The Righteousness of God in Christ

The title of the sermon, Seek God's Righteousness First Through Christ, or the Righteousness of God in Christ. The righteousness of God in Christ. Last week, we spoke on self-righteousness, the hidden sin. We were led to understand that all of men's righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God, that there is none righteous, no not one. In addition, we were led to understand that in all things, a great lesson that Job had to learn was that man must be judged and God must be justified. In other words, God always has our best interests at heart, regardless of what happens to us. Today, we're going to focus on understanding what true righteousness is all about. The word righteousness is defined, and this is from Strong's Concordance and Dictionary, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God, the doctrine concerning the way in which man can attain a state of approval from God. So, right standing with God would be a forward definition of righteousness, right standing with God. Let's note what the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning in verse 17. Very similar to what you heard in the special music, a little bit different in one sense. Today's sermon will be what I would call graduate school. You'll have to stay with it. We shall explore some of the deeper things, and if we can come to really understand this, whole new dimensions will be opened up in our thinking and our spiritual life. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 17.

A grave of baptism. Any man is in Christ. He is a new creation. Remember the song, ambassadors of Christ, that was taken from these verses right here. Though any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who had reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. How will we reconcile to God by Jesus Christ? When we were enemies of God, Jesus Christ died for our sins, so that we may be reconciled to God and no longer counted as an enemy. And have given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To exercise judgment, mercy, and faith in our lives, the weightier matters of the law. The principle reason why ancient Israel, I gave this as a topic one time and a ministerial refresher back in the 1980s in Pasadena, which we called in from time to time, ministers from all over the world. Judgment, mercy, and faith is one of the greatest themes of the Bible. And failure of ancient Israel, also failure of the Church of God in recent decades and times, and remains one of the great problems. Failure to exercise judgment, mercy, and faith. Failure to exercise the ministry of reconciliation is why we have had so many splits and divisions in the Church of God. Failure to understand that when one member of the body suffers, we all suffer. When one member is honored, we should all be honored. To know that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead be you reconciled to God. For he had made him to be sinned for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. These verses are rather shocking if you really understand them. We're reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Christ so we can become the righteousness of God.

Reconciliation to God and righteousness are inextricably linked to Christ. Now, the word inextricably means you cannot untangle it. It is woven together in such a way that it cannot be untangled. It is linked together. You can't have one without the other.

You cannot be reconciled to God apart from the sacrifice of Christ. And then, righteousness is also inextricably linked to obedience. You cannot have righteousness apart from obedience. The only way we can become the righteousness of God is through Christ. Paul affirms this in Romans 10. So back a few pages to Romans 10 and verse 1. Romans 10 verse 1.

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Paul was so desirous that his fellow countrymen, his blood relatives, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would be saved. Paul was, you know, the apostle to the Gentiles, to the non-Israelites. But he writes this, saying, I wish that Israel could be saved too. For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. And if you ever go to Jerusalem and you go to the Wailing Wall, and you see the people there saying their prayers as they bob and weave and so on, there is a great zeal for God, a great zeal of God for God, but not according to knowledge. There are a lot of people in today's world who have a great zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They will do all kinds of things in the name of God. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God.

For Christ is, and this word in the Old King James is translated end, the Greek word is telos, it's a very important word, telos, and it means the outcome or the result of. It is not the end as we think of the end that something stops. So it should read, for Christ is the outcome or result of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. This word believes will be one of the key words throughout the sermon today. It is absolutely and totally necessary. For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which does these things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise. Say not in your heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, who shall bring down Christ from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring Christ again from the dead. But what says it? The word is nigh even in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith which we preach. So under the New Covenant, the word of God is not just written on tables of stone, but it is written on tables, tablets of flesh, through the Holy Spirit, on our hearts and minds, as it says in Hebrews 10. That you shall confess with your mouth that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and shall believe in him in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Now this word believe, of course, has many dimensions. It's not just to believe in the intellectual sense. The devils believe and tremble, but it is to believe in him totally with what his name represents, what he taught, what he teaches, and everything that goes with it. Like you heard in the sermonette, it is a total package. For with a heart man believes unto righteousness, and with a mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Of course, belief in Jesus Christ is a beginning point. In the Church of God, we have done a lot of preaching through the years about David and him being a man after God's own heart. David was a man after God's own heart in that God chose David to be king, and it was God who chose David and not the people. The people chose Saul, and God chose David. David, in his righteousness, or the righteousness of any man in the flesh, is as filthy rags in the sight of God. Turn to Isaiah 64. We've quoted this several times in the last Sabbath and today already. Isaiah 64.6. We're going to turn there and just read it. Isaiah 64 verse 6.

But we are all as unclean things, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. So there it is in the Scriptures, as they say in plain language. You know, James writes that Elijah was a man of subject-like passions as we are, yet he prayed, and it didn't reign for three years. So we need to preach and live the righteousness of God and Christ. And we must continually ask this question. Are we seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So you don't have to take anxious thought or care for tomorrow if that is a reality in your life. Remember, we can only become the righteousness of God through Christ, like we read from 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21.

It is a sin not to believe in Christ. Or we could ask it as a question. Is it a sin not to believe in Christ? If so, what is the sin? Well, the answer should be obvious, but let's look at it. How important is it to believe on Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

And is it a sin not to believe in Christ? If so, what is the sin? You might say the answer to that is very simple. We know that the Bible says that there is none other name given under heaven, whereby men must be saved. That's Acts 4.12.

Let's go now to John 3. In John 3, in this section of Scripture, we'll see them often quoted John 3.16. But notice John 3.12. The backdrop to John 3.12 as Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, asking him what he had to do to enter in the kingdom.

And essentially Jesus Christ told him that you have to be born from above. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. So you have to be born again. You have to be begotten of the Spirit of God, and upon dying in the faith, that the resurrection, you'll be born in the family of God.

Jesus Christ was our forerunner. He is the firstborn among many brethren, according to the Bible. It's Revelation 1 and verse 5. In John 3, verse 12, If I've told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No man has ascended up to heaven, so there's no one that has gone to heaven.

It's so clear in the Bible. No man has ascended up to heaven.

It includes Abraham, David, and all of those that have died before. No man has ascended up to heaven, except one, but a he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, who is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Jesus Christ had to come to this earth and to die and pay for the sins of the world. He must be lifted up, placed on the stake, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

You cannot have eternal life apart from Jesus Christ. Why? Because the wages of sin is death, and if there was no ransom for your sin, you would have to die. But Jesus Christ is our propituation, he is our go-between, and because of him, we can have our sins removed from us as far as the east is from the west. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting lives. You see this word, believe, over and over again. The first article of faith that we talk about so often, Hebrews 11.6, for those who would come to God must first of all believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he is not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Historically, for several decades in the Church of God, we have run away from Jesus Christ because we didn't want to be labeled in any way as Protestant and this only believe Jesus Christ in your heart. Something that came into the history of the Church, basically in the Reformation, led by Martin Luther. When the churches in Europe, some of them were formed, the Protestant Reformation breaking away from the Catholic Church. Up until the time of the Reformation, as they call it, the Protestant revolt or Reformation, basically there was only one visible Christian church, quote-unquote, Christian church in the world. And that was the Catholic Church. Of course, there had been a split in the Catholic Church circa 1000 A.D. in which the Greek Orthodox Church broke away with its headquarters at Constantinople, and then later the Russian Orthodox Church, headquarters in Moscow.

And of course, the headquarters for the Western Church or the Latin Church is Rome in Italy. But until the Protestant Reformation, that was basically that. The true Church of God was underground, as we have read, as we have heard, barely discernible, with people, all kinds of people, through the centuries, giving their lives for the faith to continue that thin, tenuous line of truth from the days of the apostles down to the present time. The verses that we have just read show that it is absolutely essential to believe in Christ in order to have eternal life. Did you know you're broken and are breaking the First and Great Commandment if you do not believe in Christ? Let's go to Matthew 22, verse 37. One of the names of Jesus Christ, in fact, when the angel appeared to Joseph and told him not to put Mary away because Mary was pregnant, and he knew that he had not had any kind of intimate relations with her. And thus, he was thinking about putting her away privately, trying to preserve her reputation as much as possible. The angel appeared to her and said, Go ahead, don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, and his name shall be called Emmanuel by interpretation God with you.

In Matthew 22, and you have to follow the logical sequence, in Matthew 22, verse 36, Jesus said unto him, answering the question in verse 36, the Great Commandment, what is the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus said unto them, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets, the whole ball of wax.

And of course, if you love God, you love Jesus Christ, then you are keeping the commandment. But if you do not love Jesus Christ, who is also God, you're denying him. And in Exodus 20, verse 3, it says, You shall have no other gods before me.

So now let's turn to 1 John 3, verse 23, where this is stated a little bit differently. My glasses, I'm having trouble seeing. Sometimes I go out and weed eat in my glasses, and all kind of dust comes up, and I don't wash them, but I don't know what the problem is.

In 1 John, I don't see any dust on them. So 1 John 3, 23, the reason I don't see any dust may be because they're dusty. But listen, in 1 John 3, verse 23, And this is his commandment, that you should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. And he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And thereby we know that he abides, or lives in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.

And thereby we know that he abides, or lives in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.

Now let's turn to John 5, verse 31.

The Gospel of John in this case. So we see here that if you don't believe in the name of Jesus Christ, if you don't believe in Christ, as we'll see more clearly, you cannot know the Father apart from Jesus Christ. Let me say that, and we could say it a hundred times, you cannot know the Father apart from Jesus Christ. You cannot be reconciled to the Father apart from Jesus Christ.

You cannot have a relationship with the Father apart from Jesus Christ, according to the Bible. Now we'll turn to various Scriptures and see if what I've just said is true.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 5, in verse 31, Jesus Christ is having a discourse with his detractors here.

We pick it up in verse 31, John 5, 31. If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. So Jesus Christ is saying, you don't have to just believe me. There is another that bears witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. And this particular witness he's talking about is John the Baptist.

He said, you sent unto John, and he bear witness unto the truth, but I receive not testimony from man. But these things I say that you might be saved. He, John the Baptist, was a burning and shining light, and you were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me.

And the Father himself which has sent me is more than witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape.

Now, if you believe that, you will notice then that those, the Israelites with whom they were interfacing in the Old Testament, if you've neither heard his voice or seen his shape at any time, it must have been the Word, the One who became Jesus Christ. Otherwise, they would have seen his shape or heard his voice as these Ten Commandments were thundered from Mount Sinai.

And you have not his word abiding in you, for whom he has sent him you believe not. You cannot have the Word of God abiding in you if you don't believe in him whom he has sent. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life.

The Scriptures in and of themselves will not give you eternal life, even though the Word of God is equated with the Spirit of God, because there is a step that you have to go through in addition to that. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they, and they are they which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life. I receive not honor from men, but I know you that you have not the love of God in you. You are not the love of God in you. You're talking to the Jews of that day. I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not. If another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. Him you will receive. There have been several pseudo-Messiahs that have arisen through the ages, especially one around the 1600s, in which all kind of prophecies went out, if this one is the Messiah. The Jews have had various candidates through the years, sort of like we've had candidates for the beast. The Jews have had candidates for the Messiah, and they're still looking for a human being, not the Son of God, for a Messiah to come on the scene, like unto David or Solomon, and restore to them the geopolitical fortunes that they enjoyed under David and Solomon, the greatest nation on earth, with the great wisdom of Solomon, where the kings of the earth, the queen of Sheba, came up to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Him you will receive. As you know, in Revelation 13 and 8, it says that everyone, I think it's verse 7 and 8, that everyone whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life are going to be deceived by the beast's power. You cannot have your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life apart from Jesus Christ. It is the Lamb who is the Lamb, Book of Life. How can you believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. Hold your place there and go to Deuteronomy 18 verse 15. If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. So, I mean, he has them right there. They claim to be great in their keeping of the law, and they're maintaining the Scriptures.

They were the children of Abraham, and they had Moses.

Deuteronomy 18 verse 15, The eternal your God will raise up unto you a prophet from the midst of you, of your brethren, like unto him shall you hearken.

This prophecy is also talked about in Acts chapter 3. You have one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. Verse 46 back in John 5, John 5, 46. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me.

We just read that. But if you receive not his writings, how shall you believe my words? You don't even believe Moses. So how would you believe my words? Many people still erroneously believe that the Jews merely rejected Christ, but believe in the true God.

This is impossible. That is, it is impossible to have a relationship with God the Father apart from Christ. Since the word was the one who dealt with Israel under the Old Covenant and the one who came and revealed the Father. So if you reject the one who came and revealed the Father, you have also rejected the Father. We'll see that. Let's see if that's true. In John 1, John 1, verse 18. In John 1, verse 18, No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in his bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

So Jesus Christ came to declare the Father and to reveal the Father. Look at Luke 10. Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10, and verse 21. Luke 10, verse 21. In Luke chapter 10, verse 21. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hid these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for it so it seemed good in your sight. For all things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

So if you reject the Son, you have also rejected the Father. But more importantly, Jesus is the one who reconciled us to God, and remember that we're to be made the righteousness of God in Christ. Let's go now to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. 1 John. John's epistle. 1 John chapter 2. Verse 18. Little children, it is the last time, and the proper translation is the last hour, and the word there is ora.

Little children, it is the last hour, and you have heard that Antichrist shall come. Even now there are many Antichrists, thereby we know that this is the last hour. 1 John and the Gospel of John, to a large degree, were written to combat Gnosticism. Gnostics taught an ascetic form of dualism. Basically, here's the Gnostic doctrine. If you take a piece of paper, and you draw a long band across the paper, then you draw lesser bands under it until you finally come to the point where there is nothing but darkness, because these bands so-called represent light.

So you finally come to darkness, which the Gnostics termed the demiurge. Gnostics taught dualism, that is, that the spirit world and the soul are good and pure, and can have nothing to do with that which is physical. So they taught that Jesus Christ did not come in the flesh, but that he just seemed to be. He was like a phantom in human form. He didn't really make footprints. So the Gnosticism was really a syncretic blend of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, a little bit of Christian thought mixed in, and Greek philosophy.

So the Gnostics taught the way back to God is through knowledge, Gnostic meaning knowledge, and each one of these bands of light had passwords and certain key words that you memorized to get back to God. So you have the social fraternities of the day, which are based on the Gnostic teaching of, like, the masons, 33rd degrees. You go through the various degrees and steps to reach the period, the final form of enlightenment, and now you are back on the God plane, from which man so-called fell.

Look at, we're coming right back there, but look at John 1, 1 John 1. You'll see this. That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled. He was real. He was in the flesh. He was not a phantom in human form, as the Gnostics taught, which we have handled of the Word of life, where the life was manifest and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that you may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

So, you notice verse 5. This then is the message which we have heard of Him, declare unto you that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie, do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.

So He is showing that the true light is God the Father, and that we can walk in the light. And it is not what the Gnostics taught. Now, back to chapter 2. In verse 19, They went out from us, but they were not of us, talking about the false teachers of that time. For if they had been of us, they would have no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us.

But you have an unction. This word, unction, in the Greek is krisma, C-H-R-I-S-M-A. C-H-R-I-S-M-A, and it means a rubbing in. It is like you were to take ointment, and you rub it in, and of course, you rub it in a little bit, and the ointment disappears. So you have a rubbing in, an unction of the Holy Spirit, and you know all things. I'm not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denies the Father and the Son. So you listen to this. Whosoever denies the Son, the same has not the Father, but he that acknowledges the Son hath also the Father. Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning.

If that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, you shall also continue in the Son and in the Father. And this is a promise that he has promised us even eternal life. These things have been written unto you concerning them that seduce you. This word seduce is the word plenero, from which we get planets. It means to wander away, to wander about, to those that cause you to wander about.

But the anointing, this chrisma, this unction, this rubbing in, which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you. But as the same unction or rubbing in teaches you of all things and is truth, and is so lie, even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him. My little children abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

If we know that he is righteous, you know that everyone that does or practices righteousness is begotten of him. In the old King James it says, born, the Greek word is canal and you are not born until the resurrection. Now let's go to John, the Gospel of John, chapter 16, one of the most important scriptures or chapters in the whole Bible. We'll notice here about the work of the Holy Spirit. In John 16, again in verse 6, John 16 verse 6, But because I have said these things unto you, your sorrow has filled your heart.

Now that's referenced back to verse 5, but now I go my way to him that sent me. But because I have said these things unto you, your sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. The Holy Spirit, John 14, 26, says the Comforter is the Holy Spirit. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. Comforter is masculine, therefore a reference pronoun can be masculine.

It doesn't make it a person. And when he is come, he will reprove. Now that word reprove in the Greek is elancho, E-L-E-N-C-H-O, and it means to convict. It will convict. What does convict mean? It means to lay a weight on your heart and on your mind that a certain thing is true. It will convict you of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because I believe not on me.

Of righteousness because I go to my Father and you shall see me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. Now I don't often read from a commentary, but in this case I'm going to read from the companion Bible what he says here. In these verses here, the mission of the Holy Spirit was to bring the world into a situation of conviction or guilt in regard to these three things. Sin. In God's sight, sin is the refusal to believe the gospel concerning his son. Let's look at John. Oh, your place. Look at John 5.10. You see, sin, we quote 1 John 3.4, sin is the transgression of the law.

But there is a deeper meaning and a more fundamental believing definition in one sense, as we shall see. In 1 John 5 verse 10, where we ask to turn here, He that believes on the Son of God has a witness in himself, He that believes not God have made him a liar because he believes not the record that God gave of his son. So if you don't believe God, is that a sin? Now back to John 16. The Jews regarded only moral offenses and so many men to do as infractions of the ceremonial law and the traditions of the elders. That was sin to them.

Hold your place there. Look at Matthew 15. Matthew 15 verses 1 and 2. Matthew 15 verses 1 and 2. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do the disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, for they wash not their hands when they eat bread? But he answered and said unto them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? So to the Jews, sin had to do with the dos and don'ts of the law.

They did not think about sin being the sin of unbelief and rejecting Jesus Christ as they did. Jesus Christ says that the Holy Spirit will convict you of sin and of righteousness. God's standard of righteousness is revealed in the Bible. The Pharisees' standard of righteousness had to do with the dos and don'ts. And then the resurrection is so important to our salvation process, as we shall see.

Continuing here in John 16, verse 12, we see here three works of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them. How be it then, how be it when He, in this case it should be yet, the Spirit of truth, Taluma is neuter, how be it when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you unto all truth. So another work of the Holy Spirit is guiding you unto all truth, for it shall not speak of itself. The Holy Spirit does not go around audibly speaking, but whatsoever it shall hear, that shall it speak. So what does the Holy Spirit speak? How is it revealed? It's through the Word of God. The Holy Spirit and the Word of God are the convicting agents. And it will show you things to come. It will glorify Me, for it shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. So the Holy Spirit is a great enabler and revelator. Now let's focus on Christ's standard of righteousness. His standard of righteousness was to do the will of the Father. Here we are in John, go back to chapter 5, verse 30. We could turn to other places. We'll just turn to one place.

John 5, verse 30. God's standard of righteousness is revealed through Christ. What was Christ's standard of righteousness? In John 5, verse 30. I can't of My own self do nothing, as I hear I judge, and My judgment is just, because I seek not Mine, not Mine will, but the will of the Father who has sent Me. Jesus Christ fulfilled God's standard of righteousness, perfectly obeyed the law of God. We go to Romans chapter 8. Very few people understand what is written here in Romans chapter 8. I hope that we understand it, because it is so vital to our understanding what the Scripture is all about and what we should be doing. In Romans chapter 8, verse 2, For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. How did He condemn sin in the flesh? The way that He condemned sin in the flesh was this, that He lived perfectly, that the righteousness of the law might be filled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So how do you fulfill the righteousness of the law? Here it is, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So Jesus Christ showed that you could live in the flesh and perfectly obey the law of God. And so verse 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And verse 13, for if we live after the flesh, we shall die, but if we through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh, we shall live. Remember I said earlier that the righteousness of God is inextricably linked to obedience.

Christ was removed from the earth and the seal of the Father's approval being put upon him.

He was raised from the dead, become the firstborn among many brethren. The resurrection is so very important because it proves that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the true David, the Son of God. Look back to Romans chapter 1.

Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 3, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, so he fulfilled the requirement of the prophecies that he said that he would be the Son of David, and still a branch shall come out of Jesse, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

As we mentioned earlier, the Jews rejected Christ. They are still looking for a Messiah, some person who will come in his own name and restore the kingdom, as we read from John 5 and verse 43 earlier. There's a law today in Israel against preaching Jesus Christ.

Now, Israel is called a great democracy in that there is freedom in Israel. There is a limited amount of freedom in Israel, and it's not like the Arab countries. But you cannot preach Christ. Why is it that, you know, at one time, Mr. Armstrong was really excited about Jordan, and he had a relationship with King Hussein, and was hopeful that we could go on radio and it would reach Israel, and even quoted from Isaiah to go up on Zion and declare the name of God and Zion and all that.

It never did happen, but it was closed in a way. And so now here's this station in Cyprus, and it can beam all the way to Iran through satellite. Of course, you have to have satellite television to get this. You can't just...you will not be able to go into your...any kind of cable service that is sponsored by the Jews in Israel and receive this telecast.

Don't think that at all. It is only beamed from Cyprus through satellite. You see, you cannot go on the streets of Jerusalem today and proselyte in the name of Christianity, though there are certain Christian sites that they allow to be maintained in Israel. The resurrection was one of the central themes of the apostles' preaching, and it is through the resurrection from the dead that we also are saved. See, Jesus Christ reconciled us. Now we go to Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. In Romans chapter 5, verse 6, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans chapter 5, verse 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet for adventure for a good man. Some would even dare to die, but God commends his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then now being justified by his blood. So the price has been paid. The wages of sin is dead. The price has been paid. We can be reconciled to God, no longer counted as enemies. That's step one. Being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

So the living Jesus Christ has been resurrected, and now he sits at the right hand of God. And we are to put on the righteousness of God in Christ. So how do we put on Christ? Note Romans 13-14.

How do we become the righteousness of God in Christ? We have to put on Christ. I think we have established that you have to believe in Christ. That Christ came and paid the penalty. That he has now been resurrected, and that through his life we shall be saved. In Romans 13-14. But put you on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lust thereof.

Look at Galatians 3, verse 27. Galatians 3, verse 27. Galatians 3, verse 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. So that's what we affirm, that we have put on Christ. And through the laying on of hands we receive the Holy Spirit. Now one of the main ways that you put on Christ is to be crucified with him. That is, that you put the old man to death, as we have already mentioned from Romans chapter 8. Notice 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

A little bit different explanation, or adding to the explanation in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul said, of course in Corinth they were divided over many issues, even some saying that there was no resurrection from the dead. And in virtually every chapter in 1 Corinthians, Paul has to point them back to Christ, because a great rhetorical question of 1 Corinthians is chapter 1 verse 13, is Christ divided. And some saying there were a Paul, some Cephas, some of Christ. So chapter 2 verse 1, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined to know nothing among you save, Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Now what does the world think of when they just look at that and say, and him crucified? The world thinks of, well, it's just Jesus Christ on the stake. But much more is involved. To be crucified with Christ means to give up self as Christ did. Christ gave up his position with the Father. He humbled himself and took on the form of a man. In the same way, we have to be crucified with Christ.

As God works with us, we obey and become the righteousness of God. Now back to Romans 6, about this crucified with Christ. In Romans chapter 6, of course, Galatians 2 verse 20 says, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, not yet I, but the Son of God, who left me and gave himself for me.

Romans 6 verse 1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? The grace may abound. God forbid. How shall we that are dead in sin live any longer therein? Know, ye not, that so many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death. We are crucified, as it were, with him. That like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. So, to put on the righteousness of God in Christ, we have to do what Christ did.

He humbled himself, took on the form of a man, and he gave up that which he had in the heavenlies for us. And so in like manner, as Paul writes in Romans 8 in one place, that all the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Jesus Christ, in his role now as High Priest, ever lives to make intercession for us. So we have being reconciled to God by the death of his Son, then Jesus Christ being saved by his life, Jesus Christ living in us.

And in addition to that, he is there interceding for us. Look at Hebrews 7. Hebrews 7. In Hebrews 7 verse 22, Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing that he ever lives to make intercession for him, for them. For such a High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who needs not daily as those High Priests do to offer up sacrifices first for their own sins, and then for the peoples.

For he did it once when he offered up himself. For the law makes men High Priests which have infirmity, but the word of the oath which was since the law makes the Son who is consecrated forevermore.

So, brethren, how diligently are we seeking the righteousness of God? God has translated us into his kingdom through his Son. We have the power now to overcome this world. And Satan, Jesus Christ, says, be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. In 1 John 4, 6, he says, greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. We have the Spirit of God and the Word of God dwelling within us. People talk about they are going to try to obey God to the best of their ability, which is to admit defeat right up front, because we in and of ourselves cannot do it. But if we have the Spirit and the Word of God abiding in us and we exercise it, then we will have the power and strength. The words I speak, Jesus Christ, said, they are spirit and they are life. And they give that spirit and they give that power. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 119 verses 9, 10, and 11, Your Word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. So that spiritual nourishment, as simple as it sounds, is the key.

Diligently seeking, does our heart, H-A-R-T, plant after the living Word of God, as the H-A-R-T, the deer, pants after the water spring when it is thirsty after a long run? I mean, are we seeking with our mind, with our heart, spiritual things? I'm talking about diligently seeking God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, the truth, the great righteousness of God that comes from knowing and understanding the Word of God and how we can become the righteousness of God in Christ. We read in the Scriptures that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. But this Scripture is really saying, not like what we tend to think, well, where your heart there, where your treasure is, where your heart will be also, well, I give a lot to the church. And that's where my heart will be. But really the Scripture is saying that if your treasure is heavenly or spiritual, so will your heart be. But if your treasure is physical, so will your heart be. I'm talking about where we set our heart and our affection, and that's what the Bible talks about. Look at Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1 and verse, I'm sorry, Colossians chapter 3 and verse 1. Colossians 3, 1. If then we be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits on the right hand of God. See, is this where our treasure is? Is it in heaven? Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. Where your treasure is there, your heart will be also. Now, you can have the dimension of giving to the church and giving offerings, and that's very important. But more importantly is, where is your heart? Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ and God. When Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory, as a glorious, radiant spirit being. So, brethren, we must not be bent on having our own righteousness.

We can't spend all of our time on seeking our own well-being, because it's more important to lay up that treasure in heaven.

Christ said, many are the afflictions of the righteous. Though He were a son, He learned obedience through the things which He suffered. Now, what does that mean? I've explained this several times, but it means that all the ways He went through the passion and all the suffering that He went through at any time, He could have cried out for legions of angels to come and rescue Him. But He didn't. He suffered all the way to the point of death. Thus He learned obedience through the things which He suffered. Not that He wasn't obedient, but that He was obedient unto death. And so must we be.

I hope we've not latched on to certain points of the law, and think that if we do them in a rigid, physical manner and think that that is righteousness, God says, if you offend in one point, you have offended in all. Paul said, if you want to be justified by the law, you're deader to do the whole law. Let's not fall in the trap of the Jews who sought to establish their own righteousness apart from God and Christ. So we need to come to see that obedience to God and Christ are necessary. We must come to see that spiritual things and spiritual growth are far more important than anything else.

So we ask ourselves today, are we being made the righteousness of God in Christ? If we can come to really understand this vital understanding, our lives will be transformed in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. See, where the law of God is, there's liberty. Because if you do those things, you're free. No man can lay anything to your charge. The Apostle Paul writes, What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies, and he justifies through Christ, and that Christ died for our sins. Now we'll notice two more verses, and we'll be done in Isaiah 61.10. We look forward to this time in Isaiah 61.10. Isaiah 61.10. I will greatly rejoice in the eternal. My soul, my life essence, shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with her jewels. That garment of righteousness. Now go to Revelation 19, verse 6. Revelation 19, verse 6. If we are made the righteousness of God in Christ, then we will have on this robe of righteousness. We shall have made ourselves ready, and we will be among this group. In Revelation 19.6, in a hurt as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be a raid in fine linen clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. I would keep in mind what we just read from Isaiah 61, verse 10. Clothed in righteousness. And he said unto me, Right, blessed are they, which are called in the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God. So I hope, brethren, we are now so convicted of righteousness, that we will seek the righteousness of God with our whole heart, so that we will become the righteousness of God in Christ, and thus fulfill 1 Corinthians 5, verse 21.