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What is being right with God?
Being right with God is being in agreement with God. Rather despite that we are not God, we ought to do what God would do because we are of God. But because we more often that not ignore God's voice in us, we are found to deviate from His will and this is what puts us in self manufactured and very dangerous situations. Wisdom is obedience to God.
It is sin which separates us from God. Yet apart from sin (in its traditional terms) alone is not what puts us in contention with God. Say that it may not necessarily be considered traditionally sinful that Jonah was instructed to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2), but in his own personal will, he rather chose to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3).
Jonah disobeyed a direct command from God. Did Jonah sin? Yes, he sinned, but not in the traditional terms we understand sin is. In its entire form, sin is anything that is contrary to the will of God.
Or we could conclude that Jonah broke the command that: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27).
Why did Jesus say this, though?
If you need a law to obey God, then the issue is not that you have broken it if it is, the issue is that you have broken it because you can't keep it. For no one would willfully break the law. But if I have broken it, then why is it so? I break the law because I am sinful and helpless.
It is sin which necessitates the need for the law. But if Jesus has taken away my sin, why then do I need the law? For if I have surrendered to Jesus, what does this mean? It means that it is now upon Jesus to fulfill the will of God in me because by myself, I have terribly failed.
Love is not born by the law. Love comes from the heart. Who then can reach the heart? Is it the law or it is by Divine power? Thus to say: it takes God to know God. For this very reason, Jesus who also is the God man manifested in the human flesh.
God gave the law to correct people who had gone pretty astray. The law was given as a way to restore order. It was never meant to be the defining factor in a fellowship between people and God. Jesus alone is the defining factor in any relationship between man and God.
Sticking to the dictates of the law pretty much testifies a deliberate intent to harbor the sinful nature. If not for that, Jesus has already dealt a final punch to the sinful nature. Amen.
For many of us perceive that disobedience is simply having to break the law. But sin is more than breaking the law. Not all that God wants us to do is housed in the law. God can command us to do anything that is not in the law. The law is not all.
So, being right with God is not simply not having to sin, but having to obey every bit of a command He gives us. This is the only way we can be well with God. We are rather called to be in fellowship with God.
If we disobey God, refuse to agree with Him, and seek to challenge Him, then we are pretty not right with Him. For to be right with God is to agree to whatever He commands us. Whether it seems acceptable with people or not.
Being right with God is being in agreement with God. Rather despite that we are not God, we ought to do what God would do because we are of God. But because we more often that not ignore God's voice in us, we are found to deviate from His will and this is what puts us in self manufactured and very dangerous situations. Wisdom is obedience to God.
It is sin which separates us from God. Yet apart from sin (in its traditional terms) alone is not what puts us in contention with God. Say that it may not necessarily be considered traditionally sinful that Jonah was instructed to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2), but in his own personal will, he rather chose to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3).
Jonah disobeyed a direct command from God. Did Jonah sin? Yes, he sinned, but not in the traditional terms we understand sin is. In its entire form, sin is anything that is contrary to the will of God.
Or we could conclude that Jonah broke the command that: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27).
Why did Jesus say this, though?
If you need a law to obey God, then the issue is not that you have broken it if it is, the issue is that you have broken it because you can't keep it. For no one would willfully break the law. But if I have broken it, then why is it so? I break the law because I am sinful and helpless.
It is sin which necessitates the need for the law. But if Jesus has taken away my sin, why then do I need the law? For if I have surrendered to Jesus, what does this mean? It means that it is now upon Jesus to fulfill the will of God in me because by myself, I have terribly failed.
Love is not born by the law. Love comes from the heart. Who then can reach the heart? Is it the law or it is by Divine power? Thus to say: it takes God to know God. For this very reason, Jesus who also is the God man manifested in the human flesh.
God gave the law to correct people who had gone pretty astray. The law was given as a way to restore order. It was never meant to be the defining factor in a fellowship between people and God. Jesus alone is the defining factor in any relationship between man and God.
Sticking to the dictates of the law pretty much testifies a deliberate intent to harbor the sinful nature. If not for that, Jesus has already dealt a final punch to the sinful nature. Amen.
For many of us perceive that disobedience is simply having to break the law. But sin is more than breaking the law. Not all that God wants us to do is housed in the law. God can command us to do anything that is not in the law. The law is not all.
So, being right with God is not simply not having to sin, but having to obey every bit of a command He gives us. This is the only way we can be well with God. We are rather called to be in fellowship with God.
If we disobey God, refuse to agree with Him, and seek to challenge Him, then we are pretty not right with Him. For to be right with God is to agree to whatever He commands us. Whether it seems acceptable with people or not.
Abraham obeyed God in very humanly challenging situations (Genesis 15:6), (Romans 4). But one thing he considered was that with God, I am pretty safe. Upon this, it was counted of Abraham for righteousness.
Noah obeyed God when it pretty appeared foolish (in human terms) to do what God had directed him to (Genesis 6 & 7). For in the literal sense, what was the sense in building the ark? But because he did not seek to challenge or contend with God in any way, it was counted of him for righteousness.
For God will never present to us in ways that we seek to perceive Him. God is not human and He is not to be perceived in the human setting. No matter how impossible and weird in the human understanding it appears, if God is directing you in a way, the fact that it is God doing so, your part is to believe and trust in Him (God).
When God commanded prophet Isaiah to walk naked and barefooted for three years (Isaiah 20:1-3), He (Isaiah) just obeyed accordingly.
Noah obeyed God when it pretty appeared foolish (in human terms) to do what God had directed him to (Genesis 6 & 7). For in the literal sense, what was the sense in building the ark? But because he did not seek to challenge or contend with God in any way, it was counted of him for righteousness.
For God will never present to us in ways that we seek to perceive Him. God is not human and He is not to be perceived in the human setting. No matter how impossible and weird in the human understanding it appears, if God is directing you in a way, the fact that it is God doing so, your part is to believe and trust in Him (God).
When God commanded prophet Isaiah to walk naked and barefooted for three years (Isaiah 20:1-3), He (Isaiah) just obeyed accordingly.
When God tells us to do something, then it is possible and well intentioned. For God knows exactly what He wants out of whatever He asks of us, because He is Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent. For all these stories of Noah, Abraham, and Isaiah are intended for us to learn that it is possible to be obedient to God in all circumstances.
God is never predictable. God is the sovereign Lord. For He forgives when you expect Him not to. He loves when you expect Him not to. God is not like man who is influenced by anything and everything.
Upon this, once you understand that God is not limited by the scope of the little human brain, that neither is there any one factor that can limit Him in anyway, then you are getting right with God. For right in the beginning, we were designed obedient to God, except for disobedience. Change your mind and listen to God's voice in you.
Adam and Eve had been right with God until when they disobeyed Him (Genesis 3:6). It was then that they lost their right of righteousness. Being the first man on earth, ever since then, we all share in Adam's disobedience to God because we are his offspring (Romans 3:23). It is on this account that God the Father sought to provide a way to reunite us to Himself by way of offering His Son Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.
Three steps to be right with God:
- Submit to Jesus Christ.
- Live a transformed life
- Obey God
If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, then you have already taken a very precious step. For there is no life except in Jesus Christ. Once in Christ, and Him in us (in every meaning of it), it is automatic that we are counted righteous because we are only counted righteous by assuming the righteousness of Jesus (Colossians 1:22), (John 3:16), (John 11:25-26). Jesus is the only person to have ever lived in human flesh but with no sin at all. Jesus is the God man.
For when we submit to Christ, we have done so to God. For God the Father is in Jesus and so in Jesus is God the Father (John 5:24), (John 6:29), (John 12:44). Thus, the very first sure way to get right with God, is one to allow and accept Christ into their lives and equally submit to His Lordship. Thus, for anybody who is yet to confess Christ, you better do so, for that is the only sure way.
Jesus does nothing that He is not learnt from the Father (John 5:19), (John 5:30), (John 12:49). So, just like the fellowship there is between the Father and the Son, we should only do what we have learnt from the Father and nothing else. God wants it that whatever we do, it is been directed from Him. That we must not do anything on our own because it is gravely misleading.
Why is it?
We must not do anything of our own because ours is oriented to sin. Everything that we do on our own is sinful. It is not in man to lead himself just the way God wants him to. If he (man) does, it simply sets us in grave contradiction with God. And this makes us pretty unrighteous. Rather, the way of man is not in himself (Jeremiah 10:23).
We thus only stand pretty assured if we learn from God and just do what we have learnt from Him. Jesus and the Father are one because none of them does what is contrary to the other. So, Jesus came so that we become like Him (Jesus).
What is the profit of life?
Man's profit is in God. Rather life becomes profitable if we use it to serve the purpose of God in our lives. So, we should be asking how our lives have been used to serve God's will rather than having literally lived comfortably.
So, if we submit to Jesus, then through Him (Jesus), we are reunited with the Father. Rather we must join the fellowship there is between the Father and the Son. In this way, we ought to love what God loves, and hate what God hates.
Rather, how do we keep in fellowship with God? We keep in fellowship with God by being in agreement with Him, and this is how we get right with God. Getting right with God is only possible in and through Jesus Christ.
Jesus does nothing that He is not learnt from the Father (John 5:19), (John 5:30), (John 12:49). So, just like the fellowship there is between the Father and the Son, we should only do what we have learnt from the Father and nothing else. God wants it that whatever we do, it is been directed from Him. That we must not do anything on our own because it is gravely misleading.
Why is it?
We must not do anything of our own because ours is oriented to sin. Everything that we do on our own is sinful. It is not in man to lead himself just the way God wants him to. If he (man) does, it simply sets us in grave contradiction with God. And this makes us pretty unrighteous. Rather, the way of man is not in himself (Jeremiah 10:23).
We thus only stand pretty assured if we learn from God and just do what we have learnt from Him. Jesus and the Father are one because none of them does what is contrary to the other. So, Jesus came so that we become like Him (Jesus).
What is the profit of life?
Man's profit is in God. Rather life becomes profitable if we use it to serve the purpose of God in our lives. So, we should be asking how our lives have been used to serve God's will rather than having literally lived comfortably.
So, if we submit to Jesus, then through Him (Jesus), we are reunited with the Father. Rather we must join the fellowship there is between the Father and the Son. In this way, we ought to love what God loves, and hate what God hates.
Rather, how do we keep in fellowship with God? We keep in fellowship with God by being in agreement with Him, and this is how we get right with God. Getting right with God is only possible in and through Jesus Christ.
Live a transformed life
When we have surrendered to Christ to be our Lord and Savior, it must be exhibited in how we conduct our lives. The proof that we are in Christ and Christ is in us are the good works we produce and people can see them in us (Matthew 5:16). Change in us can only be proven by what we are seen doing or not doing (Matthew 7:15-20).
We pursue righteousness, albeit it is a free gift from God. For righteousness begins in the heart and then it bears fruit in us. Only by it (righteousness), can people tell we are for God (2Timothy 2:22), (1Timothy 6:11), (Isaiah 51:1). We ought to undress the former sinful nature and then assume the righteous nature of Christ.
In Christ, we are made anew (2Corinthians 5:17). And upon this, we must not continue living the kind of life that is contrary to the way that Jesus is designing us to be. For the new life that we assume when we come to Christ, is life that we have been granted by Christ (Galatians 2:20).
The new life that we assume belongs not to us. We must maintain it well because we will account for it. It can't be that when we have surrendered to Christ, that it is then that we carry on sinfully. In Christ, we have given away our sinful self (Romans 6:6-7), (Ephesians 4:22) and at this point, it is the righteous life of Christ that dwells in us.
Obey God
It is imperative that we should always obey God. We must be one with God. Every time God tells us to do anything, the answer should be YES SIR.
We create a grave gap between us and God because we misunderstand Him. We tend to doubt Him and His slender voice in us. We are tempted to think that: since He is invisible, then He can't measure up to a visible matter. This is only a grave mistake. Oh God, have mercy!
Why should we doubt the almighty God? How much can man be if without God? How much can man do if without God? Where else can man be if without God? What is man's destiny if without God? What bit of a micro second can man live if not at the mercy of the almighty God? Every time we intend to challenge God, we are only setting ourselves in a self defeating and dangerous game. No one can ever win against God.
We create a grave gap between us and God because we misunderstand Him. We tend to doubt Him and His slender voice in us. We are tempted to think that: since He is invisible, then He can't measure up to a visible matter. This is only a grave mistake. Oh God, have mercy!
Why should we doubt the almighty God? How much can man be if without God? How much can man do if without God? Where else can man be if without God? What is man's destiny if without God? What bit of a micro second can man live if not at the mercy of the almighty God? Every time we intend to challenge God, we are only setting ourselves in a self defeating and dangerous game. No one can ever win against God.
Up to date, many people have no definitive picture of what exactly Jesus is. When we say He is the Son of God and God incarnate, we cause an uproar. Well, what has God told us He is like?
For it is not easy to understand this when I use my little human brain, and yet when I submit to God so I can understand better, it pretty gets much easier (Isaiah 1:19-20).
It is very important that we pray, fast read the Bible, congregate with the brethren, but these aren't the reasons we are counted to be right with God. To be right with God is to follow in whatever He tells you to do. It may be none of the above, but the fact that it is God saying so, it surely is very well intentioned.
We could pray, fast, and read the Bible. We could do anything that gives us the very appearance of a Christian, and yet still remain disobedient. Being obedient is not having to follow the daily routine of what a Christian should do, but rather having to incline to the direct instructions God gives us.
Yet, it is also pretty important that we do understand that it is never by ourselves that we can achieve anything, for Jesus wouldn't have come. It is only by the grace of God that we can go much further (Philippians 4:13).
Always and always, seek for the way of God. Happiness comes from having done the will of God. When we do the will of God, then we have all the assurance.
We could pray, fast, and read the Bible. We could do anything that gives us the very appearance of a Christian, and yet still remain disobedient. Being obedient is not having to follow the daily routine of what a Christian should do, but rather having to incline to the direct instructions God gives us.
Yet, it is also pretty important that we do understand that it is never by ourselves that we can achieve anything, for Jesus wouldn't have come. It is only by the grace of God that we can go much further (Philippians 4:13).
Always and always, seek for the way of God. Happiness comes from having done the will of God. When we do the will of God, then we have all the assurance.
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