On Sunday, we began in Habakkuk 2:4, “See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness”.
We journeyed through Romans 1:16, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38, where we saw a pattern establishing: the righteous shall live by faith.
The life mentioned in these scriptures refers to the same abundant life described by Jesus in John 10:10 when He says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The only way we can live this abundant life is if we understand what righteousness is, and we must also understand our faith!
Our righteousness or right-standing with God was given to us by Jesus through His death on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross, justifying us before God, He didn’t just give us what we needed to pay the debt and bring our bank account back up to zero, He filled our account, giving us MUCH more than we’ll ever need. He gave us abundant life!
Hebrews 11:6 says: “And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
It says if we are to come to Him, we must believe! There is no alternative. This is the one, basic and unvarying condition given to all who would approach God: we must believe!
Abundant Life in Christ
We are required to believe two things:
1) that He exists, and,
2) that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.
Most of us have no trouble believing that He exists, but do you believe that He will reward those who earnestly seek Him?
Even though we have been justified, the sanctified man is trying to catch up with the righteous man, and so often when we stumble and struggle with our thoughts and attitudes, we tend to live, pray and think from there, not believing that God will reward us for seeking Him. Instead, we need to live by faith, coming into agreement with what God has done for us, believing that we have been made righteous, enabling us to live an abundant life.
We must have confidence and trust in God as a person, in His character and reliability, and believe that He will reward us if we diligently seek Him.
Friends, can I encourage you this month to seek God and trust that He will reward you if you sincerely seek Him?
Blessings,
Mark.