Righteousness - Session 8

by Thamo Naidoo | Righteousness

When God created you, He did not create you to be your own. He created you to be His own.

At this stage of the series, the focus is on the praxis of righteousness. In other words, how do we display righteousness in a practical way? It is possible to recognize and enjoy our legal position in Christ but transgress it in our practice. It is in that situation that breaches and violations take place, which opens the door to serious incrimination being brought upon us with resultant punishments and judgments. In this session Pastor Thamo emphasizes two essential principles in implementing a practical approach to righteousness.

Righteousness Through Belief

Belief is a critical aspect of our existence. The type of belief that we should have is the type that is not informed by context, situation, or by the natural laws governing the earth. Our belief is informed by the ‘ancient of days’, and such information is transmitted to us through the Bible. We must believe that the Bible has been given to us for instruction in righteousness. Having said that, belief is not quoting something that you don’t live, but belief is to live and be what you read. Through belief, we become what we read according to the incarnational principle, meaning that the Word becomes flesh through us and we exist in the Word. Our existence in the Word of God is different from ‘existentialism’ which comparably is a very superficial form of existence.

A Narcissistic Spirit Cannot Produce Righteousness.

When God created you, He did not create you to be your own. He created you to be His own. As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we do not live for ourselves, but we live for Him. A failure on our part to fully accept that belief results in spiritual narcissism. The narcissistic spirit is a spirit that imposes upon itself a culture of importance whereby one thinks that he or she lives for themselves, thus becoming a god in their own body. Clearly, the narcissistic spirit cannot produce the culture of righteousness as defined from a heavenly perspective.

Practical righteousness is how you serve God in everyday life. Share on X

Righteousness through Exact Representation

The shaliah principle is fundamental in understanding exact representation. Of Hebrew origin, the word Shaliah means; the agent is equal to the principal who sent him. In practical terms, if the rabbis of old said, “This is my shaliah”, they were essentially saying that the person is representing me as if I am in that person. The same principle was made evident when Jesus came in the flesh. Even though He is the eternal logos and coequal in the Godhead, when He came in the flesh, Jesus said, “If you saw Me, you saw the Father. I and My Father are one”. Exact representation carries with it the connotations of deputyship and the vicarious principle of representation which is underpinned by the fact that you cannot represent another without losing your own identity. This representation of God must take place in our daily lives, in our careers, professions and skills, etc. This is what is called the ubiquitous representation of God. In other words, whilst God is omnipresent, He has chosen to become ubiquitously present through a righteous people.

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