Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until midday.
Most people who settle for the 2nd best struggle to look at themselves as “righteous” before God. They hear the mocking noise of the enemy smearing and reminding them of all of their past mistakes even if they claim to be forgiven by Jesus. ‘Righteous’ are not those who have never made a mistake or never failed or faltered. The righteous are those who have the assurance through faith that their stubbornness, silliness and stupor have been forgiven and their slate has been wiped clean. A prostitute who has lived a promiscuous life will be able to look at herself as righteous when she receives forgiveness through faith. But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in Him, who makes even evil people right in His sight (Romans 5:4). Those who look at themselves as second class citizens will settle for the second best. We are delivered from condemnation through I Christ, the cross and by confession.
The greatest king of Israel, King David, failed miserably to the temptation of lust and covetousness. He not only took another man’s wife but also tried to hide his blunder by plotting and killing her husband. Yet, when the Lord confronted him, he humbled himself and confessed his mistake to receive God’s forgiveness. The king confessed the sin that he committed in secret, publically before his servants, soldiers and scribes. Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight (Psalm 51:4). David was forgiven and set free of his sins. Jesus called Himself the ‘Son of David’ about ten times in the Gospel of Matthew! The Lord God did not look at David as a flawed, weak wimp but a man after His own heart. ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart (Acts 13:22).
Qualification to receive God’s 1st best:
1. Confession: We receive righteousness and right standing by speaking the truth and by confessing our mistakes. Confession doesn’t disgrace us but promotes us in God’s kingdom. Confessing breaks the chains of condemnation and makes us righteous. The path of the righteous becomes brighter and brighter. Confession and truth moves us from glory to glory.
2. Cross: We have no righteousness outside the cross of Calvary. It is not our good deeds but God’s generosity and grace that qualify us as righteous. We are qualified to receive God’s 1st best through the cross.
3. Christ: God doesn’t see us as soiled, marred or stained. He sees us as righteous covered by the blood of Christ. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). We are righteous only if we are hidden in Christ, behind the cross.
Christ qualifies us as righteous through His precious blood for the 1st best.
Galatians 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, help me to understand and live as your righteous son/daughter forgiven and accepted by your grace. Amen
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