A Crucified Life - - Is Justified

 

    Romans 10:10

For with your heart 

you Believe and Justified, 

and with your mouth 

you Confess and are Saved.

    *Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1343

Justified: righteousness, justice; judicial verdict

From the Greek word 'dikaiosuné' (pronounced dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay): refers to what is deemed right by the Lord after He examines a person; what receives official approval from God; divine righteousness

    Also from Strong's: "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". 

JUSTIFICATION FOR ALL

    This justification is not available through other means or religions. There is only one God and there is only one way to live in heaven with Him. This verse expounds a little more clearly on what is necessary to fulfill God's desire for us to be with Him in eternity.  

    There are only two destinations after death: heaven and hell. While God created both of them,  only one destination was intended for people: heaven. But people choose to go to hell when they disbelieve God while they are alive. One must believe not only that God Is, but that God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross and walk out of the grave, defeating death (by rising) and hell (throwing off the weight of sin). 

    Because Christ lives, those people who believe that Jesus Christ is God's only begotten Son will live again, too. For we are in Christ and He is in us. Where He goes, we go. What He did, we do. What He says, we say. We form no opinions of our own unless we can back them up with the whole Word of God. 

    As this verse says, with our HEARTS we Believe and are Justified. And with our MOUTHS we Confess and are Saved. Our hearts are changed for the better when we believe that Jesus is God's only begotten Son. However, we must speak our beliefs aloud at the time we believe for the saving grace of God to take effect. 

INDIVIDUAL JUSTIFICATION

    I can pray for you. And I do. But there comes a point in every person's life when they must pray for themselves. I can talk to God about your salvation, but unless you do the same, it's not gonna happen. We all, on an individual basis, must come to the cross, see Jesus and decide for ourselves whether or not we will accept Him as the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. It's the most important decision any of us will ever make.

    Remember the centurion who came near the cross where Jesus hung. Perhaps that centurion had heard Jesus' teachings, but he surely heard the whispers and gossip of Who this Man was on the cross. He had received orders to pierce His side, to ensure that Jesus was truly dead. Which the centurion did. But he also came to the understanding that this Man hanging on the cross was the Christ, the Messiah. 

    How many of us see Jesus? Untold numbers have come to the cross with repentant hearts, seeking forgiveness for their sins and receiving it, because they believed in their hearts that Jesus died for them, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where He is seated at God's right hand. Yet we know that our numbers are few, that only a fraction of this world's past, present and future populations have recognized their need for a Savior. 

    Many, many more, too many to number have turned their  backs on the God who created them. Turning to the darkness and embracing its secrets and evils instead of turning to the Light and embracing Its Love and Hope. 

    So we beg you, we implore you, if you have not done so already, Come to the Cross and see Jesus. Come to the Well and drink the Living Water of Life. Come to the Garden and see the empty tomb. Come to the Table and taste the Bread of Life. Let Him fill your cup with Himself and let it overflow. 

    Jesus tells us that "they who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness will be filled" in one of His most famous sermons. Have you had enough of this world's fakeness? Come to Jesus, for He is Truth. Do you find yourself hungering for something you can only find at the cross? Come nearer to see Him clearly. Come today, for there is only now: tomorrow is promised to no one. 

JUSTIFIED & SAVED

I Believe In A Hill Called Mount Calvary - Gaither Vocal Band

You Say - Lauren Daigle

God Be Merciful To Me - Jars of Clay

Near The Cross - Shirley Willis

I Found God - Ben Laine

Awe of You - CAIN

Overcomer - Eddie James

Praise God I'm Free - Various Artists

A Crucified Life - - Lives A Righteous Life

 

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1343

Righteousness: justice, judicial approval
From the Greek word 'dikaiosuné' (pronounced dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay): the divine approval of God, what is approved in His eyes, divine verdict.

DEAD TO SIN

We read Romans 6:1-14 which speaks of being alive in Christ, looking at verse 4:

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

    Sin was on the cross. It was laid across the shoulders of the Lamb of God. He became the scapegoat on which all the sins of the world were placed. By design. Everything God does is done by design and on purpose with purpose. 

    Sin was not alone on the cross. The means by which sin could be cured is also on the cross. The blood of Jesus Christ stained the cross completely. From the cross beam on top to the cross post which was pulleyed into the ground where it stood, drawing every eye to it. But not every heart. Not all who see see clearly; we must view the cross through the eyes of faith in order to see our Savior and not just a mere Teacher or Prophet.

ALIVE IN CHRIST

1 Peter 2:24

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. "By His stripes you are healed."

Romans 8:11

And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

    When Paul writes that he dies daily, he means not only that he faced death on a daily basis for putting his faith in Christ into action, but that he daily submitted and surrendered to the Word of God.

     Like Daniel, Paul put God first in every decision after he believed in Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. And like Daniel, Paul would not back down when the going got tough. Both were arrested, tried and jailed. 

    Daniel was released after having spent one night in jail (the lions' den). Having survived the lion pit, Daniel's God was given the glory for what He had accomplished in Daniel's testimony.         Paul was arrested, tried and traveled to Rome under arrest. Every town he went through, a group of believers was established by God's Word being shared with anyone who would listen to the gospel Paul preached. 

    Then, as now, God gets the glory every time. We are the righteousness of God in Christ because Jesus Christ is our Salvation, our Hope, our Redeemer, our Righteousness.

    Jeremiah 23:6

In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.

    Who is Judah? The people of praise who praise God.

    Who is Israel? The people of God who live according to God's Word.

    Who is God's Word? Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. 

    

LIVING RIGHTEOUS

Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin

Stricken, Smitten And Afflicted - Fernando Ortega

God Really Loves Us - Crowder & Dante Bowe

Heart of God - Zach Williams

No Longer Slaves - Jonathan and Melissa Helser

Me On Your Mind - Matthew West

Jesus Paid It All - Kim Walker-Smith

Make Room - Community Music

Signs & Wonders of Christ's Arrival - - The Righteousness of God In Christ

 

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 1343

Righteousness: divine judicial approval, justice

From the Greek word 'dikaiosuné' (pronounced dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay), refers to what is deemed right by the Lord (after His examination).

BECOMING THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

And just how do we obtain this divine judicial approval from God? 

While it may not seem like part of the Christmas message, it is in fact the definition of Christmas. This is the reason Jesus Christ was born: to save mankind from the punishment of their sins and to bring them into the fulness of God: to become the righteousness of God through Himself. 

John 17:31

Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

This can only be accomplished through the power of God and the faith He births within us when we believe that Jesus Christ Is Lord. Lord of All. Lord of Creation: nature, the stars and the heavens,  people. Lord of one's own self. The Lord My Righteousness: 1 Corinthians 1:30 "It is because of Him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption." 

BECOMING ONE IN CHRIST

John 17:20-21 is when Jesus prayed for us, for the believers who would believe after His disciples spread the gospel throughout the world. 

20. I am not asking on behalf of them alone, but also on behalf of those who will believe in Me through their message,

21. that all of them may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I am in You. May they also be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

THE WAY IN

Jeremiah 32:39 

I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 

In Isaiah 35:8 there is a road, "The Way of Holiness". This, too, is Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us, "I am the Way". 

    There is no other way to atone for our own sins. God says our righteousness in and of our ownselves is "filthy rags" and will not be accepted by Him when we stand before Him in judgment (Isaiah 64:6). Self-righteousness is not God-righteousness. Pride is not righteousness. Greed is not righteousness. Self-awareness is not righteousness. Self-involvement is not righteousness. Self-promotion in anything is a filthy rag and will be burned to ash in the fires of God's altar. 

    While kindness and generosity help people be nice to each other on the surface of life, these things will not gain a person entry into the eternal presence of God. They will not atone for the sins of one's own heart. These things are merely dry, dusty bones: a skeletal framework of what could be but is not without a heart for God to direct it.

    Now is the time to give your heart to God. Today is the day to receive God's love and mercy and righteousness into your hearts and lives. We all live in Now Time. Tomorrow is Hope Time, time that is not promised. Today is not even promised. Some will not make it through today for one reason and another. Every breath we breathe, we breathe because God gives it to us. 

     Now Time is the time to become one in Christ as He is one in God His Father. Now Time is the time to answer God's call on your life to embrace His Word, His Love, His Grace. Now Time is right now, right this minute, this second, this (inhale) breath (exhale). Did you feel that? That was mercy, God giving us another breath. 

Don't wait too long to take hold of the faith God wants to birth within you. 

I pray those walls break down which you have built up within yourselves. I pray that your heart would be moldable by God in the potter's house. That you would receive Him into your hearts and glorify Him with your lives. 

In Jesus' Name, 

Amen.

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS by Wayne Watson 

DAYS OF ELIJAH by Robin Mark

COME ALIVE (DRY BONES) by Lauren Daigle

IN CHRIST ALONE by Michael English