AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Awake to Righteousness!
By Joe McIntyre
To be effective in ministry, we must have confidence in our standing with the Father. If we know the Father backs us in what we do for Him, we move in assurance that we will succeed in our Kingdom endeavors.

Many believers, and many in ministry, are tempted to doubt their standing with the Father and succumb to the sliming accusations of the Eternally Defeated One. We know we are saved by faith and are justified. But somehow we think if we are not overcoming every weakness of the flesh, our Father is unhappy with us and condemns us. We judge ourselves by our works and assume the Father judges us by our works as well. Whenever we allow our works to become the basis of our approach to the Father we are already defeated.

The work that gives us right standing with the Father is not our work, but the work of Christ. His Finished Work is forever adequate to allow us to come to the Father without condemnation or shame. Many of us know this at some level but revert to a “works” mentality without even thinking about it. We judge and condemn ourselves and assume God agrees with us. Father agrees with His Son that His work is forever abundantly adequate to give us free access to the throne of Grace where we can always obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

A strong life of fellowship with the Father is the key to powerful ministry. As I am daily refreshed in His presence, I find myself ministered out of rest and peace. I’m not trying to earn anything, but rather I am rejoicing in the Grace my Father freely gives me. This is the key to lasting and fruitful ministry.

John G. Lake spoke of his personal discovery of this life-changing truth. “For years I hunted for this thing I have given you tonight.” “That sense of unfitness and unworthiness [or as they call it in psychology, that inferiority complex] swamped me. But when I saw that God became my righteousness, I said, ’I want you to know, Satan, that you have lost your case, I know what I am now.” “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21) 1

When we think of how bold Lake became in his ministry, it is hard to realize that at one time he, like so many of us, struggled to overcome a sense of unworthiness and unfitness. But as he took hold of God’s gift of righteousness in Christ he rose above Satan’s onslaught and walked in dominion as a righteous son of God.

E.W. Kenyon had much the same testimony. “All of this time there was an undercurrent in my life, a sense of unworthiness. The Adversary seemed to delight in making me conscious of unworthiness.

I tried everything that man had taught. I sought the “clean heart,” “entire sanctification,” “ Second Word of Grace,” everything that was preached. I was blessed for a while, but it would all fade away. I wanted something permanent. I knew I could find it in the Word.

“Romans 3:26 solved that issue. Let me give you the American Revised Marginal Rendering of it. “That He might Himself be Righteous, the Righteousness of him who has faith in Jesus.”

“Strange, I had never seen it before. God Himself was to become my Righteousness the moment that I accepted Christ and confessed Him as my Lord. Then I remembered Romans 10:10 “For with the heart man believeth unto Righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” 2

Here in the testimony of two great men of God, we find a similar testimony of a great breakthrough in their lives when the revelation of righteousness became real to them. It destroyed the constant flow of accusation from the enemy and released them to go on to do great things for God.

Sometimes we are looking for some “deep” truth to help us gain victory. Often we just need a deeper revelation of what we already know. God Himself is your righteousness. There is no condemnation to you if you are in Christ. What Christ has done for us is more than enough to satisfy the Father.

Let’s get in agreement with heaven.