Submission to the Righteousness of

Generally speaking, many church people today appear completely ignorant of God’s decrees on righteousness, but want to establish their own righteousness, regardless of what God has commanded. Here I am talking about those who profess some kind of in God, but transgress His laws and ignore His ordinances. ■ Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. ■ 50:16 But to the wicked God says: what right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth. God keeps covenant only with those who obey Him. ■ Deuteronomy 7:9 Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments. We have a sure foundation on which to build our understanding – the Word of God, so why is it that those who profess Christ are adamantly reluctant and unyielding when it comes to ‘departing from iniquity’? ■ 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: the Lord knows those who are His, and, let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity . It is a fact, in some church denominations, God’s commandments do not fit in with their lifestyle; they believe that God, and the church in general, ought to be like the world which accommodates this ‘modern generation’ with all its perversions and therefore believe that God will do likewise and smile upon their own unbiblical update to His unchanging word – not so! He can never overlook their sins and transgressions nor accept their evil practises – except they turn from wickedness and repent of their abominable practises. Undercurrents of homosexuality are flowing within the churches with increasing volume as though it is normal behaviour, and although same sex marriage has been sanctioned in the UK through an act of parliament, and in many other countries as well, this does not make it acceptable to God. This is futile thinking indeed, for God does not change – Malachi 3:6 – and Jesus said, ■ :18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. As an example of God’s unchanging word; in Israel a two thousand year old badly burned scroll, unread since it was found because of its poor condition, was able to be deciphered using a scanning technique such as is used to scan the various layers of the body. The scroll was the complete and is exactly word for word as the version that we read today! True indeed that…. ■ Psalms 119:89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Furthermore, ■ Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever. We have already received the revealed word of God in relation to all that pertains to life, health and godliness and Pauls tells us that all of it has a valid use, and is God given, however… ■ 2 Timothy 3:13-17 evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from

Page 1 of 7 childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every work. Note well; that ALL scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness! And should you be tempted to omit any part of God’s word as irrelevant or even add something to it – beware! ■ 22:18-19 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the , from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. The Word of God has no optional parts; when we open our heart to God we must also embrace all of God’s commandments as we believe unto righteousness. The word says, ■ Romans 10:9-10 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Righteousness is a feature expected of the saints, whilst unrighteousness belongs to the ungodly. ■ Matthew 5:19-20 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. We should not be conformed to the world in any way, shape or form, but submit to God and be transformed by renewing of our mind by reading and absorbing God’s word, which works in us a progressive . ■ Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Today, the glorious Gospel is disdained and scoffed at as ‘old fashioned’, but we believers like the Apostle Paul say, ■ :16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. The Gospel not only reveals God’s righteousness but also God’s wrath against those who suppress the truth to further their own ends. ■ Romans 1:17-25 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith . For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their

Page 2 of 7 thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. ■ Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. In order for anyone to attain unto God’s righteousness they must be saved; by saved I mean ‘born again spiritually from above’ by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. ■ Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done , but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour. After we are saved we should live for Christ and not continue pursuing our own selfish desires. ■ Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ■ Romans 6:19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. ■ Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Some established churches, of which Anglicanism, Unitarianism and Roman Catholicism are prime examples, are run solely by the doctrines and commandments of men, making God and the Holy Spirit superfluous to requirements. This must be true, because there is very little ‘true’ spiritual power manifest in them – God has abandoned them to their own devices and rules, because they have gone on in their own way with a form of godliness, which denies God’s supreme power being run by men of corrupt minds who resist the truth in unrighteousness – 2 Timothy 3:5 & 9. Exactly who can be righteousness? For the Bible says there is none righteous no not one! ■ Romans 3:10-18 As it is written: there is none righteous , no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. The above scripture is a perfect description of the godless people of today. Who then can attain to righteousness? ■ Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets. Righteousness calls for a Redeemer ■ Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Page 3 of 7 Jesus Christ was that Redeemer, ■ 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures ; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: Salvation is simple – confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead. With your belief in Jesus you actually believe unto righteousness – for Christ is your righteousness. ■ Romans 10:8-11 But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. The Apostle Paul urges the Corinthians not to give any offence in ministry, but woe and alas the Anglican Church has yet again ordained a homosexual into a position of trust. This was headline news recently. And to add to this appalling debacle the Archbishop of Canterbury fully admitted he knew of this fact before he ordained this person, and worse still, recalled standing by the mass grave of 300 or so Nigerian Christians murdered by their neighbours not for their faith, but for the fear that Anglicanism might press homosexuality upon them! How terrible is that? So knowing and seeing the evidence of a massacre caused by fear of homosexuality Justin Welby rubbed salt into the wounds, and cocked a snook at the Word of God in the process. Surely, true believers are leaving the Anglican cess pit in droves for the word says, ■ 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty. Neither can we pass without mentioning the terrible abuse committed in the Roman Catholic churches by those who are supposed to be leading the flock! Enough said! The Apostle continues, ■ 2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We are to cleanse ourselves from filth, not continue to wallow in it; neither should we have pleasure in unrighteousness! ■ 2 Thessalonians 2:12 …that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness . We must be vessels of righteousness if we want to be used by God. ■ Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ■ 2 Timothy 2:20-21 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honour and some for dishonour. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honour, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Take a good long look at what the Bible says on homosexuality and judge for yourselves that God abhors this abomination. ■ Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.

Page 4 of 7 In the scripture below, God shows how dreadful it is to do such things by not only cutting them from off the earth – physical death, but from His covenant and all eternal blessings. However, we are now under a new and better covenant today, in that God’s mercy forgives such abominations when there is true and a turning from sin, so that all is not lost. ■ Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. ■ Deuteronomy 23:18 You shall not bring the wages of a harlot or the price of a dog, (male prostitute), to the house of the LORD your God for any vowed offering, for both of these are an abomination to the LORD your God. Some Bible versions have craftily removed references to sodomites see below; ■ 1 Kings 14:24 And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. (NKJV) ■ 1 Kings 14:24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. (KJV) Asa the King put away iniquity and also rebuked his mother! ■ 1 Kings 15:12-13 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron. Jehoshaphat also removed the sodomites. ■ 1 Kings 22:46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. Josiah also turned the people back to God’s covenant and removed iniquity from the land. ■ 2 Kings 23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And of course to complete the examples we have Sodom and Gomorrah of which the city of ‘Sodom’ framed the name of the abominable act. looked longingly upon the well watered plain and wonderful pastures for his many flocks and so pitched his tent there, but he did not realise the danger that lurked there. ■ Genesis 13:13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. ■ 2 Peter 2:5-8 …and (God) did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly ; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ( for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds ). Jesus also warned that the latter days would be as the days of Lot even until His return. ■ Luke 17:28-30 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of

Page 5 of 7 Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. Scripture tells us that although God’s attributes are clearly seen through creation, man chose to ignore Him as God and serve and worship the creature rather than the creator. Therefore God gave them over to do these things which are unseemly and gave them also a reprobate mind. They would rather believe a lie than know or keep the truth. ■ Romans 1:26-32 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; [they are] whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. Anyone who perverts the glorious Gospel by ignoring God’s precepts and ministering God’s word whilst blatantly sinning has broken the everlasting covenant of grace, and become a worker of iniquity! ■ Luke 13:27-28 But He will say, I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. ■ Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil ; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Yet, God has given us hope through many great and precious promises. ■ 2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ■ 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore… ■ Ephesians 4:22-24 …put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. And after pondering on so much unrighteousness it is time cleanse our minds in the pure water of the word. ■ Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things. And remember to ■ Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness , without which no one will see the Lord:

Page 6 of 7 God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14 talking of His people – not the world! ■ 2 Chronicles 7:14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways , then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Deliverance is available through God’s promises in His word!

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