SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS or GRACE?: PART 12 of *I BELIEVE IN GOD vs I OBEY GOD | TO CHURCH vs TO GOD*
Trusting in our own Holiness as the grounds for acceptable before God is VERY WRONG! This is a mystery that even the most devout Christians stumble upon without knowing.
*THIS IS MORE DISGUISED THAN OPEN REBELLION OR VISIBLE SIN*
Many confess Jesus with their lips, but in the secret place of their hearts, their confidence rests not on the finished work on the cross, but in the fragile scaffolding of their own righteousness.
Salvation was never meant to be EARNED but to be RECEIVED. *SALVATION IS A GIFT FROM GOD* Romans 3:23 states, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".
*THE HIGHEST SAINT AND THE VILEST SINNER SHARE THIS COMMON TRUTH*
It emphasizes that every person, without exception, has failed to meet God's perfect standard and has fallen short of His divine glory.
This concept of universal sin establishes the need for God's grace through Christ to provide justification and redemption.
None can stand before the throne of heaven and say, "I contributed to my salvation." For if heaven where earned by our Holiness, then Eternity would echo not with the glory of christ alone, but with the boasting men.
But the word of God silences every tongue and humbles every heart. "For by grace, you have been saved through faith and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works. So that no one may boast *Ephesians 2:8-9*"
Colossians 1:22 says that through Christ's physical death, God has reconciled believers to himself, presenting them as holy, blameless, and without accusation in His presence.
This reconciliation brings a transformed status from enmity with God to a state of complete acceptance and righteousness in His sight.
*NOTICE CAREFULLY THAT IT IS NOT YOUR HOLINESS THAT MAKES YOU BLAMELESS, IT IS HIS BLOOD*
Ephesians 5:27 (NIV) says, "and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless".
This verse describes Christ's complete and perfect presentation of the church to Himself, cleansed from all sin and imperfection, to be holy and without fault. This is the ultimate goal of His sacrificial love and sanctification of the church.
*REMEMBER: The Church is PEOPLE, not BUILDINGS. The "Body Of Christ" is made up of PEOPLE surrendering to the JESUS WAY! LIVING A LIFE OF REPENTANCE*
This is NOT to belittle Holiness or Godly living. FOR HOLINESS IS THE *FRUIT* OF "RIGHTEOUSNESS RECEIVED" not the *ROOT* OF "RIGHTEOUSNESS ATTAINED"
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Enjoy Your Day.
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