Verse of the Day - Philippians 3:9

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. ~ Philippians 3:9 (NLT)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you probably adhere to a certain set of living standards, as set forth in God's word. God does call His children to holy living, "walking in the light", not satisfying "the deeds of the flesh", right? But I have a question for you: How much of your holy living are you ascribing to your own righteousness?

Let me clarify. Say you don't smoke. Never have, never will. Nor have you ever drank alcohol, and never will. And you are rather proud of that righteousness, deep down inside. Your other Christian friends have struggled over the years with these habits, but not you, boy! You have risen on the righteousness ladder a few rungs above them, haven't you? You feel pretty good about yourself, actually. Hmm...

Or say you serve at your church -- ALOT. You work in the church kitchen preparing meals for the homeless. You teach Sunday School. You sing in the choir. You read to the elderly at the convalescent home on Saturdays. Whew -- you are BUSY! And anyone that looked at your schedule would laud you for your efforts for God. "Now, there's a saint, if I ever saw one," they say about you. But Suzy, over there, only comes to church on Sundays, carrying her Bible, as if that gives her any points for righteousness. She's nobody around here. Hmm....

I have news...but it's not good on the righteousness meter. Pride is a sin, and all the pride of our own acts of "righteousness" cancel out any merit we may think we've earned. Because, you see, unless we are perfect in all things, we're not righteous. So our own attitudes have negated our actions. Bummer, huh?

That kind of leaves us in the toilet, because unfortunately, we might be able to do alot of righteous acts, but our sinful heart and mind get in the way all the time. (Jesus said if you hate your brother in your heart, you've murdered him; if you look at a person with lust, you've committed adultery. Wow.) So, what do we do? How do we attain righteousness, if not through good works and piety?

Jesus.

Only.

Always.

Forever.

His gift of salvation includes giving us His righteousness -- we are clothed in it, like getting a beautiful, warm coat around our shivering, naked bodies in the dead of winter. We are destitute in our sin, but Jesus is the fullness of righteousness and He gives it to us, who believe in Him. We can't earn it on our own, no matter how hard we try. We simply have to accept His righteousness as our own, and leave our own efforts by the wayside.

Our call to holy living, then, becomes a love offering to God for the gift of His righteousness to us, rather than payment for it. Sometimes you'll get things right, and sometimes you won't. You'll stand in the face of temptation one day, and fall down the next. But praise God, He doesn't cancel His righteousness because of our unrighteousness -- that is amazing grace, amen?!?

Come to God in all your nakedness, and accept the coat of Christ's righteousness.

Jesus.

Only.

Always.

Forever.

Love,
Joelene