Psalm 34:15-17(NKJV) The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles.
Nobody will be able to carry out great exploits and adventures with God if they think God is unhappy with them or against them. Only those who know that God is with them will do great exploits for Him. It says in Romans 8:31 that if God is for us, who can be against us? This passage talks about all the tribulations, persecutions, and challenges that we can face in life, but God’s everlasting love is with us, and He is on our side!
When we are faced with a crisis, one of the devil’s attacks on our lives is our right standing with God, because he is known as the accuser of the brethren who accuses us day and night, tormenting us with our past sins. Because all of us have a past, he will use condemnation to make us feel unworthy to cry out to God in prayer. He will make us believe that we are unworthy of God’s love, mercy, and grace because of the weaknesses in our lives. He knows how to make us feel little, full of shame, and condemned, but God has asked us to put on the breastplate of righteousness to resist the devil when he comes against us or accuses us of being unworthy.
Many people will fall into the trap of being discouraged or doubtful about God’s willingness to listen to their cries or even pay attention to them. They will doubt their right standing with God and be uncertain whether they are righteous because of the imperfections in their lives. Moreover, many people base their worthiness before God on their own works and personal conduct. While both works and personal conduct are important, we would never obtain a right standing with God based on our own abilities.
There is a difference between living a righteous life and being seen as righteous in the eyes of God. Righteousness is the ability to stand before God just like you have never sinned—a positional truth. Nobody can claim self-attained righteousness because we are all imperfect creatures waiting for the perfection in heaven. However, Jesus has obtained our righteousness on our behalf when He took all our sins upon Himself on the cross and gave us His righteousness.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Sermon Series: Great Adventures and Great Exploits
公义从祂而来
诗篇34:15-17 耶和华的眼目看顾义人，他的耳听他们的呼求。耶和华向行恶的人变脸、要从世上除灭他们的名号。义人呼求、耶和华听见了、便救他们脱离一切患难。
如果人们认为神对他们不满或反对他们，那就没有人能与神一起历经涉险，刚强行事。只有那些知道神与他们同在的人才会为祂刚强行事。罗马书8:31说，神若帮助我们，谁能敌挡我们呢? 这段经文讲述了我们在生活中可能面临的所有磨难、迫害和挑战，但神永恒的爱与我们同在，神是站在我们这边的!
每当我们面临危机的时候，魔鬼对我们生命的攻击之一就是我们在神面前的合法地位。因为牠是弟兄的控告者，昼夜控告我们，用我们过去的罪折磨我们。因为我们都有过去，牠会用谴责来让我们觉得不配在祷告中向神呼求。牠会让我们相信，因为我们生命中的软弱，我们不配得神的爱、怜悯和恩典。牠知道如何使我们感到渺小，充满羞耻和谴责，但是当魔鬼来攻击我们或指责我们不配的时候，神要求我们穿上公义的护心镜来抵挡魔鬼。
许多人会陷入气馁的陷阱，或怀疑神是否愿意倾听他们的呼求，甚至不想理会他们。他们会怀疑自己在神面前的合法地位，因为他们生命中的不完美，他们不确定自己是否公义。此外，许多人依据自己的工作和个人行为来计算自己在神前是否配得。虽然工作和个人行为都很重要，但我们永远无法凭借自己的能力在神面前获得合法的地位。
“过公义的生活”与“在神眼中被视为公义”是有区别的。公义是如同从未犯过罪那样地站立在神前的能力——这是一个地位的真理。没人可以声称拥有自得之义，因为我们都是不完全的受造物，等待着天国的完全。然而，当耶稣在十字架上承担了我们所有的罪，祂已经替我们得着了义，就将祂的义赐给了我们。
哥林多后书5:21 神使那无罪的替我们成为罪，好叫我们在祂里面成为神的义。
讲章系列：历经涉险，刚强行事