USING YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

One of the most delightfully amazing discoveries I’ve made in life is that I can use righteousness just like I use my blackberry everyday (when the battery is on anyway). Naturally, the mind tends to reject it at first, as I imagine yours would if too you’d been schooled and baptised in Isaiah 64:6, how that our “righteousnesses” are as “filthy rags”.  But when I became schooled and baptised in 2Corinthians 5:21 and 1Corinthians 1:30, I got to know that I am His righteousness and He is my righteousness! So I can’t use the righteousness I worked out for myself, but I can use the righteousness I have been given in Christ Jesus (Romans 5:17). That’s what you do with a gift anyway: receive the gift, appreciate the giver, and then USE the gift.

If Romans 5:17 is anything to go by, then every Christian should reign as a king in this life because we have all received abundance of grace and of the GIFT of RIGHTEOUSNESS. Every Christian should reign over sin, sickness, lack, darkness and all circumstances. It goes without saying that it is not exactly happening that way today. While there’s more than one reason for that, I would like to share with you one of the things that is missing - the conscious USE of righteousness. One of the most notorious hindrances I’ve come across in my short life is condemnation. I’ve seen people fail to receive the Holy Spirit, healing and other benefits available to them just because they allowed condemnation to get in their way. But, oh how refreshing it is when I see a Christian that is conscious of his/her right-standing with God, for then I see a bold and victorious Christian!

I know of 3 things you & I can use the gift of righteousness (our right-standing with God) for:

1. RIGHT LIVING: Many struggle & are defeated in their holiness-walk/love-walk because they are still thinking as sinners trying to be righteous, when in fact they have been made righteous (2Corinthians 5:21)! The software for right living is already there in them! Right living becomes NATURAL when a beloved son of God takes hold of the righteousness he/she has received and uses it as a WEAPON, highly effective against sin in all forms, shapes and sizes.

2. PRAYER: James 5:16 speaks of the power of a righteous man’s prayer, giving Elijah as an example. Elijah was a mighty prophet of God alright, but he wasn’t even born of God and some of his actions were not exactly a model of righteousness. Yet this man understood righteousness in such an unusual way, he said “as God lives before whom I STAND, there’ll be no rain except according to MY WORD” (1Kings 17:1 paraphrased). If the blood of bulls could do that, how much more the blood of the Lamb of God! It is this righteousness-consciousness that makes us come so BOLDLY (with freedom of speech) to the throne of grace according to Hebrews 4:14-16, not because of how good we are, but because we’ve got a high priest, JESUS! Use your righteousness; come boldly on the basis of the finished work, no more condemnation, no more shame, only boldness of speech! And this not only works for you, more importantly, it works for OTHERS. James 5:16 is actually talking specifically about one man praying for another. Job 22:30 and Isaiah 59:16 make it clear that you can use your righteousness through prayer to save other people, even nations, from destruction (even when they are not innocent)! Are we going to use it or waste it?

3. RULERSHIP: The righteous are BOLD as a lion (Proverbs 28:1). It takes boldness born of righteousness to rule like the lion does. We have authority in the name of Jesus that covers 3 realms and all kingdoms therein (Phil 2:10), but without using the gift of righteousness, no one reigns as a king in this life (Romans 5:17). When you stand in the righteousness that is yours in Christ, boldness is the result. We have great boldness of speech, therefore we speak things into being & they are so. All God’s saints have this privilege/honour (Psalm 149:9), but so few use it! I choose to use righteousness, to dominate, to rule over sin, sickness and lack, over circumstances, to REIGN as a king in this life by Christ Jesus. In eternity, we won’t need the gift of righteousness, won’t need boldness to reign. There will be no sin, sickness or lack to reign over. But we reign NOW, glory to God!

How does it work? How do I put righteousness to work? It’s the same way God rules, the same way kings rule.......we use WORDS (Job 22:29). Our words build a consciousness in us, either of sin or of righteousness. Also, our words set things in motion for or against us.

Say these words with me please:

I am the righteousness of God in Christ and Christ Himself is my righteousness.
I have been given a new nature and put in right standing with God.
I have received abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness.
I give thanks for these gifts continually, rejoicing in the One who has justified me!
For me, there is no more condemnation or shame, only boldness!
Now I use my righteousness to live right, I use my righteousness to live strong.
With this righteousness, I come boldly to the throne of grace to take mercy and grace for myself and for others, especially those that cannot come for themselves.
I come, not on my own merit, but on the merit of JESUS, my high priest, so I am accepted.
I am the righteous, I am bold as a lion, and I stand strong in the face of ALL opposition.
I rule, I reign, I dominate as a king in this life by Christ Jesus. I rule over sin, sickness, lack, death, destruction, demons and all circumstances.
I am skilled at using righteousness, I get heavenly results in this earthly life.
I rejoice, for I have freely received, I give thanks, for I have been justified!
No more condemnation, no more shame, no more loss, only JOY!

Beloved, go ahead and REJOICE!!!