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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Five Kinds of Righteousness, continued
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. (Revelation 3:15,16—NIV)
The message of forgiveness and imputed righteousness is still to be preached to the unsaved. But to the disciples the emphasis is now on actual righteousness.
No more can we live a casual Christian life ignoring the sins evident in our personality. No more can we say: "God is seeing me through the blood. Although I am sinning constantly God sees me in Christ as totally righteous."
In the first place the Scripture does not say that God sees us through the blood of Christ. This may be our tradition but it is not in the Word. The blood forgives us as we walk in the light of God's will, but the blood is not a screen that shields the believer so God cannot see what he is doing. Christ sees our works, as He informed the seven churches of Asia.
Today is not an hour for Christians to rest in the unscriptural belief that God is not aware of their behavior. Rather it is time to return to God with all the strength we can gather and ask Him to help us drive the enemy from our personality.
God will teach our hands to war if we will allow Him to do so.
There is a picture in the Old Testament of the change from ascribed righteousness to the actual casting out of wickedness that characterizes the entrance of the Kingdom of God.
The picture is found in the tenth chapter of the Book of Joshua.
When Joshua was fighting against the Amorites he imprisoned five of their kings in the cave at Makkedah.
Now the five kings had fled and hidden in the cave at Makkedah. When Joshua was told that the five kings had been found hiding in the cave at Makkedah, He said, "Roll large rocks up to the mouth of the cave, and post some men there to guard it. But don't stop! Pursue your enemies, attack them from the rear and don't let them reach their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand." (Joshua 10:16-19—NIV)
Then when Joshua had gained complete victory over the Amorites he returned to the cave at Makkedah.
Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave and bring those five kings out to me." (Joshua 10:22—NIV)
Joshua brought the five kings out, killed them, hung them on five trees, and then threw them back into the cave.
What a picture this is of the way we are delivered from sin!
When we receive Christ the kings of wickedness hide themselves in us. We do not even realize they are there, but Christ does.
Christ puts them under guard in us while He goes to war against the lesser evils in our life with which He is concerned.
When Christ is assured these external problems have been taken care of satisfactorily He returns to our personality and calls forth the kings of wickedness that are in us. He puts them to death and hangs them on His cross. They no longer can compel us to behave in a manner displeasing to God.
To be continued.