NIGERIAN BAPTIST CONVENTION SEEK DAILY (NBC) Wednesday, September 6 , 2023 GENUINE RIGHTEOUSNESS

 

*Memory verse:* "And be found in Him, not having the 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

*Philippians 3:7-11*

3:7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.

3:8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

 3:9 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 on the basis of faith.

3:10 I want to know Christ —yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

3:11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

                                    _______

Jonathan Haidt wrote that, "Tzedek is a common word in the Hebrew Bible for righteousness. It is often used to describe people who act in accordance with God's wishes, but it is also an attribute of God and of God's judgment of people (which is often harsh but always thought to be just)."

The apostle Paul compared his former ways of life, hinged on the law and his new life based on the righteousness by faith. He recalled how he boasted in his Jewish background and zealous persecution of the church before he met Christ. His encounter with Jesus changed his old perspective and he regarded all his self-acclaimed righteousness as rubbish. He realised that it is only the righteousness that comes from Christ by faith that is genuine and approved by God.

Jesus had paid the price for our righteousness with His sinless life. Whosoever believes in Him and accepts His Lordship have His righteousness. God wants us to live by faith in the conciousness of Christ. By doing so, it will be easy to live our lives to please God. The righteousness of God imputed to believers at salvation enables us to live up to God's standard.

*Insight:* Your own righteousness cannot accomplish God's righteousness in Christ.

*RBT Passage:Ezekiel 39-40*