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God is Love
The Righteousness
by Faith Message
By: David M. Curtis
"Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" John 15:8
A Christian is to develop the very character of love. Only by beholding Jesus Christ can this transformation be made. Only by steadfastly perceiving the wondrous love of God in the gift of His Son can one change his desires from carnal to spiritual. "He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for with out me you can do nothing" John 15:5. The selfish heart with all its affections and lusts are to be renewed by the healing power of God's love.
The blood of Jesus brings "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" 2 Corinthians 10:5. The will of man is where decisions are made either of disobedience unto death or obedience unto life. Every thought must be surrendered to the power of God claiming His promises to live the life of faith and holiness. The thoughts and feelings combined are the origin of all the fruit that is manifested. The words and actions are that fruit. By beholding the sufferings of the Savior every motive is revealed. Only in the light of the Cross is ones character seen as it truly is.
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" Isaiah 64:6. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things that defile a man" Matthew 15:19,20. Sin begins with the desire; sin is only a temptation so long as that desire is treasured in the imagination and thoughts. "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of His own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death" James 1:14,15.
Jesus taught that sin began with a desire in the thoughts and feelings. "But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart" Matthew 5:28. Man enters into the covenant of God by claiming the promises of His word relying on His divine power to crucify the lusts of the flesh in Christ. Job surrendered his eyes to the Lord and brought his desires into captivity to the obedience of God. "I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid" Job 31:1.
Bringing earnest effort to reform the words and actions, while the heart remains in the same unconverted condition brings many under the bondage of legalism. Such was the Pharisees religion of Christ's day. Christ said to these sincerely deceived hypocrites, "ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Matthew 23:28. "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruit" Matthew 7:15,16.
Man can ever put on the deceptive appearance of righteousness without ever allowing their cherished sins to be cleansed from their filthy garments by the blood of Jesus. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me” John 15:4. A tree requires sunlight, water, and healthy soil to grow up and bear fruit So must the Christian continue in the light of God’s presence by ever walking in obedience to his word, being watered by the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit, being rooted in the truth with the good soil of a willing heart.
The source of all life is Christ. Beholding Christ surrenders the will to God willingly trusting in his Savior’s love the Christian beholds the character of God and is changed into the same image from glory to glory. The essence of saving faith is trusting and ever hoping in the salvation of God’s redeeming grace. That He "will never leave thee, nor forsake thee". As a Father He seeks the good of his children. He suffers long with this rebellious world, and longs to lead us to repentance.
Only as we look to Calvary can the old man be crucified with Christ, mortifying the lusts of the flesh, dying to sin, by forsaking the burdens of the selfish nature. Any effort to reform the life not done under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit while remembering the suffering of Christ, must fail. Beholding His blood being shed for the fallen race is the only way God has given for us to forsake our sins and gain victory over the desires of the carnal mind.
To aid us in this experience God has instituted only three acts of service to strengthen the sinner and restore him back into the fellowship of Heaven. 1. The searching of the scriptures, 2. Our testimony to others of its truths, and 3. Praying to God with out ceasing for greater revelations of His love. Understanding the wisdom of God, sharing the knowledge of Him who died for us, ever praising Him for his goodness is the joy of the Christian experience. Reading the Bible, Prayer and witnessing is how we abide in Christ, and He in us bearing fruit to the glory of God.
Christ and Him crucified is the glory of God and His saving grace given to man. The Christian ever boasts in its power to conquer the sin that held him in bondage that placed him under the penalty of transgressing the Law of Heaven. The death of Christ frees the Christian from the death that every such act requires. "But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 1 Corinthians 10:17; Galatians 6:14; 1Corinthians 2:2; Romans 6:23.
All scripture is to magnify Jesus Christ and His sacrifice to bring about the salvation of man. The reading of the Holy Bible is for the edification of the body of Christ, His followers for the purpose of lifting the character of Jesus ever higher and glorifying His truth among the world for His names sake. The love of God that is in His Son is to be seen among His followers. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
The carnal mind is incapable of reflecting the holy love of God. Sin is selfish by its very nature. Love esteems the others needs as greater than His own. Jesus did not feel like dying under the weight of the sins of the world, yet He chose to from a moral principal that is called love. The followers of Jesus may not always feel like making Christian decisions. Yet he still chooses to obey from the same moral principal seen at the cross. Just as Jesus was willing to die to bring salvation, the Christian is willing to die rather than to sin against the Commandments of Him that died to forgive them. "God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery ... Christ in you, the hope of Glory" Colossians 1:27.
Romans 5:1 says we are, "Justified by faith." Acts 26:18 says we "are sanctified by faith." Philippians 3:9, "the Righteousness which is of God by faith." God "giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" 1 Corinthians 15:57. "This is his name whereby he shall be called. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" Jeremiah 23:6. "Christ in you the hope of glory," is our righteousness.
Repentance is more than deciding to stop doing wrong. It is a decision to start doing right. When one desires to do right he by nature no longer desires what is wrong. Repentance is choosing to obey God from the motive of love. Repentance is a gift of God that changes the desires of the heart. The decision to obey the Holy Bible through the grace of God leads the sinner away from evil deeds and thoughts. His focus is not on struggling against bad habits. Rather the Christian ever seeks to follow the example of Jesus molding his life after the self-denying One.
"Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" John 3:3. How are we then born again? "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: being born again not of corruptible seed, but by the incorruptible word of God which liveth and abideth forever” Peter 1:22,23.
We are born again of the "Spirit of truth" by obeying the truth of God's Word from a motive of love given by God’s grace. Jesus was telling us, that unless you obey the truth of God's Word through the power of the Holy Spirit you couldn’t inherit the kingdom of God! Any obedience that is done by an individual that is not done through the Spirit of God is vain! We are sinful and are incapable of rendering obedience without Christ. "For without me you can do nothing", Herein is the Good News! "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me" John 15:5; Philippians 4:13.
The seed that causes the Christian to be born again is the "incorruptible Word of God." "The seed is the Word of God" Luke 8:11. "Whosoever committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifest, that he might destroy the works of the devil. WHOEVER IS BORN OF GOD DOTH NOT COMMIT SIN: FOR HIS SEED REMAINETH IN HIM: AND HE CANNOT SIN BECAUSE HE IS BORN OF GOD” John 3:8,9. It is impossible to obey God’s word in the power of the Holy Spirit and at the same time sin. What is God’s definition of sin? Found just five verses before this! "Whosoever committeth sin transgressed also the law; FOR SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW" verse 4.
Jesus came to save His people from the sin of violating the Ten Commandments. Whoever disobeys God's law is of the devil. Whoever is born of God does not break the Ten Commandments. By faith Jesus comes into the heart writing the Ten Commandments in the fleshly tablets of the heart by the finger of the Holy Spirit. Thus fulfilling the New Testament, which he gave with His own blood!
"Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My Laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." "Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart" Hebrew 10:16,17; 2 Corinthians 3:3
We only receive merit with God through Christ "which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." We are only saved through His goodness living in us performing good works by grace through faith. It is not the works that save us rather it is God; "the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works” John 14:10. "He that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God" John 3:21 The Bible says that, "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Romans 3:12. Jesus said, "There is none that doeth good but One, that is, God” Matthew 19:17. The only one good or righteous is God. The Christian is only good or righteous by allowing the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart and asking the Holy Spirit to lead him to obey the Word of God.
"ASCRIBE YE GREATNESS UNTO OUR GOD"
"ASCRIBE RIGHTEOUSNESS TO MY MAKER"
"ASCRIBE YE STRENGTH UNTO GOD"
(Deuteronomy 32:3; Job 36:3; Psalms 68:34)
All greatness, righteousness, and strength belong to God. He gives it Holy character by performing good works by His grace. We must give all the glory to God_ Revelation 14:7. "My glory will I not give to another” Isaiah 42:8. Yet God wants to place His glory inside us. Just like the rose that is bathed in the sunlight and is nourished by the rain and brings forth its fragrance to gladden the earth. So is the Christian that is baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit of God.
"When He the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth" "the Spirit of truth... shall testify of Me” John 16:13; 15:26. Jesus prayed the Father, "sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth" John 17:17. The Spirit of truth can sanctify the sinner only through the truth. For this to occur man must believe and obey the truth. The Hebrew word for "hear" that is used through out the Old Testament means literally, "listen and obey." It is not those who merely hear the Holy Bible that are sanctified by its truths. It is rather they that are "doers of the word, and not hearers only" James 1:22.
The sinner will be filled and guided by the Holy Spirit as long as he is chooses to serve Christ by obeying every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. "The Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him" Acts 5:32. One rejects the Spirit of truth when he refuses to believe or to obey the truth of God's word. "Grieve not the Spirit of God, whereby ye are SEALED unto the day of redemption" Ephesians 4:30.
A river that flows from the throne of God waters the tree of life in the New Jerusalem. It is God that gives the water, and the tree life, and imparts life to those who eat and drink therein. The Christian receives the water of life given by Christ through the Holy Spirit, which flows, from the Father on the throne. Life is given from the Father, to the Son, through the Holy Spirit into the surrendered heart of the Christian. The Latter rain of the Holy Spirit waters the Christian only if Christ is on the throne of the will of the individual; every thought brought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ. The truth of God's Word needs to be on the throne of the will of the heart. "I am the way, the truth, and the life" "Behold thou desirest truth in the inward parts" "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" John 14:6; Psalm 51:6; John 17:17; Psalm 119:11.
Jesus tells the parable of a sower sowing seed in different soil. Only the good soil brought forth fruit to everlasting life. "The seed is the word of God” Luke 8:11. The good soil was willing to obey the Word of God. "For if there first be a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that a man hath not" 2 Corinthians 8:12. The willing surrendered mind to Christ is all we must bring to Calvary. Man must surrender his will to the Son of God on the Cross for Him to will and to do according to His good pleasure; only then will the Christian bring forth the fruit of Christ in the words and actions springing from the "well of water springing up into eternal life” John 4:14. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" Isaiah 1:19.
"It was by the confession and forsaking of sin, by earnest prayer and consecration of themselves to God, that the early disciples prepared for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Only those ho are living up to the light they have will receive greater light. Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it" Testimonies to Minister's p. 507.
"It is the privilege of every Christian, not only to look for, but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ... My brethren and sisters, plead for the Holy Spirit. God stands back of every promise He has ever made. With your Bibles in your hands say: ‘I have done as Thou hast said; I present Thy promise, ‘ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.' Christ declares, ‘What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them, ‘Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.' Matthew 7:7; Mark 11:24; John 14:13... Notice that it was after the disciples had come into perfect unity, when they were no longer striving for the highest place that the spirit was poured out. They were of one accord. All differences had been put away. The disciples did not ask for a blessing for themselves. They were weighted with the burden of souls. The gospel was to be carried to the ends of the earth, and they claimed the endowment of power that Christ had promised. Then it was that the Holy Spirit was poured out, and thousands were converted in a day... What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Day of Pentecost? ...The only ambition of the believer was to reveal the likeness of Christ’s Character, and to labor for the enlargement of His kingdom." Councils for the Church p. 98,99.
As we are born again our desires are changed. The Christians desire is to reflect the character of Jesus and to preach Christ and Him crucified. When man denies self and seeks the kingdom of God in this way, the power of the Holy Spirit will be given. Ask for the light of truth, not for a blessing for self, rather so that you might share Heavens rays with your neighbor. Only then will Christians receive the Spirit of Christ as it was on the day of Pentecost. "Those who beg at midnight for loaves to feed the hungry souls will be successful. In the parable, he who asks bread for the stranger, receives ‘as many as he needeth.' And in what measure will God impart to us that we may impart to others? 'According to the measure of the gift of Christ’ Ephesians 4:7” Christ Object Lessons p. 148,149. It is as we ask for the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of giving light to the world, it is then and only then that we shall receive the latter rain, and be given the Seal of God which is the character of Christ.
"We can receive of heaven’s light only as we are willing to be emptied of self. We cannot discern the character of God, or accept Christ by faith, unless we consent to the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. To all who do this Holy Spirit is given without measure. In Christ ‘dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him.' Colossians 2:9,10" Desires of Ages p. 181.
