Living In The Power of God’s Righteousness

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, NOT having MY OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the RIGHTEOUSNESS which is FROM GOD by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭3‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ 

As I was reading this passage the other morning, I was contemplating my struggle—as a born-again believer—to wake up each day and live right. 

Do YOU ever feel like it’s a constant struggle to do what is right? 

Sometimes it seems like the harder I try to do what is right, the more I fall back into sin. For example, I commit to praying in the morning and during my prayer time my mind is distracted by my to-do list or social media. Or, in the evening when I’m tired, I choose to dump entertainment into my mind that is contrary to good spiritual health. I say things I shouldn’t, and I do not say what I should. Ugh…I could go on, but I think you get the picture! 

My friend, God is teaching me an important lesson about doing what is right; that is, that I cannot live in His right ways without His power and His wisdom. Furthermore, I must desire His ways because I love Him instead of out of obligation to Him. Where does this power, wisdom and love come from?

Well, this is what Paul is talking about in these verses in Philippians. Keep in mind, Paul is talking to born again believers. This book is written to the church at Phillipi. He is reminding them that his righteousness does not come from keeping the law, but rather from faith in Jesus Christ. We know from studying God’s Word that the gift of salvation is what makes our soul and spirit alive. The new birth gives us the righteousness of Christ. 

But yet, even as born-again believers, we fail to understand our desperate need and dependence upon God for all things—even in living a righteous life for Him. While our soul and spirit cannot sin, our flesh always wants what it wants. Aren’t you glad that Paul explained this for us when he was inspired by the Spirit to write:

“For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭22‬-‭25‬ ‭

The key to living in the righteousness of God is not merely making it a discipline. Rather, it is in changing our heart. We must learn and follow the attitudes of Christ. So, for example, when we are poor in spirit, we have an attitude of complete dependence upon God to live right. He knows the desires of our heart and He will give us HIS strength to live right instead of us having to depend upon OUR strength. It’s beautiful. Or, when we are meek, this means we open our life to operate in God’s wisdom and not our own. It is in His wisdom we become acutely aware of the destruction of living apart from His ways. 

It’s such a relief to know that God loves us so much that He hasn’t commanded us to do the impossible. Living in His righteous ways empowers us to live the glorious life He has planned for us!