Made Right

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:10

righteous – one who has a moral character and is honest right – being conformed to what is good & proper; to be restored to an upright position that which had fallen 

A recent question asked of me was “Are we still sinners if we have been saved?” If you want to live in the sin nature and under the law, then the bigger question to me is… are you really saved if you have those desires? Have you really committed your life to walk with Jesus and have him as your best friend? Is the Holy Spirit in charge of your life, the small decisions as well as the big? 

My answer is: I don’t consider myself a sinner anymore because I have confessed and believe in my heart that Jesus redeemed me from my old sinful nature and has made me right with God. What does it mean to be ‘right’ with God? It is re-establishing ourselves into his original purpose for our lives, which is to be in relationship with him. It is accepting the gift he gave us to redeem us from spiritual death. It is by having faith in Jesus Christ. It is by replacing who we once were, to the person we were meant to be. 

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

It IS His Grace that saved me, but the sinner I once was has been replaced with the Spirit of the one who carries the keys to the Kingdom.

And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” – Matthew 16:19

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. – Romans 3:22-24 NLT

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT

Jesus loved me when I was a sinner (Luke 5:31-32) and he loves me now as a Child of his Father and as a joint heir with him. I don’t look at who I used to be, but I rejoice in who I am now. If I still call myself a sinner, then I am rejecting what has already been gifted to me. I don’t say that to exalt myself, but to give glory to God for bringing me back to him through Jesus Christ who lives inside of me. I am a child of God and an heir to His Kingdom and I have been made righteous.

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. Luke 22:20

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. – Romans 8:9-10

Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.I do not walk under the condemnation of the law but under the new covenant which has replaced the law. Galatians 2:18-21

Prayer: Father, Thank you for restoring me to you. Thank you for the relationship you desire from me. Thank you for making me right with you by my acceptance and faith in Jesus.  

(My emphases on scripture by underlining, italicizing, or bold.)