Radio Broadcast Monday 01/24/2022

Classic Christianity – A Closer Look at The Reality of The Resurrection P24 (01-24-22)

God’s Righteousness is Incorruptible!

The fantastic good news is that God’s righteousness is incorruptible. Note that we never had any righteousness to begin with. So, the very moment we are born again of the Spirit, God’s Spirit comes into us and gives us eternal life. At that very moment in time, we become clothed in the righteousness of God. When God looks at us (people that have been born again of the Spirit of God), He sees the righteousness of Jesus Christ. So when God looks at us, He sees the clothing of Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 1:30
³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

When we receive Jesus, we receive His righteousness. We don’t get righteousness by what we do. We don’t make ourselves holy by the things we don’t do. God’s righteousness has to be imputed to us. He gives us everything in Him. We have His righteousness. We have His holiness. And, we have His wisdom. Everything has been given to us in Him.

Galatians 5:1
¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Why did God do this? It is for freedom that God has set us free! Why did He buy us out of the slave market? To set us free!

It’s just like the slave market where someone would have bought a slave, and after they have been bought, the master reaches down and undoes the chains. And says to the person, you are free!

So the man now sees the person that set him free and asks if he can go with him?

And the owner says, “yes, but not as a slave, you are free. You are free to come with me, not under compulsion, but as a free man.”

The man thinks that anyone that buys me out of that slave market to set me free, that is an amazing love for me. I want to spend time with that person. I want to get to know the love of that person.

“Sure, you can come spend time with me,” says the owner. “And as a matter of fact, I’ll go and prepare a place for you.” And so the owner goes and prepares a nice bedroom and makes him part of the family. And the owner no longer calls him a servant, but calls him a friend.

And this is exactly the same thing that occurs with God for us when we are placed in Christ Jesus and He comes to live in us. He sets us free. He prepares a place for us. He no longer calls us His servants but friend. He has become our holiness, our righteousness and our redemption. That comes from being in Christ Jesus.

How many are out there today, in a denomination that you are trying to make yourself holy; through the way you dress, the way you act? And it is a sham. For you know yourself you are not holy. And your kids know you are not. And your mate knows you are not. And yet you try to act as if you are. You can’t make yourself holy! Oh, you can make yourself look holy to man, but it’s a sham, it’s an act. For true holiness has to be given to you by God. Just like your righteousness has to be given to you by God. And, incidentally, also your wisdom has to be given to you by God. It is because of Him (Christ Jesus) that you are in Him, and He has become for you, wisdom from God.

You know, many times we say, “Lord Jesus give me your wisdom.”

God is saying, “I Am your Wisdom.”

We say, “Lord, give me righteousness.”

God is saying, “I Am your Righteousness.”

We say, “Give me holiness.”

God is saying, “I’ve already given you holiness. I Am your Holiness. I Am your Redemption. I Am the I Am.”

And when we come to understand this, that is when we give up with self effort, and live by faith in Him and what He has done instead of the bondage of trying to live up to a standard that we think God has for us. Now people interpret that as a license. It’s not a license, it’s a life, and it’s Christ Life living in you, your only hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27
²⁷ To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

And yet man in our arrogance, sticks out his chest and says to himself, no no, I’ll make my own hope of glory. Watch me and watch me be conformed to His image. And God will let the man have at it. Oh God will watch you, but you will never be conformed to His image through your own efforts. It’s only what I do for you and did for you, that is the only hope of glory.

Now that is not bad news, but that is good news. For those that are in Christ Jesus, Christ is living in you. He is the one that is bringing it all about. And it is active. It’s not like it is passive. Yes He did it all, but He continues to do that in and through you as you rest in Him. For He is in the process of completing the work He began in us. And we can have confidence in that! And He does that every single day of our lives.

Philippians 1:6
⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Many still try to work for it, instead of realizing that is something we already have. And this is a gift. We see that in Romans.

Romans 5:15,16
¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

This goes back to the garden of Eden. Where Adam sinned and died, and passed sin and death onto all of us.

Romans 5:17-19
¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! ¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

The wages of sin is death. But God’s abundant provision of grace is Jesus! Jesus is the Grace of God! Jesus in us is the gift of righteousness in us! It says we reign in Christ through Him.

Grace is a free gift. If you attach one iota of any amount of money or works to it it ceases to be free, and it is no longer grace. If you put one ounce of us into the grace of God, you have eliminated the grace of God. That’s why people that teach that have added to, as in Grace plus something is no longer grace. Christ plus baptism; Christ plus tongues; Christ plus church membership; Christ plus works; Christ plus deeds is grace plus a penny. That’s like saying I want to give you something, but it will cost you a dime. Here you go, here is a nice hat that I want to give you, but it will cost you a dime. Or it will cost you a dollar.

“But I thought you wanted to give it to me.”

“Yeah, but it will cost you a dollar.”

“But I thought you said you want to give it to me.”

“Yeah, I do, but it will cost you a dollar. But it’s free, but it will cost you a dime.”

Do you see the ridiculousness of this? It’s free plus something. Do you see how idiotic ridiculous it is? And so we add to what God has already done for us. It’s making a mockery of what God has done for us and in us and to us. You don’t add anything to Jesus! It’s not Christ plus anything. It’s just Christ. Period.

Now all of that is a gift. And it all comes from the abundance of Christ Jesus.

Now if a person doesn’t see the need for righteousness, or their hearts have never been stirred for the righteousness of God then they don’t see the need for God’s righteousness. Are you reigning in Life with Christ Jesus, or is life raining on you? Because those are really the two extremes that we have to deal with. If you are going to reign in life with Christ Jesus, you are going to have to do it by walking in faith in what He has done for you and in you. You have to walk by faith in His provision, not by faith in your production. There’s a world of difference between my production and His provision. And you are never going to reign in life with your production, because it is never enough. That’s proven in business, where you do a million dollars in business one year and the next you want to do a million and a half of business. The next year you want two and the next year after that you want two and a half. You’re never satisfied when you are dealing with your production. Because your appetite is insatiable. And so you strain to get something and you strain to keep something. And there is no freedom in straining. There is only freedom in resting. And the only thing I can rest on is His provision, not in my production.

Now to the man that claims to be without sin, and that is what 1 John 1: 8 and 9 talk about. And people have used it as a bar of soap. It is not a bar of soap! It has to do with identifying your condition, a man claiming to be without sin. In other words (the person says), I don’t need God. I’m already righteous, for I have righteousness of my own. I don’t need His righteousness, I’ve got my own.

The man that doesn’t need God’s righteousness thinks he has his own righteousness. And furthermore he says, “don’t you know I’m a Baptist.” or “I’m a Catholic” or a “Presbyterian” or a “Plymouth Brethren” or whatever you want to name it. See God, I’m one of those things. “What do I need your righteousness for? I don’t need to be made righteous in your sight. I’m already righteous. Don’t you know God, I’m a good man.”

Well if we claim to be without sin, He said something about us. You’re deceived and the Truth is not in us.

1 John 1:8
⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Now don’t get all turned around by the “we” in here. That’s an editorial we. It’s used continually throughout the scriptures. It keeps you from point fingers at people. What it is saying is if you, or me or we claim to be without sin. It doesn’t make any difference who is doing it. If any of us are doing it, it doesn’t make any difference. If it was me, or you or the Apostle Paul they have deceived themselves and the truth is not in them. This is the same identical verbiage where the Apostle John recorded Jesus speaking to the Pharisees and said you are of your father the devil and the truth is not in you.

John 8:44
⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

So who is the Truth? Jesus is the Truth. These people that are professors of Christ are not possessors of Christ. These people are claiming they have not sinned and the truth is not in them. These people are not saved.

Romans 3:20
²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

These people are lost. They don’t have Jesus living in them. Now if you agree with God, concerning your sins, then He is faithful and just to have forgiven you and to have cleansed you from all unrighteousness. The key here is that I had to be cleansed of all unrighteousness to be filled with His righteousness.

I’ts like the canning illustration. You first have to sterilize the jar before you fill it up with applesauce. But Jesus cleansed you at the cross of unrighteousness. Now the jar is cleansed, so that He could come into you and give you His righteousness. He sealed you. You are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The 1 John 1:8 and 9 has been used to keep people preoccupied with yourself. This has been improperly used on believers to keep themselves clean or the going in and out of fellowship. It is nothing of the sort.