©2002 Charles Darby
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
How can God ask me to live righteously in this present world? The scripture says in “Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” May I say to you, that this is the way scripture gets taken out of context, many times. We read part, or all of a verse, without reading all the scripture pertaining to the same subject. The verse here in Romans is saying that without Christ there is none righteous.
Many seem to think that if they do enough so-called good deeds so they out-weigh the bad they will get to heaven. Many think that if they go to church, sometimes, and be better than most, this will please God. May I say, with all the love I can use, that is not what the scripture says?
On our own none of us are righteous, (in right standing with God). We could never do enough good deeds or works, on our own, to merit favor with God. We could give our body to be burned, for a good cause. We could give to the poor and to all charities and not get in right standing with God. The fact is that none of our works gets us to God.
The scripture says in Eph 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins”. Do you see it, before Christ, we were all spiritually dead? How could the dead do anything that would please God Almighty?
Well, how do we get righteous in God's sight? Glad you asked!
2 Cor 5:21 For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Do you see it? Only through an active faith in Jesus Christ are we made righteous. Please notice we must be "in Him". When we ask Christ to come and live in and through us we are made the righteousness of God in Him. He is The Vine and we a branch. The branch has no life of it's own.
All any true Christian is doing, when they abstain from sin and walk upright before God, is what God has created them to do! We were created, in Christ, to do good works, good works are a natural extension of your commitment to Christ. They won't get you into Heaven but works testify to a person's faith, or lack of it. I am not trying to attain, by my works, right standing with God. I am in right standing with God through my faith in Jesus Christ. He is my righteousness! In Him we live and move and have our very being. Praise God!
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