The Truth of Righteousness by Faith Message in Laodicean Context
Understanding the significance of righteousness by faith message is crucial for Christians, especially in today's Laodicean condition. The message emphasizes justification through faith in Christ, leading to obedience to God's commandments and holy living. Encouraging believers to seek righteousness as defined by purity of heart, conformity to divine law, and holiness, it underscores the need to embrace the righteousness of Christ for spiritual growth and readiness for His return.
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What is the Truth of the Righteousness by Faith Message? Today we recognize that we as a church are in a Laodecian condition. In the 14 months between November, 1856, through the year 1857, 348 items appear in the Review on the Laodicean message. Today's message will not be dealing with the rise of the Laodecian church but on the Truth of the righteousness by Faith Message.
We are counselled in Revelation 3:18 to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Understanding and incorporating a true righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ is absolutely vital for any Christian who want s to be found a member of the symbolic 5 wise virgins who are found to have the necessary oil when the wedding feast occurs.
To impress upon you the importance of this topic we have this statement from the Review and Herald, April 1, 1890. Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, 'It is the third angel's message in verity. The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders [E.J.] Waggoner and [A. T.] Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Let' begin with a definition of what righteousness is. Webster's 1828 dictionary defines righteousness as: 1. Purity of heart and rectitude of life; conformity of heart and life to the divine law.
Righteousness as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections in short, it is true religion. 2. Applied to God, the perfection or holiness of his nature; exact rectitude; faithfulness. 3. The active and passive obedience of Christ, by which the law of God is fulfilled. Daniel 9:7.
4. Justice; equity between man and man. Luke 1:75. 5. The cause of our justification. In short, it is true religion or expressed another way right doing by faith in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. True righteousness by faith can also be expressed as true sanctification. In order for sanctification to have any inherent value it must be a daily work carried out over an individual s entire lifetime. We are either walking with God or we are not. There is no middle ground.
Those who presume to think that the law of God has been done away, and that it no longer exists, have set up an imperfect standard of their own. Measuring themselves by their own finite standard, they pronounce themselves pure and perfect. Satan has just such a standard, by which he declares that he is righteous; but these false standards cannot compare with God's unerring standard of righteousness. No one who has an appreciation of the verity of the law of God will claim an exalted character for himself.
Our true position, and the only one in which there is any safety, is that of repentance and confession of sins before God. Feeling that we are sinners, we shall have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is able to pardon transgression, and impute unto us righteousness. When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, then the sins of the repentant soul who received the grace of Christ and has overcome through the blood of the Lamb, will be removed from the records of heaven, and will be placed upon Satan, the scapegoat, the originator of sin, and be remembered no more against him forever.
The sins of the overcomers will be blotted out of the books of record, but their names will be retained on the book of life. The True Witness says, He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. When the conflict of life is ended, when the armor is laid off at the feet of Jesus, when the saints of God are glorified, then and then only will it be safe to claim that we are saved and sinless.
True sanctification will not lead any human being to pronounce himself holy, sinless, and perfect. Let the Lord proclaim the truth of your character. Let's read Matthew 11:28-30 Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Mat 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
In these verses Christ is calling us to obedience in His service. His yoke is easy, not only are we offered the gift of restoration to the heavenly family. God has also made all power in heaven available to Man to enable Man to live in full harmony with God's law. Let's read John 14:1 John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Question: Are we able to truly love God or even our fellow Man? I say no. We are self-loving, self- centered beings incapable of loving anything other than ourselves. Outside of a relationship with God human love is transactional. We are not capable of loving those who do not love and respect us. Our Creator Christ not only condescended to be clothed in humanity degraded by 4000 years of sin, and die the death required of us for our sins.
He has provided for us a Comforter the Holy Spirit who is promised to place within us the fruits of His Spirit; love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. With love being the motivation for Keeping God's law. God can do all this for us if we will exercise our power of choice to take up His yoke, surrender our will, and serve Him. Can we say God is good, and good all of the time? Let me here an Amen.
The question then becomes how do I live in victory over sin? Let's Read Romans 8:5,6 Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
According to Romans chapter 8 living in victory is in large part is predicated on how we guard and protect the portals to the mind. If we are being influenced by the flesh we are spiritually dead. If we are connected to the Spirit we have life and peace. It sounds so simple, deceptively so. Re-training the mind to eliminate those things once indulged and practiced that are now understood to be contrary to God's law and His will require discipline and effort.
What then are we to do? Step 1. Acknowledge our need of a savior, recognizing that sin has separated us from our Creator. Step 2.Confess and repent the sins of our past. Accepting by faith that Christ has heard our request for forgiveness and restoration. Note: A true sense of sorrow for sin is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Seeking a true spirit of conviction through prayer is a wise course of action. Step 3. Consecration of our lives to God's service.
Consecration is the truly difficult piece of the puzzle. God requires a total surrender of the will and obedience to His Law and His statutes. Living in the antitypical Day of Atonement we can look to the Jewish experience on the Day of Attornment for our example. Leviticus 16:31 Reads It (The Day of Attornment) shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute forever. The word for afflict in the Hebrew language is H6031 and is transliterated "anah". This word carries with it the idea of humble, quiet reflection and introspection as well as an acknowledgement of confession.
As we travel the road of sanctification we are on a journey, progressing in understanding of God's law and requirements. We are to review our lives in the light that God has revealed to us surrendering all things that fail the heavenly standard for obedience. This is an all-encompassing task, we need to compare our daily lives to God's Law, The health message (Diet and Exercise), Stewardship (Tithes, Offerings, and the allocation of time and resources), Dress, and Entertainment (What is watched and what we listen to). our knowledge and
It is important to remember that God holds us accountable not only for what we know but what we had opportunity to learn. Ignorance is not always an excuse in the eyes of God. Most of us have gone through or are going through what I refer to as the Romans 7 experience. Specifically verses 14 and 15 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
As we touched on earlier successful sanctification lies in the proper control of what the Bible refers to as the heart or as we would say the mind. Let's read Romans 12:1,2 and 2 Corinthians 10:5 Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; The Greek word for transformed is metamorpho from which we obtain the Metamorphosis is defined as allowing what is on the inside to be moved to the outside. The Holy Spirit working sanctification within us is made manifest to the world around us by the changes in our character which are demonstrated by our choices and our actions. word metamorphosis.
THOUGHTS BECOME DESTINY ( A poem in which the power of thought is described) Watch your thoughts for they become your words, Choose your words for they become your actions, Understand your actions for they become your habits, Study your habits for they will become your character Develop your character for it will become your DESTINY
Question: In light of the truths presented in this poem how careful and discerning do we need to be in the daily process of afflicting our souls when dealing with our interactions on social media, the movies we choose to watch, and the music we choose to listen to including religious music. In James 1:5 it is said If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
God promises to give us wisdom when we ask for it. We can trust that when we seek God s guidance and wisdom, he will give it to us generously. Seek the wisdom of God in prayer, open the Bible, and Spirit of Prophesy, and He will answer and give direction. Let a living faith run like threads of gold through the performance of even the smallest duties. Then all the daily work will promote Christian growth. There will be a continual looking unto Jesus. Love for Him will give vital force to everything that is undertaken. Thus through the right use of our talents, we may link ourselves by a golden chain to the higher world.
This is true sanctification; for sanctification consists in the cheerful performance of daily duties in perfect obedience to the will of God. Christ Object Lessons Pg. 360. In closing I would like to share an illustration of the life transforming power of God as given by Pastor Pavel Goya. Pastor Goya was preaching when he noticed a woman covered in tattoos, piercings, with hair the colors of the rainbow, fully dressed in Goth.
As the closing Hymn was being sung the woman got up to leave. Being impressed that he needed to speak with her Pastor Goya exited the church after her. As she noticed him she made a hasty retreat to her car. Pastor Goya put his hand on the car door and introduced himself. She responded that she didn't believe in God and didn't want to speak with him.To which Pastor Goya asked if you don't believe in God why are you hear?
Avoiding his question she responded that God doesn't answer prayer. At that time she had been enslaved to drugs and alcohol for 15 years, going through rehab, hospitals, and prison. Her addiction was such that she was driven to use her drugs every two hours. Pastor Goya then asked her if she wanted to be free of her addition. She replied yes. Pastor Goya then told her that today God would give her victory. She said to him who do you think you are, God? Who are you to make such a promise to me?
He said to her if you want to give up drugs I want you to give a bible study. She was mortified stating that she couldn't teach anyone. Pastor Goya told her that she didn't need to teach the lesson only deliver the lesson to the person that had requested it. His purpose was in giving this woman an opportunity to build relationships with the community not sharing doctrine.
She agreed and took the bible study to deliver. On her arrival she discovered that the people who had requested the study were not at home. The building being a secured facility did not allow her to enter. In frustration she called Pastor Goya to complain to him and against God. He told her that she needed to pray for as long as it would take to receive an answer. He promised that he would pray with her for as long as an answer would take. After praying for the better part of an hour she opened her eyes to see large man dressed in leathers come out of the building to get his mail.
She went to him and asked if she could enter the building, he said no, and asked why she had come. She told him that she was there to deliver a bible study. He became very angry stating that he had requested a bible study and no one came. He grabbed her by the arm and told her to follow him. He took her to his apartment and told her to have a seat he would be right back. Interrupting her prayer for God's protection he returned with 11 of his associates. He then told her that they were looking for a way out of their current lifestyle and that God had sent an angel (Her) to show them how.
As the study played she noticed that all 12 of the men were broken and in tears as the lesson was presented. God not only healed this woman on this Sabbath Day he presented her with 12 bible studies not just the one she prayed for. Why this method? In Ministries of Healing it states that Christ's methods alone work. Christ went to the people first to feed them, heal them, and befriend them. Only then would he bid them to follow Him.
In her case the first study was to be delivery only, on delivery of the second lesson she was to ask if they enjoyed the first lesson, on delivery of the third lesson she was to offer to pray for what the household asked for, on delivery of the fourth lesson she was to ask if she could join them for the study. In this churches experience 72% of the people who opened their door on the fourth visit were baptized. Secondly when we come to Christ for forgiveness we need to exercise faith that our prayers have been heard and we are forgiven.
Beyond this we need not to focus on past behavior but on Christ and His righteousness. What better way to do this than ministering to others in the service of Christ. In the example shared by pastor Goya we can plainly see that our opportunities to experience righteousness by faith, proportional to the level of ministry we are willing to provide to others as we participate in the Gospel commission given to the Church by Christ. aka sanctification are
The The Great Great Commission Commission Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Before closing with prayer I will ask. If there are any who would like to meet after potlucks to discuss the materials contained in the book True Sanctification, please let me know.
