Are We Really Righteous of Does God Just See Us that Way?

In our ministry, week in and week out, we teach people from Scripture that through their faith in Christ, they are righteous. Over time, most cannot deny that the Gospel, as explained in the Scriptures, is clear that God has declared us to be righteous. (See Romans 3:21-22:5:15. 17, 19, 1 Cor. 1:30, 2 cor. 5:21, Heb. 5:13.) However, we sometimes discover that though they believe this, their understanding of it may not be complete.

In our Grace Life Conference, which we teach in our office monthly, and in churches or groups hosting the Conference, we spend quite a bit of time clarifying this Biblical reality. I am going to share today what we teach about this. It is called, "Deceptions Regarding Our Righteousness".

Deception 1: God says I am righteous because, I am covered with the robe of righteousness. This is Biblical, but misunderstood. Many wrongly believe that under this robe God sees a sinner.

Deception 2: God says I am righteous because I am covered by the blood of Christ. Thank God for the precious blood of Christ shed for our sins! Yet, similar to #1, many wrongly believe that underneath the blood of Christ, God still sees a sinner.

Deception 3: God says I am righteous, because Christ is my filter. The erroneous idea here, is that God hides me behind Jesus Christ, because He can't bear to look at me.

Deception 4: God says I am righteous because of my position in Christ. This one is tricky because we are certainly in Christ. Yet, the way it is usually taught is that, this really means God sees me as righteous, but, I won't really be righteous until I go to heaven. So, He is kind of "pretending". That completely negates the new birth that has already happened!

Deception 5: God says I am righteous because when He looks at me He only sees Christ in me. Without a doubt, Jesus Christ is in us! But, for our holy God to live in us, He had to prepare a place to live. He had to cure once and for all two problems...remove our sin, and the sinner. He also had to replace our sinner spirit with a new creation spirit, which is righteous. Only by doing this, can God live in us.

Deception 6: God says I am righteous because, He has completely forgiven me. The forgiveness we possess in Christ is incredibly powerful. However, forgiveness only removes my unrighteousness. It does not give me righteousness.

One pastor exclaimed after understanding that he had believed all of the deceptions, "I knew I was saved, but I didn't know I was that saved"! Oh, how many of us could probably say the same thing!

Are you willing to pray and thank your heavenly Father for revealing these deceptions, and agree with Him, that you are righteous through your faith in Christ?

Be Free In Christ, Mark Maulding, President Founder GraceLifeInternational.com