No More Sin Consciousness: Stand Boldly Before the Father
The Revelation of Righteousness: standing in the Father's presence without guilt or inferiority
Righteousness means the ability to stand in the presence of Father God without the sense of guilt or inferiority. This has been the quest of the ages.
The Quest of the Ages
The desire to get rid of Sin Consciousness has given birth to all the major religions of the world. Philosophers have argued that God is not a person, and that Satan is not a person. If there is no God and no Devil, there can be no sin. If there is no sin, there can be no judgment. And if there is no fear of judgment, there would be no Sin Consciousness.
But declaring that the tide does not rise does not stop it from rising.
The philosopher's declaration that God is not does not stop God from being. God is. Satan is. Sin is.
What God Did in His Son
But God has dealt with the sin problem in His Son. By the sacrifice of that Son, He has put sin away. On legal grounds, He has made it possible for man, who is alienated from the life of God and in union with Satan, to become a New Creation by receiving the very nature and life of God.
This life and nature of God is Righteousness.
The man who has received the nature of God has automatically become the Righteousness of God in Christ. He may not know it, and he may not take advantage of it, but it is true.
The dominion of Sin Consciousness over the Church has been fostered, developed, and made a reality by ministers who preached sin instead of preaching Christ and the New Creation.
Where Sin Consciousness Began
Sin Consciousness came with the Fall, when man became alienated from the life of God.
Down through the ages, universal man has been under the blighting curse of alienation from the life of God, which gave birth to Sin Consciousness.
Man, dead in trespasses and sins, cannot stand in God's presence.
God illustrated this in the Old Covenant. The High Priest went into the Holy of Holies once every year, and then only when he was covered with blood. He did not go in to worship, but to make a yearly atonement for Israel, who was dead in trespasses and sins.
The Substitute
God sent His Son into the world to become Incarnate, to become eternally united with humanity. That Son went to the Cross by the determinate counsel of God, became sin, and took our place as a Substitute. Then He conquered the Enemy and made Righteousness available to man.
A redemption that did not make man Righteous would be a fallacy.
Until man is Righteous and knows it, Satan reigns over him, and sin and disease are his masters. But the instant he knows that he is the Righteousness of God in Christ, and knows what that Righteousness means, Satan is defeated.
The Church has not taught even a limited Righteousness. It has a theological justification that does not meet the issue. God's redemption in Christ is the solution.
It makes man a dominant spirit where he has served as a slave in weakness.
How Do We Receive It?
How can we obtain this Righteousness that gives us perfect fellowship with the Father, and a consciousness of being masters over the forces of darkness?
That Righteousness comes to us by taking Jesus Christ as Saviour and confessing His Lordship over our lives.
When we know that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that on the third day He arose from the dead after He had put our sin away and satisfied the claims of justice as our Substitute; when we know that, take Him as our Saviour, and confess Him as our Lord,
in that moment we receive God's nature and become the Righteousness of God in Christ.
"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 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)
We have become the Righteousness of God in Christ. This Righteousness is not an experience, although it gives birth to many marvelous experiences.
It is the nature of the Father imparted to us.
It is that nature gaining the ascendancy in us until we know that we are what God says we are: masters and conquerors!
Conclusion
Righteousness is not something we earn, feel, or work toward. It is something we receive. At the Cross, God dealt with sin once and for all, and in the resurrection He gave us His own nature. The moment we take Jesus as Saviour and confess Him as Lord, we are made new, and guilt and inferiority lose their claim over us.
Sin Consciousness keeps believers weak, fearful, and defeated, while the revelation of Righteousness makes them bold, free, and victorious. Denying sin does not remove it, and neither does trying harder.
Only Christ's finished work makes us righteous.
So stand up, child of God. You do not approach the Father as a slave begging for mercy, but as a son or daughter who carries His nature.
Know who you are in Christ,
and live as a master, not a slave.
Comments