During this week I was listening to a podcast and one of the guys said this quote that really struck a chord in me and it goes like this:
“You don’t get right with God, you get righteous.”
When I heard that I felt the Holy Spirit start to speak to me about what this could mean. The guy on the podcast didn’t fully explain the quote except highlighting the fact that we don’t have to be all “prim and proper” before we approach the Lord. In fact, I’d like to add that you can come broken, bruised, hurting, and in pain when you approach the throne of God, as long as you have Jesus by your side.
Oftentimes we fall into the trap of having to have it all together before we come to church, or feeling the need to fix our lives before we approach our Father but I’d like to suggest to you that you don’t have to get right with God, you just have to get righteous.
Before I go any further, let me give you a disclaimer: This isn’t a ticket to not make every effort.
This is simply the first step, an adjustment of the heart and mind so that you can receive the love and power of the Holy Spirit to be transformed.
So when it says “You don’t get right with God,” what it means by that is that there is nothing you can do, by your works, that can put you in right standing with God. You can play another song in worship, tithe a little more on Sundays, spend an extra twenty minutes reading the word, and help a brother and sister in need but those things don’t equate being in right standing with God. Don’t get me wrong, those are all good things and they help us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ but they should be a product of being in right standing with God. It should come out of being in right standing with God, not in a pursuit of being in a right standing with God.
When it says “You get righteous,” it is a play on words. It’s not something you go and get, it’s something you receive. Getting righteous is referring to receiving Jesus because He is our righteousness.
30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
1 Corinthians 1:30 (NIV)
It is when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior that we are made righteous. So when we approach the throne of God, He doesn’t see our sin and shame but rather He sees Christ in us, that has cleansed us and paid our debt in full.
So the next time you are thinking about getting right with God, get righteous instead. Start with receiving Jesus and inviting him into every area of your life and into every conversation you have with the Father. Receive the grace and mercy that was paid by the precious blood of Jesus and walk in righteousness because Christ lives in you.