Are You Right With God?

"Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength..." Isaiah 45:24 (KJV)*

Are you right with God? This is an important question that every human being must answer within himself. What does it mean to be right with God? We all want to be right with God, but we question what that entails. Many think it has to do with how much time they spend in prayer or if they attend services regularly. Well, surely you must be tithing to be right with God. Or maybe it is a matter of making sure you keep the Ten Commandments faithfully. No, others say it depends on how you wear your hair and what clothes you put on, the makeup and jewelry you wear or don't wear. These outward performances, among others, are the things that man looks for to determine whether are not they are right with God. Basically, measuring their relationship to the Father or their righteousness before Him by their level of performance in what they determine to be good acts. Unfortunately, this only produces a self-righteousness, whereby we begin to believe we are righteous because we are doing certain things. We feel we have earned a certain level of acceptance with God because we are good people who do good things and avoid evil things and evil people. Whenever you feel you are acceptable before God because of something you have done, you are operating in self-righteousness and feeding your flesh. It makes you feel deserving (that is the flesh). Being right or righteous before God, doesn't have anything to do with what you do or don't do. It has everything to do with what Jesus has done for you. That is what makes you acceptable. You are accepted in the Beloved (Jesus is the Beloved of the Father). We see that righteousness is a gift of God, "For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offense of one judgement came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Roman 5:17-19) So you see there is nothing you can do to make yourself righteous. You are right with God because of your acceptance of the gift of the shed blood of Jesus that makes you righteous. Believe the Word of God when it tells you, "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:22-24)