WRITTEN BY MICHELE HANSEN
Based on Revelation 19:6-8, this year we are exploring how the Believer’s righteous acts cover us in Christ’s righteousness and represent our Savior to the world.
“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
(Revelation 19:6-8)
Righteous acts can only happen through righteous people. Not as the world defines righteousness, but how God does. And how does His definition of righteousness translate to life here on ol’ Terra Firma? As I am writing this, the song “Cornerstone” comes to mind and the verse that says,
“When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh, may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne”
Faultless to stand before God on that day, only because of His righteousness that we will be wearing…Fine linen, bright and clean. (Eeek! I almost get giddy!)
The scriptures talk about righteousness a lot. I looked it up and, depending on the translation, Righteous or Righteousness appears in scripture around 550 times. It is an important concept, reality and directive in the life of a believer.
Webster defines righteousness as…
- Acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin;
- Morally right or justifiable;
- Arising from an outraged sense of justice or morality.
The Biblical definition of the word means living in right relationship with God, other people and all creation. This isn’t something we can accomplish in and of ourselves. We live by imputed righteousness…we get it from the Lord. We are granted that right-ness by accepting Christ’s cross-purchased salvation. His perfect righteousness is granted to those who have believed and received the blood bought gift of God…salvation through the cross and resurrection of Christ.
As a by-product of walking in His righteousness, we are representing the Lord and His righteous acts…only in the power of God Almighty through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We just need to be aware of His leading and be obedient to follow Him. (And if it was that easy, we would all be rocking righteousness.)
But it’s not and we don’t.
It’s a daily decision to take up our cross and follow Him: every day; every moment, we need to realize our need for Jesus and subsequent surrender to His will. We get to choose. Christ’s righteousness is transferred to us at salvation which is justification. The walking out of salvation, called sanctification, are righteous acts and fruit that comes from walking out our lives surrendered to the Lord through Christ.
What does that really look like? Maybe we have a tiny bit of a short fuse when we are in situations that require patience. Maybe we are suddenly hit with an illness that begins to eat up our livelihood. Maybe a loved one is afflicted with hardship. Maybe someone we thought was a friend, hurts us deeply and denies it. Maybe we lose someone close to us because of someone’s senseless and irresponsible decision. The older catch phrase, “WWJD?” (What Would Jesus Do?) is pretty accurate in this situation, but highly unlikely to give us what we need in all these situations and countless others.
What we absolutely need and must attain is the power of Christ to get us through these situations. How do we get it? We submit and surrender to the will of God. We get in and stay in the word of God so we can act out of the truth that lies within. We pray for the Lord to give us what we need in any and all situations. The only way through is to cling to and depend entirely on God. That is, Holy Spirit that lives in us.
This is an important truth and I feel like I am just now getting a “corner up”. (Like when you are trying to peel off a label or sticker and it’s stuck really good…) Total surrender, in all it’s forms, to the Lord, in every way, is the only way to really walk out the righteousness of Christ. His life of righteousness will be fully lived, out loud, and in full view as we learn to be fully committed and reliant on Him.
This year let’s explore and realize, to a greater degree, the awesome reality of how the light of God’s truth clothes us in His righteousness and brings us into that safe and wondrous reality of eternal living with Him.
