Righteousness by FAITH

AUDIO version of this message.

It says in Romans 1:16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

When Paul says, “the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith” he means that the righteousness of Christ is revealed from faith unto more faith. Notice the word “to” in the statement of Paul when he says “faith TO faith” here. It is from the Greek word “eis” which in context means “abundance” in a way that defines growth.

In short, one can say that as we walk in Christ, our loving Father in Heaven reveals unto us “faith unto more faith.” Or we can say that He reveals unto us “faith unto abundant faith” each and every day we continue faithful unto Him while treading the path set before us by Him.

“The righteousness of Christ is revealed from faith to faith; that is, from your present faith to an increased understanding of that faith which works by love and purifies the soul.” (RH Sept. 18, 1908)

“The Spirit of God works in the believers soul, enabling him to advance from one line of obedience to another, reaching on from strength to greater strength, from grace to grace in Jesus Christ.” {RH, November 1, 1892 par. 3}

We as Christians realize that this strength is from the Lord. Sister White is actually redefining the word “faith” here with the word “strength” for a reason.

When we share our faith, the Lord grants us more faith which in turn strengthens us to do even more for Him. In fact, it says in Hebrews 5:13-14, “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

“Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven. {RH, June 4, 1895 par. 7}

• “imputed” = attributed or assigned (titled gift)
• “imparted” = communicated or taught to us (learned fitness)

When I saw how she used the words “title to Heaven” it reminded me of what she said regarding her first vision when she, and everyone with her in that vision were about to enter into the city of Heaven. She said in Spiritual Gifts vol 2 that “Jesus raised his mighty, glorious arm, laid hold of the pearly gate and swung it back on its glittering hinges, and said to us, You have washed your robes in my blood, stood stiffly for my truth, enter in. We all marched in, and felt we had a perfect right in the city. Here we saw the tree of life and the throne of God. Out of the throne came a pure river of water, and on either side of the river was the tree of life. On one side of the river was a trunk of a tree, and a trunk on the other side of the river, both like pure, transparent gold.” {2SG 32.1}

If we remain faithful to Christ our Lord we will gain the “title to Heaven.” Just as we all feel at ease when we finally come home after being on a trip, once home we feel at perfect peace because it is our home! Soon, Heaven, the city of the King of kings and Lord of lords, will be our home!

Getting back to how this gift of righteousness works in us, when we declare Jesus as Lord, we are “right” or “righteous” as His Word says. And since mankind can make nothing justified on his own; this means that justification is then assigned unto us as a gift. Then, as we continue to grow in Christ showing the Father we are serious and continue to be obedient in doing so, He knows He can trust us. Therefore, as we continue in passing the tests He presents before us in the form of trials day by day, He watches us as we grow in the faith. As we pass these tests (trials) we then become “sanctified” by Him. And to be sanctified simply means we are “set apart for holy use.”

Our loving Father blesses our faithful obedience wherein we grow stronger and stronger. Once He finds He can trust us, He then sets us apart for holy use so as to share His truth, and yes; as we share that truth to those He sends our way, even then we are passing the test He put upon all Christians to do as He commanded as He was ascending home that day 2000 years ago.

The last thing Jesus said to the apostles that day is found in Matthew 28:19-20. He said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”n, we grow and “learn” of Christ as He continues to “impart” more and more of His truth to us. That is why it’s so important to study His Word daily so as to continue to grow strong enough to be used today as well as during the swelling of the loud cry.

(Also see Romans 3:21-22, Hebrews 11:32-33, Ephesians 5:9 and Galatians 3:2.)

The basic reality on this is that our justification essentially leads to our sanctification. As we take each step closer to Christ, we bear witness to the righteousness of our God by faith in His Son. In so doing, the Father gives us all we need to do as prophecy says His Son’s bride will do.

To further confirm how justification and righteousness can be imputed as a gift, notice this…

“He called Abraham out doors to show him the stars but He can show us sins without calling us out doors. Has He shown you a great many sins? Has He? (Congregation: Yes). Now He says, If thou be able to number them, they shall be as white as snow. What do you say? (Congregation: Amen) Then what does the Lord say? (Congregation: You are righteous) Are you? (Voice: Yes) Do people become righteous as easy as that? Is it as simple a transaction as that? (Congregation: Yes). Amen.” A.T. Jones, General Conference Daily Bulletin, 1893, page 378.

“The difficulty is, when the people get their minds on works, and works, and works, instead of upon Jesus Christ in order to work, they pervert the whole thing.” A.T. Jones, General Conference Daily Bulletin, 1893, page 298.

“Who then is to do the work in order that it may be good works indeed? Let us read again: [from Steps to Christ, page 75] “If Christ is dwelling in our hearts, He will work in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” We shall work as He works; we shall manifest the same spirit. And thus, loving Him and abiding in Him, we shall “grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.” Now then, that is what the Lord wants, that is what the mind of Christ is.” A.T. Jones, General Conference Daily Bulletin, 1893, page 298.

“Christ imputes to us His sinless character, and presents us to the Father in His own purity. There are many who think that it is impossible to escape from the power of sin, but the promise is that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. We aim too low. The mark is much higher.”-Review and Herald, July 12, 1892.

“Jesus is our great High Priest in heaven. And what is He doing? He is making intercession and atonement for His people who believe in Him. Through His imputed righteousness, they are accepted of God as those who are manifesting to the world that they acknowledge allegiance to God, keeping all His commandments.” -Review and Herald, Aug. 22,1893.

Is this not what Revelation 14:12 says the remnant bride will do now as well as during the time wherein the loud cry is VERY loud and the final warning is given? Better yet, is not Revelation 14:12 the basic outline and reason as to why certain Christians NEVER GET THE MARK OF THE BEAST?!

“In the religion of Christ there is a regenerating influence that transforms the entire being, lifting man above every debasing, groveling vice, and raising the thoughts and desires toward God and heaven. Linked to the Infinite One, man is made partaker of the divine nature. Upon him the shafts of evil have no effect; for he is clothed with the panoply of Christ’s righteousness.”-Counsels to Teachers, pp. 51, 52.

Again; “we aim too low” when we pray.

This is something I saw even as a boy when that family was told by their doctor that all they could do was pray. Looking back I can now see decades later that their weeping proved they were taught to “aim too low” when seeking God.

Sad truth is; how often are we tempted to doubt deep within us when praying for someone in need of a spiritual or physical healing? Or when we pray unto God privately for help in our own daily lives?

Seriously! Do we not realize that Jesus is our example? He walked in our flesh for a reason! This is why Rome twisted that fact by claiming Jesus had a different flesh than we have. Their lies have made the faith of billions “aim too low.”

And so when we pray, and if all sin has been confessed and repented of, when we ask the Father for anything at all, we simply need to realize the gift of righteousness by faith is absolute in that even as a babe in Christ, when we pray, He looks down on us His beloved children that He sees emulating His only begotten Son by faith. That being the biblically defined reality, we can then know that mountains will most assuredly move just as Jesus promised in Matthew 21:21 when He said, “Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.”

This is where we all lack!

We need to TRUST the very God that fed Israel in the desert daily for 40 years! We need to trust the very God that raised Lazarus from the dead and we need to trust the very God that we know deep within has saved us from damnation the day we accepted His Son as Saviour and King.

That being said, I have to ask, why is it so easy to understand that salvation is a GIFT; while at the same time struggle to understand righteousness by faith is also a gift? When our Father looks at us, He sees His beloved Son who is our Lord, Saviour, King, Creator AND EXAMPLE! And so all I can say now is that we need to pray accordingly!

Before moving on, I have to allow inspiration to have a final say from the pen of Sister White wherein she said “If you would stand through the time of trouble, you must know Christ, and appropriate the gift of His righteousness, which He imputes to the repentant sinner.”–The Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 1892.

Now yes, this truth cannot be shared in the way I just shared it with the common man on the street simply because they are unaware of the 9th hour pioneers and their long prophesied duty as the forefathers that turned their hearts towards us, which then caused us to turn our hearts towards them as prophesied in both Luke 1:17 & Malachi 4:6. The studies they did in the Bible have blessed their children (us) in the faith greatly.

And so as I prayed and asked the Lord how I can ever be able to write a tract explaining such a gift as righteousness by faith for those outside the SDR movement? The following came to mind…

The basic reality is:
Righteousness by faith is not, righteousness by works.

All too often the people of God assume there is something they must do to attain righteousness by faith so as to have their prayers heard or even answered for that matter. Strangely enough, even those that understand salvation is a gift, they also seem to think they must do something to gain righteousness, which is also a gift.

Mankind can do nothing to save himself any more than he can do anything to become righteous in the eyes of our God. A gift is a gift; and we need to come to realize that as biblical fact.

When I was in the mid-day prayer the other day, it dawned on me that the very moment we accept Christ as Saviour, the Father looks upon us as righteous. Yes! Even as a babe in Christ, He sees us that way! And yes, as we all do, when we sin after that day, we are in danger of losing that gift. Hence the reason 1John 1:9 was penned.

The beauty of His grace is that the moment we realize we have sinned, for as we all know Satan is rather sneaky in how he tempts us when we are off guard; the faithful fact here is that once we snap out of it to confess and repent of the sin that the dying god of this world tempted us with, we are then perfectly cleansed from all unrighteousness at that very moment. THAT is the clearest and most obvious way to explain this amazing gift of righteousness by faith as I can see so far.

It is so sad that so many Christians miss this gift to the point they assume they need to do good works to gain Heaven, or get a prayer heard.

Biblical fact is, that is one of Satan’s favored ways of luring us away from the gift so as to replace it with our own self assumed gifts which are actually nothing more than flesh based idols. Reason being is, “good works” is nothing more than mankind seeking to build a stairway to Heaven so as to gain approval from God.

As every faithful student of the Bible knows, that is actually how Catholicism, and now all her apostate daughters are taught to do. They all teach that it is by your works you are saved.

This false doctrine has caused billions to believe that which Christ did on Calvary is no longer the means by which we gain salvation. We can do it all on our own according to their man-made theology.

Like the Pagan of old bowing before Chemosh or Dagon in prayer offering a sacrifice of worldly things; so is every person that bows before the literal statues as well as the dogmatic idols and creeds of Rome.

The hellish philosophy of self is what declares we must do this or that to please our God, when the Bible clearly says all we need to do is accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, wherein so doing, He sends the Comforter to guide us from there. And yes, this is another reason the Holy Spirit is being slandered out of existence by some.

The other day as I was on the elliptical exercising before doing my morning studies so as to be better focused in study; I was listening to 1 Samuel chapters 14-17 in e-sword wherein something that was said in chapter 15 by the prophet Samuel made me immediately get off the elliptical for a moment to jot down the verse which was, 1Samuel 15:22. This was something Samuel said to Saul after Saul failed his second and final test of obedience unto God as king.

As we recall, Saul disobeyed the Lord the first time by his impatience. Samuel was to arrive to perform the sacrifice within 7 days as we see recorded in 1Samuel 13:9-14. But it was now day 7 and Samuel hadn’t arrived yet and so Saul took it upon himself to perform the sacrifice on his own. Directly after doing that foolish act, Samuel arrived. Saul was being tested on patience and he failed.

Later in chapter 15 the Lord tests Saul again by giving him specific instructions on what to do to the Amalekites, their king, their people, their goods and their livestock. Not only did Saul ignore God’s will regarding king Agag by sparing his life that day, he also allowed the soldiers under his command to spare the lives of the sheep and oxen that were the best of the herd so as to use them in their own sacrifices unto the Lord later on. Therefore it says in 1Samuel 15:22 that “Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

THAT’S THE KEY!

Paul stated in Ephesians 2:4-10, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

And just so you know, this is where Satan again used Rome to confuse the people. When it says, “unto good works” it’s talking about the good works we do AFTER we meet Christ.

Case in point; how many of us have declared to those that question our faith on why we keep Sabbath by the following statement? We always say that we don’t keep God’s law to GET saved, we keep it because we ARE saved. And when then show them Hebrews 10:16 and 2Corinthians 3:3 to lock it all down for them. Well, the same truth applies here. We don’t do good works to GET saved, we do good works because we ARE saved!

The church body is “ordained” to personally meet Christ who seeks to have His faithful bride. The group of people that make up His loving bride can and will change for the better daily and get stronger in the faith as they continue to walk on the path. But only, and I cannot stress this any further, we can only remain faithful and grow in faith as we continue daily in His Word and daily on our knees.

And when Paul said in verse 10 that “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Saying “before ordained” simply means anyone that comes to faithfully know Christ will be moved by the Comforter to do the works He called all of mankind to do from day one. It’s just that simple!

And so again.. We all aim too low! Righteousness by faith is NOT righteousness by works! Christ our righteousness is the fruit we display after the Comforter enters our hearts to help us keep God’s law. And so when you pray; know that your Father hears you, and know that when He looks upon you with perfect love, He does so because He sees the faith and trust of His perfect Son in you. And that makes our Father smile!