The just shall live by faith.
Righteousness and Life
Although the Gospel is a great mystery, yet it is exceedingly simple. A few easily grasped principles cover every phase. Only two things need to be understood, namely, your need, and God’s ability and willingness to supply your need.
In the first place you find that you are a sinner. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Rom. 3:10-12. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Verse 23.
Sin is part of your very being; in fact, it may be said to be you. Christ, who knew what was in you, said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:21-23. These evil things come from the heart, not of a few people, or of a certain class of people, but of all people. We are told that “out of the heart are the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23. So you know that these evil things are your very life. That means that your life by nature is sin.
But sin means death. “For to be carnally minded is death.” Rom. 8:6. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12. So you see that sin carries death with it. Death springs from sin, for “the sting of death is sin.” 1 Cor. 15:56. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:15. From these texts we learn that death is wrapped up in sin. Through the mercy of God sin does not immediately cause you to die, because the Lord is longsuffering, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. So He gives you an opportunity to repent. If you do repent your sin will be taken away, and of course you will be delivered from death. But if you refuse to repent, and show that you love sin, it works out the death that is in it. Many other texts might be quoted to show that sin means death, but these are sufficient for now. You may read these texts if you wish: John 3:36; Deut. 30:15-20, together with Deut. 11: 26-28; Rom. 5:20, 21; 7:24.
Sin and death are inseparable. When you find one, the other is there also. To save you from sin is to save you from death. Salvation does not mean simply delivering you from the consequences of sin, but saving you from sin itself. The plan of salvation is not, as some people think, a scheme by which you are free to sin as much as you wish, believing that a profession of faith will save you from the consequences of your wrong doing. On the contrary, it is a plan for utterly freeing you from sin, so it will not cause you to die. Just as you can’t die without having sin, so also, you can’t have life without having righteousness.
But where can you get righteousness? You can’t get it from yourself, for you have nothing but sin in yourself. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.” Rom. 7:18. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” Rom. 8:7, 8. Since your whole life is sin, as you have already seen, it is clear that the only way for you to get goodness is to get another life. That is what the Gospel offers.
You are evil but God is good. He is not only good, but He is the only One who is good. Listen to the words of the Savior, to the young man who came running to ask Him, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may have eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God.” Mark 10:17, 18. This is absolute. It does not exclude Christ, for Christ is God. John 1:1. “God was in Christ.” The life of the Father and of the Son are the same. John 6:57.
There is no goodness apart from God. Goodness is not a sentiment, but it is a real thing. There can be no goodness apart from actions. It is not floating around in the air like the scent of flowers. As there can’t be sweetness apart from something that is sweet, and there can’t be saltiness apart from salt, so there is no such thing as goodness apart from good deeds. All of God’s ways are good and right. His ways are briefly yet comprehensively described in His law. “He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel.” Ps. 103:7. “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” Ps. 119:1.
The law of God describes His ways and all His ways are right. His law is called His righteousness. So we read in Isa. 51:6, 7. “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” God’s law is His righteousness, and His righteousness consists of active deeds; therefore the law of God is the life of God. His life is the standard of righteousness. Whatever is like His life is right, and everything that differs from His life is wrong.
You are not left in ignorance of what the life of God is, for He lived it on earth in the person of Jesus Christ. The law of God was in His heart (Ps. 40:8), and out of the heart are the issues of life; therefore the law of God was His life.
The Spirit of the Lord was on Him (Luke 4:18), and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Cor. 3:17. Therefore the life of God in Christ is “the perfect law of liberty,” and if you continually do it you will be blessed. James 1:25.
No other life in this world has been free from sin. People have exhausted themselves and worn out their very life in attempting to live righteous lives, and have invariably failed. We all know ourselves to be sinners. There are none who will not acknowledge that they might have done better in some things than they have done; and there are none who have not at some time in their lives said or thought that they were going to do better. This shows that they know that they have sinned. All people’s consciences accuse them, even if they have not been instructed in the law of God. See Rom. 2:14, 15.
Since your life is sin in itself, and you have only one life, and righteousness cannot be manufactured out of sin, it is obvious that the only way you can get righteousness is by getting another life. And since the only righteous life is the life of God in Christ, it is plain that you must get the life of Christ. This is nothing more nor less than living the Christian life. The Christian life is the life of Christ.
But don’t think that you can live this life yourself. It is evident that you cannot live another life with your old life that you have always lived. In order to live another life, you must have another life. And you can’t live the life of another. You can’t live the life of even your closest friend. In the first place you can’t successfully imitate the things that your friend does, and in the second place, you can’t know your friend’s inner life. How much less, then, can you live the infinite life of Christ! You might try to pass yourself off as somebody else, but you will invariably be detected as a fraud. So it will be if you try to live Christ’s life. Thousands of people are trying to live the Christian life, but the cause of their failure is that they are trying to live Christ’s life with their own.
What can you do? Is it impossible to live the Christian life? No, it isn’t, but Christ must be allowed to live it. You must be content to give up your sinful and worthless life, and count yourself dead merely nothing. Then if you are truly dead with Christ, you will also live with Him. Then it will be with you as it was with Paul: “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless 1 live; yet not 1, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2:19, 20. When Christ is allowed to live His own life in you, then, and only then, will your life be in harmony with the law of God. Then you will have righteousness, because you have the only life in which there is righteousness.
If you are in doubt as to how to get the life of Christ, you can read the account of His miracles, how He healed the sick and raised the dead. Read how He gave new life to the poor woman whose life was daily ebbing away. Luke 8:43-48. Read how He gave life to Lazarus and the ruler’s daughter. Learn that His word is a living word, with power to give life to you as you receive it in faith. Learn that the life of Christ is in His word, so that when you hear and believe then Christ Himself dwells in your heart by faith. Eph. 3:17. Let these things be living realities, and you will surely have life through His name.
Living By Faith- E.J.W., and A.T.J
Live every day by faith, speaking the Word into existence. Live every day in expectancy of God. Repent and be converted, be born again. Be not deceived. Watch and pray.
Maranatha