Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Psalm 97:2

The question of the ages, of the universe, and of the world, is that of righteousness.

When we approach what I like to call the million dollar question, why do born again believers not behave according to their new-creation nature, we have come to the very bedrock of the Christian faith, and also the most pressing issue of the universe, period.

The issue is righteousness.

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I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

Psalm 16:2 NAS

When we try to please the Lord from ourselves, all we have is filthy rags, according to Paul.  Jesus said that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the leaders of the Jews, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  In their pride, in their self effort, though they knew they did not fulfill all of the righteousness of the law perfectly, they held themselves as leaders of the people, hiding their own sin, and not crying out for the brokenness that was in them for the depravity of their hearts.  Though their lives seemed to demonstrate a holiness that surpassed everything else, they were corrupt, filthy, and unclean in the eyes of God.

Yet, David, years before the New Covenant, already perceived the secret of the Kingdom through the Spirit of prophecy that was on him.  He wrote, saying, there was no good in himself except for the Holy Spirit within Him. Read more…

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy [corrupt]: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Psalm 14:3, emphasis added and edited

There is no one in this world that is righteous outside of Christ.  The quicker we see that this world is completely condemned, that there is not a single person who seeks the right outside of His Spirit, and hate it, the quicker we will realize that the only good we have is in Him.

They have all turned aside, and they have all become corrupt, of filthy.

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Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 16:11

In your presence, in your flow, in your depths, my heart cries out.  Who is the Lord but our God.  Though the nations are in turmoil, and though the peoples do not see, you alone are God, and you reign forever in the heavens.

But thou, LORD, art most high for evermore.

Psalm 92:8

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But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Galatians 6:14

The freedom from this life is the freedom from all of its desires, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Yet, this is not asceticism, or the simply turning away from the things of the world, as if to nothing, but it is turning to a greater thing, a thing of true worth, and a thing of lasting enjoyment.

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Below are Scriptures relating Jesus’ and others thoughts on His own words, the words in the Gospels.  These are the words of Eternal Life (John 6:68), and they are true.  Any departure from them is perilous, and the discarding of them is to our own destruction.  In all of the 2,000 years since they were spoken, not one of them has transpired or elapsed, and they are as rock-solid today, every last one of them, as they were when they were first uttered in the small nation of Israel under Roman occupation.

The “Words in Red” are Jesus’ instructions for all of humanity, from every nation, creed, tongue, and tribe, they are the Words of Life, and there is no life outside of them.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Matthew 7:24-27

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Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

Matthew 19:16

The man came to the Master, asking for Eternal life.  Jesus, the truth, never told any lies, or exaggerated anything, but told Him the honest answer.  He had to sell everything.

We know, of course, the Teacher never was interested in our possessions, per se, but rather, our hearts.  Obviously, the man had issues in his heart, for he valued the treasures of this world above that of the world.  But, these were Jesus’ words, that the man might be perfect.

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Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

1 John 2:18-24

The power of the anti-christ is not just about coming against Christ as much as it is about attempting to replace Christ Jesus with some other thing, possibly even under the same name.

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Sitting outside a local church, my heart is given to wonder, to probing…

The same people go in, depending on the denomination, with the same bondage a, the same types of meetings, and the same level of emptiness, depending on the “brand”. And, I think to myself, where is the hunger? Where is the need to touch the Lord? To sense His presence and be consumed in His goodness?

I wonder, some, have we thought God right out of the church? Have we settled for less than what He has offered, and I so, why?

I refuse to think that he Gospel age had something we do not. I refuse to believe that some special grace is waiting yet to be released, so that we can be with Him. For 2,000 years, it is finished, and God has given all He needs to and It has been ours since then, to whomever would believe

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And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them:

Deuteronomy 7:2

After hundreds of years of slavery, who wouldn’t want want to feel a little more secure?  After wave after wave of persecution, what normal person wouldn’t want to take every precaution to make sure that they are not overthrown again, and not dragged back into slavery?

But, God’s had a plan, namely Himself.  To the eye of man, allies are a good thing.  To Jesus, they are merely barbs, hooks, and thorns in the flesh.

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