There is a lot of misunderstanding over the definition of “righteousness” today. Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous.” Conversely, when they fail in terms of their actions or behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” But this is the wrong definition and understanding of righteousness.

Let’s go back to what the Bible has to say. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21 again. We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross. “Righteousness,” therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous.

But God is not looking at your nobility, sacrifices or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at His Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous! Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Jesus Christ. It is as good as saying, “The cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”

There is a beautiful verse in the New Testament where the apostle Paul says, “I do not frustrate the grace [unmerited favor] of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21 KJV

My friend, let us not take this verse lightly. Consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is effectively saying that if you are depending on your good works, your doing and your ability to keep perfectly the Ten Commandments to become righteous, then Jesus died for nothing! That’s what “in vain” means—for nothing!

See how your King was taken by ruthless Roman soldiers, who mocked Him and rammed a crude crown fashioned from thorns onto His head. Look at how your Savior suffered lash after lash from whips designed to inflict maximum pain --whips laced with broken glass and hooks, so that every stroke ripped off flesh fromHis already lacerated back.

In one scene, Jesus collapsed from the blows, and I screamed in my heart, willing Him to stay down so that His tormentors would relent. But He did not stay down. With you and me on His mind, He clung on to the beating post and dragged Himself up to receive the full measure of the scourging, knowing that it is by His stripes that we are healed.

His agony did not end when the hardened soldiers grew tired of flogging Him. The soldiers shoved a heavy cross onto His completely bloodied back, forcing Him to carry the splintered planks toward Golgotha. After barely surviving such vicious treatment, it was no wonder that Jesus fell under the weight of the cross after staggering part of the way, and the soldiers had to force a passerby to help Him carry the cross. Our Lord was then stretched out over the cross and huge, long nails were hammered cruelly into His hands and feet.

Did Jesus endure all this for nothing? Was this all in vain? That is precisely what Christians who insist on trying to earn their own righteousness through the law are saying.

Let me quote Paul again so that you can see for yourself what I mean:

I do not frustrate the grace [unmerited favor] of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
—Galatians 2:21, kjv

“But Pastor Prince, how can I, who did no right, be made righteous?”

Well, answer me this first: How could Jesus, who knew no sin, become sin on the cross for us?

You see, Jesus had no sin of His own, but He took upon Himself all of humanity’s sins. On the other hand, you and I had no righteousness of our own, but on that cross, Jesus took upon Himself all our sins, past, present and future, and in exchange, gave us His perfect, everlasting righteousness. Now, is this righteousness that we have received a result of our own works or His work? It is clear that our righteousness is a result of His work and we can only receive His righteousness through His unmerited favor.

Let me give you the clearest definition of grace (unmerited favor) in the Bible:

And if by grace [unmerited favor], then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace [unmerited favor] is no longer grace [unmerited favor]. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace [unmerited favor]; otherwise work is no longer work.
--Romans 11:6

Do you follow? There is no middle road. You are either righteous by God’s unmerited favor or you are trying to merit righteousness with your own works. You are either depending on Jesus or you are depending on yourself.

I believe that the more righteousness-conscious you are, the more of God’s unmerited favor you will experience. When the voice of disqualification comes to remind you of all the areas that you have fallen short in, that’s the time to turn to Jesus and hear His voice, which qualifies you. That is the true fight of faith!

The fight of faith is to fight to believe that you are made righteous by faith and not by works. Paul, speaking of his own achievements under the law, said that he counts them all “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.” Philippians 3:8-9

So there are clearly two types of righteousness in the Bible:

(1) A righteousness that comes from your obedience and from you trying to earn your way to attain it.
(2) A righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus Christ.

Only one of these has a solid, unshakable foundation. One is built upon you and your ability to keep the law, while the other is built upon the Rock of all ages—Jesus Christ.

One can only give you the occasional confidence to ask for God’s favor, depending on how well you perceive you have done. The other gives you confidence ALL THE TIME to access His unmerited favor, even when you feel that you are greatly undeserving.

What do you want to depend on when push comes to shove—your wavering righteousness or the perfect, rock-solid righteousness of Jesus? It is your faith in the righteousness of Jesus that gives you the right to God’s unmerited favor.

Today, because of what Jesus did on the cross, you can expect good things to happen to you. You can ask God for big things and reach out to the blessed destiny that He has for you and your family.

His righteousness is your right to God’s unmerited favor! Don’t let any voice of accusation tell you otherwise!

Hello good morning. Can you help with Eat Your Way to Life And Health?

LisaAnneMia:
Hello good morning. Can you help with Eat Your Way to Life And Health?

Hi, morning...I've tried to download it too. I couldn't. But I'll still try.

Peace is not the absence of trouble in your life. It is not the absence of turmoil, challenges or things that are not harmonious in your physical environment. It is possible to be in the midst of the biggest crisis in your life and still experience peace. That’s the true kind of peace that you can experience with Jesus—peace that surpasses understanding.

Naturally speaking, it does not make sense for you to feel completely at rest and at peace when you are in dire straits, but supernaturally, you can be filled with peace!

Thattallgirl:
Hi, morning...I've tried to download it too. I couldn't. But I'll still try.

Okay thanks

There is no safer place than under the protective shelter of your Savior’s wings. It does not matter what circumstances may be raging around you. You can cry to the Lord for His unmerited favor, as David did in Psalm 57:1—“Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by.” (nas) The New King James Version says, “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.” What blessed assurance we can have today, knowing that even if destruction rages around us, we can take refuge in the Lord.

I want to encourage you to start your day with Jesus instead, practicing His presence, acknowledging Him, committing your plans to Him and trusting Him for His unmerited favor, wisdom and strength for the day. Remember to be like Joseph in the Bible. The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man!

Your success does not come as a result of you being updated about the latest virus or you being cued in to the latest disaster. No, your success will come as a result of your being tuned in to the presence of Jesus in your life!

You know, Psalm 127:2 aptly describes what we are talking about. It says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.” The bread of the world is the bread of sorrows, but Jesus is our bread of life. John 3:35

When you feed on Him, you will be nourished physically, emotionally and spiritually, whereas the bread of the world only depletes you physically and drains you emotionally by adding stress, anxiety and worry to your life.

Isn’t it beautiful that quality sleep is a gift from God? If you are struggling to sleep at night, look to Jesus. Develop a knowing in your heart that you are His beloved and rest on the promise that “He gives His beloved sleep.” Are you His beloved? Of course you are! So you qualify to enjoy the blessedness of sleep. Insomnia is not from God. Sleep is!

I have also come to realize that the last thought before you go to sleep is very important. I have tried this before and you can try it too—go to bed thinking about Jesus, giving thanks to Him for the day. You can also meditate on one of His promises, such as the one found in Isaiah 54:17. Just say, “Thank You, Father. Your Word declares that no weapon formed against me shall prosper!” Most times, I wake up feeling rejuvenated, energized and refreshed even though I did not sleep for many hours.

I always encourage my church to be mindful of their eye-and ear-gates. Essentially, this means that we need to be conscious of what we watch and hear on a regular basis. The Book of Proverbs, which is chock-full of God’s wisdom, tells us, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.” Proverbs 4:20-22.

God tells us to guard what we hear, what we see and what is in our hearts. He wants us to have our ears full of the gracious words of Jesus, our eyes full of the presence of Jesus and our hearts meditating on what we have heard and seen in Jesus. That’s what “give attention to my words” means today in the new covenant, for Jesus is God’s Word made flesh. John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace [unmerited favor] and truth.”

The best way to know if you are embroiled in the things of this world is to be objective and ask yourself this: “Is my heart troubled?” I believe that the number one killer in the modern world is stress. Medical doctors in my church have told me that if a patient has high blood pressure, they can advise the patient to cut down on sodium. They can also advise their patients to cut down on other excesses such as sugar or cholesterol. But as doctors, there is one thing that they cannot control in their patients, and that is their patients’ stress levels.

I personally believe that the physical root cause of many medical conditions today is stress. Stress can produce all kinds of imbalances in your body. It can cause you to age prematurely, give you rashes, cause gastric pains and even lead to abnormal growths in your body. To put it succinctly stress kills!

Doctors tell us that certain physical symptoms are “psychosomatic” in nature. That’s because these symptoms are brought about by psychological problems such as stress. Stress is not from God. Peace is from Him!

I trust that you are beginning to understand why Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 Now, Jesus would not have used the word “peace.” The Greek New Testament renders “peace” as eirene, but since Jesus spoke Aramaic-Hebrew, He would have used the word “shalom”—“Shalom I leave with you, My shalom I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.”

In the Hebrew vernacular, “shalom” is a very rich and loaded word. There is no English word that can accurately encapsulate the fullness, richness and power contained in the word “shalom.”

Hence, English Bible translators were only able to translate it as “peace.” But while the word “shalom” includes peace, it means so much more. Let’s look at the Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon to get a better idea of what Jesus meant when He said “Shalom I leave with you.”

The Hebrew Lexicon describes “shalom” as completeness, safety, soundness (in body), welfare, health, prosperity, peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment, peace used of human relationships, peace with God especially in covenant relationship and peace from war. Wow, what a powerful word!

This is the shalom that Jesus has bequeathed you: His completeness, His safety, His soundness, His welfare, His health, His prosperity, His peace, His quietness, His tranquility, His contentment, His peace in human relationships, His peace with God through the covenant made at the cross and His peace from war. All these, my friend, are part of your inheritance in Christ today! I don’t know about you, but I am jumping up and down in my heart and shouting praises to the Lord as I let this sink in

Can you picture the full implications of what it means to experience Jesus’shalom in your life? Can you picture your life being free from regrets, anxieties and worries? How healthy, vibrant, energetic and strong you will be!

So the question to ask is not, “Do we have it?” It is already ours! The question to ask is, “Why are we not experiencing more of His shalom?” To understand this, let’s go back to what Jesus said:

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. —John 14:27

Pay close attention to the end of the verse. Our Lord tells us, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” In the original Greek text, this is said as an imperative, which means it is a command or an injunction.

Live The Let-Go Life By Joseph Prince

As I mentioned earlier, the whole verse has to be read in its context. I believe that our part is to honor that injunction to “let not” our hearts be troubled. Because the Lord loves us so much, He does not want our hearts to be troubled. He loves us so much that even His injunctions are injunctions of love, urging us not to let our hearts be troubled.

But this is something that we have to do ourselves. Pastors and leaders cannot “let not” for us. You cannot “let not” for your spouse. You cannot “let not” for me. Even our Lord could not “let not” for His disciples. Our part is to believe and to walk by faith by not allowing our hearts to be troubled or afraid.

When we do that, the all-encompassing shalom-peace of God can flow in increasing measures in our lives. When we choose to not let our hearts be troubled, the peace that is in our spirits will go from our hearts to our souls and into our bodies, and we will experience the fullness of the health, provision, and peace that He paid for us to enjoy!

Live The Let-Go Life By Joseph Prince

Why is it so important for us to not let our hearts be troubled?

Our heart is the gateway of our spirit. All the shalom in our spirits will do us no good if our hearts are clogged with worries, cares, and anxieties. We have to remove those cares. In the Parable of the Sower, our Lord Jesus talked about how the “cares of this world” and the “deceitfulness of riches” are the thorns that choke the Word and cause the hearer to be unfruitful (see Matt. 13:22).

My friend, I know that we are confronted with real struggles. Demands are always pressing down on us. Your clients could be chasing you as deadlines close in on you. You might have had yet another quarrel with your spouse over the bills that seem to be mounting faster than you can pay them off. The new school year might be starting, but perhaps you don’t have the money to pay for your kids’ school supplies. Perhaps you are feeling anything but peaceful.

But whether you feel His peace or not, by faith in His Word believe that He has already given it to you, and I pray you will possess your inheritance.


Live The Let-Go Life By Joseph Prince

I know it isn’t easy. There was a time I considered myself a worryholic, but the Lord led me to a place where I began to take the shalom that He left me seriously. I told myself this: “It doesn’t matter whether I feel it or not right now. Since my Lord Jesus paid the price to bequeath His shalom to me, I am going to possess it by faith and not by what I feel.”

During that time, the Lord opened my eyes to see that in the Bible, grace and peace always go together. So many of Paul’s epistles begin with a salutation of grace and peace (see 1 Cor. 1:3; Phil. 1:2; Rom. 1:7). We need both grace and peace. The Lord also told me, “Son, My grace gives you all things freely because the blood of Jesus has paid for them. But,” He continued, “My peace will keep everything that I have given.” The peace of God will retain and keep everything that grace has given.

Don’t you think that is just so powerful? Remember what our Lord Jesus said to the woman with the issue of blood? He told her to go into peace and keep her healing. Peace keeps what grace gives!


Live The Let-Go Life By Joseph Prince

The devil goes about seeking whom he may devour, (1 Peter 5:8 ) which means he cannot devour just anyone. There are people whom he can devour and people whom he can’t. So he has to go about seeking whom he may devour. Let’s keep him seeking.

But would you like to know whom the enemy can devour? The answer lies in the preceding verse, which tells you to cast all your cares upon the Lord. In other words, if you are full of care and worry, and your mind is always troubled, the enemy can devour you. But if you refuse to allow your heart to be troubled by casting your cares to the Lord, the enemy cannot touch you. In fact, the Bible tells us that “the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20). When you walk in peace and in the power of Jehovah Shalom, you can walk all over the enemy and not be afraid!

Live The Let-Go Life By Joseph Prince