Repentance unto Righteousness on GDOP

In Matthew 5:48, Jesus commands us to “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

The word “perfect” in this context, according to Strong’s concordance, means to be “complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.).”

The BBE (Bible In Basic English) version of the Bible translates Matthew 5:48 as:
“Be then complete in righteousness, even as your Father in heaven is complete.”

In Mat 6:33, Jesus also commands us:

“But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. “

I am beginning to understand that God means business with us when it comes to being perfected in righteousness. Our state of righteousness at any time in our life fall far short of the standard of righteousness God demands of us. So, at any time of our life, there is great room for improvement. In other words, at all times of our life we have to make the seeking of righteousness to be our preoccupation.

The more we see God’s holiness, the more we become aware of how short we fall. It is this awareness that drives us to seek after righteousness. As John tells us in his first epistle:

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 1:2-3).

So, we are to actively seek to be righteous. Yet, the Bible also tells us that righteousness is a gift.

“For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:17).

How can it be a gift, and yet it seems like hard work. In fact, we are asked to “work out“our salvation?

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose“ (Philippians 2:12-13).

So how can righteousness be both a gift and the result of hard work?

The secret is in the words “work out.” The gift of righteousness is ours. Righteousness lives in us because Christ lives in us. We have to work out our salvation by living out this righteousness.
The secret is in coming into agreement with the Word of God by the enablement of the Holy Spirit.

The Word of God tells us that “…because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph 2:4-9).

God accepted us as holy and perfect in His sight because the price has been paid by Jesus who became the atonement for our redemption. So, at any time we die, in Christ, we are perfect enough to come before God in Heaven. Through the blood of Jesus, we have received the gift of righteousness.

However, we know even though God has imputed righteousness to us because of the sacrifice of the cross, we are far from perfect. We still think and say and do things that are contrary to God’s Word.

So how do we work out our salvation?

“Work out our salvation….”
So we have this salvation, and now we have to work it out.
How?
Only with the help of the Holy Spirit:

“When He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…(John 16:8).

We badly need the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins so that we can be truly sorry. Without Holy Spirit’s conviction, there can be no true repentance that leads to transformation that propels us onto the perfection that is required of us.

We need Holy Spirit conviction.

On 31 May 2009, the whole Christian world is praying all over the world for this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When he comes, He will convict. Only then can true repentance follow.

Join the Global Day of Prayer.

http://www.globaldayofprayer.com/
http://blog.dumc.com.my/events/2009/04/24/global-day-of-prayer-malaysia-2009

Or just google Global Day of Prayer to see what is being done around the world.