'...practicing righteousness...'
What does 'practicing righteousness' means?
How do I stop sinning?
1John 3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. 10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the Devil: everyone not practicing righteousness is not of God, also he who does not love his brother. (MKJV)
The apostle John tells us that those who 'practise righteousness' CAN NOT commit sin and ARE of God!
I have always wondered what this means and HOW we can STOP sinning and even come to a place where I CAN NOT sin!
As I read the words: "...practicing righteousness..." I suddenly received the answer and new conviction after years of wondering what this could mean and HOW it could be possible to NOT SIN!
How do you practice righteousness?
In the same breath we find the apostle Paul saying: we need to "...train in righteousness..."
2Tim 3:16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), 17 so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
How do you train in righteousness?
One more proof of to one of the greatest mysteries that was revealed in the gospel that Jesus came to make available to all who would truly believe!
What is the doctrine of righteousness?
Heb 5:12 For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God's Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]! 14 But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.
From the writer of Hebrew it is clear that the doctrine of righteousness are not for the spiritually immature, but is solid food for those who have true discernment!
To sum up what we have learnt so far:
"...practicing righteousness..." = "...training in righteousness..." = "the doctrine of righteousness..."
So from these words of the apostles we gather that the answer to living a SINLESS life, UNABLE to sin we must know what the "doctrine of righteousness" means?
Rom 6:17 But thank God, though you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient with all your heart to the standard of teaching in which you were instructed [trained] and to which you were committed. 18 And having been set free from sin, you have become the servants of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in thought, purpose, and action).
There was a certain "...standard of teaching..." which the apostle Paul has committed to the church in Rome that FREED them FROM sin!
They became SLAVES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!
I believe this mystery must be explained twofold in order to TRULY understand the "...standard of teaching..." the apostle Paul had committed to the believers in Rome:
They need to understand WHAT has be done and live according to WHAT has been FREELY given!
BUT
They needed to ALSO understand WHY Jesus had done WHAT He had done, to such a degree, that it caused God's love, grace and goodness to lead them to become sanctified as they marvel at the LOVE of God!
This causes an UPWARD SPIRAL into the GLORY of God's LOVE and POWER!
Therefore Paul said: Rom 6:19 …For as you yielded your bodily members [and faculties] as servants to impurity and ever increasing lawlessness, so now yield your bodily members [and faculties] once for all as servants to righteousness (right being and doing) [which leads] to sanctification.
Rom 6:22 But now since you have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God, you have your present reward in holiness and its end is eternal life!
Thus, being slaves of righteousness, leads to a reverse kind of SANCTIFICATION, which in its turn, leads to HOLINESS and this leads to ETERNAL LIFE!
WOW!!! What a gospel! God's GOODNESS leads us to an eternal upward spiral in Christ going from GLORY to GLORY to EVER INCREASING GLORY!
2Cor 3:18 And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
Now this doctrine of righteousness becomes VERY POWERFUL in its purpose:
There is a WRONG way and a CORRECT way of be transfigured into the image of Christ and so that of God!
The WRONG WAY is human effort and self-achieved righteousness!
The CORRECT WAY is the God effort way, through Christ's righteousness, by faith as SLAVES of righteousness!
ONLY through the “…practising of righteousness…” can we truly be transformed effortless into the image of the Son of God - returning to the TRUE IMAGE of God in which we were created to be SONS of God!
Help restoring the truth to Jesus’ church (Act 3:21-23)
http://hvwitness.wix.com/cojc/blog
email: info.cojc@gmail.com
“Restoration to the original is always the best. Radical return to the way the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated and gave it to His disciples.”
