OBJECTIVE
TO KNOW HOW TO LIVE A WONDERFUL LIFE WITH CHRIST.
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INTRODUCTION
Now that you have given your life to Christ, how to you know that you are doing the right thing always?
Today most believer till find it difficult to overcome sin.
They key to living above sin daily does not lie in our ability to do, but in understanding the redemptive work of Christ.
WHAT IS SIN?
Sin is a nature, of doing things against the will of God. Sin is the act of Disobedience to the will of God. (1 John 3:4)
The consequence of sin is that it separate us with God and also it stop the communication between God and man.
WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?
This is the nature of God. It is a gift that God gives us when we are born again. (Gen 15:6). Its a holy state where everything we do is in line with him. We are free to communicate with him both in spirit and i truth.
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ORIGIN OF SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 5:17)
Sin came into the world through one man, Adam when he disobeyed God's instruction in the garden of Eden. (Gen 2:16-17). The nature was further strengthened when the law of Moses came in (Romans 5:20). People became aware of how far they were from being perfect and kind of threw in the towel because it seemed too difficult (James 2:10).
Hence Righteousness reigns by God's grace just as sin reigned by the law. Now we don't have to strive to be righteous because in Christ Jesus, we are. We also now have the holy spirit to help us lives that are pleasing to God.
WHAT IS SIN CONSCIOUSNESS?
This is the act of focusing on the acts of the devil or on the weakness of the sin-nature, its inability to live right or be pleasing to God. This happens when there is no understanding of the thorough work Christ did on the cross for Mankind.
To know if some one is sin conscious , the person will constantly be dealing with the fear of God. Shame for what one has done, guilt , feelings of condemnation and inferiority in the midst of other believers. All these make one slave to the sin nature even though one has been freed from it.
WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS CONSCIOUSNESS.
These is simply being mindful of our new nature in Christ, righteousness. There are two kinds of righteousness God's righteousness which he gives us irrespective of what we do and self righteousness which is characterized by pious works in order to gain acceptance in God's sight and escape the penalty of sin.
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Self righteousness is some what a part of being sin conscious; it says if i dont do this or that, i can't earn my place in God's kingdom.
The benefit of being righteous/ understanding our righteousness is that it helps to overcome feels of inferiority, insecurity, fear, inherent fears, anticipation of things going wrong, (Isa 54)
As as a church, the revelation of what our righteousness (free from sin) is establishes us and frees us from oppression, fear and any form of weapon designed to attack us will not prosper.
HOW DE WE UNDER ST AND RIGHTEOUSNESS?
When a Christian encounter with the holy spirit is the best to reveal and disclose the totality of righteousness,our new nature with Christ. We can not use our common sense to understand the spirit because it is designed by God to direct us and lead us to the right track. The holy spirit will tell you that you crucified with Christ so the nature of sin is now dead and you are alive with Christ. (Gal 2:20-21). He will explain to you that you have dominion over your mortal body because of the new nature in you (Rom 6:11-14)
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But Christ came to show us a better way to do it without us feeling like we are under an obligation to do so, it was through Love (Rom 13:8-10)
For all the law points to the character of God (Rom 7:12)| and its is all embodied in love.
It is very necessary to live a life of love because God is love. We should show love to one another in our working places, schools businesses and every where we go.
If we walk in this righteousness, we will discover that;
- We have forgiveness whenever we err (Heb 4;16)
- We have acceptance based on what Christ did and not based on our present performance (Rom 10:3-4)
- We have access to his presence (Rom 4:1-2)
Walking in righteousness also means freedom from faulty thinking and superstitions (1 corinthians 8:1-2, 4-8) and being declared free from sin and cleansed from sin. (Holy)
HOW TO STAY CONSCIOUS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
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The best way for us a Christian to be more conscious of our new nature rather than the sin nature is to look on the following aspects of our relationship with God.
God with us- always remember all the time you slept, woke up, left your home, came back and lots more that God has been with you during this activities.
God is in us- Knowing that God is in you, you are one with God (Rom 8:11) This gives you the assurance of being able to share his glory (COL 1;21) it makes you look. talk and walk differently with others in the word.
God is for us- Meditating on the knowledge that nothing can work against you because God is on your side gives you the strength to carry on and face anything life throws at you (Romans 8:35-39)
CONCLUSION
To live in a world like ours where sin is truth and righteousness is a myth, one has to be conscious of what the nature of righteousness entails. it's important to realize that we can not be made righteous by what we do (Eph 2:9). In it only faith in Christ also the death and Resurrection of Christ that enable us to realize the reality of Christ Jesus in our life. We should be able to understand that Christ is always in us and we should preach the word of God to every one in our environment.
GOD BLESS YOU.