Are you righteous? Or, are you trying to be righteous? If you are a Christian then the Bible says that you are righteous.
According to the Bible, our righteousness is not determined by our actions but by Jesus Christ's life and death. If our faith is in him, we are righteous; it doesn't even depend on how much faith we have. I was reminded of this truth while reading through Philippians 3 where Paul compares his earthly qualifications with knowing Christ. In verse 9 he states "and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." (Philippians 3:9, NIV) Paul illustrates this fact in a couple of his other letters with the life of Abraham. He reminds us that Abraham believed the word of God, and his faith was credited to him as righteousness. (Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6)
While I was thinking about this truth, I was also reminded of a sermon that I had heard a while back where the preacher applied this truth about righteousness to our response to our failures. If our righteousness is based on Jesus and his work, then our failures, our sins, our disobedience cannot change our righteousness before God. It will affect our fellowship with him, but he still sees us as righteous and when we repent we are restored to fellowship with him.
This helped me respond appropriately to several failures this week. Once I had confessed the sin and repented, I enjoyed time of fellowship with God through his word instead of beating myself up over my failures. Since God still saw me as righteous, I should not view myself before him as anything less.
So, when you sin, don't get down on yourself about it and tell yourself that you are worthless or that God doesn't love you or want you. Instead, remind yourself that God still sees you as righteous, and repent of your sin and return to fellowship with him.
