Righteousness Leading Us to Life
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July 13, 2014 |
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 "So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men" (Romans 5:18).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
One who fights for righteousness without seeking his own benefit is deemed righteous, but God's righteousness is different. God's righteousness results in life and guides us to true life and eternal life.
Thus, a righteous man in God's sight refers to one who acts in the Word of God and gains eternal life. Then, what should we do to become righteous men in God's sight and gain eternal life?
1. The righteousness of Jesus Christ leading us to life
Romans 5:18 reads, "So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men."
Here, what does 'one transgression' refer to? It refers to Adam's transgression. When God created the first man Adam, God blessed him to enjoy the authority of His child in the abundance of the Garden of Eden. But, God prohibited him to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
It is just as said in Genesis 2:16-17, "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'" After a long time, Adam and Eve failed to keep the command in their hearts and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by the temptation of the serpent. According to the spiritual law that is dictated in Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death", death came upon them. It means their spirits were put to death just as God said that in the day that they ate from the tree they would die.
When God created men, they were living beings composed of spirit, soul, and body so they could communicate with God who is spirit. But after Adam's transgression, he was severed from the communication with God and he no longer had eternal life. Adam and Eve were driven out from the Garden of Eden to the cursed earth. By this, all people that were born as Adam's descendants became sinners and came to the way of death (Romans 5:12).
God the Almighty knew that Adam's transgression would cause all men to become sinners. So, He prepared for the way of salvation before the ages. The way is Jesus Christ who is the mystery that had been hidden since before the ages.
As the time came, Jesus came down to the earth in flesh and He was hung on the wooden cross and shed His blood. In doing so, He redeemed us from the curse of the law and opened the way of salvation. Through His one act of righteousness anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ can be justified, gain the right to be God's children, and have eternal life. This is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that leads us to life.
2. In order to achieve the righteousness leading us to life
What then, in detail, should we do to be justified by faith in Jesus Christ and reach eternal life?
Firstly, we should believe God.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 reads, "…fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person." That is why not believing God itself is sin (John 16:9). The first thing we should do to become righteous is to fear God and keep His commandments. If one betrays his parents who bore and raised him, he will be blamed as a sinner who forsook man's duty. In the same manner, if people don't believe God who created them and follow Satan, it is a great sin.
Belief in God means to believe that God is the Creator, He made all the universes and all things that exist, and He controls the life, death, fortune, and misfortune of all men. It is to believe that God is Who I AM, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, He prepares Heaven and Hell, and He is the Judge of justice. When we believe Jesus Christ and reach salvation, we can be said to believe God because God sent Jesus to the earth and through Him He opened the way of salvation.
What is required of God's children who have entered the door of salvation is to fear God and keep His commandments. Since His children gain the citizenship of Heaven by faith, it is natural that they keep the law of the kingdom of heaven, which are God's commandments.
God taught us the law of righteousness leading to life through Jesus Christ, so when we keep His commandments we can be led to righteousness and finally to Heaven and receive God's love and blessings.
Secondly, we should watch over our thoughts, cast off evil, and have perfect deeds.
Jesus who came to the earth in flesh had neither original sin nor self-committed sins. He had no form of evil at all.
In order to achieve Jesus Christ's righteousness and become righteous we should watch over our thoughts, cast off evil from our hearts, and have perfect deeds. If we obey the Word telling us 'to do', 'not to do', 'to keep', and 'to throw away', then the truth will come upon us. We will not sin through thoughts, and we will have perfect deeds under the urging and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
But many people reveal evil actions because they think of unlawful things first. If one has greed, he may think, 'How can I enjoy more wealth and glory?' first, before thoughts of goodness and truth, and so plants the thought of untruth in his heart. His heart is moved at some point and evil action comes out. In other words, because he has greed in his heart, he may fall into Satan's temptation in thoughts and it may result in evil actions such as fraud, embezzlement, or stealing. If we have no evil in heart, Satan can't work through our thoughts. If we pull out the roots of sins, sins can't come in through our thoughts.
This is why Proverbs 4:23 reads, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life."
Thirdly, we should keep the way of God.
Jesus showed the example of keeping all the way of God while He was on the earth, so we should take after Him. To keep the way of God is to keep His commandments and to walk blamelessly in His decrees.
Here, God's representative commandments are the Ten Commandments. They are the condensed points of all God's commandments of the 66 books of the Bible. The Ten Commandments have deep spiritual meanings, so we should keep them with the understanding of their true meanings. The decrees of God refer to God-set rules such as keeping the whole Sabbath and giving proper tithe.
If we keep God's commandments and decrees, we can gain true life and be made righteous. Since men are not righteous they have strife and cause enmity with others or come down with diseases. But when we keep all God's commandments and decrees, there is no disease that can come upon us as written in Exodus 15:26, and we can enjoy prosperity, eternal life, blessing, and pleasure.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we have been saved through the one act of righteousness of Jesus Christ. If we follow Jesus Christ and practice the Word of God how much will God be pleased with us! We will be prosperous in everything on the earth as well as receiving eternal life, blessings, and pleasure in Heaven. I pray in the name of the Lord that you will become God's children who enjoy blessings through the righteousness leading us to life.
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