God blesses the righteous For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. (Psalm 5:12) There are many great blessings promised by the Almighty God for the righteous. Yet the Bible also says that there is "No one righteous, no not one" (Romans 3:10). Then how can anyone receive these blessings pronounced on the righteous? The clue to this is found in the Apostle Paul's first letter to the Corinthians where he writes: "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30) If one makes Jesus his/her righteousness, we become righteous and can receive from God the blessings that He has pronounced on the righteous, in His Word. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24) If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, you become righteous not because of your own righteous acts but because Jesus has become your righteousness. So the question comes: "Are we allowed to sin and still say that Jesus is our righteousness and we are righteous?" Definitely not! Because the Bible also says, "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." (Romans 8:5-14) So if you have received Jesus as your Savior and are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit, you are righteous and can receive all the blessings that God has pronounced upon the righteous in His Word. And the blessing that is given in Psalm 5:12 is this, "For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield." |