PRAYER: O Lord, every true believer desires to inherit Your Kingdom and to rule it as joint-heirs with our Messiah Jesus Christ. The road to this great reward is not easy; You have told us that [MT 7: 13-14]. However, You have never commanded us to live any lifestyle that is impossible for us. In Your profound compassion, You equip us to be able to obey any command You give us. The tests that You allow us to have are designed to further our sanctification if we endure in our faith through them. In 1 COR 10: 13, You have told us that we will never have a trial that we cannot endure if our faith remains strong, and that in Christ we have been given a way out of certain death. We also know that not everyone who calls to You will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. MT 7: 21, “Not everyone who calls Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what My Father in heaven wants them to do.” Our obedient and trusting faith from beginning to end is required, as it should be. Nothing with the stain of sin still on it will enter the Kingdom. REV 21: 6b-8, “To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. Whoever wins the victory will receive this from Me: I will be his God, and he will be My son. But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who worship idols, and all liars-the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Acting on the righteousness You have given us, Dearest Abba, is a major goal for us. We pledge to stop and ask: What would Jesus do? This is what we will do before making any decision, taking any stand, and engaging in any action. We also confess that we are sinners, with utter dependency on You. We are sinners who will take the time to search for even the most subtle sin in our lives and expunge it. To this end, we dedicate ourselves to daily study of Your Word, to searching out Your awesome attributes and valiant deeds in them, to praying often and listening to Your commands, to seeking Your wisdom in our lives, to fellowshipping with other believers, to being involved with activities that build our faith and that of others, and to learning the lessons You have for us through the circumstances of our lives. One more pledge that we make, Lord: we promise to witness to others the precious faith You have given us, so that they too can be led to the place where the Holy Spirit brings them from future death to life eternal. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Beginning with next week’s message, we will look into the question: Will it be the same for all in the Kingdom of Heaven. We’ll see what our Lord has to say on this intriguing topic. In the meanwhile, we can’t help but see the great compassion, patience, and love our Lord has for all God’s children. We will never know ahead of time which unsaved person, to whom we will witness, will come to faith. That is the Lord’s business. But, Christ’s Great Command [MT 28: 19-20] has made it clear that His will is for us to share our faith with others. It also contains a powerfully important promise. “I will be with you always to the end of an age.” We are not alone, Dear Ones. Our Lord Jesus is with us everywhere we go, every day of our lives. What a loving comfort that is! We don’t face any test or ever witness without His loving presence. We need not feel ashamed or shy about sharing our faith, because if we pray to Him, He will give us the right words to say. Remember JN 15: 7, “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish and you shall have it.” This applies to anything we do that is righteous in God’s eyes. What greater comfort can there be?
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn