APOSTLE EDWARD SSEWANYANA: UNDERSTANDING RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Lord Jesus Christ deserves all the glory for yet another release of this Bible Study update. We need to be men and women who discern the times . “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that HAD UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES, to know what Israel ought to do” (1Chr12:32) The kind of lives God requires us to live is not “one-day-at-a-time” but “every-day-like-it’s-your-last”, knowing that Jesus Christ can return any moment. You can never accomplish much for God if you merely live like a wild beast that expects to survive the next day by the principles of chance. You need to move in faith every day and harness the circumstances around you by taking authority in the realm of the spirit so that you see things change in the natural. The mountain is simply waiting for your command of faith so that is packs up it’s bags and find’s it’s way into the midst of the sea (Matt 21:21).

Starting from last week we have been studying a series titled “The Fall and Restoration of Man”. It is very important for you to understand where you are coming from so that you can know where you are going. When Adam sinned you were a full-time participant according to the Bible (Heb 7:9-10). The spiritual principle of representation is one of the great mysteries that we are going to unravel as we continue in this study. Last week we looked at the origins of Satan and why he fell. We are fighting a real enemy with a will and intelligence of his own. He is not simply a myth conjured up by a stray storyteller. The body of Christ needs to understand their enemy and the weapons God has placed at our disposal in order to vanquish him. Whether you know it or not a battle is raging in the spiritual spheres. What the believers need now are not some “smart Alec” lectures on physical food diet regulations. What we need to receive as the body of Christ is strong spiritual meat that will cause our spirits to grow. “That we henceforth be NO MORE CHILDREN, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may GROW UP into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Eph 4:14, 15). God expects believers to grow up. He is not simply referring to physical growth since that would mean we would have reached maturity at 33, the age Jesus was when He was crucified. Rather God is referring to spiritual growth. A baby believes anything, however weird it is. God has specifically put in place the five-fold ministers, the apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers (Eph 4:11) to feed the believers spiritually to the point of maturity. God expects you to grow to the point where you can discern between true and false doctrine. Our aim is to see believers grow to the point where they resemble Christ.

As a born again Christian God does not expect you to receive any promise from Him based on your works. That way Jesus Christ would be the only one deserving the promises of God. The Bible tells us clearly that you are living under a totally different law, the law of the Spirit of life. “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:1, 2). The Bible never tells us that we should be born again more than once. Rather, when a child of God sins, he has an advocate or lawyer called Jesus Christ who stands ready to defend you before God after you have confessed and forsaken that sin, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have AN ADVOCATE with the Father, JESUS CHRIST the righteous:” (1 Jn 2:1). The apostle John clearly points out that it is not God’s desire for us to sin, however when you sin there is a provision for forgiveness, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we CONFESS OUR SINS, he is faithful and just to FORGIVE US OUR SINS, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:8, 9). God has made a provision for you to receive forgiveness. The moment you ask God to forgive you, Satan tries to bring back a feeling of condemnation. He tries to make you think that God has not forgiven you. It is at this critical point that you need to apply a broad sweep at his neck with the sword of the spirit, the word of God, and remind him that God has promised to forgive you the moment you confess the sin (1Jn 1:9) and above all He never condemns you for what you have done.

Your right standing with God is not based on how well you have performed God on the sin and good deeds chart. Your right standing with God is based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. It was not for nothing that Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” on the cross (Jn 19:30). The word Jesus spoke is “tetelestai” in the Greek which was a word used in the marketplace to signify that a debt had been totally paid. That is exactly what Jesus did. He took your condemnation that you would not have to be condemned. He took your guilt so that you could walk away Scott-free. Peter made a very interesting statement on the occasion when he healed the lame man seated by the gate of the temple, “And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, AS THOUGH BY OUR OWN POWER OR HOLINESS WE HAD MADE THIS MAN TO WALK? …And his (Jesus’) name through FAITH IN HIS NAME hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (Acts 3:11, 12, 16). Peter clearly says that it is not because of his holiness that the miracle had been performed. Rather it was through faith in the name of Jesus Christ.

All you will ever receive from God will have to be by faith. You receive salvation by faith, not by works. You receive healing by faith because God promises it in His word (Is 53:4, 5, Matt 8:17), likewise you receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith since it is guaranteed in the Word (Acts 1:5). Every answer you receive to prayer is not based on how much you have scored in God’s good books. The answer comes because God considers you righteous as a result of what Jesus did on your behalf, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor 5:21). You become the righteousness of God because Jesus became sin on your behalf. He took the punishment that you were supposed to bear so that you might receive the blessings you did not deserve. That is the reason God calls you a saint even before the Pope examines your good deeds (1 Cor 1:2, Rom 1:7).

Purpose to confess that you are the righteousness of God because God’s word says so and not because you feel like it, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” (2 Cor 5:7). Feelings are secondary when faith is at work. Your right standing with God depends on your having confessed the name of Jesus Christ when you were born again. After that moment, the law lost it’s grip on you as your yardstick for righteousness. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST LIVETH IN ME: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the FAITH of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for IF RIGHTEOUSNESS COME BY THE LAW, THEN CHRIST IS DEAD (DIED) IN VAIN” (Gal 2:20, 21). My brother and sister, if you are seeking to make God happy by keeping the law, you are saying that it was useless for Jesus to be crucified. Wake up and take your rightful position of authority all because of Jesus’ death in your place. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.