Lift Your Head UpSample

Righteousness

The gospel of Jesus Christ is called the good news because it brings life. Before He came to redeem us by dying for our sins, we were dead in our trespasses. We had to obey our human flesh. We had no way to overcome temptation. We were slaves to sin, and there was no way around it. But God, because of His great love for us, saved us from living separated from Him. At the cross, God provided a way for us to die to our old sinful nature. He made us alive with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:4–6). The Lord clothed us with a robe of righteousness.

The work of salvation is God’s work. Sin separated us from Him, but He made a way to redeem and bring us back to Himself. Jesus accomplished what we could not do on our own. Now, sin has no power over us because, as children of God, we inherited righteousness from Jesus Christ. We are now seated in heavenly places in Christ. There is no condemnation for those of us who are in Him.

However, our enemy deceives us into thinking we have no part in this righteousness. He tempts us, we fall for his schemes, and then he accuses us of not deserving God’s mercy and grace. This is where most Christians fail to understand that when we receive condemnation from the enemy, whether for ourselves or anyone else, we are giving him a seat at our table. Condemnation is the ammunition our enemy uses against us individually and corporately. As long as we choose to receive it, we will not experience the comfort our Lord has provided for us in our time of need.

Righteousness was attributed to us by grace. We didn’t deserve it. God allocated righteousness to our account when we believed because that was the only way to fellowship with us. Jesus made this holy communion possible. When we fail to live out righteousness, we must remember the Holy Spirit’s invitation to confidently draw near the throne of grace because Jesus understands our weaknesses. When we do, we will receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15–16).

When the time comes, run to the throne of grace, and you will find a heavenly Father waiting for you with open arms.

Heavenly Father, thank You for receiving me at Your throne of grace.