Daily Bread - NOV/09/07
Matthew 5:45 - So that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven for his sun rises upon the evil and the good and sends rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous.
Righteousness and unrighteousness are not abstract concepts that are set forth to distinguish those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior as opposed to those who have refused Him. These two words are paralleled to good and evil throughout both the Old and New Testaments. The person who is unrighteous is the one who is a violator of the ways of God in the broadest sense. The Bible is very clear that the unrighteous (those who do iniquity) will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9). Both righteousness and unrighteousness are defined by the behavior of an individual. The actions of righteousness are those behaviors that comply with the ways of God and the unrighteous are those who violate His ways. The standard of righteousness is the ways of God who is: righteous in all of His ways and Holy in all of His works (Psalms 145:17). God has transformed us by the miracle power of the new birth and commanded us to walk even as He walks and be perfect even as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48; 1 John 2:6; 3:3, 7; 4:17; Colossians 2:6; Revelation 3:21). God in His patience and longsuffering is Himself dedicated to training us how to walk in this glorious realm, but we must be willing to participate. Our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has made the distinction between the good and the evil and what is profane and what is holy. If we will mark well what must not be allowed in our lives, God will make sure that we will be kept from its power. There is no sin that can impose itself upon us because we are not under its dominion (Romans 6).
Like righteousness, the Greek word for unrighteous (adikos) has several synonyms: unlawful (athemitos), warped (skolios), deceitful (poneros), evil (kakos), bad (phaulos) , sinful (harmatolos), ungodly (asebeia) and iniquity (anomia). God has devoted much of the message of the Bible to giving us a thorough understanding of these practices. Although God blesses the unrighteous with the blessings of a life here and now He does not have a relationship with them and will ultimately cast them out of His presence forever (Luke 13:27). The unrighteous are those who practice iniquity (anomia) as is underscored in the parallel passage in Matthew 7:23 which uses unrighteousness (adikos) instead. The unrighteous are those who are ungodly (Romans 1:18). As the children of the Almighty God we are commanded to refuse all of these filthy things and perfect holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Who shall not fear you Lord as for me I will.
Who shall not honor you Lord as for me I will.
Who shall not follow you Lord as for me I will.
Be blessed,
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org
About Me
- Carol L
- San Diego area, California, United States
- I started this blog back in 2005, but in 2006 began dedicating it solely for the purpose of posting email messages called, Daily Bread, sent out Monday through Saturday by my pastor, Mark Spitsbergen. These daily emails contain fresh revelation that Mark gets from the Word of God by the Holy Spirit for that day for the church that God has called him to pastor, Abiding Place. 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God gives that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John 14:6), and He says, "The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life." (John 6:63). For the Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
No comments:
Post a Comment