In my study of Isaiah, I continue to come across beautiful scriptures, which reinforce the importance of understanding our foundation in Christ. I read a verse, which contained the promise of quiet and assurance, which I believe we all can agree is something everyone desperately needs. But what if I told you, as a believer in Jesus, you already have it. Dear friends, quiet and assurance is the effect of righteousness that is received when we place our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us of the work and effect of righteousness in Isaiah 32v7, “The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance forever.”
God's plan of redemption holds so much for us so let's begin at the beginning with a brief recap. Adam sinned, therefore all of humanity is born in sin (Genesis 3v17-19). But God had a plan of Salvation before time began (Romans 5v17). The Gospel was preached to Abraham (Galatians 3v8) and by faith Abraham received the promise (Hebrews 11v17) becoming the father of faith (Romans 4v16). There have been various covenants given between man and God. But during the time of Moses God gave the covenant of Law, known as the Ten Commandments.
Beloved, man is incapable of keeping God's Law, and in truth, the Law was never given for us to keep. The Apostle Paul explains the reason God gave the Law in the Book of Galatians. “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Galatians 3v24. It is in our utter inability to keep the Law that brings us to the end of ourselves whereby we are willing and able to receive God's wonderful gift of grace. Jesus fulfilled the Law and established a new covenant in His blood. When we place our faith in Jesus, we are justified by faith in Christ alone (Romans 5v1).
Let's delve deeper because our foundation needs to be solid so we walk in all God graciously provides. Jesus has always been the Son of God. Jesus knew no sin, in Him was no sin, and He did no sin. When Jesus died, He died not only for us but as us, beloved. And Christ rose from the dead not for Himself, but for us. Please allow this to sink in, He rose for us. Paul penned it this way in Romans 4v25,
“who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”
Jesus was raised from the dead to declare us righteous in Him. The blood of Jesus cleansed us from our sins. Jesus' resurrection justified us righteously in Him. God is righteous in making us righteous and the work of righteousness has an effect on our lives, Isaiah says quietness, and assurance, which his is good news, my friends.
What a tremendous testimony of the greatness of our God and Father, especially in times of immense hardship or uncertainty for His children to walk with unshakable peace, because we are so loved. This is something which distinguishes the church from the world.
The prophet Isaiah, speaks of another blessing we have when we are established in righteousness. People often quote the beautiful truth in Isaiah 54v17, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.” But do we ever meditate on the context by which this verse is written and furthermore the end of the verse? When individuals ask why things happen, we know God has given us insight; He never said the weapon would not be formed, He said it wouldn't prosper, but why?
May I submit, the servants of the LORD walk in their inheritance established in the righteousness that is from Him. But how do we know that it is righteousness He is referring to? Let's go back and read Isaiah 54v13-15. “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you.” Isaiah 54v13-14. {emphasis is mine}
We walk as new creations in Christ Jesus, with His sacrifice afresh, meaning we are conscious that we are forgiven. Jesus' finished work gives us peace with God and confidence in His love. He gives us boldness to hope against that which we see in ourselves as well as in others. He is our steadfast anchor to weather the storms of life. And has given us Holy Spirit power to overcome, Hallelujah.
I want to touch for a moment on the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus spoke in John 16v8 of the Holy Spirit “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” John 16v8. He does not condemn us, friends (Romans 8v1). Condemnation comes from the enemy of our souls. The Holy Spirit convicts us and not just us but the world. It is often not taught but look at this verse through the lens of the cross. For the believer, sin was judged in the body of Jesus on the cross, and judgment has passed (I John 4v8, John 5v24). For the believer specifically, what then is left for the Spirit to convict us of? The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as believers in Jesus, is to convict of righteousness. My prayer is for eyes and hearts to be open to revelation by the Spirit. Let's allow the Bible to interpret the Bible.
The writer of Hebrews says this, “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:15-17
The end of Hebrews is often not talked about but is so important, re-read v17, “then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” The Holy Spirit points to Christ, not to our sin. I know, I know, then what is that ping that I feel when I do something wrong? I would like to suggest that we are sensitive to sin as believers because we are dead to it. I know that seems weird but follow me here, because of Jesus we are no longer comfortable in sin because the Holy Spirit resides in us. Therefore, we are acutely aware when we do something that doesn't jive because we are no longer dead but alive; which makes sin repulsive. Sin no longer fits us, it's like losing 100lbs but still wearing our fat clothes. It's uncomfortable as it should be.
Think about a time when you have sinned since placing your faith in Jesus, what did the Holy Spirit say to you? Did you hear you were bad or did the unthinkable as a Christan or did you hear Him remind you of God's love and forgiveness?
May I ask what did you do when you felt His prompting? Did you become frustrated and angry or did you come to God with it (if not immediately, eventually)?
I'm interested in your response because I think for awhile as Christians we considered conviction is identifying sin and to a certain extent it is seeing sin for what it is, destructive. However, conviction of our righteousness in Him paves the way for us to come to God because we know He loves us and is faithful and just to forgive us. And what I mean, is you may hear an internal whisper "I am loved; I am the righteousness of God in Christ; I am redeemed, restored, accepted in the beloved; I am forgiven" and this conviction is what changes our course of direction.
Friend, I want you to see how efficacious the blood of Jesus has cleansed us and to enjoy Him. I desire you to experience the freedom of moving forward and not being trapped in a cycle of condemnation and sin. Knowing what Jesus has done changes how we walk and allows us to appropriate all He died to give us.
The Holy Spirit reminds us of the love of God towards us. He reminds us of the name Jesus revealed to us, God is our Father. He reminds us, especially when we blow it, of the finished work of Jesus and of our righteousness in Christ. He gives us the power to resist sin and to look away from self and this world by fixing our eyes on Christ and eternity. He guides us. We know longer wander responding to the flesh but walk in newness and the power of the Spirit. He gives us the word of God we need in every given moment. He reminds us that although we do not walk perfectly outwardly (Philippians 1v6), Christ has done a complete work in us and helping us to work out our salvation (Philippians 2v12-13). Beloved, Abba has completely covered us as it is stated in Ephesians, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Our part is to believe Him and allow Him to transform us and each moment of our day through His truth.
Finally, I want to share the power of our confession. What I mean is the confession of our righteousness in Christ, which brings transformation. I am not making light on sin or saying we do not confess sin. However, we confess our sin because we are forgiven not to be forgiven. We confess our sin because we have peace with God not to get peace with God. We draw near with full assurance of faith because of the blood of Jesus and we are declared righteous in Him.
Our identity in Christ is critical as well as speaking life by confessing the truth of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf. The word of God says that we are transformed by beholding Jesus. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” II Corinthians 3v18.
We also have a responsibility as believers to carefully choose the words we say about ourselves, others, and situations. I want to leave you with a simple, practical, yet powerful way to use our authority in Christ: let's simply agree with God by confessing what He says about ourselves and our situations.
“And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,” II Corinthians 4v13.
We can begin together by praising Him for His work of righteousness and agreeing "I am the righteousness of God in Christ!"
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5v21.
