Are you tired of living under a heavy weight, weary of worrying you can’t somehow make the grade? Are you more concerned about how you’ll feel about yourself if you don’t? There are two options available, so don’t be confused as to which is truly righteous. For righteousness is only attainable by God, not carnal man without God. You may find yourself crushed under the heavy hand of legalism and your own lack of self confidence because of failures preventing you from trying with a whole heart which steals success.
How can the cycle be broken? Roman 10:4 states this plainly “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” In your own strength you can’t fulfill the law that requires perfection to attain righteousness. For God did not send the law knowing you would achieve it, but knowing you wouldn’t; thereby coming to the conclusion you don’t have the ability to be righteous in your own strength according to the word of law. Yet there is human ungodly righteousness leading many on a merry chase by their own hand. Romans also says “Being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
Have you set up your own morality and then tried to prove you are righteous by following it. God says this is not of Him and because of a lack of true righteousness, failure to follow even ones own rules is the result. There is a season for all things and the seasons cannot be rushed by impatience. First comes the acceptance of Jesus as savior for sin, then comes learning of His ways to identify God in a world of idols. Next comes a God-given desire to follow after Christ’s ways of righteousness in the strength of the Holy Spirit. This is the path that leads to peace and true unconditional love in Christ Jesus.
Read more articles by Ken Hammer or search for articles on the same topic or others.
Thank you for this informative article, I always consider Romans 12:1-5 as the the way to renew the mind (and life) according to God's will. We are all being molded into that perfection in Christ.