RIGHTEOUSNESS; YOUR PASSPORT TO HEAVEN
“Adeboye can never go to hellfire!” “Olukoya go still dey preach for heaven. He is just too righteous”. “If Babalola no reach heaven, then e done be for us ooooo!”……sound familiar?
These exclamations used to input so much fear into me then. Now, they just make me laugh. “He fasts 7days a week. Prays in tongues for 10hours a day, I wish my heaven was as sure as his”. Pardon me to write a big fat LOL.
First off, Righteousness means “Right standing with GOD.” From these statements, one would think what qualifies we Christians to go into heaven is our works. Some will even have you believe that if you don’t read the bible back-to-back you can’t enter heaven. Some say a Christian who constantly sins, irrespective of whether they are trying to change or not have first class tickets to hellfire. Well, I guess they are right. After all the bible did say in reference to Abraham“(Gen 15:6) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. KJV”
GAME OVER!
END OF STORY!!
OR IS IT??!!!
Well guess who showed up????? Apostle Paul aka PAULIEPOMPOM did!
Paul, who wrote the greatest books of the bible in my opinion calls all that a whole Big Bag of Bullocks. In his words, he says: “(Rom 3:9) what then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both JEWS and GENTILES, that they are all under sin;
(Rom 3:10) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”. Paul clearly tells us here that all have sinned and come short of the glory of GOD. You might say to yourself, “I don’t break any of the commandments of GOD”. Well, hear this fascinating bomb shell Apostle Pauliepompom drops for you: “(Rom 3:20) Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin. NIV” It is almost impossible to obey all those commandments in exodus(and am not talking about just the ten) without breaking one, unconsciously or not, but to the man who can, let him not think that makes him stand-right before GOD. Those commandments were merely a guide as to how the Israelites should live.
So then you might ask, “How does one become righteous apart from observing the law?” Well Paul gives a wonderful explanation with these verses:
(Rom 3:21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
(Rom 3:22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
(Rom 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
(Rom 3:24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.KJV.
So my dear you see that the reason we Christians are righteous(STANDING RIGHT WITH GOD) is not because we observe the law, but because WE HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. The bible says GOD presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. That’s it. That’s all it takes to obtain a passport to go into heaven. All you need do is to have genuine FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD. Yeah, sounds too easy right? Why else do you think it was called the “GOOD NEWS”??? Now this doesn’t mean we continue in sin (Romans 6:1) for surely the wages of sin is death. What you need to understand though is that you are above the law as a Christian. Yes you heard me right. Above the law like all em’ Presidents and Ministers. You have immunity. But unlike the presidents who must pay for their deeds after their stay in office, yours has already been paid for. Hallelujah! In the old days under the old covenant, when one sins, he or she must atone for that sin with the blood of a clean animal. Fortunately all that changed when Jesus died. All the sins that you will ever sin have already been paid for IN FULL. Jesus isn’t coming to die again for anyone’s sin. All you need do is believe in GOD and with a contrite heart, genuinely turn from your old ways. Again I say, your immunity should not be taken for granted. You will soon find out that sin is more contagious than HIV. Flee from every appearance of sin
Finally, you might ask; “Why then was Abraham’s faith credited to him as righteousness?”
At this point why don’t you make a guess as to why?…..
Well, you guessed right (and I can see the smile on your face).It was because it was FAITH! He had faith in GOD that at that age when his body was dead and Sarah’s eggs had all been fried, GOD would still make him the father of many nations. It’s not because he did the work that made him righteous. It was because of the work itself. “(Rom 4:2) If in fact Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before GOD.”-and then Romans 4:19-22(NIV) goes on to say “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver though unbelief regarding the promise of GOD, but was strengthened in FAITH and gave glory to GOD, being fully persuaded that GOD had power to do what he had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Pheeew! Spent a whole day writing this-but I guess you get the message. Your righteousness is a gift. Holiness is actually the race!!!!!
By Uyi
These exclamations used to input so much fear into me then. Now, they just make me laugh. “He fasts 7days a week. Prays in tongues for 10hours a day, I wish my heaven was as sure as his”. Pardon me to write a big fat LOL.
First off, Righteousness means “Right standing with GOD.” From these statements, one would think what qualifies we Christians to go into heaven is our works. Some will even have you believe that if you don’t read the bible back-to-back you can’t enter heaven. Some say a Christian who constantly sins, irrespective of whether they are trying to change or not have first class tickets to hellfire. Well, I guess they are right. After all the bible did say in reference to Abraham“(Gen 15:6) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. KJV”
GAME OVER!
END OF STORY!!
OR IS IT??!!!
Well guess who showed up????? Apostle Paul aka PAULIEPOMPOM did!
Paul, who wrote the greatest books of the bible in my opinion calls all that a whole Big Bag of Bullocks. In his words, he says: “(Rom 3:9) what then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both JEWS and GENTILES, that they are all under sin;
(Rom 3:10) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”. Paul clearly tells us here that all have sinned and come short of the glory of GOD. You might say to yourself, “I don’t break any of the commandments of GOD”. Well, hear this fascinating bomb shell Apostle Pauliepompom drops for you: “(Rom 3:20) Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin. NIV” It is almost impossible to obey all those commandments in exodus(and am not talking about just the ten) without breaking one, unconsciously or not, but to the man who can, let him not think that makes him stand-right before GOD. Those commandments were merely a guide as to how the Israelites should live.
So then you might ask, “How does one become righteous apart from observing the law?” Well Paul gives a wonderful explanation with these verses:
(Rom 3:21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
(Rom 3:22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
(Rom 3:23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
(Rom 3:24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.KJV.
So my dear you see that the reason we Christians are righteous(STANDING RIGHT WITH GOD) is not because we observe the law, but because WE HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS. The bible says GOD presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. That’s it. That’s all it takes to obtain a passport to go into heaven. All you need do is to have genuine FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD. Yeah, sounds too easy right? Why else do you think it was called the “GOOD NEWS”??? Now this doesn’t mean we continue in sin (Romans 6:1) for surely the wages of sin is death. What you need to understand though is that you are above the law as a Christian. Yes you heard me right. Above the law like all em’ Presidents and Ministers. You have immunity. But unlike the presidents who must pay for their deeds after their stay in office, yours has already been paid for. Hallelujah! In the old days under the old covenant, when one sins, he or she must atone for that sin with the blood of a clean animal. Fortunately all that changed when Jesus died. All the sins that you will ever sin have already been paid for IN FULL. Jesus isn’t coming to die again for anyone’s sin. All you need do is believe in GOD and with a contrite heart, genuinely turn from your old ways. Again I say, your immunity should not be taken for granted. You will soon find out that sin is more contagious than HIV. Flee from every appearance of sin
Finally, you might ask; “Why then was Abraham’s faith credited to him as righteousness?”
At this point why don’t you make a guess as to why?…..
Well, you guessed right (and I can see the smile on your face).It was because it was FAITH! He had faith in GOD that at that age when his body was dead and Sarah’s eggs had all been fried, GOD would still make him the father of many nations. It’s not because he did the work that made him righteous. It was because of the work itself. “(Rom 4:2) If in fact Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before GOD.”-and then Romans 4:19-22(NIV) goes on to say “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver though unbelief regarding the promise of GOD, but was strengthened in FAITH and gave glory to GOD, being fully persuaded that GOD had power to do what he had promised. This is why it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Pheeew! Spent a whole day writing this-but I guess you get the message. Your righteousness is a gift. Holiness is actually the race!!!!!
By Uyi
Comments
Post a Comment