THE RIGHTEOUS ONE [Part 2]
BY REVD 'REMI TEJUMOLA
I’M RIGHTEOUS!
I visited a Christian sister in her beauty shop in 1988. That day she had a lot of women which came to have their hairs done. I thought it was an opportunity for me to witness to them. Conversing with the owner of the shop, I said in a loud voice, “Aunty, did you know that I am righteous?!” My, I got everyone’s attention! A woman, under a hair-dryer, with almost red eyes, shouted, “NO ONE IS RIGHTEOUS!” I replied, “I AM!” And I proceeded to try and explain what I meant [as explained earlier], but she wouldn’t hear it. Her mind was made up, “No one is righteous”.
You may be like that, thinking that no one is righteous. But there are people today who are righteous: those who are in right-standing-with-God through their faith in Christ Jesus. Really, if you are a believer like that, then you are righteous by the grace of God alone.
One important truth however is that there’s no way anyone can be a righteous person and a sinner at the same time; which does not mean that a righteous person is perfect. No, he is not perfect at all. His righteousness is that of grace thing – not his own works. The Bible says, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2: 8-10). If a man’s righteousness is as a result of his own ability he would boast. But there’s no room for that in Christ at all. In reality, what we know as righteousness is like a filthy rag before God – not good enough (Isaiah 64: 6). You may then say, “Once I keep the Ten Commandments I am righteous”. Oh, smart guy, you tried. But no, you are not qualified. If that qualifies you, Jesus would never have come to suffer and die for us. Paul puts it this way:
GALATIANS 2: 21 KJV
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
If your own righteousness counts today, then Jesus died in vain. That is how much weight your perception carries. But your kind of righteousness does not count at all. We were utterly incapable to produce the kind of righteousness that is required for our salvation. That’s why God gave us His own kind through Jesus Christ as a gift. Praise God!
ATONEMENT AND REMISSION
Two big words and each of these words belong both to the Old Testament and the New Testament times respectively. The word atonement means covering, while the word remission means removal. The verb atone means to make up for wrong doing, and the verb remit means to pardon, excuse (a crime etc); to wipe out, cancel (a debt etc); to lessen, (cause to) become less intense; to send (money); to hand over (e.g. a prisoner to a higher court). They do not have the same meaning and application. No, they don’t.
The Bible in Leviticus 17: 11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make AN ATONEMENT for your souls: FOR IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL”. It was required by God during the Old Testament times that the blood of birds and animals be presented at the altar of God by sinners to atone for their sins. Once this is done, the sinners were covered for at most a year, after which they had to do it again on and on like that.
The sinner would take his own money to purchase the item for the atonement of his own sin. In other words, he was required that he paid for his own sin. And when he would get the item for atonement, he must carefully select animals that have no blemish or defect (Leviticus 1: 1-4). Whereas in the New Testament God demanded something far greater than that of the Old Testament.
The Bible in the book of Hebrews says:
HEBREWS 10: 1-4, 11-14 KJV[parenthesis mine]
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come,
and not the very image of the things, can never with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered?
because that the worshippers once purged should have
had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again
made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, WHICH CAN
NEVER TAKE AWAY SINS:
12 BUT this man [Jesus], after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made
his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified.
According to the Bible, the sacrifices made with the blood of those animals can never take away sins. The most those animal bloods did was to cover those people’s sins just for a year. They had to go through so many ceremonies to even achieve that. This shows clearly that the best we have to offer cannot give us right standing before God. But what Jesus did, gives us right standing on a platter of diamond!
BY REVD 'REMI TEJUMOLA
I’M RIGHTEOUS!
I visited a Christian sister in her beauty shop in 1988. That day she had a lot of women which came to have their hairs done. I thought it was an opportunity for me to witness to them. Conversing with the owner of the shop, I said in a loud voice, “Aunty, did you know that I am righteous?!” My, I got everyone’s attention! A woman, under a hair-dryer, with almost red eyes, shouted, “NO ONE IS RIGHTEOUS!” I replied, “I AM!” And I proceeded to try and explain what I meant [as explained earlier], but she wouldn’t hear it. Her mind was made up, “No one is righteous”.
You may be like that, thinking that no one is righteous. But there are people today who are righteous: those who are in right-standing-with-God through their faith in Christ Jesus. Really, if you are a believer like that, then you are righteous by the grace of God alone.
One important truth however is that there’s no way anyone can be a righteous person and a sinner at the same time; which does not mean that a righteous person is perfect. No, he is not perfect at all. His righteousness is that of grace thing – not his own works. The Bible says, “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2: 8-10). If a man’s righteousness is as a result of his own ability he would boast. But there’s no room for that in Christ at all. In reality, what we know as righteousness is like a filthy rag before God – not good enough (Isaiah 64: 6). You may then say, “Once I keep the Ten Commandments I am righteous”. Oh, smart guy, you tried. But no, you are not qualified. If that qualifies you, Jesus would never have come to suffer and die for us. Paul puts it this way:
GALATIANS 2: 21 KJV
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
If your own righteousness counts today, then Jesus died in vain. That is how much weight your perception carries. But your kind of righteousness does not count at all. We were utterly incapable to produce the kind of righteousness that is required for our salvation. That’s why God gave us His own kind through Jesus Christ as a gift. Praise God!
ATONEMENT AND REMISSION
Two big words and each of these words belong both to the Old Testament and the New Testament times respectively. The word atonement means covering, while the word remission means removal. The verb atone means to make up for wrong doing, and the verb remit means to pardon, excuse (a crime etc); to wipe out, cancel (a debt etc); to lessen, (cause to) become less intense; to send (money); to hand over (e.g. a prisoner to a higher court). They do not have the same meaning and application. No, they don’t.
The Bible in Leviticus 17: 11 says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make AN ATONEMENT for your souls: FOR IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL”. It was required by God during the Old Testament times that the blood of birds and animals be presented at the altar of God by sinners to atone for their sins. Once this is done, the sinners were covered for at most a year, after which they had to do it again on and on like that.
The sinner would take his own money to purchase the item for the atonement of his own sin. In other words, he was required that he paid for his own sin. And when he would get the item for atonement, he must carefully select animals that have no blemish or defect (Leviticus 1: 1-4). Whereas in the New Testament God demanded something far greater than that of the Old Testament.
The Bible in the book of Hebrews says:
HEBREWS 10: 1-4, 11-14 KJV[parenthesis mine]
1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come,
and not the very image of the things, can never with
those sacrifices which they offered year by year
continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered?
because that the worshippers once purged should have
had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again
made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins.
11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, WHICH CAN
NEVER TAKE AWAY SINS:
12 BUT this man [Jesus], after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made
his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them
that are sanctified.
According to the Bible, the sacrifices made with the blood of those animals can never take away sins. The most those animal bloods did was to cover those people’s sins just for a year. They had to go through so many ceremonies to even achieve that. This shows clearly that the best we have to offer cannot give us right standing before God. But what Jesus did, gives us right standing on a platter of diamond!
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