”For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” | James 1: 20

The Word of truth works the Righteousness of God in a sinner causing us to look nowhere else but to the Lord Jesus Christ our Righteousness. The natural man, in the filthiness and naughtiness of the flesh, never has, nor ever will, produce the Righteousness of God.

By the Word of truth the believer knows that even though we were elected unto salvation in Christ before the world began, we were born into bondage to our own spiritually dead flesh and spirit. The Word of truth will not let the believer forget, that in the deadness of our flesh all our righteous works were only dead fruit. “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7: 4-6)

Sin, having dominion over us, would not allow us to deny the flesh by looking to Christ alone but made us constantly defend the flesh–dead fruit. By the dominion of sin, all we could do was think evil, say evil and do evil by thinking, saying and doing everything for the cause of our dead flesh–dead fruit. In this dead state, when our guilty conscious got the best of us, the dominion of sin caused us to look to that same dead flesh in an attempt to make self more acceptable to God–dead fruit.

We attempted to clean a dirty floor with a dirty mop.

The dominion of sin would not allow us to look to the Lord our Righteousness and confess that in our flesh is no good thing. (Romans 8: 5-14) http://blb.sc/00F5OJ

Through the Spirit of God, the Word was engrafted within us and gave us spiritual life. “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures; Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1: 18, 21)

By the Word of truth, God’s holy law threw a spotlight on our persons (our old man–our flesh and our old dead spirit) and said, “Behold, sin!” “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” (Romans 7: 7-13)

In the new spirit of meekness given by God, we put our hands over our mouths and became swift to hear. Christ our King entered in shedding his love abroad in our hearts so that the hatred for God in our old man no longer reigns within. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8: 1-4)

“Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” (Colossians 1: 11-14)

With new eyes we discovered that when Christ was made sin and died in the flesh, we died in the flesh. Our body of sin was buried in the ground. The Holy Law of God released all claim on us.

Therefore, being raised to newness of life with Christ, we regard our old man as dead and buried. We no longer worship God in the flesh but in spirit and in truth “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4: 23, 24)

We are still in this dead flesh, (and too often still look to it) but sin has no more dominion over us to keep us from trusting Christ our all. “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:” (Colossians 1: 21, 22)

Before the all-seeing eye of God, our life is hid in Christ. “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” (Colossians 2: 8-14)

Therefore we no longer look to our dead body for proof of righteousness or for proof of liberty as do the legalist, the antinomian and all dead religionists tittering somewhere between the two. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3: 1-4)

Instead, BELIEVERS LOOK TO CHRIST FOR ALL.

~ Pastor Clay Curtis

Click here to listen to the message “Preparation For An Ordained Work”

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Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Bulletin Article date: 9 February, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey