Topic: Righteousness Speaks [7th December 2017]But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach (Romans 10:6-8).
The phrase “the righteousness which is of faith” in the verse above is a rather interesting one. It’s rendered in the original Greek as “the ‘of faith’ righteousness,” thus, giving personality to the word, “righteousness”; and that righteousness, he says, “speaks.” “The ‘of faith’ righteousness” speaks. So, righteousness talks; it doesn’t keep quiet.
Often, we say, Christianity is for talkers; we speak righteousness, just as we speak wisdom. The righteousness of God is the truth of God; it’s the reality concerning any situation. So when we affirm the Word, we’re speaking righteousness, we’re speaking God’s language of faith. Romans 10:9 tells us how the “of faith righteousness” works. It says, “…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
The word, “confess” is from the Greek “homologeo,” which means to speak the same thing in agreement. It means affirming the Word of God in agreement with God; not merely repeating it exactly in the same words, but making your own affirmations in agreement with His Word. If you’d confess or affirm the same things that God has said about you in His Word, they’d become real in your life.
For example, 2 Corinthians 3:5 says, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.” You ought to, on the basis of what God has said, declare, “I’m sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I’m up to any task. I produce excellence and works of righteousness, because Christ is my ability and sufficiency.” That’s speaking the righteousness of God, the rightness of God about who you are, and what you can do in Christ.
PRAYER
Dear Father, I thank you for the privilege to affirm your Word concerning my life. I declare that I’m more than a conqueror, and can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Your wisdom guides me today, and I’m led of the Spirit to produce excellence and works of righteousness, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Hebrews 13:5-6 1 Corinthians 2:12-13
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Jude Daniel 9-10
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: John 18:19-27 2 Chronicles 15-16
