Right Standing With God Is A Gift

ROMANS 3:24 NLT 24 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.

Righteousness is right standing, or good standing with God. It does not mean human "perfection." You are righteous because God says you are.

You may wonder about Romans 3:10 which says no one is righteous. Yes, it does say that, but it is quoting an Old Testament passage to prove that both Jews and Gentiles were guilty before God and needed salvation. It immediately goes on to say in the next few verses (see verses 22 and 24) that now we can be righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:19a,21 NLT 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. 21 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.

TITUS 3:5 NLT 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness is a gift from God -- not something you can earn or achieve. God simply declares you are innocent, as far as He is concerned, because of your faith in Jesus.

ROMANS 3:22 NLT 22 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.

ROMANS 10:10 NLT 10 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.

GALATIANS 2:16 NLT 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law."

The only way to have good standing with God is by accepting His gift -- Jesus Christ.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 NLT 30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

ROMANS 5:17 NLT 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

SAY THIS: No one can be right with God based on their own performance. It is available only as a gift.