WALK IN RIGHTEOUSNESS

“…present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as INSTRUMENTS of RIGHTEOUSNESS to God” – Romans 6:13

To walk in perfection is to WALK IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as INSTRUMENTS of RIGHTEOUSNESS to God” (Rom.6:13). Righteousness is the gift and nature of God in you that produces the rightness of God (Rom.5:17). It enables you to stand in God’s Presence without any sense of guilt, inferiority or condemnation, and to do right and fulfil the Father’s will. God is always right; it’s His nature to be right. That nature is at work in the believer. Christianity is a Walk in Righteousness. In God’s Kingdom, we STAND and WALK, and do WORKS of righteousness.

Righteousness gives right standing with God, and the ability to do right: a position, walk, and works of righteousness. Without the position, the walk and works would be null and void. Romans 3:10b says: “There is none righteous, no, not one.”  That’s why Jesus came into the world: to make a righteous creation out of unrighteous humanity: a ‘nation’ of the redeemed from diverse nations and languages. Jesus died once and rose from the dead, so that every human being who hitherto was unrighteous could believe in Him and become righteous. He came to make saints out of sinners; hence the writers of the epistles addressed their Christian audiences thus: “all that are in Rome…called to be saints” or “the saints which are at Ephesus” (Rom.1:7a; Eph.1:1b). So, Jesus not only made us free from sin, but has made us saints as well!

Jesus, who never sinned, became sin at the cross: “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa.53:6). How amazing! And, the moment you put your trust in Him, God views you as “righteous”: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Cor.5:21). That does not mean you have no faults or flaws. It simply means that God has chosen to see you as being “in Christ,” making you always acceptable to Him. It takes faith to believe that God sees you as righteous; and that faith doesn’t come by assessing yourself or evaluating your performance or you would have been utterly discouraged. The “Righteousness of faith” comes from Jesus (Rom.4:13; Phil.3:9). Faith for righteousness comes by “looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith…” (Heb.12:2).

You are saved by HIS performance – not yours (Eph.2:8-9). The more you look to Jesus and consider His finished work for you on the cross, the greater your faith will be to: believe that all your sins are truly forgiven and see yourself positioned “in Christ.” This will motivate you to become more Christ-like in all aspects of life. Jesus declared on the cross, “It is finished” (Jh.19:30). The struggle and toiling to live right were over; the futile efforts of trying to be righteous by our own good works were ended (Tit.3:5). With the gift of righteousness bequeathed to us through His death, an intimate relationship with God is possible, and the power to do right and reign in life (Rom.5:17).  We are no longer ruled by the law (Gal.5:1,13). We’ve crossed from the bondage of sin into “the glorious liberty of the children of God” – from death into life (Rom.8:21; 1Jh.3:14).

Upon the finished work of redemption, the believer’s lifestyle ought to now reflect “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Rom.14:17). We are to “awake to righteousness” (1Cor.15:34) and “follow after righteousness” (1Tim.6:11; 2Tim.2:22). Walking in righteousness is walking in dominion: “In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression; for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you” (Isa.54:14). Yet, walking in righteousness often invites persecution rather than appreciation (Mt.5:10). So, you must decide to never compromise, but maintain your stand in Christ. You’re the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It is your calling to walk in righteousness, regardless of the pressures or persecution!