What Is Righteousness?

Did you know that our understanding of being righteous - as the world defines it - is completely different from how God sees it?
In this episode, we uncover what truly makes us righteous and what we have to do to attain it - something so simple and easy that it can feel almost too good to be true.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 
- II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

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Chapters

• 0:15 Setting The Stage: Abraham’s Call
• 1:00 Leave Haran, Head To Canaan
• 3:36 Famine, Egypt, And Sudden Wealth
• 5:17 Separating From Lot
• 6:15 Promise Under The Stars
• 6:59 Hagar, Ishmael, And Waiting
• 7:29 Covenant, New Names, And Isaac
• 8:40 Three Visitors And A Meal With God
• 11:21 Faith Credited As Righteousness
• 12:40 Sarah’s Laughter And God’s Question
• 14:04 What True Righteousness Means
• 16:19 Christ Our Righteousness
• 18:35 New Creation And Simple Faith
• 22:30 Abraham’s Test: Isaac On The Altar
• 25:34 Blessings Of Abraham Declared
• 28:22 Do Not Be Afraid: God Our Shield

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:15

I don't know, yeah. Sorry, I want to get straight into it and start with the story of Abraham. And for those uh who don't know, he was the father of many nations. But I want to tell you that uh it didn't start that way for Abraham, and you know, some of you know the story of his life, and some of you might not, but uh today I want to share his story and give you a background and tell you how Abraham became the father of many nations, and it it so starts in the Bible, right? Just to let you know, the the story of Abraham comes in the book of Genesis, and uh you know his name was Abram before that, and uh Abram was living with his family, and he was living in a very uh let's call it an affluent city, a city that had rich people. And the Bible says that God comes to him and tells him to leave his father's home. Now, Abram, when God came to him the first time, and let me tell you, Abram's not mentioned in the Bible before that at all, and it starts directly with God going to Abram and telling him, Leave your father's home, and I will bless you. And God tells him, Take your wife, Sarai, and go to a new place that I'm giving you as a dwelling. So Abram gets up, the Bible says, and let me tell you, he's 75 years old. So Abram is somebody now who's, and you can understand and you can imagine what age that is, what kind of a mindset that is. You're set in in life, you're set in your ways now, you're 75, and yet God's got uh God comes to Abram. His name was Abram at that time, A-B-R-A-M, and his wife's name was Sarai, S-A-R-A-I, and God tells him to leave his father's home, and he says to go to a place that he is giving him. So Abram decides to leave with his wife Sarai at the age of 75, and the Bible says his levy, his nephew Lot follows him along with Sarai, and it says they took all their possessions, and they go, including the people he had acquired, the Bible says. So just to let you know, the name the the place where he was staying was called Haran. And the place that he went to was called Canaan. And the Bible says he pitches his tent at a place called Bethel. So at the age of 75 now, Abram has decided to listen to God's voice. He takes everything he's got, everything he owns, and he leaves his father's home. He leaves everything behind, and he goes to a place where God is taking him, and he sets his tent in a place called Bethel. And the Bible goes on to say that Bethel has a famine. And when that happens, he has to move to Egypt. And he moves to Egypt, and this time again, Lot follows him, and Sarai follows him. Of course, for Sarai has to go with him wherever he goes. She's um a loyal wife. And I want to tell you that there's another story that happens in Egypt because he fakes Sarai being his sister and not his wife, because he's afraid that anyone will see her beauty, which means Sarai must have been really good looking. If anyone in Egypt sees her beauty, will try to kill him and take her as wife. So you can imagine the kind of days that they lived in. But anyway, I'm leaving that story out. And the Bible says he goes to Egypt because there's a famine in the land that God told him to go and pitch his tent. And then in Egypt he gets blessed. And Abram, the Bible says, the Bible says Abram is very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. Hallelujah. In fact, very rich is not mentioned too many times in the Bible at all. And if it says that Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold, that means he must have been, I'm going to use the word loaded. The Bible even says that Lot hanging out with him has also now got flocks and herds and tents, which means he too was doing really well. And the famine is done, and they leave Egypt and they go back to Bethel where he had set his tent. Let me tell you that they were so rich now that the Bible says the land was not able to support them. Wow, that can have a whole new meaning. The land was not able to support them. That means he was so rich in livestock that the land between him and Lot was probably not enough for the grazing of the animals. So the Bible says the Lot decide to party so that the herdsmen don't fight and they don't want any issues between the two families. So they decide to split, and Lot takes everything that he has: his herdsmen, his possessions, and he moves to another place and he pitches his tent there. And Abram stayed at a place called Hebron. The place is called Hebron near the teribidon trees of Mamre. God comes to Abram and he takes him out of the stars in the sky, and he tells him his descendants would be as many as the stars in the sky. And I want to tell you that Abram believed God, even though he did not have a child. And as I said, I want to give you a background of Abram and how his life was. So I'm not going to leave any details out. So Abram at that time, Sarai is old, and she says, I don't know how this is going to happen. God is promising this to you. So here's my Egyptian maidservant named Hagar. And since she was unable to give Abram any children, he has a son with the maid of Sarai and Bishmail, because he thought he had to do what he had to do to make God's plan come true. And let me tell the Bible says he's 86 at that time. Hallelujah. And then at the age of 99, he's 86 now, and he's got a son through the maid Hagar, the maidservant of Sarai, and the son's name is Ishmael. That means Ishmael is now 13 years old. And God comes to Abraham again and tells him, I make a covenant with you. And he tells Abraham that he will multiply him exceedingly. And God reminds him of the covenant he has made with him when he left his father's home. And he tells Abram, He will be the father of many nations. And that's when God chases changes his name to Abraham, and he changes his wife's name from Sariah to Sarah. And God tells Abram, and now that he's Abraham. So God tells Abraham that same time next year, Sarah will bear him a son, and he will name him Isaac. And that means Abraham would have been hundred years old when that happens. Hallelujah. And as I said, I'm giving you the background of Abraham. Because most of you might know it, and some might not. And there's this one beautiful time. It says where Abraham, Abraham, he's Abraham already now. God has changed his name, and she's Sarah. He's sitting outside his tent. And the Bible says, Abraham is sitting outside the tent door near the trees of Mamre in the heat of the day, and he looks up, and three men are standing by him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah, it's God. Hallelujah. And the Bible says he runs from the door to meet them, he bows himself to the ground. And he requests that they stay with him, that he cook a meal for them, and that he bring some water to wash their feet. And the three men say, Do as you have said. So he goes and he makes a meal, cakes of bread. The Bible says he takes butter, milk, and a good calf which he prepared, and he sets it before them, and he stood by them under the trees as they ate. Wow, hallelujah! What an experience. So I want to tell you, God has a meal with Abraham. God chilled with Abraham. God had discussions with Abraham. He spoke with Abraham. Hallelujah. What a relationship. He changed his name. He was not even mentioned in the Bible before he called him out of his father's home. From the age of 75, I want to tell you, God promised Abraham to be the father of many nations. He promised him a blessing. He made him get out of his father's home. He took him out of his comfort zone. 75 is a complete comfort zone. You've lived your entire life. He sent him to a place he did not know, a foreign land. After taking him to the place where he promised him there was a plague there, a famine rather. So he puts him into now a zone of discomfort. And then he makes a move to a whole new country with no support and only people clinging on to him, which is Lot and his wife. And I want you to soak in the story and understand this background to Abram, who is now Abraham. And I want to tell you, he continued to tell Abraham that he would make his descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. And Abraham is 86 years old and he does not have a son. But here is something I want to share with you, and that is the crux of today's word, and that is for each and every one of you to think about and meditate upon. And it is here from the book of Genesis, the 15th chapter, the sixth verse. The book of Genesis, the 15th chapter, the sixth verse. The Bible says he believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The Bible passage is referring to Abraham, and it says that Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was given unto him as righteousness. And I want to tell you, no matter the timelines or the background or Abraham's age, I want to tell you he believed God for what was promised to him. And God accounted to him as righteousness. I want to tell you there's a time. Remember, I told you that there's this time when God comes to him outside his hut, outside his tent, I'm sorry, and he has a meal with him. There is a time when he says, Now you will bear a son. And Sarah, the Bible says, is actually standing behind the tent door, and he she can hear them talking, and she laughs. Within herself, she laughs because she is 99 years old, she's 100 years old almost. And she laughs when God tells Abraham that he's going to bear a son through Sarah. And God says, Call her out. And he calls her out and he says, Why are you laughing? And of course, Sarah must have gotten scared. And she said, I was not laughing. But do you understand that Abraham did not doubt that he would have a son and he was hundred? That's why God never questioned him. He questioned Sarah and said, Why are you laughing? It was accounted to him as righteousness because he believed God. Hallelujah. For those of you who understood what I'm telling you, it's so difficult sometimes to understand what God is doing. But look at Abraham. Look at 75, look at 86, look at 99, and not having a single heir of his own. And God telling him, I will make you the father of many nations. And he believed it. Hallelujah. I want to tell you what righteousness means in the uh in the in the world today. It means being right in the sight of people. And in this case, being right in the sight of God. Righteousness. Let me tell you what the Bible says in Isaiah about righteousness. I think it's in the 64th or 65th verse chapter. I'm sorry. The Bible says, your righteousness and my righteousness is like a filthy rag. That means no matter what we do, and I'm sorry, it's not me, it's it's the word of God that says this. No matter what we do, and in fact, you can read it, you can go and read it in the Bible. So I'm giving you a perspective this morning that if we feed the poor or you donate to someone or you go and give your clothes to someone or you call it what you want, that does not account to you or me as righteousness in the sight of God. So you'll ask yourself this morning, what will account to me as righteousness? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. What accounts to me unto righteousness? I mean, I do a lot of good deeds. Is that not accounted to me as righteousness? No, it's not. According to the word of God, it's not. And I'll tell you this beautiful morning. I'm not here to give you bad news, I'm here to give you beautiful good news. There is one thing. Praise God for that. There is one thing after Abraham left this planet, and he did, by the way, leave this planet as the father of many nations. The Jews believe him as the father, the Christians believe him as the father, the Muslims believe him as the father. He was the father of many nations, and today his descendants are as the number of the stars in the sky. Hallelujah. But there is only one thing that accounts unto us as righteousness, only one thing that makes us right in the sight of God. And I'm sharing it to you from the word of God, this beautiful, beautiful day. From the book of Corinthians, the fifth chapter, the 21st verse. 2 Corinthians, I'm sorry. 2 Corinthians, the fifth chapter, the 21st verse. And I'm reading it out to you and hear it first, and then I will tell it to you. He made him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become righteousness of God in him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become righteousness of God in him. Hallelujah. I want to tell you, there's only one person on this planet who has walked on this planet who was sinless, and that was Jesus, the sinless Lamb of God, who came down on this planet to take away the sin of the earth because he was not born of human lineage. Hallelujah. And I want to tell you, Jesus is your righteousness. And you can think whatever you want according to the word of God. There is only one form of righteousness that you and I have, and it's Jesus. And the only ticket that you and I have for righteousness is Jesus. And as I said, I'm not here to give you bad news, I'm here to give you good news. And in fact, at a very short word this beautiful morning, and I I want to tell you that the story of Abram is so it's it's just so beautiful because as I said, Abram's not mentioned in the Bible before that. And he's just picked by God because God knew his heart. And he just knew that this is the guy that I will ask of and he will do. And I know through him I will bless the earth. Believe me, you would not even know this, and some of you would, but after giving Abraham a son, there's a time when God asks him to sacrifice his son. After making him wait for hundred years and telling him he'll become the father of many nations, and Abraham yet believed him. There's a time when God goes to him and says, Abraham, take your son, Isaac, whom you love, and sacrifice him to me. And do you know Abraham does not even bare denial it? He just takes his son and goes to sacrifice him. It's unbelievable what Abraham was in the sight of God. And I want to tell you, it was accounted to him as righteousness. And today you and I and anyone who puts their faith in Jesus is accounted to God as righteousness. You he will look at you just the way he looks at Abraham and the way he looked at Abraham, and it will be exactly the same equation. Hallelujah. In case you didn't get it, it was accounted to him as righteousness. And 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, the sinless Lamb of God who came down on his planet has become righteousness for you and me. Hallelujah. Anyone, anyone who puts their faith in Jesus, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. That means he took away the rubbish from us and made us righteous in the sight of God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Some of you can feel the presence of God and praise God for that. I want to tell you this beautiful, beautiful morning. For those of you who have made Jesus your Savior, you are righteousness unto God. You have been accounted and credited. I just love those two words that have been used. One is accounted, the other word is credited to the scripture, and you are credited with righteousness. You are credited, you have done nothing to get or receive righteousness, but all you have to do is believe in Jesus. Hallelujah. And then, as I said, I don't have bad news this morning. I have wonderful news this morning. And 2 Corinthians 5 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Amen. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Hallelujah. You are a new creation this morning. All things have passed away. All things the Bible says have become new unto you. All things have become new. If anyone is in Christ, I told you it's not a very big ceremony. Just ask Jesus to enter your life. Ask him to come into your life, be your savior, be your guide. Ask him. Call unto him, and he will answer you, the Bible says. Hallelujah. And here I want to tell you this. Beautiful morning, and now if you've understood it in your spirit, and if and for those who completely put their trust in Jesus, you know how I know that people's walk with God is different at different times, and I'm I'm not here to share bad news, I am here to share good news, and this is the fact. And Jesus has not made it difficult, he's made it very easy. He says, I stand at the door and I knock, just open the door, I will come. And that's your choice. But I want to tell you this beautiful morning through the word of God that righteousness has been accounted to you. It has been credited to you because of Jesus. And for those of you who completely believe in him, I want to tell you the righteousness that was accounted to Abraham is the same as yours, which means the blessings of Abraham are now yours. Hallelujah. And today, this beautiful morning, I'm releasing the blessing. I'm releasing this beautiful blessing. This morning that God released on Abraham is released unto you because of Jesus. Hallelujah. From the book of Genesis, the second chapter, the second verse onwards. And this is for you, for your journey that you have had with Jesus, for your believing in his word, and always, always knowing that no matter what, he is in control. Life is not easy, it's got its ups and downs. And for those of you who have stuck through that storm, because Jesus stuck to what he was sent to this planet to, he yet went on that cross, and he died an excruciating death for you and me. He took up a curse. He had thorns put into his head. He had nails smashed into his arms and his feet, the palms of his hand. He had a pierce, he had a spear pierced into his body. When he asked for water, they fed him rubbish. But he stuck to it for you, that you will be credited righteousness. Hallelujah. And because of that, Genesis 12, 2 is a blessing for you. The blessing that was given to Abraham is now yours. I will make you a great nation. The Creator is saying to you this morning, I will bless you and make your name great. Amen. And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. Hallelujah. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. I want to tell you this beautiful morning. Oh, this is also for someone here from Genesis 15:1. Do not be afraid. This was another blessing that was given to Abraham. Do not be afraid, and it's for someone this morning. I don't know who you are. Do not be afraid. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. Hallelujah. This beautiful morning, I want to tell you, righteousness has been accounted to you, righteousness has been credited to you because of what Jesus has done on that cross. Accept it. Mark down this passage of scripture, Genesis 12, 2 onwards. It's 12, 2, and 3, which is now the blessing that God gave to Abraham has been aligned to you because of the righteousness that has been credited to you because of Jesus through his blood, through his body, through what he did on that cross for you and me. Hallelujah. And anyone who believes in him is righteous. There's nothing else you can do on this planet to become righteous in the sight of God besides accepting his son as your savior. Hallelujah. And enjoy this beautiful blessing, and you will see it come to life now that you've understood it on another level, and the spirituals have aligned to you. I will make you a great nation. And I'd like to pray now. I make you a great nation. I bless you. And make your name great. You shall be a blessing. Lord is saying, I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. And in all the families of the earth shall be blessed through you. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful word. Thank you for this beautiful time. Thank you for your presence that can be felt in so many homes, so many people. They can feel you at their right hand. Oh, hallelujah. Some of you are experiencing righteousness. Thank you, Lord, for your beautiful presence that people can feel. Thank you for your beautiful blessing that you released upon Abraham is now aligned to us. Thank you, Jesus, for this beautiful time. That in you we are a new creation. All old things have passed away. Everything has been made new with you. Thank you, Jesus, for being faithful though we remain faithless. Hallelujah. I want to tell you somebody can see Jesus in the victorious form. His eyes like fire, a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and a golden sash across his mouth. He's already turned things new for you. That's the victorious Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank you for this beautiful time. Thank you for everything that you've done for us, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray.