The Effects of Righteousness

Nov. 16, 2020 | By Creflo Dollar

As children in school, we may have read about the triumphs of great historical conquerors written up in the textbooks. Their works are no doubt legendary, but they were most likely not known for their righteousness, their faith, or their Christian principles. True triumph comes not from conquering others or performing heroic acts through our own efforts, but through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A relationship with Jesus makes us righteous in God’s eyes, and opens the door to eternal life for us. The beauty of this is that it operates not according to what we can do, but according to what Jesus has already done for us through His death and resurrection. He literally conquered death; through Him, we can have the same triumph. “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?... But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55, 57).

The world won’t accept the concept of this relationship making us righteous and holy, because it can’t comprehend something so simple and yet so powerful. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). It doesn’t understand the message because it doesn’t know Jesus. There is no victory as great as that of overcoming death, but we have it through Jesus Christ.

The effects of righteousness are far-reaching, and start with renewing the mind. When we get born again, one of the biggest hurdles we face is an intellectual one. We may find it hard to wrap our minds around the fact that we have brand-new identities in Christ, with no past, like newborn babies. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

It doesn’t matter what we did last week, yesterday, or even ten minutes ago. God meets us where we are and accepts us the way we are, regardless of how many mistakes we’ve made or how many times we’ve failed. The world doesn’t work this way, but being in Christ enables us to transcend earthly limitations. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Others may not see us as righteous; however, God does.

Our relationship with Jesus isn’t by bloodlines, but by faith. It puts us in right-standing with God, and nothing can cancel it. He loves us so much that nothing can tear us away from Him.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

Knowing Him is a game-changer, and gives us success in every area of our lives.

For more on how a relationship with Jesus Christ makes us righteous in God’s eyes, click on the link below for the two-message series, Triumph: Righteous is the Key to Victory.

https://bit.ly/TriumphRighteousistheKeytoVictory2Messageseries

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