• Hi Guest!

    Please share Talk Jesus community on every platform you have to give conservatives an outlet and safe community to be apart of.

    Support This Community

    Thank You

  • Welcome to Talk Jesus

    A true bible based, Jesus centered online community. Join over 12,500 members today

    Register Log In

What makes us righteous?

Member
Love is the Spirit of God. It is the force that created everything that is good. It is also the force that propels us to sacrifice our own interest in order to serve those who have hurt and betrayed us. It is also the Spirit that makes us pure, humble, gentle, forgiving, merciful and charitable. Furthermore, it drives away hate, jealousy, lust, greed, and selfishness from our heart. When we live by this Spirit we find peace in our heart, because, it makes our spirit resonate in unison with that of God’s.

God’s love was expressed when he took a human form and accepted the most humiliating and painful death to make us righteous. His love therefore is the very source of our righteousness. Therefore, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3)”.
 
Member
Exactly. God's love is His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 4:10). God's goal is not merely to make us righteous but to make us like Christ who is our righteousness (Rom 8:29, 1 Cor 1:30).
In other words, everything that God wants us to become - loving, righteous, holy, etc is found in Christ who lives in us and is joined with us ( Gal 2:20, 1 Cor 6:17).
 
Active

RJ

Exactly. God's love is His Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 4:10). God's goal is not merely to make us righteous but to make us like Christ who is our righteousness (Rom 8:29, 1 Cor 1:30).
In other words, everything that God wants us to become - loving, righteous, holy, etc is found in Christ who lives in us and is joined with us ( Gal 2:20, 1 Cor 6:17).

I believe it is his righteousness in and through us that makes us righteous and not of our own actual doing: "I am The vine and you are the branches, in me you can do many things, with out me you can do nothing" and"Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ".
 
Member
I believe it is his righteousness in and through us that makes us righteous and not of our own actual doing: "I am The vine and you are the branches, in me you can do many things, with out me you can do nothing" and"Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ".

I agree, yet nothing "makes us" righteous, the "us" part of us dies (was crucified with Christ) and Christ becomes our righteousness. The mistaken view prevalent in Christianity is that believers receive or lose or are made a thing called righteousness, when in fact it is Christ Himself that they receive or lose or are made into.

What 1800 years or more of man-made theology has done is take away from Christ's Person, all the attributes that belong to Him alone. His righteousness is not distinct from His Person. We cannot go to the shop or a priest or a church and buy a thing called righteousness. If we have His Person, we have His righteousness, if we don't have Him, we don't have His righteousness. I do not believe in imparted, infused, or imputed righteousness. Imputed means God says we "are righteous because of.. " - it has nothing to do with Christ Himself being our righteousness. Infused or imputed means every person can have different levels of righteousness depending upon how much righteousness has been imparted or infused. It is like saying you can take your good behavior and personality and give to a bad person - it is impossible.

Different levels of righteousness is true only in the moral sense before men, but not in the judicial sense before God. Even though every Christian has Christ as their righteousness, some Christians appear more righteous than others. As we grow as Christians, our outward moral righteousness matures to match the complete and perfect righteousness of Christ within us. We need such a righteousness to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:20) (which is not salvation to a place called heaven, but entrance to the future manifestation of God's kingdom on Earth).

Christ becomes our righteousness - our self and our righteousness dies, and Christ in us is in the only righteousness that we have before God. The result of having Christ in us, can be a moral righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees - but it is not our righteousness, but Christ's righteousness displayed through us as you correctly said, and the vine (Christ) with grafted branches (us) is a good picture of how this works. When we graft into a vine, whatever righteousness the piece that was grafted in had, dies, and after grafting the branch now has (not receives) the righteousness that belongs to the vine - and all the branches have this same righteousness. So in God's church, there is no one who has been made more righteous than anybody else because everyone has Christ as their righteousness.
 
Last edited:
Active

RJ

I agree, yet nothing "makes us" righteous, the "us" part of us dies (was crucified with Christ) and Christ becomes our righteousness. The mistaken view prevalent in Christianity is that believers receive or lose or are made a thing called righteousness, when in fact it is Christ Himself that they receive or lose or are made into.

What 1800 years or more of man-made theology has done is take away from Christ's Person, all the attributes that belong to Him alone. His righteousness is not distinct from His Person. We cannot go to the shop or a priest or a church and buy a thing called righteousness. If we have His Person, we have His righteousness, if we don't have Him, we don't have His righteousness. I do not believe in imparted, infused, or imputed righteousness. Imputed means God says we "are righteous because of.. " - it has nothing to do with Christ Himself being our righteousness. Infused or imputed means every person can have different levels of righteousness depending upon how much righteousness has been imparted or infused. It is like saying you can take your good behavior and personality and give to a bad person - it is impossible.

Different levels of righteousness is true only in the moral sense before men, but not in the judicial sense before God. Even though every Christian has Christ as their righteousness, some Christians appear more righteous than others. As we grow as Christians, our outward moral righteousness matures to match the complete and perfect righteousness of Christ within us. We need such a righteousness to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt 5:20) (which is not salvation to a place called heaven, but entrance to the future manifestation of God's kingdom on Earth).

Christ becomes our righteousness - our self and our righteousness dies, and Christ in us is in the only righteousness that we have before God. The result of having Christ in us, can be a moral righteousness that exceeds the Pharisees - but it is not our righteousness, but Christ's righteousness displayed through us as you correctly said, and the vine (Christ) with grafted branches (us) is a good picture of how this works. When we graft into a vine, whatever righteousness the piece that was grafted in had, dies, and after grafting the branch now has (not receives) the righteousness that belongs to the vine - and all the branches have this same righteousness. So in God's church, there is no one who has been made more righteous than anybody else because everyone has Christ as their righteousness.
I agree, yet nothing "makes us" righteous, the "us" part of us dies (was crucified with Christ) and Christ becomes our righteousness.
And our blamelessness and holiness!
 
Loyal
I personally think this is sort of the wrong question.
Yes Jesus makes us righteous in the eyes of God. Obviously we can't do anything to make ourselves righteous.
However, maybe we should asking, what makes us Holy? What sanctifies us?
 
Member
I personally think this is sort of the wrong question.
Yes Jesus makes us righteous in the eyes of God. Obviously we can't do anything to make ourselves righteous.
However, maybe we should asking, what makes us Holy? What sanctifies us?

There is one thing we can do to become righteous and that is to believe and receive Jesus Christ. What makes us holy and sanctified is again, Jesus Christ, who is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us.
 
Member
I personally think this is sort of the wrong question.
Yes Jesus makes us righteous in the eyes of God. Obviously we can't do anything to make ourselves righteous.
However, maybe we should asking, what makes us Holy? What sanctifies us?

It's Christ's sacrifice that sanctified Christians, making us holy.
Heb 10:10
By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And it's our faith that is counted for righteousness. This is what makes Christians righteous.
Rom 4:5
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
 
Active

RJ

I personally think this is sort of the wrong question.
Yes Jesus makes us righteous in the eyes of God. Obviously we can't do anything to make ourselves righteous.
However, maybe we should asking, what makes us Holy? What sanctifies us?
Jesus makes us holy as well as blameless. God sanctifies us, separates us out and sets us apart from nonbelievers.

Jesus had a lot to say about sanctification in the Book of John, chapter 17. In verse 16 the Lord says, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world,” and this is before His request: “Sanctify them in the truth: Thy word is truth.” Sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). This is a once-for-ever separation, eternally unto God. It is an intricate part of our salvation, our connection with Christ (Hebrews 10:10).
This goes right back to falling away and things like OSAS, "This is a once-for-ever separation". You are in Jesus and Jesus us in you; you can't fall away from this God.
 
Last edited:
Member
Faith in Jesus blood.
Romans :22-30
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:
30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
 
Loyal
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt 6:33

Everything that we need! God alone knows everything that we need. What we know is only what He has shared with us. What He has not shared, we do not know.
 
Member
1 John 5:17 -says " all unrighteousness is sin "
and sin is the transgression of the law - and the law then not only defines sin, it defines righteousness.
Psalm 119;172 ".....for all your commandments are righteousness "
1 cor 15:34 - " Awake to righteousness and do not sin "
 
Active

RJ

1 John 5:17 -says " all unrighteousness is sin "
and sin is the transgression of the law - and the law then not only defines sin, it defines righteousness.
Psalm 119;172 ".....for all your commandments are righteousness "
1 cor 15:34 - " Awake to righteousness and do not sin "
Yes, all unrighteousness is sin, but stop and think about this for a moment:
  • What is unrighteousness? It is much more than the "law", although, it is a great start but let's look at love, certainly that is a commandment of God, a righteous act! In 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, we see many ways to love perfectly, Agape love. If you do not do one of these loves is that not a transgression of the law? Is that not a sin? How well do you do with these types of love 24/7; do you do these perfectly...of course not, unless you are in denial. " Awake to righteousness and do not sin"....how well are you doing with that? Thank God Jesus is in you and there is no condemnation for that.
 
Member
Yes, all unrighteousness is sin, but stop and think about this for a moment:
  • What is unrighteousness? It is much more than the "law", although, it is a great start but let's look at love, certainly that is a commandment of God, a righteous act! In 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, we see many ways to love perfectly, Agape love. If you do not do one of these loves is that not a transgression of the law? Is that not a sin? How well do you do with these types of love 24/7; do you do these perfectly...of course not, unless you are in denial. " Awake to righteousness and do not sin"....how well are you doing with that? Thank God Jesus is in you and there is no condemnation for that.

True what you say RJ -Sin is a violation of God's law of love-love towards Him and our fellow human beings. and Jesus is our rescuer
In Rom 14:23 Paul says-" whatever is not from faith is sin "
What is your understanding of this?
 
Loyal
There are many many sins listed in the Bible.

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit
Mark 3:29; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"--

Adultery
John 8:4; they *said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.
John 8:7; But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."
John 8:11; She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."

Unbelief is a sin
John 16:9; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;

Slander and false accusations are sin.
John 19:11; Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

Murder (stoning an innocent man) is a sin.
Acts 7:59; They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
Acts 7:60; Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" Having said this, he fell asleep.

Everyone is charged by sin
Rom 3:9; What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

Breaking God's law is sin.
Rom 5:12; Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--
Rom 5:13; for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 5:20; The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

Fleshly lust is sin.
Rom 6:12; Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,

If we choose to be a slave to sin, we are not a servant of Christ, serving Christ requires obedience.
Rom 6:16; Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

Breaking the commandments is sin, even coveting.
Rom 7:7; What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET."

Even doubting that something you are doing might be sin, is sin.
Rom 14:23; But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Sexual immorality, self molestation is sin.
1 Cor 6:18; Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

Causing other believers to stumble is a sin.
1 Cor 8:11; For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died.
1 Cor 8:12; And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
1 Cor 8:13; Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

Seizing people and condemning on other s people words alone is a sin.
1 Tim 5:22 Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.

Disobedience to anything God tells us to do is sin.
Heb 3:17; And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18; And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient?

Sin can entrap anyone, even Christians.
Heb 12:1; Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Lust is sin.
Jas 1:14; But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
Jas 1:15; Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Favoritism, and partiality are sin.
Jas 2:9; But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Simply not doing the right thing when you know to do it is a sin.
Jas 4:17; Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Adultery, greed and revelry are all sin. Idolatry also.
2 Pet 2:13 suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you,
2 Pet 2:14 having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;
2 Pet 2:15; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Some sins lead to death and others do not.
1 Jn 5:16; If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.
1 Jn 5:17; All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

Lying is a sin.
Rev 21:27; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Prov 28:9; He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.
Heb 10:28; Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Facetiousness is a sin.
Tit 3:10 Reject a factious man after a first and second warning,
Tit 3:11 knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

There are more, but the point is there are many kinds of sin.
 
Active

RJ

True what you say RJ -Sin is a violation of God's law of love-love towards Him and our fellow human beings. and Jesus is our rescuer
In Rom 14:23 Paul says-" whatever is not from faith is sin "
What is your understanding of this?
This comes at the end of chapter 14 of Romans, which is about weak and strong faith. This is the way I would look at this:
  • Romans 12:3 ...Faith is a gift of God ( Grace) and not of your on doing. God also gives us our own measure of faith, some more, some less so, whether we have weak or strong faith, none of us have a full and complete measure of faith. Hence, if you had perfect faith, you would have no sin....-" whatever is not from faith is sin "
  • With perfect faith, we would love perfectly, we would never doubt, we would never be negative...etc..This tells me, we still all have a "measure" of sin and not to think too highly of ourselves.Some of us have more, some less but still in Christ, there is no condemnation for any of us.
 
Last edited:
Member
This comes at the end of chapter 14 of Romans, which is about weak and strong faith. This is the way I would look at this:
  • Romans 12:3 ...Faith is a gift of God ( Grace) and not of your on doing. God also gives us our own measure of faith, some more, some less so, whether we have weak or strong faith, none of us have a full and complete measure of faith. Hence, if you had perfect faith, you would have no sin....-" whatever is not from faith is sin "
  • With perfect faith, we would love perfectly, we would never doubt, we would never be negative...etc..This tells me, we still all have a "measure" of sin and not to think too highly of ourselves.Some of us have more, some less but still in Christ, there is no condemnation for any of us.

One theologian explains Rom 14:23 by saying - if you're not sure something is wrong then don't do it.

Hebrews called faith- the substance of things hoped for, the evidence not seen.

Trust in what God wants and rely on Him to deliver it- it's spiritual not physical for us.

if you violate your conscience it can be a sin because you don't do what God wants-believing or belief and faith go hand and hand. Our loyalty to God is foremost.
 
Active

RJ

One theologian explains Rom 14:23 by saying - if you're not sure something is wrong then don't do it.

Hebrews called faith- the substance of things hoped for, the evidence not seen.

Trust in what God wants and rely on Him to deliver it- it's spiritual not physical for us.

if you violate your conscience it can be a sin because you don't do what God wants-believing or belief and faith go hand and hand. Our loyalty to God is foremost.

  • When it comes to sin, man wants to primarily focus on the "Nasty Five" and the "Dirty Dozen".
  • I dare say that many Christians are even conscious about some of their sins.
  • Have you ever had doubt or been negative?
  • Jesus says it best: Matthew 5: 27-28 : “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart
 
Last edited:
Top