Titus 3:5
“not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saves us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit”
“Can I have everyone who is righteous raise their hand please?”
*cricket sounds*
“Anyone?”
*not a hand goes up*
This scenario may seem like a perfectly truthful and humble response, but there is something very wrong with it. We’ve discussed humility in a previous post, so we know that being humble is the way we qualify for more grace in our lives. Humility is one of our most powerful allies in becoming an overcomer. So why is the above admission of our sinful state such a bad thing?
It’s pretty simple really. In refusing to call ourselves righteous we are disqualifying ourselves from a whole slew of privileges. Let’s take a look on what we’re missing out.
Proverbs 11:8 reads, “The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead.”
So if we’re not righteous, we have no protection from trouble. That’s unfortunate. What else?
In Isaiah 32:17 the prophet says, “And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service if righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.”
So confidence and peace, at least in a permanent sense, are unattainable without righteousness.
The Psalmist writes in Psalms 112:1-3, “Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be might on the earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever.”
Without righteousness, even our kids are being held back from their potential! Plus, we’re missing out on blessings and God-given wealth. This is becoming an increasingly dim outlook.
In James 5:16, the apostle writes, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Ouch! Our prayers aren’t even being answered, at least not as effectively as they should be, without that mantle of righteousness.
So, what can we do about this sad state of affairs in which we find ourselves? Thankfully, we don’t have to do much about the foundational problem here. God has already taken care of that. Which brings us to our second major issue with our humbling attitude; we are effectively calling God a liar. He said we are righteous. Being on the wrong side of an argument with God is not where we want to be located! II Corinthians 5:21 states, “For He made Him who know no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus died at the crucifixion, becoming sin for us, so that we would be called righteous. Let’s not contradict God!
I can hear (in my mind at least) some people saying “hey, Romans 3 says that there is none righteous, not even one.” This is a perfect time to extoll the virtues of not taking scriptures out of context. A few verses later in Romans 3:22 Paul writes that righteousness is revealed, “…even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” No one is righteous separated from God, but through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, righteousness is revealed to all that believe on Him.
Are you saved?
Are you forgiven?
We seem to have no problem believing these things, but believing that we are righteous just sounds wrong to our carnal ears. This has to change! How can we have faith that our prayers will be heard and answered if we are struggling to believe we are righteous? We’re going to have a tough time trusting God to deliver on any of His promises that are declared as privileges of righteousness if we don’t see ourselves as righteous.
Let’s ask God to renew our minds. Let’s determine to see ourselves through His eyes. Let’s stop living below our station as children of the King!