Death or Life

Q: What does the Bible say about righteousness and life?

The Bible states that in the way of righteousness there is life, indicating a direct connection between righteousness and spiritual vitality. Scripture teaches that righteousness is intrinsically linked to life, as expressed in Proverbs 12:28, which states, 'In the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death.' This signifies that righteousness is not merely a set of moral behaviors but is fundamentally a state of being that imparts spiritual life. It is essential to understand that our natural state is one of spiritual death, incapable of producing true righteousness on our own. Only through Christ, who is our righteousness, can we be made alive. Therefore, those who are declared righteous in Christ experience eternal life and communion with God, free from the condemnation of sin.

Q: How do we know the gospel is true?

The gospel is true because it is anchored in God's sovereign grace and declares the finished work of Christ. The truth of the gospel is rooted in the sovereign work of God, which is evident throughout scripture. Paul underscores this in Romans 1:16-17, where he states that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It is not based on human endeavor or speculation but on the completed work of Jesus Christ, who accomplished redemption for His people. When we understand that the gospel reveals God's righteousness, which is granted through faith, we see its irrefutable truth. It showcases God's unmerited favor and confirms that salvation is a divine work, not a human achievement, demonstrating that the gospel is indeed true and reliable.

Q: Why is the concept of imputed righteousness important for Christians?

Imputed righteousness is vital for Christians as it assures us of our right standing before God, independent of our works. The concept of imputed righteousness is central to the Christian faith because it emphasizes that our acceptance before God is based solely on Christ's righteousness rather than our own. In Romans 5:19, Paul explains that through one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. This underscores the grace provided by Christ, which is credited to believers. Understanding that our righteousness is not earned but bestowed instills assurance and hope, as it frees us from the burden of having to achieve righteousness through our deeds. This doctrine ensures that our salvation is secure and not contingent upon our fluctuating performance but based on the finished work of Christ, who perfectly fulfilled the law on our behalf.

Q: How does God's grace relate to salvation?

God's grace is the foundation of salvation, ensuring that it is a gift rather than a reward for works. God's grace is fundamentally defined as unmerited favor toward those who are spiritually dead in their sins. Ephesians 2:8-9 illustrates this, stating that by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Thus, salvation is not something we can earn; it is freely given by God to those He has chosen. Grace affirms that our salvation comes entirely from God's initiative and power, rather than human effort, highlighting the doctrine of sovereignty in salvation. This understanding releases all pressure from the individual, as it’s not a matter of what we can do to be saved but what Christ has done on our behalf, reflecting God's abundant and irresistible grace.

Q: What does being spiritually dead mean?

Being spiritually dead means being unable to respond to spiritual truths and separated from the life of God due to sin. Spiritual death signifies a state of separation from God, characterized by an inability to respond to spiritual matters or understand the gospel. Ephesians 2:1 describes individuals as 'dead in trespasses and sins,' illustrating that apart from divine intervention, they cannot perceive or grasp the realities of God's kingdom. This condition implies that individuals are enslaved to sin, unable to seek God or exhibit true righteousness. The necessity of being born again is crucial for overcoming this dead state, as only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can one be made alive to God. Thus, spiritual death underscores the profound need for salvation and the transformative work of Christ to impart life.

Q: Why is the sovereignty of God important for salvation?

The sovereignty of God is crucial for salvation as it assures us that our redemption is secure and not subject to human will. God's sovereignty plays a foundational role in the doctrine of salvation, affirming that He alone initiates and carries out the process of redeeming His people. Throughout scripture, we see that salvation is determined by God's choice and mercy, as outlined in Romans 8:29-30, which describes God's foreknowledge and predestination of those who would be saved. This sovereign act of grace means that our salvation is not reliant on our efforts or decisions, but rather on God's unwavering will to save His elect. Christians find comfort and hope in this truth, as it underscores that the work of salvation is accomplished by God and not subject to the whims of human choice, providing assurance of His control in the process of redemption.

I invite your attention back
to Proverbs 12, verse 28. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is an amazing and a wondrous thing. And the declaration of it is
an enigma to the natural mind. It is preached by sinners. and
heard by sinners, who in and of themselves are impotent to
cause it to be anything other than a person speaking words. I'm impotent to do anything other
than that. You're impotent to do anything
other than that. The preacher and the hearer,
because of what they are, because they are unworthy, Even to speak
of these things, these things contained in the gospel, because
of their unworthiness, they can never be credited with the effect
that the gospel produces. They of themselves need to make
the gospel that they preach or the gospel that they hear to
be effectual or ineffectual in the salvation of a man's soul. God has chosen sinful men, the
off-scouring of the universe, the worst of the lot, the chief
of sinners, and appointed them to declare and to proclaim and
to herald the gospel. Why did He choose such? Precisely because since they
are ineffectual, if any effect, if any effect of the gospel is
seen, it must be seen to abide in God alone. In God alone. Paul said this,
Paul the Apostle, who wrote most of the New Testament church in
his first epistle to the Corinthian church, which most believe was
the first epistle he wrote. And we know the Corinthian church
had all kinds of problems. One of which they were saying,
well, they had hero worship for preachers. Some of them said,
well, I'm of Apollos. You know, I heard that gospel
from that great Greek orator. Others say, well, I heard it
from Simon Peter. I heard it from Cephas, one of the twelve
apostles. Others say, well, I heard it from Paul. And the really
classy folks say, well, I heard it from the lips of Jesus Christ
himself. And here's what Paul said. 1 Corinthians 3 and 4 says, For
while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? Are you not
carnal? Who then is Paul? And who is
Apollos? But ministers by whom you believed,
even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos
has watered, but God gave the increase. God gave the increase. And no matter the impotent instrument
that God uses to declare the truth, there is enough wrong
and sinful about the instrument. There is enough pollution in
the character of the instrument that only a divine work of sovereign
grace can account for any positive effect that is preached. I can't really do anything for
you. Neither can any preacher or priest
on the top side of the earth. I cannot do anything for you.
I cannot, because I am called to preach, make something effectual
in your life. Over in the book of Haggai, you
don't have to turn there, but you can if you can find it. If
you're on a Cambridge wide margin Bible, it's on page 1093 of the
Old Testament. If you've got a Jerry Falwell
study Bible, throw it in the trash and get you in Cambridge. Haggai chapter 2. Our Lord asks
questions about the priests who carry things in their apron.
They carry things and if the priest carries it, does that
make it something special? And our Lord says this in verse
12, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, probably
the breast or which he waved before God for a wave offering.
If he bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with
his skirt do touch bread or pottage or wine or oil or any meat, shall
it be holy? If he's carrying something holy,
And he touches something. Does that make that thing holy?
Does that make that holy? And the priest answered, No,
it don't. Because it doesn't. And then he said this, and this
is our situation. Then said Haggai, If one that
is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priest answered and said,
It shall be unclean. I can't do anything good for
you, but I can mess you up. I can make your life worse. That's
the dilemma of those who carry the gospel into this world. That's
the dilemma that you face when you tell folks the gospel. You
can't make it good for them, but you can make it bad for them.
You can't make it bad for them. If anything, any part of salvation
can be attributed to men's talents, or their persuasiveness, or their
ability to invent ways and means of getting men and women to positively
respond to the message, then what they're preaching is not
really the gospel. Not really the gospel. The gospel, the gold spiel, the
good news, the good tiding of good things, the gospel is the
word of God's power. The word of God's power by which
the universe is upheld. This world still is hanging together
because God has some people out there, as he told Paul, don't
go weeping and moaning, I got 5,000 over here that are not
bound or need a bail. I got 5,000, I got much people
in this city. The gospel upholds this word.
Upholds this word. It makes it stick together. It's
how it's maintained. The gospel is called the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek. But it's the power of God unto
salvation. Why? Because in that gospel,
and only in that gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith. from faith to faith. The gospel
is the power, the dynamite, the dunamis of God's unto salvation. And in the gospel, let me make
this very clear, in the gospel there is not one iota of speculation. There's no speculation in the
gospel. In the gospel there are no ifs,
ands, or buts. No possibilities and no probabilities. The gospel is not a declaration
of unfinished business or of something that's left to be done.
It is the proclamation of a finished and utterly complete thing to
which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed,
changed, modified, or tampered with. God Almighty has done something. That's what the gospel declares.
God has done something. I was talking to Rupert Reidenbacher.
He was talking about a track that Jim Byrd had given to me
many years ago. I can't remember who wrote it.
It may have been... I can't remember. I won't say
who it is because I can't remember. But the title of the track was,
Do or Done. And I remember the track. It
was a great little track. Told the truth. Your religion is one of those
too, you know that? It is. It's do. Do something. Do this. Do that. Or it's done. By the accomplishment of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We sing that old hymn, tis done.
The grave transaction's done. I am the Lord's, and He is mine. He is mine. God Almighty has
done something, and something singular, and something spectacular,
and something sublime, and wonderful, and miraculous, and no matter
the mindset of men, what God has done is etched in eternal
stone. It ain't going to change. Whatever
is done is done. It is finished means it is done. It doesn't mean that he did his
part. It means he finished what he came to do, and that is the
salvation of his people. That's what he said. That's why
they called him Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out, for I came not down from heaven to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is my Father's will. Is God's will going to be done?
Nebuchadnezzar said it was. He doeth his will in the armies
of heaven, and among the armies of the earth. And none can say
unto him, What doest thou? None can stay his hand. This
is my Father's will, which is in me. Of all that He has given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again in the last
day." These things are etched in eternal stone, in the rock
of God. And because it is so, men and
women, whether they choose to or do not choose to, nevertheless,
do relate to what God has done. You're living in His world, and
His Son is enthroned and is Lord over all, and you relate to Him,
either negatively or positively, but you can't help it. When men
hear the gospel, they hear an assessment or a judgment rendered.
And they respond either negatively or positively. Paul the Apostle
said that the preaching of the gospel is always victorious. It's always victorious. To some
who hear it, it's the victory of grace. It's a savor of life
unto life. To others who hear it, it's the
victory of justice and wrath. for it's a savor of death unto
death. And the preacher of the gospel,
whether he has a pulpit ministry or is declaring the gospel to
a co-worker or a family member or a friend, he disdains the
idea of inventing a way for men to exhibit a response. He disdains that. I'm not looking
for a response. Because I might have caused it,
and I don't want to do that. If Christ is in you, He'll leak
out on you. Somebody find out about it. Somebody
find out about it. We do not give invitations. Been
here 33 years and haven't given one yet. And yet the Lord miraculously
saved people and I baptized them. How'd He do that without an invitation?
It's His business to save men, not our business to invent ways
to get men to do stuff. There's no need of an invitation
system. It's an invention by Charles
Finney. And if you think it's anything that fellow, you need
to read the Bible so you can shed some light on all the wrong
things he said. Invitation? What do you do when
you get an invitation? You regard it or you disregard
it. The gospel can't be disregarded. It's not up for your vote. The
gospel is declared, this is what God has done. Live with it, or
die with it. This is what God has done. The
gospel is a thing that is always disregarded or regarded by the
nature of its singularity and completeness. The gospel is a
revelation according to scripture, and it reveals whether you're
lost or saved, and whether you're a sheep or a goat. Whether you're
chosen or left to yourself, whether you're in or out, alive or dead,
it is a yea and a nay, and anything else according to the Lord Jesus
Christ cometh to evil. In the gospel, the righteousness
of God is revealed. And the righteousness that Paul
refers to in that text in Romans 1, verse 17, is not the essential
righteousness of God, but rather the Christ. who is made the righteousness
of God for God's people, according to 1 Corinthians 1. He hath made him to be unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It is the righteousness
charged to the account of those whom God has chosen to salvation,
and it is wrought by the person and work of His Son in that great,
phenomenal, substitutionary, justice-satisfying death that
He alone accomplished at Jerusalem. It is the righteousness declared
in our text. In the way of righteousness is
life, and in the pathway thereof there is no death. And immediately we see that righteousness
has to do with life and death. Life and death. There is no formula
set before us in this text by which a person may attain to
this righteousness through a series of religious steps or religious
doings. You can't pray it down and you
can't pray through it and get it. It's given. It's bestowed. It's imputed or
charged to your account. There's no such thing as a simple
plan of salvation, Paul, called the gospel of the unsearchable
riches of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there is no pressure brought
to bear upon a sinner to do something in the gospel. Find me in the
gospel where any pressure is brought to bear. Find me any. Find me any guilt that is laid
upon a sinner in the gospel. Guilt is laid upon Jesus Christ
in the gospel. Sin is laid upon Him in the gospel.
When we speak of righteousness, we are speaking of life and death,
and that's an inalterable fact. The Gospel, since it is the revelation
of the righteousness of God, is the declaration of life and
death. We just read it. Or I just quoted it in Romans
1, 16 and 17. And in 2 Corinthians 2. Savior of life or Savior of death?
You see, the propitiatory, that is, the God-satisfying, God-appeasing,
the propitiatory, substitutionary work of Jesus Christ, since it
is the declaration of the righteousness of God, is the declaration of
life and death. That's what it is. When we preach
the gospel, we're declaring life and death. And preaching that
gospel is not believing that gospel or not. Trusting the merits,
the righteousness of Christ or not, that's an automatic response
you're going to have. It's an automatic response you're
going to have. If you don't believe the gospel,
you know why you don't? Because you're dead. If you believe it, you know why
you do? Because you're alive. Life believes the gospel. Death
doesn't. Death doesn't. Our text then
cannot be reduced to a philosophical point of view, a way to live,
a lifestyle, a system, or a means
of obtaining righteousness wherein resides life. Our text is a statement
of fact. Here's the fact. In the way of
righteousness, is life. That's a statement of fact. Also, and in the pathway thereof,
there is no death. You'll notice that thereof, therefore
there is, is in italics. It was placed in there by the
translators to help us understand. I like it the other way, without
it. In the pathway, no death. In the pathway, no death. This speaks of a state of being.
Are you righteous? Or are you dead? Righteousness is the source of
life, not the result of life. Where there is righteousness,
there is life and no death. Where there is no righteousness,
there is nothing but death and no life. To put it another way,
if you are righteous, in the way of righteousness, in the
pathway of righteousness, you have life. You live. And if you're not in the way
of righteousness, in the pathway of righteousness, you are not
alive. You're dead. As that said, dead in trespasses
and sin. The life that is declared is
not and has nothing to do with the natural life, the life you're
born with, the life you come into this world with. The life
you received in conception and which was revealed in birth and
growth is not the life that is being spoken of in this text.
The life you possess at birth is void of anything spiritual.
It's void of anything spiritual. Your life is fleeting. Your life
is fleeting. Hannah told me she went down
to see Pawpaw Glenn and he said, how's that red-headed preacher?
That red-headed preacher ain't red-headed no more. Because life is fleeting. It's
faster than a weaver's shuttle, quicker than a post, and just
a vapor. And nothing I was born with will
ever bring me one iota closer to God. Nothing I was born with. My will, my emotions, my conscience,
my heart, my inward man will never, ever bring me closer to
God. One man said, How far did Adam
fall when he fell in the garden? Old Scott Richard said, He fell
so far he can't get back. That's how far it fell. Somebody's
got to come get him. Got to fetch him. Like David
did Mephibosheth. The life you possess at birth
is void of anything spiritual. If you are not now trusting Christ,
if you do not now believe the gospel, the life that you are
experiencing is like death on a walker. That's all you are.
Pretty bad. Death on a walker. You cannot
rise above your condition. You are incapable of grasping
anything about the life referred to in this text. You have neither
sensitivity nor understanding of that which is here written
and declared by God. As you are born in this world,
you are spiritually born dead before God, dead in trespasses
and sins. You come forth from the womb
speaking lies as soon as you are born. You are conceived in
iniquity. And you have no spark of spiritual life, which religion
likes to teach, which might be fanned by some religious purveyor
of hot air into a flame of liveliness. According to Ephesians 2, verse
1, The people whom God saves. The people whom God has chosen
from the foundation of the world and predestinated to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. The people whom He has
accepted in the Beloved. The people who have the forgiveness
of sin. The people who have been gathered in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The people who believed after they heard the Word of Truth.
The people who were sealed with the Holy Spirit. What were they
when God found them? They were dead in trespasses
and sins. D-E-A-D, twice dead and plucked
up by the root, as old Donny Bell said, graveyard dead, they
graveyard dead. The word is necros. Your natural
capabilities do not enter into the realm of spiritual life.
They simply don't. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the spirit. They are foolishness to them,
neither can he know them nor discern. Our Lord said that to
Nicodemus. Nicodemus said, I know something
about you, and our Lord said, you can't know nothing about me.
unless you're born from above. Dead men do nothing and know
nothing, and their only advancement in death is a march to perdition.
That's the only advancement they make. This text tells the story. And what a story it tells. The
fact that you are dead in sin is a glaring, undeniable proof
that you are not in the way of righteousness. Because in the
way of righteousness, there's life. There's life. And there is no death. Maybe
you're saying to yourself, well, I don't feel dead. Well, I reckon
you wouldn't. Dead people don't feel anything
anyway. What do you expect to feel if you're dead? You're spiritually
dead. What does that mean? It doesn't
mean that you can't think and act and you can't choose what
you want to do and will what you want to do in the realm in
which you live in this dark, dark realm of sin. Do anything you want to. But
you can't be spiritual. You've got to be born again for
that to happen. You've got to be born from above. You've got
to have a birth. And you know something about
birth. I know something about birth. I got a grandbaby this
week. A brand new baby, bouncing baby
boy. And you can't tell that I'm proud
as pudding, can you? Can't tell that. I know something
about birth. I know that Remy came into this world the other
day because my daughter's body rejected him. She had carried
him for nine months almost, and her body finally said, there's
enough of this. and produced hormones and such that thrust
him out into a cruel world. But I know this about Remy. He
didn't know he was alive all day. He don't know nothing yet. He knows to look around and maybe
his eyes see things clearly, maybe not. The brain's kind of
an empty thing that's going to be filled up with a whole lot
of stuff. I know this about Remy. He didn't consult with Chris
and Sarah to be born. He didn't exist. until Chris's
sperm and Sarah's ovum got together and created this new creature. He didn't ask to be born. What happened? Forces totally
outside of his being worked to bring him to natural life. We know that about natural birth.
And yet we think, stupidly, that dead men can actually will themselves
to be born from above. It's from above, not from down
here. It's from above. This is the story. You're dead in trespasses and
sin and dead before the law legally. And sadly, we are conditioned
from birth to equate righteousness with moral behavior. We are.
When we see the word righteousness, we think about philanthropy and
good deeds. But none of these are righteousness,
and they do not equate with spiritual life. Righteousness is not doing,
you see. Righteousness is being. It's
being. Goodness has to do with doing.
But carcasses are incapable of doing good. Jeremiah said, Can
an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard change
his spots? Then how can ye who are accustomed
to doing good do evil? Men are sinners. God said, There
is none that doeth good. No, not one. No, not one. Romans 3.12 Some would have you
believe that you may apply to the law for righteousness. But
the law only declares your dead condition and reads aloud the
sentence that you've incurred by your evil behavior. If you'll
look at the law, the law never says, Be. Does it? It says, Do. Or, Do
not. The reason is because when the
law was given, the sentence of death had already been handed
down. The law was added because of transgression. And not by
jury of your peers, but by the holy high bar of divine justice,
where God Almighty, the judge that shall do right, sits. And
there's no life in the law. And since there is no life, there
is evidently, according to this passage of Scripture, no righteousness
in the law. Cause in the way of righteousness
is life. The law has to do with sin and
death, not righteousness and life. Everywhere it is. That's
why Paul could thank God in Romans 6 and say this, We're not under
the law. We're under grace. Sin shall not have dominion over
you. Why? Because you're not under
the law. You're under the grace of Almighty
God. It stands to reason then, and
better yet, it is a clear declaration of Scripture that our works have
nothing to do with obtaining righteousness or spiritual life.
Nothing whatsoever. Paul said it all the way through
Romans and Galatians. He said of Abraham, what did
Abraham gain by the flesh? If he did, God would owe him
something. He would be a debtor. God would be a debtor to him.
But he didn't obtain anything by the flesh. He believed God
and it was accounted to him for righteousness. It was accounted
to him for righteousness. Galatians chapter 2 says, By
the works of our flesh shall no flesh be justified before
God. None whatsoever. What is righteousness? Everybody knows this about righteousness. Everybody knows you got to be
righteous to stand before God accepted. Everybody knows that,
even those who don't know what it means know that. The Beatles
knew that. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, all good children go to heaven. They knew that. Why did they
say that? Because they know that. There
was a song I heard when I was a boy, and it's called Teen Angel.
Remember that song? A girl got killed on a terrible
Twisty road and he said I got to be good if I must see my teen
angel again If I'm going to heaven, I got to be good every you know
that But this is the issue Which? Righteousness That's the issue you're right
if you believe you got to be righteous stand for God But whose
righteousness Oh John Jasper preacher of the 6th Zion Baptist Church in Richmond,
Virginia. Former slave. Used to preach
at funerals, but they would only let him preach at black funerals.
But he preached so well that they started having 10,000, 12,000
people show up to hear John Jasper preach at a black funeral. One
day a man says, what rights you got to go to heaven? John Jasper
said, I'm not going on my rights. I'm going on the righteousness
of another. Whose righteousness? Whose righteousness? What is this life? How does it
come to someone? How does someone come to possess
it? The text is the answer. In the way of righteousness is
life. And in the pathway thereof, there
is no death. It is called the way of righteousness. That's life. The way of righteousness. It takes no employment of the
imagination or invention of some formula to learn this. It is
not a process and it does not grow. It does not change. There's no room for progress
in it. Either you're righteous or you're not. And if you are
righteous, there's only one person to blame for it. And that's God
in Jesus Christ. The Word says it all. You must
be in the way of righteousness. Well, how do you get in there?
Do you pray real hard, and read your Bible a whole lot, and swear
not to drink and chew, and mess around with folks who do, and
stay away from the internet, and stay away from movie shows?
Well, you know, it's amazing that Abraham was righteous. He
didn't have no cigarettes not to smoke. How could he be righteous? He didn't have no movies not
to go to. He didn't have no alcohol not
to drink. How could he ever be righteous? Yet, God said he is
righteous. God said he is righteous. How do you get in there? But of God are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Hold your place there probably.
Turn over to Ephesians just for a second. Ephesians chapter 1. I just want you to look at it.
You can sometimes take your highlighter. I did in my old Bible. I haven't
done it in my new one. Take your pencil and underline
these words. Verse 1 says, and to the faithful,
the last phrase, in Christ Jesus. Verse 3, last phrase. in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, in verse 6, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. Verse 7, in whom? That is, in Christ. Verse 8,
wherein? he hath abounded toward us, and
made known unto us the mystery of his will. Verse 9, the last
phrase, which he had purposed in himself, that in the dispensation
of the times he had gathered together in one all things in
Christ, in whom, verse 11, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according to the purpose of him that worketh
all things after the presence of his own will. Verse 13, in
whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the
good news that God had already saved you. The good news, the
gospel of your salvation. The way of righteousness is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Jeremiah 23.6 says, The name
by which he shall be called is the Lord, our righteousness. Jeremiah 33.19 says, The name
which she shall be called is the Lord, our righteousness. Christ is our righteousness.
And that's the declaration, that's the name of the church. The Lord
Our Righteousness. You mean we got the same name?
Yeah, well, we got married. Didn't we? Isn't He our husband?
Isn't He our beloved bridegroom? Of course we'd take His name.
His name is the Lord Our Righteousness. That's our name too. That's our
name too. The way, the truth, and the life,
according to John 14.6. The way, that word way, means
road. It means the means of traveling
the road. It means the journey itself.
And it means the distance. The way of righteousness is being
made righteousness by imputation and that born of substitution. God has made Him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the very righteousness
of God in Him. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. The many, it says. And by one
man's obedience, the many were made righteous. Romans 5.19. The way to receive the knowledge
and understanding of it is to believe it. To believe it. This is at once
the easiest and the most difficult of all things. Faith is impossible
to produce. It is given or bestowed by God
according to His good pleasure. That's what Scripture said. By
grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It
is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Yet
to those who have been recipients of faith, belief is not a struggle.
I don't have no trouble believing. I have difficulty with my unbelief,
which seems overwhelming almost every day of my life. Do you desire this? Do you desire this righteousness?
Do you desire this life? Let me tell you, if you do, you
have it. Because you wouldn't want it
unless you did. Dead men don't want it. They
can't want it. Only live men can. The way of
righteousness is life. Paul said, Oh, I just want to
be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of
the law, but the righteousness which is of the faith of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I want. Only those who believe desire
Christ. Only those who believe seek the
Lord. Did you know that? Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, it says
in Romans 10. And then it says, how shall you call on Him in
whom you have not believed? And how shall you believe on
Him in whom you have not heard? And how shall you hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sinned? You're
not going to call on the Lord until you believe on the Lord.
You're not going to believe on the Lord until you hear of the
Lord. And you're not going to hear
of the Lord unless God raises up some man to preach to you
and sin to you. In the way of righteousness is
life. In the pathway thereof there is no death. Where righteousness
is, there is no death. Why? Because the reason for death
doesn't exist. What is the reason for death? Why do men die? Why did Adam
die in the Garden of Eden? What is the reason for death? It's the penalty of sin. One man. Sin entered the world,
it says in Romans 5.12, and death by sin. And it encompassed even
those who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgressions.
Death is the just and right penalty for sin. The wages of sin is
death. That's where death comes from.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The sin that subsists is
eternal condemnation. This is the condemnation that
Christ is coming to the world and men don't believe on Him.
That's what He said to Nicodemus. The light is coming to the world
and men prefer darkness rather than light, as Nicodemus did,
because he didn't come in the daytime. Where there is righteousness,
there is life. There is no condemnation. No
sentence of death. No death. No death. If you're
righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ, You can just put that word out
of your dictionary if you want to. No death. No death. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. None whatsoever. In Christ, the
law has no claim on you. Did you know that? No claim on you. The law is satisfied. Justice demands that you be declared
righteous because there is no ground upon which it can accuse
you or charge you. I'm not afraid of the law. In
fact, I have nothing to do with the law. I'm dead to the law
by the law according to what Paul said in Galatians chapter
2. I'm not afraid of the law. Why? Because it has nothing against
me. Because of what the Lord Jesus
Christ did on Calvary Street, I am righteous before God and
before His law. Therefore, Paul could say, who
can lay any charge to God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather He's risen again. It is even at the right hand
of the Father making intercession. If you're in Christ this morning,
you're righteous. I mean, you're righteous before God. And that's
what counts. You say, well, I don't feel that
way. Stop worrying about your feelings. Quit that. They're
not going to do you any good. You'll be morose. That's all
you'll be. You ought to be joyful. If you're
in Jesus Christ right now, right now, the holy searchlight of
God's law can scan you from the top of your head to the soles
of your feet and cannot find one blemish, one spot, one wrinkle,
one sin, or any such thing. Why? Because that law has been
satisfied by a substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are in Christ, you are
righteous, you have life, and death will not come to you. No death. You say, well, I'm
not going to die someday. No, you're going to sleep. If you're a child of God, you're
going to lay down and wake up somewhere else. Everybody else
says, well, he's dead. No, he ain't. The funeral parlor
guy will try to make you look alive, but you won't be alive.
The old body is dead. But you ain't dead. You're righteous and you have
life. Why? Well, here's the declaration. In the way of righteousness is
life. And in the pathway thereof, there
is no death. And that will float your boat
if you believe it. That'll float your boat. Father, bless us through
our understanding. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.

Death or Life

What does the Bible say about righteousness and life?

How do we know the gospel is true?

Why is the concept of imputed righteousness important for Christians?

How does God's grace relate to salvation?

What does being spiritually dead mean?

Why is the sovereignty of God important for salvation?

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