The gift of righteousness.

 BY Argie Simonis 

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" (Eph. 2:8)

One of the greatest revelations that will change our lives is to understand that we are saved by GRACE.

~~ God's word makes it clear to us that we do need to put faith on our part to receive the gift of God's grace, but this Grace alone is enough to save us and does not need supplements or additions. ~~

Let me clarify here that I am not referring to the law of sowing and reaping, nor to the effects that sin has on our lives. What I want to focus on is how someone can get to Heaven.

I am sure that those of you who accepted Jesus as Messiah and Savior into your life, the moment you did so you knew deep in your heart that you received something you did NOT deserve.

But 5 years later, maybe 10, maybe 20, I don't know, you just reached another level and

- you gained greater knowledge of the Scriptures,

- quit from bad habits,

- started talking better,

- behaving better and

- sinning less than you sinned before.

In other words, now that you have become a little, maybe a lot better, you have begun to believe that the Grace of God may finally need supplements, for example the addition of good works to be complete.

This is the error I will debunk, and if there are any remains of the mentality of works and legalism in you, be sure that they will manifest and you will react to what you read. But I promise you that if these truths are revealed to you, you will enjoy a life of joy, peace, gratitude, and thanksgiving like you have never experienced before!

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How many times as children did we misbehave and try to cover it up with an "innocent" lie? When our parents found out, did that mean they had to kick us out of the house or reject us as their children? Of course not.

Do you think God has a relationship with us because we do the right things? Or is it precisely because we ALREADY have a relationship with God that we can and do the right things?

"For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God." (Rom. 4:2)

"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." (Rom. 4:3)

-- 1. JUSTICE

Many believe that the righteousness referred to here is doing good deeds. Watch what the Biblical term for righteousness is:

~~ Righteousness is the state of a person being as he ought to be, in order to be acceptable to God.~~

Righteousness is what you want to be but are not, and what God made you to be. In other words, you were not justified by your own ability, but it was God's work. That means that the Lord justified us EXCLUSIVELY with His Grace. That is why in the verse we read it says that if Abraham could be justified by works he would have gloried.

~~ The marks from the nails on Christ's body testify that we neither deserve Heaven, nor do we earn it with our good works! That is why there is no room for boasting or pride.~~

"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)" (Rom. 5:17)

I'm sure we would ALL like to "reign in life". Do you know how we can achieve this? We just read it:

We receive the Grace and GIFT of righteousness which is trully given in abundance! In other words, those who reign in life are not the good performers, but the good receivers. Awesome!

Those who reign in life are not those who do the right things, but those who know how to receive Grace.

And those who receive the Grace of God, also receive the GIFT of righteousness.

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When we say that someone is righteous, it means that they primarily do the right things and make the right decisions.

The question is:

Is this person justified because he is righteous, or is he righteous (= doing the right things) because he has already been justified?

~~ The answer to this question will overturn every wrong theology you have been taught over the years. ~~

You are not justified because you do righteous works, but because God justifies you FREELY. There are Christians who believe in the Grace of God, but in their 99% of their faith comes the 1% that says

"Yes, the Grace of God, but..."

"Yes, I believe I am saved by Grace, but..."

Do you know what's going on here? The 1% of works and legalism mentality is 99% pride because your salvation continues to depend on you. If your salvation depended on you, you would have lost it long ago!

And this applies to all of us!

~~ Salvation can NOT be lost, because it is based on us, but it is the gift of God's Grace ~~.

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Heb. 13:5)

This gets better, because even when we fail in our faith, He is faithful:

"If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." (2Tim. 2:13)

"For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" (Rom. 3:3)

~~ The Old Testament was made between God and Moses. Moses  was then the mediator between God and man. It is very important to understand that God did not make the New Covenant with us, but with Himself.

"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1Tim. 2:5)

"Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1Tim. 2:6)

That is exactly why this New Testament cannot be canceled. ~~

Once you understand that Jesus is way much better at forgiving than you are, and that forgiveness is a GIFT, your life will change!

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-- 2. DID ABRAHAM EARN GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Here's what we ALL earn:

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6:23)

What we have ALL earned is death, because we have ALL sinned. This, of course, is not talking about natural death.

"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work." (Rom. 11:6)

In other words, what Paul is saying here is that if salvation is a wage, then it is not a gift. And if it is a gift, then it cannot be a wage, meaning it cannot be earned.

It's either one or the other. You can't have both at the same time. 

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

~~ This is the definition of Grace. Salvation is not a goal we strive to achieve, but a GIFT to receive, given to us freely. ~~

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3. WHAT SHOULD ABRAHAM DO?

He had to believe in order for righteousness to be imputed to him.

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" (John 6:28)

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:29)

"And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:" (John 16:8)

"Of sin, because they believe not on me;" (John 16:9)

This is the only sin that will send someone to hell. That is to reject the Savior who offers salvation!

I read Ephesians 2:8-10 again:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" (Eph. 2:8)

"Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:9)

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10)

~~ God wants us to do good works and He created us to do good works. In other words, we are NOT saved BY our good works, but TO do good works. Our good works are not the payment for our salvation, but the FRUIT of our salvation.

We don't do good works to be saved, but we WANT to do good works because WE ARE SAVED. ~~

We are justified before God not because we did anything right, but because Christ did what was right, and we believed in Him.

Do you know why our behavior and our ways change when we come to Jesus ? Because a transformation takes place inside us and we no longer want to do things we should not do but we used to do in the past:

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2Cor. 5:17)

When God justifies us, we remain justified even when we fail, because our righteousness is not based on our performance, but on what Jesus has done for us.

Amen!