Your Inheritance through Christ-Righteousness

As believers of Jesus Christ we have been given an inheritance and a part of our inheritance is the free gift of righteousness. What exactly does righteousness mean? The word “righteousness” is the Greek word “dikaiosynē” which means: the state acceptable to God which becomes a sinner’s possession through that faith by which he embraces the grace of God offered him in the expiatory death of Jesus Christ.

One of the primary things that we need to understand regarding righteousness is the fact that it is not something that can be obtained within your own strength. It is received by faith and given to us because of the death of Jesus Christ. It isn’t something that we could ever earn, it is a free gift given to every born again believer.

Romans 5:17 highlights this very fact as the Apostle Paul writes, “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” We can see that Paul is letting us know that we are reconciled back to God only through the righteousness of Christ and that it is something that cannot be obtained within our own abilities, Romans 5:19.

Where a lot of religious Christians get themselves in trouble is when they think that they can earn their righteousness through deeds and merits. A person that has developed that mind-set has diluted the power of the blood of Jesus Christ. He paid the entire sin debt that was owed at the cross at Calvary so that we could be reconnected back with God the Father and be in right standing in His eyes.

2 Corinthians 5:21 reveals, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” We have been given

this free gift included in our inheritance as believers of Jesus Christ but that doesn’t mean that we are exempt from doing our part.

1 Peter 2:24 is very clear as Peter states, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” The present tense action verb being used here is “live” and then he mentions what we should live for and that is “righteousness.” Our daily lives should consist of abiding by the Biblical principles laid out in God’s Word to the best of our ability.

We never want to take the grace of God for granted as He knows our heart. He will know if you made a mistake and became vulnerable to sin or if you are willfully sinning. We are called to be holy just as God is holy because we were created in His image, 1 Peter 1:15.

John breaks down the importance of living a life of righteousness found in 1 John 3:7-8. It details, “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

We can see a clear distinction between people that practice righteousness versus people that practice sin. One is reflecting the Lord and His Kingdom and the other is representing the enemy and his kingdom, there is really no way of getting around it. The reason why this is so significant because the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23. So, if we continue living a life of disobedience to God’s Biblical law found in His Word, it will lead to death.

Not only will it lead to an early premature death but it will also lead to spiritual death and separation from the Lord. The worst thing that you will ever want to hear the Lord tell you is “…I never knew you; depart from Me…” We have no excuses when it comes to taking advantage of the inheritance and free gift of righteousness that has been afforded to us.

If you are a believer of Jesus Christ you have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you and He will lead you in the right direction but you have to heed to His voice. One of the things that we underestimate the most is how powerful living a life of righteousness truly is. It is actually one of the most dominant weapons against the devil and his kingdom.

Romans 13:12 details, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” We can determine that the Apostle Paul is explaining to us that living upright is actual armor on the body of the believer. How is this possible? The thing is when you live in habitual sin; you are giving the devil legal access into your life to cause chaos.

When you live a life of righteousness, abiding by the Biblical principles found in God’s Word, you are shutting every door that the enemy may try to slither his way through. Your armor of light is what is preventing him from having legal access to come into your life and destroy it. The best way to ensure that your armor stays on is to remain in the Bible studying it, digesting it, and applying it to your daily life.

So how does one go about obtaining this gift of righteousness? This passage of Scripture answers this very question.