“Righteousness is by Faith”

Romans 3:20-26

20) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24) Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Introduction

H

uman beings are always self-seeking and are unwilling to deny themselves. These are two reasons why we can find it so hard to withstand tests. You see, the purpose of testing is to teach one dependence on Someone Else, effectively denying oneself.

If we are willing to accept that it is God Who allows tests and trials and that it is He Who has control, we will accept that when they have fulfilled their purpose, they will leave.

Main Thought

There is no difference in those who choose to believe the Lord. Though in the natural, the human characteristics that separate us are amplified, the scripture says that if you operate by faith and someone else operates by faith, there is no difference. If everyone would believe what they’ve read and heard about Christ, there would be no difference in believers.

Unless one exercises one’s faith, it is dead, inactive, and can help no one, no matter how much it is proclaimed. Part of exercising one’s faith is to show that God is a “right now” God. This means that we are never waiting on Him. If anything, He is waiting on us.

Another mistake that is made by believers is to fall into the trap of believing that God saves us just to take away our “fun.” On the contrary, He saved us that we might enjoy our lives. However, that “enjoyment” is simply different from what the rest of the world classifies as “enjoyment.”

More than enhancing our enjoyment, the Lord expects us to appreciate and esteem our salvation enough to want to win others to Him. In order to do this, one must weather some storms with Him and allow Him to lead on to victory.

There is no other path to righteousness in the Lord but through faith. We are told that if we want to be trusted, then we must be “trust-worthy.” Now, we hear this, but still often conduct ourselves as if we can live our lives any way that we please, yet still be blessed of Him.

The Lord’s plan for our lives is that we would live to please Him, rather than Him pleasing us—or even will take care of all of our needs, as well as please us. This is a “given,” because as we are determined to live for Him, we begin to be like Him, meaning that our minds become like His, as well. As this occurs, we begin to think as He does and what is important to Him, becomes important to us.

When the Law was given to the Jews, it was given as a correction to flesh. If Man was every to be helped, the Lord knew it would be necessary to provide a means of help—because flesh cannot govern itself. Because of its nature, it is absolutely necessary that flesh be put to death with Jesus Christ and that Man be born again. This is the only way for May to be saved from himself, and unless he is, he will not be saved.

There is never a time when flesh will not operate in its own best interest and therefore, flesh always carries with it the tendency to sin. When one successfully “mortifies” it, he becomes focused on that which is above flesh—the plan of God.

One is a “non-believer” if one does not believe that God has done what He has said that He has done. No matter the test—its nature, or severity—one need only remember that he is already victorious in Christ because He has already defeated every enemy.

We must remember that the manifestation of all that God has already done is dependent upon our not operating on our own. We find ourselves “waiting” on many things unnecessarily because all of the time that we say that we are “believing God,” we are attempting to “make something happen.” If God would ever grant our petition under these circumstances, we would forever feel that we had a “part” in bringing it to pass. One thing God will not do is share His glory with another—not even His own creation.

When we truly operate “in faith,” in the middle of the most “trying” test, we will not be moved in our faith, for we will be operating in our knowledge of Whom the Lord is. One who comes to know who the Lord is, of necessity, will have “mastered” living above his five senses.

The only thing that will enable one to win others through his tests is remembering they joy that comes when one comes out on the “other side.” They must see a determination in us to be what the Lord would have us to be—and a joy in getting there! They must see that we believe that it is “worth it.”

We must accept that the righteousness of faith is by Jesus Christ. This is available to all believers right now, for it is not necessary that we wait on anything, for Jesus has already accomplished everything. Because of this, the life that we have in the Lord is not through works, but through faith, only. Any victory that we are able to realize over any situation or test will be realized through faith, alone.

Rest assured, God has a blessing for every person who servers Him. Unfortunately, in the back of too many of our minds, we suspect that this does not apply to us—because we know that we do not serve Him.

What gets in our way is our unwillingness to accept that God knows what each and every man must go through in order to get to where he needs to be in Him. He will never put more on us than we can bear and He will always provide us a way of escape. Yes, Christ died to give us the victory, but our victory, as well as our righteousness, comes only through our faith. This is what we must believe.