Read 100 Days of Right Believing: Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing Online
Authors: Joseph Prince
100 Days of Right Believing: Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing (11 page)
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
J
OHN
3:14–15
D
o you know why Jesus chose the cross? He went to the cross so that whoever believes in Him can receive the gift of eternal life.
Whoever
believes
. That is all you need to do to step into the inheritance that was purchased for you with the blood of the Son of God. Believe in HIM. Believe in Jesus. Believe in what He has done for you at the cross. Believe that all your sins have been imputed to Him and all His righteousness has been imputed to you (see 2 Cor. 5:21). Believe in the divine exchange. Believe in His love. Believe that all your sins have been punished at the cross and that through Jesus you have received the gifts of righteousness and eternal life.
Look at John 3:15 again. Tell me, who qualifies for salvation? The Word of God doesn’t say, “Whoever obeys Him perfectly and keeps all His commandments.” It doesn’t say, “Whoever never fails again.” It simply says, “Whoever
believes
in Him.” Whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. The only action needed on your part is to believe!
Pastor Prince, how can simply believing in Jesus make me righteous? There must be something more that I must do to earn and deserve God’s love for me.
Don’t write it off just because it sounds simple, and don’t underestimate the power of right believing. When you believe right—when you believe that you are made righteous through Jesus—you will end up producing the fruits of righteousness. The apostle Paul refers to “the fruits of righteousness” in Philippians 1:11, and he specifies that they are “by Jesus Christ.” When you set your eyes on Jesus and Jesus alone as the source of your righteousness and forgiveness, you will end up producing the fruits of righteousness, holiness, and moral character.
Indeed, the Bible tells us it is when we don’t see or have forgotten that we have been cleansed from our old sins that we end up lacking in self-control,
godliness, and brotherly love (see 2 Pet. 1:5–9). Can you see how when you believe right, you will end up living right? So make Jesus, His forgiveness, and His love the center of every part of your life!
When I make Jesus, His forgiveness, and His love the center of every part of my life every day, I will end up living right!
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of eternal life. I can never praise You enough for choosing the cross for me and for redeeming me with Your precious blood. I believe in You. I believe that all my sins have been imputed to You and all Your righteousness has been imputed to me. And I believe that when I set my eyes on You and You alone as my righteousness, I will end up producing the fruits of righteousness, holiness, and moral character. Amen.
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
R
OMANS
5:17
I
f you struggle, as many believers do, with whether
you
deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious, you are asking the wrong question.
The question you should be asking is, does
Jesus
deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious? Because you are in Christ, having a blessed future is not contingent on how much you strive to be perfect or how hard you work at changing yourself. It is contingent on the person of Jesus.
The Bible proclaims, “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). Does Jesus deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious? Then so do you! This is what being in Christ Jesus means. It means that today, God assesses you and sees you based on the perfection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ righteousness is your righteousness. In fact, the Bible explains that because Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, we are now the righteousness of God in Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:21).
“Righteousness” is a legal term. It means to have right standing before God.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
defines righteousness as “that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God.”
2
In other words, your right standing before God is based upon Jesus’ right standing before God.
Today, you are as righteous as Jesus because your righteousness is from Him. He purchased it for you at the cross. When you received Him as your Lord and Savior, He took away all your unrighteousness once and for all and gave you
His
gift of righteousness. This righteousness is something that you can never obtain or achieve through your right doing; it can only be
received
by your right believing in Jesus.
And do you know what happens when you receive this gift of righteousness? The Bible declares that “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17). Hey, when you reign, your addictions don’t. When you reign, sicknesses don’t. When you reign, fear, depression, and every obstacle that is obstructing you from living your life to the fullest will be torn down and flushed out!
Today, I am as righteous as Jesus because the righteousness I have is His own righteousness given to me as a gift.
Father, thank You for Your abundant grace and gift of righteousness. Because of Jesus’ perfect work at the cross, You see and assess me based on His perfection. You see me clothed in Jesus’ righteousness and You bless me with what Jesus deserves. Help me to keep growing in the revelation of how my righteousness is a gift from You that can never be earned. I believe that as I keep receiving Your grace and gift of righteousness, You will cause me to reign over every challenge and bondage in my life. Amen.
… to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
E
PHESIANS
1:6
N
ancy, who lives in Texas, discovered my ministry via television and began to have a personal revelation of God’s goodness and how righteous she was through Christ’s finished work. Writing to me about how God’s grace has not just impacted her life but the lives of her entire family, she shared:
When I first saw you on television five years ago, I was rather skeptical. However, something about you was different. I knew in my spirit that you were teaching the true gospel. So I began watching your sermons every day, sometimes twice a day. The more I watched, the more I saw the wisdom of God on you, and the more I wanted to have a relationship with God and Jesus.
At that time, I was at a low point in my life and I was about to give up on my marriage. I was even questioning my faith and God. I didn’t realize how much I’d kept God in a box and only involved Him in certain areas of my life because I thought He was judging me.
When I finally heard the truth about the gospel, I ran with it! Never will I look back because you have taught me the true freedom that Jesus died to give me. Praise God! Once the veil was removed, I realized how righteous I really am, and God just started blessing my socks off!
My marriage has turned around and is now growing stronger. We’re going on the twelfth year in our marriage, and I thank God for the four beautiful and healthy daughters He has blessed me with. God has also promoted my husband in his career and given him a salary increase. In addition, God has recently upgraded us to an amazing neighborhood and even opened the doors to a charter school for two of my girls. He has given us so much favor because at least five hundred people are on the waiting list for this school!
And that’s not all. About a year ago, when I was watching you teach in Israel, I told the Lord quietly in my heart, “Lord, I want to go to Israel. I don’t know how I ever will, but I want it.” I never thought about the trip again until early April this year when God dropped a free trip to Israel into my lap and opened every door for me to go!
My heavenly Father has shown me that I am His daughter and that He is willing to take care of every need for the rest of my life! I did nothing to deserve it! My light is shining, and everybody wants to know what it’s all about.
Today, when you look into the mirror, what do you see? Do you see yourself trapped in all your failings, mistakes, and sins? Or do you see what God sees?
My dear friend, when God sees you today, He sees Jesus. Use your eyes of faith and believe that as Jesus is, so are you. In God’s eyes, you are accepted, you are righteous, you are favored, you are blessed, and you are healed. You are freed from all sin, all pangs of guilt, all forms of condemnation, and from every bondage of addiction! See yourself as God sees you and begin to experience His freedom and victory in every area of life.