Instruments of righteousness

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”Romans 6:12-13 

Righteousness is that nature of God that is given to you when you believe in the resurrection of Jesus. This nature allows you to stand in the presence of God without guilt or condemnation. This righteousness is God's gift to you. It is not based on anything you would possibly do but sorely based on what God has already done. 

Before you believed in Jesus , you had sin in you which is the nature of the devil that caused death(depression , sickness, poverty , hatred , jealousy and all kinds of evil) to rule as a master in you. Actions that you did were a result of the wrong nature which was in you. The law exposed this nature even more but it brought more frustration to you because even though you knew it was wrong because the law showed you , you failed to overcome it. The law did not give you power to overcome sin. But thank God for Jesus and His saving grace!! 

“For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.....” Romans 8:3 

Jesus came to condemn sin , in other words He came to destroy and do away with sin. So sin from the time that Jesus came is not the problem anymore. Jesus already condemned it. When Jesus did it , He was doing it for you so that sin (this nature of the devil) would not have power over you anymore. 

Now  that sin has been defeated and you accepted that fact , God gave you a new nature which is called righteousness AS A GIFT. God now sees you as righteous apart from what you do. All that the devil is was visible in your life (defeat , deception, fear ,depression, pain and all evil) because of the nature that was in you.

Now that the nature of God is in you , all that God is (love , power , freedom , peace , joy , patience, prosperity, health and all necessary good) is now available freely for you to enjoy as you fellowship with your Father intimately through the Holy Spirit. So you are not the unrighteous person trying to be righteous , you are already righteous because it was given as a gift and now you are living out who you are. You don't read the bible to become righteous, you read it to understand how you as a righteous person are supposed to live. 

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:21

Spiritual growth is not doing more good than bad , it's realizing more and more all that is already inside you because of righteousness. 

“That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.” Philemon 1:6

So when you understand the grace of God and all that is made available for you by grace , now God's goodness will dominate every area of your life. You quit trying to get because you already have it but live a life of thanksgiving. Whoever gets in contact with you is up for an encounter with goodness. Your bodily members become instruments that God use to bring His will in the earth. Your hands can now be laid on the sick and produce healing , your mouth is now heaven's mouthpiece, everything about your life becomes a passage through which the blessings of God flow. 

So do not let sin reign in your body but allow the grace of God to reign in your life by understanding who you are in Christ. You are the righteousness of God because of Jesus. 

I pray that you understand this so that effort will be removed in your life but you will enjoy fellowship with God knowing that He loves you and He has already made everything that you need for life and serving Him available in your spirit. 

I will focus on living by the Spirit next on J Amazing Reads.

Remember: You are loved by God❤️