Put on the Righteousness of Jesus Christ

Paul continues his message to the Romans in verse 11 connecting back to verse 9 and 10 of the previous section. Paul is calling all Christians to awaken from the sleep that we are in because time is short and our salvation in near. In the first century within the Christian community there was a strong belief that shortly after Christ died on the cross His second coming would follow immediately. Of course we know this not to be the case and Paul soon realized that the second coming of Christ is in God’s time and as scripture tells us that no one knows the time or day of that event (Matthew 24:36). But, that we should prepare ourselves by living a righteous life in Christ every day.

Paul’s message has an eschatological component to it that is pointing to the day we will be with Christ in heaven. Paul reminds us that until the time comes when Jesus calls for His church through His return we are to live a godly life that represents who we are in Christ showing why Jesus loves us and how we are to love others just as He loves us. This is called being sanctified through the Holy Spirit which describes the process of growing closer to God each and every day by living a godly life, continuing to lean of God, and praying for strength to separate ourselves from our sinful worldly temptations in preparation for our eternal life with the Triune God in heaven for eternity.

When we read in God’s word about the light and the darkness God warns us that there are significant differences between the two lifestyles. Living in darkness is usually described as someone who follows or lives for the desires of the world and falls prey to wiles of Satan. In contrast, living in the light describes how and why you are living righteously through the biblical principles and teachings that Jesus has taught. For example Job was a righteous man who lived a righteous life and through the attacks from Satan always gave God glory in every circumstance he endured (Job 29:14) Our instructions are very clear to lean in on Christ just as Job did when we are being attacked by the enemy. So when we are in a difficult period in our life we are to lean on God through the Lord Jesus Christ to carry us through our hard times. We are also to give God glory for the time of peace we have through His blessings and His protection.

When we follow Jesus we become a new person. The old must diminish to the point of death so we may never go back to that old person we once were (Ephesians 4:24). If we believe that we are born again in Christ then we should be representative of who we are in Christ by the way we speak and the behaviors we portray.

As Christians our message to the world should be very succinct. We should not only use our words to describe our love for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit but our actions should be reflective of our words in every way possible. Our time is short and God only knows when He will call us home or Jesus will return. We do know this that it is written that God’s judgment will fall upon the earth and not all will be saved. This is why it is critical that we start to wake up and see the truth. The truth is God, the truth is that God sent His Son to die for each one of us and through the selfless act of Jesus we can find peace, love, hope and the kingdom of heaven for eternity.

My prayer is that eyes would open, ears will be clear and our hearts will be ready to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. I pray that there would be a great awakening in our hearts and minds and that Jesus will shine in us and through us. I pray that we live the life that Jesus has prepared for us. That through the way we speak and our actions we will represent the triune God the way He deserves to be represented. In Jesus Mighty name Amen! Amen!