The Foundation for a Righteous Life

Sept. 5, 2022 | By Creflo Dollar

In today’s society, the word “righteous” has been turned into a meaningless buzzword. In its biblical context, it’s the quality of being justified, holy, and in right-standing with God. This may sound intimidating; achieving this status on our own is impossible. For Christians, righteousness comes not from doing the right things, but from what God says about us and our belief in that.

The world itself is unrighteous; as believers living apart from the world, our righteousness comes from Christ living in us. Being born again makes Him the foundation for our lives and takes us from being sinners to saints. “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His…’” (2 Timothy 2:19, NKJV). This allows us to build our lives on a foundation that has already been laid.

The enemy is constantly attacking our minds; one of his strategies is to confuse us about who we are in Jesus. Satan wants us to forget that Christ gave us the same identity that He has. “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord’(1 Corinthians 1:30, 31, NLT). We have access to gifts the world doesn’t have. When we’re in Him, we’re the righteousness of God.

Trying to build our lives on any foundation other than Christ dooms those efforts to failure. It’s like walking on sand that keeps shifting under our feet; we simply can’t get any traction or stability. Because of Him, we have something to stand on that’s even more solid than rock. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Jesus made sanctification and holiness available; however, He left the final decision of whether or not to claim them up to us. It’s our choice whether or not we want to be blessed, healed, redeemed, and wise. Those manifestations hinge on whether we try to earn our self-righteousness or depend on God’s righteousness.

Our right-standing with the Father is a gift that can’t be revoked because it isn’t based on our daily behavior. Our true identity is based on what Jesus did on the cross, and our belief in that. The Holy Spirit has permanently sealed believers’ salvation. In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory(Ephesians 1:13, 14, NKJV).  

For us, sin is no longer an issue. When we know with absolute certainty whose we are, what we do will reflect that identity. Even when we do sin, God still sees us as righteous. “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Romans 6:14, NLT).

We can compare building our lives on Christ to building a house on bedrock instead of soft mud. Anything less just won’t hold up when trouble hits (Matthew 7:24-27). As God’s people who trust in Him, our righteous standing can’t be shaken or toppled.  

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