Help Others Attain Righteousness
ICS Daily Devotions
Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV) “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
The gospel reveals one of God’s central attributes: His righteousness. It shows how God dealt with the problem of sin—the very thing that separated humanity from Him—in a way that fully upheld His righteous character. His deliberate establishment of the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant demonstrates this righteousness, even in the face of human rebellion. God did not forcibly reclaim the authority Adam and Eve surrendered to Satan when they sinned. Though He had every right and all power to take it back, He chose not to act in a way that violated His own nature as just, righteous, and holy. Instead, He unfolded a plan to defeat Satan and redeem humanity in a manner perfectly consistent with His righteousness. This plan is revealed in the gospel, which offers salvation to all who believe.
Those who are not children of God belong to the kingdom of darkness. The sin nature controls their lives, and they are susceptible to demonic influence, depending on how much they have opened themselves to the spiritual realm and idol worship.
Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
We are free moral agents, created by God with the ability to choose. This is why we need to confess with our mouths because it releases the authority of our lives to the One we profess. In this case, we profess belief in Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Saviour.
We choose to believe that Jesus took our sins upon Himself, bore the curse of the law, was tortured, died, was buried, and rose again. Salvation becomes ours when we believe this truth in our hearts and confess it with our mouths. We have believed—and we have received salvation.
When you receive Jesus, you receive the position of righteousness, becoming the righteousness of God in Christ and entering into a right relationship with God. Righteousness enables you to stand in the presence of the Father God without guilt, condemnation or a sense of inferiority, as though sin had never existed.
Many people from other faiths have sought this position or attainment but have failed miserably. This is the treasure that God has given to His children—the ability to stand before God as though sin had never existed in our lives, because Jesus has redeemed us with His blood! Righteousness is a standing of uprightness with God. It is a positional truth. It doesn’t mean we are perfect, but rather that God has chosen to see us as righteous in Christ. That’s why death has lost its sting for us (1 Corinthians 15:55)!
Reflection: What does it mean to you to become the righteousness of God in Christ? How has this identity reshaped your relationship with Him?
Sermon Series：Jesus Ministers Through His Body After the Resurrection
