You don't think of Jesus as having a bad day, do you? Nevertheless, I want to look in this study at what was quite probably one of the worst days of Jesus' life, and how he handled the challenge he was faced with.

Matthew 26:36-39
(36) Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.
(37) And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
(38) Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
(39) And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou [wilt].

Have you ever been so depressed that you wanted to die? That's how Jesus felt on this day. There is no record elsewhere in the gospels where he felt so bad that he told any of his disciples about it, but that's what he did here. And, he didn't bare his heart before all of his disciples; he went off with only Peter, James and John into the Garden of Gethsemane, where he sometimes went to pray, and let them know how he was feeling. He didn't try to put on a good, "spiritual looking" front for them. He was honest with them about how bad he was feeling.

Now here's something to think about: If Jesus was so depressed, what was he doing wrong that caused it? Was he focusing his mind on the wrong things? Was he failing to look at things from God's perspective? Was he failing to exercise proper control over his mind?

We know even as we ask this question that Jesus was doing nothing wrong. There was no sin or guilt in his life to pull him down. There was no shortcoming or failure in his walk with God that could have caused this. He was as fully committed to God as always, and as disciplined in his walk with God as he had ever been. And he was still so depressed that he wanted to die.

This lets us know that depression is not always the result of something you or I have done wrong. Depression can occur even when we are doing things right. If Jesus could get depressed in spite of his perfect walk with God, perhaps we should not be so quick to condemn ourselves or others when depression occurs.

Now being depressed is one thing; handling it the right way is another.

How did Jesus handle his depression? Did he seek for comfort at the bottom of a bottle? Did he look for recreational herbs to numb his mind? Did he gorge himself with food, or seek to forget his troubles in the arms of a woman? Did he seek out entertainments? Did he cut himself off from those around him? Did he curl up by himself somewhere and sleep for hours on end, unable to do anything?

How did Jesus handle his depression? He prayed. And he did something else that you never see him doing throughout the gospels: he asked three of his disciples to pray with him.

Can you imagine being Peter, James or John and having this weight dropped on you? It's hard enough that Jesus is depressed; it's another thing entirely to be asked to pray with him about his problem. The disciples had prayed for other people; they were not strangers to prayer. But praying for Jesus in a crisis situation was something entirely new -- and, no doubt, frightening -- to them.

What would you do in that situation? Wouldn't you be on your best prayer behavior? This would be the most important prayer you've ever prayed. The farthest thing from your mind would be taking a nap. Yet, when Jesus returned to them after going off a little way to pray, he found them all asleep.

Why was Jesus depressed? Verse 39 gives us a clue. Jesus knew what it was that God wanted him to do, but he didn't want to do it. There was a conflict here between the will of God and the will of Jesus. But rather than running off and doing his own will, Jesus went right to God in prayer.

What was the conflict? We don't have to guess about this. The Scriptures tell us.

Hebrews 5:7
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

To put it quite simply, Jesus did not want to die. The "cup" that he asked God to let pass from him was his death.

God's plan for the redemption of mankind was for Jesus, the one sinless man, to die in the place of sinful man, and for God to raise him from the dead. Now let's be frank for a moment and forget that we're talking about Jesus Christ. What kind of plan does this sound like to you? If God's plan was for you to die and for him to raise you from the dead, how excited would you be about the idea? Would you follow right along, no questions asked, because of your trust in God? Or would you have some serious questions about whether it was really God who was talking to you, or whether you had understood Him correctly?

Doesn't this sound suspiciously like the “Heaven's Gate” incident, where a group of misguided religious men and women gave up their lives in the hope that they would be resurrected on a spaceship somewhere? We think of people who act like that as crazy, and if they say that God told them to do it, we consider it a confirmation of our suspicions!

Jesus trusted God, and he had always done what God told him to do; but this went far beyond anything God had ever asked of him before. Jesus was just as determined as he ever was to obey God at all costs, but here he did something he had never done before: he asked God to change His will. He asked this not once, but three times. And he didn't ask calmly, dispassionately. He went before his Father with "strong crying and tears."

What was he praying so hard for? What was he agonizing about in the garden? He wanted God to save him from death. He wanted to obey God, but he didn't want to die. Jesus made it clear in his prayer that if there was no change in God's plan for him, he would carry out God's will; but he also prayed that if it were possible, "this cup" would pass from him.

Jesus was heard by God when he prayed, but he didn't get the answer that he prayed for. God did not change His will. Instead, Jesus "was heard in that he feared." What does this mean? Jesus' prayer was answered by his being given what he needed to carry out God's will willingly. The "fear" referred to here is obedience.

Hebrews 5:8-9
(8) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
(9) And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Philippians 2:8
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Once Jesus rose up from this intense time of prayer, there is no further hint of depression on his part. There is no sign of hesitation or unwillingness to carry out the assignment God had given him. Why is this? What had changed? What enabled Jesus to face the cruel, agonizing and shameful death of the cross without looking back?

Hebrews 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

There's the answer. Jesus was able to endure the cross because of "the joy that was set before him." God's solution to Jesus' depression was to give him joy.

What was it that Jesus was joyful about? There was nothing in his immediate situation that called for joy; he still faced the suffering and humiliation of the cross. The answer is right here in the same verse: God had him look beyond the cross, not just to his resurrection, but to what he would be doing after his resurrection. Where is Jesus now? He is seated at God's right hand. That's what God set before him, and that was the source of the joy that kept him going unhesitatingly to the Cross.

The right hand of God is a position of authority and power. According to Psalm 16, it is also a place of joy.

Psalm 16:8-11
(8) I have set the Lord always before me: because [he is] at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
(9) Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
(10) For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
(11) Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence [is] fullness of joy; at thy right hand [there are] pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 45:6-7
(6) Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom [is] a right sceptre.
(7) Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

God enabled Jesus to overcome his depression by focusing his attention on something that he could not have yet, but which was guaranteed to him in the future. In other words, God gave him something to hope for.

There are two vantage points available to the Christian that enable him or her to set in proper perspective the things that are happening in life. The first is to look at things from our legal position, where we are seated with Christ at God's right hand.

Ephesians 2:4-7
(4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
(5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
(6) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
(7) That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

God has raised us up together with Christ and made us sit together in the heavens in Christ Jesus. When you're sitting in the heavens in Christ, everything on earth looks small. No matter how immense or unsolvable our situation may seem from the vantage point of the earth, they all seem small and manageable from the vantage point of the heavens. Our Heavenly Father is more than able to deal with anything we are confronted with in life.

The second vantage point that sets things in proper perspective for us is looking at things from the vantage point of Christ's return. Looking at our lives and our situations from the viewpoint of Christ's return reminds us that all we see around us is temporary, while what God has given us and done for us in Christ is forever.

Have you ever, while reading a tense part in a suspense novel, looked ahead to the end of the book to make sure a favorite character was still around? If he is, your anxiety about what he's going through in the middle of the book is considerably lessened, because you know it's only temporary. At the end of the book he or she will be alive and well.

Well, we've read the end of the book -- God's book -- and guess what? If you've confessed Christ as your Lord, you're still alive and doing well at the end of the book! Knowing this gives you strength for dealing with whatever difficulties you are faced with now, because you are assured that they are temporary, and you will still be here when they are gone.

The more clear your understanding from the Scriptures of our hope of Christ's return is, the more joy you will derive from this. Jesus didn't have just some vague hope about being raised from the dead, then spending eternity floating around somewhere. He knew that he was going to be seated at God's right hand, and he had assurance from God's written word that this would be a place of joy. The more we take time to learn what God has revealed to us about what He has prepared for us, the more joy we will find in that hope.

Hope is not the only source we have for joy. Joy is one of the fruit of the spirit that is evidenced in our lives as we walk by the spirit of God rather than by our sinful flesh nature. The fruit of the spirit are characteristics of God that were evidenced in the life of Christ, and that God wants to build into our lives.

In Isaiah, the coming Messiah was described as "a man of sorrows."

Isaiah 53:3
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were [our] faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Jesus was, indeed, despised and rejected by the nation to which God sent him. He had every reason to walk around as "a man of sorrows." Yet this is not the picture of him portrayed in the Gospels. The Jesus Christ of the Gospels was a man of joy, in spite of the conflicts and obstacles that confronted him. Jesus Christ perfectly carried out the will of God, and his life reflected God's character. Part of that godly character was joy, which is one of the fruit of the spirit.

In John 17, shortly before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed to the Father that we might share in his joy.

John 17:13
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

This is the secret of our joy. We don't have to scrounge up happy feelings from inside our own hearts; our joy comes from Jesus Christ. Part of that joy is available now as fruit of the spirit, which is cultivated in us as we live according to the spirit of God. The fullness of our joy, though, will be evidenced at Christ's return.

1 Peter 4:12-14
(12) Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
(13) But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
(14) If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy [are ye]; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

Right now we share in Christ's sufferings. We are out of step with the world. Because we follow Christ, the world treats us like it would treat Christ. But when Christ returns, we will share with him in his joy.

John 16:19-22
(19) Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me?
(20) Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
(21) A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
(22) And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Right now the world rejoices while we sorrow. But when Christ returns, when we see him face to face, we will have joy that no one can take away from us.

But not all of our joy is based on the future.

John 16:23-24
(23) And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.
(24) Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

The basis of our joy is our confidence that, regardless of what is going on around us, God loves us, and He is our source of supply. We can have joy in the midst of dark circumstances and in the midst of need because our eyes are focused not on our circumstances or on our need, but on our God, who is greater than both.

Philippians 4:6
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

We are to be careful, or anxious, about nothing. Instead, we are to take everything we would normally worry about to God and make specific request to Him to supply our need, and we are to do it with a heart that is thankful for what God has already done for us. This requires keeping our heart focused on God and the things of God, rather than on the things of this world. And it requires one more thing: sustained fellowship with God.

John 15:7
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Why is this so important? Because we cannot have confidence toward God when we know that we have unconfessed, unforgiven sin in our lives.

1 John 3:20-22
(20) For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
(21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God.
(22) And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Our confidence in God gives us joy in the present, even when things seem not to be going our way.

Romans 15:13
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Our God is the source and reason for our hope. It is He who fills us with joy and peace, as we put our confidence in Him. It is He who causes us to hope abundantly, because He has given us His spirit, a small taste now of what will be ours at Christ's return.

Jesus Christ was able to keep going in his darkest hour because he knew that he would have joy in God's presence. That same hope has been set before us. As we keep our eyes focused on that goal, the hope that is set before us, we will be able to run this race with patience and persistence.

Jude 1:24-25
(24) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
(25) To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

Posted with permission from http://www.truthortradition.com

Righteousness is being “right” with God

Every person likes to feel accepted and loved. Knowing that others love and accept us is important for our health and well-being. Yet many Christians are so aware of their faults and shortcomings that they do not feel that God accepts them. Also, the fact that many do not feel accepted by their family or others contributes to their doubting that God could accept them. The purpose of this short study is to show from Scripture that every Christian is righteous before God. Biblically, righteousness is being “right” with God. When a person is “righteous,” he or she is “innocent,” “faultless,” or “not guilty” before God. The righteous person is “right” with God.

One word, two distinct uses

There is a lot of confusion among Christians about righteousness. Some say that we are righteous because of our good works, and others say our righteousness comes by faith apart from our works. Why the confusion? One reason is that the word “righteous” is used in two different ways in the New Testament. Christians must see and understand the difference between the two usages.

1. There are times in the New Testament when the word “righteous” refers to right or “righteous” acts, which is how it is used in the Old Testament. For example:

2 Timothy 2:22
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness [i.e., pursue doing righteous works].

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness [i.e., in doing righteous works].

Titus 3:5
He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

These three scriptures, and some others, use “righteousness” to mean, “doing what is right before God.” We should do our best to live in a righteous manner before God because this honors God and Christ. However, even when we do our best, we still fall short of God’s perfection, and this can cause us to feel unworthy before Him.

2. The second way “righteousness” is used in the New Testament is to describe the position that Christians have before God because of our faith in Jesus Christ. This righteousness is a spiritual reality and is completely separate from the works we do. It is this second usage of “righteous” that is the focus of this study.

“Righteousness” is the position of being totally acceptable to, and accepted by, God. Each Christian became acceptable to God when the sin that stood between him and God was washed away by the blood of Christ. Thus, “righteousness” is our standing in the sight of God as people who are “right” and “accepted” in spite of our sins, failures, and shortcomings. This “righteousness by faith” was not available before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and therefore it is not mentioned in the Old Testament or the Four Gospels. It is first revealed in the Church Epistles, which are specifically written to Christians.

The gift of righteousness

No human being is “good enough” to earn righteousness in God’s sight. The Bible confirms what honest people already know: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Because we all sin, it is impossible to be “right” with God based on our own merits. Our lives are so full of sins, shortcomings, and failures that the Bible says: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). We sin far too often to be righteous before God on our own, but we can be righteous in His sight through our faith in Jesus Christ.

God knew that no one would ever be able to earn a righteous standing in His sight, so in His grace and mercy God gave us righteousness as a gift. The book of Romans tells us that death came by Adam, but we have God’s gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:17
For if, by the trespass of the one man [Adam], death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Praise God for His wonderful gift of righteousness! Praise the Lord Jesus Christ who died to pay for our sins so that they would not be counted against us. It is our sins that make us “unrighteous” before God, but Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins, allowing us to stand righteous in God’s presence.

Scripture declares our righteousness

God wants us to be certain that we are righteous in His sight, so it is stated very clearly in Scripture.

Romans 3:20-25a
(20) Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
(21) But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
(22) This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
(23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(24) and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
(25a) God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice...

This section of Scripture is so important that we need to study it verse by verse.

Verse 20: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

This verse states that we cannot be righteous before God by works, i.e., by trying to keep the Mosaic Law with all its commandments. On the contrary, the verse says that knowing what God requires of us only makes us more aware of where we fall short. The Bible very clearly states that if we could become righteous by our own works, then Christ did not need to die: “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Gal. 2:21b).

I believe that verse twenty contains the essence of the problem that most Christians deal with when it comes to righteousness before God. We were all raised in a world where, to be accepted, we had to do things right and keep the rules, i.e., “observe the law.” To be accepted by our parents we had to keep the rules, to be accepted in school we had to keep the rules, to be accepted where we work we have to keep the rules, to be accepted by our friends we have to keep the rules (although they are usually unspoken rules, they are there).

It is imbedded in the core of our being that in order to be accepted we must live up to a certain standard. But God’s rules are so pure, so holy, and so righteous, and we are so weakened by our sin nature, fleshly desires, and human weaknesses, that we cannot keep them. We fall short constantly. Consequently, our instinct takes over and says we are not acceptable, and then that is how we feel—unloved and unaccepted. However, God is telling us as loudly as He can that we will neither become righteous nor feel righteous by keeping the rules: “No one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law.” We need to make up our minds right here and now that the fact that we sin and fall short of God’s perfection does not make us unrighteous.

Verse 21: “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.”

Thank God! We are not able to keep all of God’s rules and regulations, and, thankfully, we do not have to in order to be righteous before Him. Righteousness apart from works has been made known. The Law of Moses taught that a person could be righteous if he obeyed all the Law (Deut. 6:25). The problem was, no one could do it. Jews could not keep all the Law during Old Testament times, and Christians cannot keep all of God’s rules now. Why not? Because, as Romans 8:3 says, our efforts are “weakened” by our “sinful nature.” Although we cannot be right with God by our own works, righteousness from God has been made available to us. How do we acquire it? Verse 22 tells us.

Verse 22: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference.”

This verse tells us exactly how to receive God’s gift of righteousness—it comes through faith in Jesus Christ. As sinners, we all deserve the penalty of death from a just God, because the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23a). If we deserve death, how can we obtain eternal life and righteousness? Romans 6:23 concludes by saying, “but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we receive a gift from God—our sin is paid for and we receive everlasting life and a righteous standing before God. Until our sin was paid for, we had an “outstanding debt” with God, but once Jesus Christ paid for our sin, we have a clean slate with God, and we are “right” with Him.

We become righteous before God by faith, so it is important that we understand exactly what “faith” is. Biblically, “faith” means “trust.” When we trust that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that God raised him from the dead, we are saved and receive God’s gift of righteousness. God wants all men to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4), and so He has made salvation easy to obtain and given clear instructions as to how to be saved. One clear verse that tells how is Romans 10:9.

Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Jesus paid for the sins of everyone, but only those people who accept the payment are made righteous. Anyone can refuse a gift, and people can refuse the free gift of salvation and righteousness that God has for them by refusing to have faith in Christ. When a person believes that Jesus is his living Lord, he gets both God’s gift of salvation and His gift of righteousness.

Verse 23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

This verse is short and honest. We have all sinned, and we all fall short of God’s standards. We will never become so good that we will earn righteousness by our works. No, it must be a gift from God.

Verse 24: “And are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

This verse is loaded with important truths. Every Christian is “justified” in the sight of God. In the New Testament, the words “righteous” and “justified” come from the same Greek root word. Justification and righteousness are related concepts. “Justification” (dikaioo) is the legal process that leads to the state of being “righteous” (dikaios). A person is justified (found to be not guilty) inside the courtroom and then, after the trial, stands outside on the courthouse steps righteous (free of blame) in the sight of the law.

In God’s court of law we should receive what we deserve, the death penalty. However, at the trial we find out that the penalty was already paid by someone else—Jesus Christ. Thus we are justified in God’s court, and stand righteous before Him. The Amplified Bible expounds on the meaning of the word “justified” in this verse, and says that we are “justified and made upright and in right standing with God.” The righteousness that we could not earn, God gave us.

Verse 24 also says we were “freely” given this gift of righteousness. How can this wonderful gift be free? Simple. It is free to us because it was paid for by someone else—Jesus Christ. Salvation and righteousness are free to us because they were “bought” with the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28).

God gives us the gift of salvation and the gift of righteousness because of His grace. “Grace” is a concept that every Christian needs to understand. “Grace” means granting undeserved favor or giving an undeserved gift. As Christians, we are to show grace to others, that is, we are to give good words and deeds to people who do not deserve them. The Bible says that Christians should have grace in their hearts and in what they say (Col. 3:16; 4:6). Just as we give gracious words and gifts to people who do not deserve them, God gives His grace to us.

We do not deserve God’s grace—which is exactly why it is “grace.” If you feel like you do not deserve God’s grace, you are correct. We were sinners and “enemies” of God (Rom. 5:10), but that did not keep Him from loving us, and so, without our deserving anything but wrath, God gave us His undeserved favor—His grace. God’s gracious gift includes both righteousness in His sight and eternal life with Him.

Verse 24 also mentions “redemption,” which is “a release that is obtained when a ransom is paid.” The Christian has been released from the penalty of sin. Prior to becoming a Christian, we were in bondage to sin and its consequences and could not get free on our own. In order for us to be released from that bondage, a payment had to be made, and Jesus Christ made it.

If we were to get rid of the “biblical vocabulary” and summarize verse 24 in common English, it would read something like this: “[We Christians] are made right with God by a free gift. Even though we do not deserve it, Jesus Christ paid the ransom that released us from the consequences of our sin.”

Verse 25a: “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice….”

God is just, and even though He loves people, He cannot simply “wish away” the consequences of sin. A payment must be made. Parents understand this. If your child steals a cookie and then lies about it, even though the child is the joy of your heart, justice requires some payment. It may be as simple as a “lecture” or a “time out,” but justice demands judgment and a penalty. It is not justice to let sin go unpunished, and God, by His nature, must be just. Since “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), death must be meted out as the punishment. And it was! Jesus Christ died, and in His grace, God allowed Jesus’ death to be the substitute for the death we all deserve. Jesus was the sacrifice of atonement for us.

The Jews in the Old Testament understood sacrifices of atonement, which were an important part of Jewish life. An Israelite who was guilty of sin brought an animal as a sacrifice, and that sacrifice made atonement for the sinner. “Atonement” is a word every Christian needs to understand. It is built from the two words “at” and “one.” In the Old Testament, the death of the animal brought the sinner and God back together “at-one.” Jesus Christ was the “at-one-ment” for our sin. He was the sacrifice that brought God and us together “at-one.” Every Christian is now “at-one” with God. It is a spiritual reality that is true even when we do not feel “at-one” with God. The greatness of the work of Christ is that even if we feel apart from God, he is not apart from us. He is at-one with us and will never leave us or forsake us.

Our righteousness before God is a very important concept, and so there are many verses in the New Testament that speak of it. A few of them are:

Romans 10:4
Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin [a sin offering] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

We do not deserve the righteousness that God has given us, but we must believe that we have it and accept our righteous position before God.

Righteousness is not a feeling

The Bible clearly declares that Christians are righteousness before God, so why do so many people have trouble accepting that they are righteous? The primary reason is that most Christians believe their feelings instead of what the Word of God says. We all sin, so it is natural to “feel” unrighteous in God’s sight. Our sin and shortcomings produce feelings of guilt and shame, and it is good that they do, because our guilt often prompts us to quit sinning. Unfortunately, those same feelings of guilt make us feel unaccepted by God. Nevertheless, even when we sin, we are righteous in God’s sight because of the work of Jesus Christ. Our sin and feelings of guilt are real, but so is the righteousness God has given us.

Some Christians teach that our righteousness is the ability to stand before God without any sense of guilt, sin or shortcoming. In other words, those Christians teach that a truly righteous person should not have feelings of sin and shame in his life. That is not correct, and misses the point that our righteousness is a gift from God. Certainly it is true that if we do righteous acts we will not feel guilty about them. The problem is that we all sin, and do unrighteous things. Thankfully, the book of Romans is very clear: we are not righteous because we do what God says (no one will be righteous in God’s sight by keeping all the rules; Rom. 3:20), but rather we are righteous “apart from” keeping all the rules (Rom. 3:21). Our righteousness comes, not by what we do, but because we have faith in Christ. [1] We all fall short of God’s standards, and it is natural that our sin and shortcomings produce feelings of being unrighteousness and unaccepted by God.

We must realize that “feelings” and our God given righteousness are not necessarily connected. Christians are righteous even when we do not “feel” righteous. On the other hand, we may “feel good” about something when it is not good or godly. The Bible (and experience) teaches us that we all sin, and the only way a person can sin against God and not have feelings of guilt, shame, or wrongdoing is if he sins in ignorance, or if he has what the Bible calls a conscience that has “been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:2). Unfortunately, that is the case with many people. Hardened criminals are well known for their seared consciences, and they can do very evil and hurtful things without feeling any shame or remorse.

Sadly, there are Christians who have seared consciences in certain areas, and no longer feel any sense of guilt or shame when they sin in those areas. However, they certainly are not righteous simply because they do not “feel unrighteous.” Thankfully, it is almost always the case that one’s conscience is seared only toward certain behaviors. For example, a Christian who has become so wrapped up in pornography that he no longer feels any guilt or shame about it, may feel very guilty if he steals something. God is a God of grace and mercy, and many people with seared consciences have been restored to wholeness and tenderness by obedience and prayer. The lesson each Christian needs to learn is that our God-given righteousness is not necessarily connected to our feelings. We sometimes feel unrighteous even though we are righteous before God, and we may feel good about ourselves while doing things that are not godly.

It seems paradoxical that even when we sin in the flesh, we are still righteous in God’s sight. That is because righteousness is such a wonderful gift of God’s grace, and a spiritual reality. You may not feel at-one with God, but if you are a Christian, you are. The Bible says Christians are to live by faith and not by “sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). That means we are to live by trusting what God says and not by what we see or feel. We have to trust that what God says is true, and that any feelings to the contrary are lying to us. Remember the record of Adam and Eve? Eve “felt” that it would be okay to eat the fruit God had said not to eat, and so she ignored what God had said about it. Disaster resulted. We all need to learn from Adam’s and Eve’s mistake, and realize that no matter how we feel, what God says is the Truth. We may feel that Christ will never return, but he will. We may feel like the evil on this earth will never be removed, but it will. We Christians must learn to think about ourselves the way God thinks about us.

If you are feeling unrighteous, go back to the Word of God, study what it says, and pray to clearly understand the gift of righteousness that has been freely given to you. Then take captive your thoughts of unrighteousness (2 Cor. 10:5), and tell yourself you are not going to be tricked by what you feel, but that you are going to believe the Word of God. Say, “I am righteous before God” over and over, hundreds of times if you have to. Say it out loud if you have to. Your feelings of unrighteousness come from deep within you and from your earliest experiences. It may take a lot to change those feelings, but God will help you. Remember: all things are possible with God.

Although we fall short of God’s goal of perfection for us, God has given us grace (undeserved favor) and sent Jesus Christ to die in order to pay for the penalty of our sin. Now, “bought and paid for,” each of us stands before God as a righteous person, at-one with Him.

Posted with permission from http://www.truthortradition.com