Settle The Matter
When it comes to having clarity and being free from confusion, it is essential to ensure that no contradicting information, posing as the truth, corrupts the genuine gospel message.
I've been amazed at how easily many will fight hard for a pet doctrine and yet ignore it when the gospel itself comes under attack by the leaven of performance or legalistic law-based thinking.
At the core of the true gospel is the matter of righteousness. Knowing whose righteousness you possess and why that fact matters can be life-altering. Allowing righteousness to come under fire by the leaven of an alternative argument to what the true gospel teaches us concerning this very important matter can lead to deep insecurity, chasing down methods to find security, and being open to practices that can even have demonic motivations intended to bewitch you and lead you down a wrong path.
Righteousness is a much bigger issue than some think it is. Remember, one of the items of our spiritual armor is the breastplate of righteousness. Why is righteousness the breastplate? Because a breastplate protects the heart. Paul, in writing to the Galatians and addressing this matter of a little leaven coming in to corrupt the thinking of the Galatians regarding the gospel, says the following.
Galatians 5:5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. 7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
Notice how he uses the terminology, "Who hindered you from obeying the truth?" He uses this in regard to this matter of the gospel and what it has to say regarding righteousness. Righteousness is at the heart of our relationship with God. Without it, there can be no intimacy, no closeness, no sense of acceptance, no awareness of presence. When we allow teachings to come in and question the kind of righteousness we have received in Christ and the authority of that righteousness based on whose it is, we cannot help but struggle in the are of our ability to sense His presence and be aware of how He is always with us no matter what.
You see, if we allow the source, quality, and stability of righteousness to be challenged by someone who thinks the law is still the means of obtaining or even maintaining righteousness, we inadvertently testify that Jesus died for no real reason. We may not intend to say such a thing, but in essence, it is what we are testifying to.
Galatians 2:21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”
Jesus died to give us a righteousness that is not our own, cannot be merited, and can only be received by faith. It is the highest form of righteousness there is. It is God's righteousness, and it is ours by grace through faith in Jesus. This righteousness is manifested and testified to by the very experience of new life.
2Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
We became righteous when we came to Christ in faith. We are now possessors of the righteousness of God. We did not earn it; we do not work to keep it. It is a matter of fact that we are now it! If anyone fails to settle this matter, they will struggle intermittently with insecurities that lead them to be open to various methods and gimmicks for achieving freedom and feeling better about themselves. Do not let anyone bewitch you with the notion that you are less than righteous now that you are in Christ. Settle the matter.
