You Are Righteous

Open your Bibles to John chapter 16 and meet me at verse 5, we'll read through verse 8. John chapter 16 verse 5, we'll read through verse 8. Jesus says to his disciples, but now I go away to him who sent me and none of you ask me where are you going? Verse 6, but because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

Nevertheless I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away the helper will not come to you but if I depart I will send him to you verse 8 and when he has come he will convict somebody say convict the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment judgment.

Over the last several weeks, basically maybe even the last several months, we've been talking about the precious Holy Spirit and his function in our life, his purpose, why he exists, why did Jesus send him to us, and we've been talking about how to hear from the Holy Spirit.

And today and over the next several weeks, I'm going to go a different direction in the Holy Spirit, but I believe that all these messages over the next couple of weeks, including today, they will register with you and mean a lot to you because it will help you experience true life, the life that God intends for you to live. Now understand in this passage of scripture, Jesus says to his disciples, I must leave you. I've got to depart this earth.

I've got to go. I'm going back home to my father. I've got to go.

But then he says, it is to your advantage that I'm leaving Now, this is an odd declaration because anybody that is dying rarely says, hey, I'm leaving. You know, I'm I'm departing this earth and it's going to be better for you that I leave. I mean, that rarely happens. Matter of fact, those of us that remain are usually the ones that are very sad when someone departs. And rarely do they say this is the best thing that can happen to you.

I'm getting up on out of here and that rarely happens it's the best thing that can happen side note footnote if you ever are dealing with someone on their deathbed one of the most important things you can tell them is everything's going to be alright go ahead and go. Go ahead, go home, transition, go be with the Father. We're going to be fine. Everything's going to be all right. Typically, they don't want to leave because they don't know if everything's going to be all right.

But if they live the long life and they're ready to go home, let them go home. Let them go home and you assure them that everything is going to be all right. Somebody say amen. Amen. Now, in this passage, Jesus is telling them, I'm getting up on out of here and it is to your advantage. it. It is better for you if I leave. Now, that is very uncommon. Jesus is actually saying, it's better for you that I get arrested.

It's better for you that I get whipped and beaten. It's better for you that I die on a cross. It's better for you that I get buried. All of these things are better for you. Now, if you're one of the disciples, you're trying to figure out how in in the world, is that better for me? I mean, I need you here with me. You've been here with me for three years.

Every single day we've been together, we've seen miraculous works and we've seen signs, wonders, and miracles, and we've seen the kingdom of God here on the earth. How is it better for you to depart? Jesus said, I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. I'm going to give you you, me, someone that's going to come alongside of you at all times, a permanent resident, a friend, a comforter, a helper, an advocate, a standby, an intercessor.

He's going to be with you. And not only is he going to be with you, he's going to also be in you. And that's the new thing. In the old covenant, the Holy Spirit will come and rest upon people for a temporary period of time, and then he will ascend off of people. He would descend on and then ascend off of. But Jesus is saying, the Holy Spirit is going to come and he's going to be on you and he's going to be in you.

And that is very, very new that Jesus is telling his disciples inside of you is the same spirit that's inside of me. All of the works that you have seen me accomplish and do, All of the signs, wonders, and miracles, all of the compassion, you have the ability to do as well because I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is going to do the work in you. Matter of fact, Jesus says, greater works you will do.

Why? Because we have the same Holy Spirit and there's more of us with the Holy Spirit. Imagine, for example, if Jesus stayed on the earth, he'll probably be somewhere in the Middle East and we would probably try to get over there and see him. But millions of people, billions of people would probably try to do the same thing. We would never be able to see him. We'll never be able to touch him, never be able to have a conversation with him.

And that would not be good for you and I. so he says I'm going to depart this earth and I'm going to give you me to live on the inside of each every one of you and I am not far away I am actually very near to you I am in you and I live and abide and reside you are the temple of my holy spirit and you can talk to me you can communicate with me you can fellowship with me you can get wisdom from me you can get understanding from me You can get knowledge from me anytime you want.

You have access to excess. Come on, somebody say amen. You have access to excess and you can get it right. Listen to me. You can get it right 100% of the time. I'm not asking you to be perfect. I'm not asking you to do everything right. I'm telling you that you have access to get it right every single time. Somebody say, I have the Holy Spirit. Now, one of the verses that I want you to see, if you don't mind, guys, let's put it back on the screen.

John 16 and verse 8. I want you to see what Jesus said here. He said when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world of sin. And of righteousness, and of judgment.

I want to spend my time today talking a little bit about this function of the Holy Spirit. He will convict the world of sin. Now that word convict means to plead or to place guilt upon. It's a legal term that you've been indicted into a court and then you can be convicted by that court, meaning you have been declared guilty. You've been declared condemned. And we have taken this word convict and we have not used the word in its right connotation, in my opinion.

The better translation of the word convict is the word convince. The Holy Spirit will convince. That means he will persuade or he will influence you. Now, the first thing the Holy Spirit is going to do is he's going to convict or convince you of sin before you came to Christ. So all of you, do you remember the day that you realized that I am a sinner? Right? And I need a savior and I need someone to do life for me and help me.

And I need someone that could always lead in God because I can't do this alone and I can't save myself. When that took place, that was because the Holy Spirit convinced you of the sin that you were bound into, hence becoming a sinner. No man convinced you. Now, we like to say God's like Billy Graham. Thank God for Billy Graham and others that are amazingly anointed to share the gospel and people give their life to the Lord.

That's great, and we respect them, but it was the Holy Spirit that did it. It was the Holy Spirit that convinced a person that they are a sinner. You can do this all day long. You can talk to your sons and your daughters, your mom and dad, your co-workers till you're blue in the face and you should talk to them. But unless the Holy Spirit is convincing them, then they will remain in their sin.

They're going to remain sinners unless the Holy Spirit will convict them or convince them in the era of their ways in their need to embrace the Savior now what's interesting is we have been taught that the Holy Spirit will convict believers of their sin and I want to show you something over the next couple of weeks And I'll make the statement now and prove it to you that the Holy Spirit is not convicting a believer of their sin.

The Holy Spirit is convicting or convincing the believer of their righteousness. OK, and so what typically happens is the Holy Spirit is going to convict or convince a sinner. You are a sinner. You need Jesus. As soon as you give your life to Jesus, you become righteous, and he will convict you of your righteousness. Let's go here real quick to Romans chapter 3, and let's look at verses 23 through 26. Romans chapter 3, 23 through 26. For everyone has sinned. Ain't that the truth?

We all fall short of God's glorious standard. Now, let's pause there for a second. and everyone's sin, we all fall short of God's glorious standard. And people use this verse and say, we're all sinners. We are all sinners. We all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yes, but keep reading. Look at verse 24. Yet God, somebody say yet God. Some translations say but God. Yet God in his grace, his undeserved kindness toward you, freely makes us right in his sight.

He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sins. Look at verse 25, for God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past.

Verse 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time God did this to demonstrate his righteousness for he himself is fair and just and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus somebody say amen to that now a sinner is someone Someone who has not been made right in the sight of God.

And the only way you can be made right in the sight of God, according to scripture, is to believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once you believe in the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are no longer a sinner.

You are now righteous. Okay, so the part that the enemy through bad teaching and wrong philosophy is that we are all sinners, right? That somehow, someway, that the world are sinners and so are the saints. We're sinners too. And the world are sinners and both of us are all sinners. Somebody's got to be saved by grace. Somebody's got to be the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. So once you give your life to the Lord, you are no longer a sinner.

Sinner you are righteous and the holy spirit will convict you and convince you that you are righteous in the sight of god now second corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 take a look here second corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 it says 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. Now this is a power-packed verse right here. This verse is saying Jesus never sinned, all right? He never missed a mark.

He never sinned. He never trespassed. He never disobeyed. He never murdered. He never sinned, but he was made sin. What does it mean to be made sin? It doesn't mean that he started sinning so he could be made sin. It means that God placed upon him all of the sin of humanity and put the sin of humanity on him so that when he was lifted up on the cross, all of sin was crucified with him on the cross and when he died all sinners go to hell and.

When he died, he went to hell. Now, that's some theology. You might leave the church over there, but that is true. He went to hell so that you don't go to hell. He went to hell because he was made sin. Sinners go to hell. He went to hell, went down there, was what snatched the keys of the kingdom from death, hell in a grave, told the devil, I ain't supposed to be down here. No way.

I'm going to kick your tail, and I'm going to take these keys and I'm coming back up and I'm victorious in power and anybody that believes in me will never come to this place. This is what Jesus did. You have been made right. Now watch this. Put it back on the screen if you don't mind, Paul. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. Jesus never sinned, but he was the offering for our sin. sinned. We always sinned. But because we believe in Jesus, we were made right with God through Christ.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Because we believed in Jesus, a great exchange took place. Jesus exchanged his righteousness and he took our sin. So if you believe in this, you are not a sinner say I'm not a sinner say it again I'm not a sinner say it one more time I'm not a sinner when you are a saint which is really who you are you the bible calls you more more times in the bible does the bible call you a saint than it does a christian.

The Christians is used twice in the Bible. Saints are used over 100 times. But we don't want to embrace being a saint because we think a saint is someone that does everything right. But your behavior is not what makes you right in the sight of God. It's your acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice which makes you right in the sight of God.

And that word right is the word righteous and so righteousness is the ability to be accepted by God this is what Jesus did he made you accepted by God sinners are not accepted by God all they have to do is believe in the finished works of Jesus and they could be accepted by God but they're not accepted by God, they are lost and they are with the ability to receive righteousness. The Holy Spirit is convicting them and convincing them. He's using us to do it.

But until they do it, they're sinners. But if you've made Jesus the Lord of your life and you've confessed with your mouth and believed in your heart, God raised him from the dead, he now considers you righteous. And righteousness is the condition acceptable by God. Now, many times people confuse righteousness with holiness. These are two different things. Righteousness is a position. God made you righteous through Christ Jesus when you believed on the finished works of Jesus.

He made you in right standing with him. Holiness is all about your conduct. Be ye holy as I am holy. What is God saying? Think like I think about this. If I say that's black, don't you say it's gray.

That's unholy. if he says that's white don't you say it's red that's unholy holiness says I think like God thinks if God says this I'm going to act like what God said is true that's holiness but that's not righteousness righteousness is I am acceptable to God because of the finished works of Jesus in his death burial and resurrection and so we don't come to church to be righteous righteous. Righteous people come to church. We don't give to be righteous.

Righteous people give. We act like our father. We don't stop sinning to be righteous. Righteous people stop sinning. Are you listening to me today? This is what the Holy Spirit is convincing you of. So what he's doing is he's saying, okay, you're saved.

And I will get into this over the next couple weeks you're saved and you're a believer in and you just keep sinning and you keep sinning and you keep sinning and you keep sinning you're not losing your righteousness, The Holy Spirit is saying, righteous people don't do that. Righteous people don't act like that. I want to convince you, righteous people don't watch porn. Righteous people don't lie. Righteous people don't steal.

Righteous people don't do this. You're righteous. You're the righteousness of God. You're acceptable to God. You're the apple of God's eye, and we don't do that. My son, well, I got two sons. You pick one of the two.

I'll throw my daughters in there too as well you pick one of them whoever you want to pick they are my children by birth when they act crazy they're still my children, if they run around acting wild and disobedient I still have to claim them they're mine mine. That's my child. Yes, he's got my last name. He or she is mine. But when I begin to remind them, and they'll tell you, Alexanders, we don't act like that. Alexanders, we don't go out looking sloppy like that. Alexanders, we say thank you.

Alexanders don't act like this. I'm reminding them of who they are. And this is what the Holy Spirit's doing in us. He's not condemning you. When you, Mr. Mark, make a mistake and you feel guilt and shame and condemnation, what's condemning you is your own spirit. Your own spirit is saying, oh, I'm beating myself up. Oh, gosh. And we have said that it's the Holy Spirit doing it, but it's really our own spirit beating us up.

If we listen Listen, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit says, open up your Bible. Let me show you who you are. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. You are the apple of my eye. You are, you are mine. And if you missed the Mark, 1 John chapter 2 says that you have an advocate with the Father Christ Jesus. That if you were to sin, all you would need to do is come before me, verse 9, and confess your sin. I'm faithful and just to forgive your sin and cleanse you of all unrighteousness.

Come on, somebody say amen to that. Now, the Holy Spirit is also known as a friend. How many of you want a friend walking around with you all the time saying, you old terrible, you dirty dog, you ugly, you wild, you great. There you go again, messing up again. There you go. You just terrible. I don't want that friend walking around with me. I don't want that. And that's why we've painted the picture of the Holy Spirit that he's a friend walking around with us, beating us up all the time.

I want a friend walking around with me saying, Devon, that wasn't, you know. You know, you didn't have to act like that. I've got some good friends in my life that'll do that to me. Devon, you didn't have to say that. I remember one particular time when we were sitting around, and I'm just going to be transparent with you, and we were all debating this topic, and we all got into it, and Stacy said something, and I said, I disagree with that.

And I went on down the line, and then a friend of mine, he said, that was kind of rude that you said to your wife like that. I'm like, that's a friend that I want. I said, you know what, you're right. Stacey, I apologize. I shouldn't have snapped like that. That's a good friend. He's like, man, that was just a little rude. I just want to just let you know. He's convincing me of who I am. He's not, Devon, you're going to go to hell for saying something like that.

That was terrible. and you are ugly and you are despicable and you need to carry that guilt tonight, all night long, the way you spoke to your wife like that. This is what you, no, he just said, man, the way you said that, I was a little mean to her. You know, I saw her face. She looked a little upset. He was convincing me that, you know what? I'm her leader. I'm her husband. I spoke down to her. I need to go back to her and apologize.

This is what the Holy Spirit does. He doesn't beat you up. He convinces you. You're in right standing with God. You're the righteousness of God. God has accepted you. There's nothing, listen to me, there's nothing you can do where God would no longer accept you. And that truth should cause you to do right.

It should cause you to do right. It should cause you to say, I'm the righteousness of God. And I don't allow that offense to get in my heart because I'm the righteousness of God. I'm the righteousness of God, and I don't have to say what I want to say about that. I told you what I'm learning this year is, what is it? Learn to stay quiet when you have a lot to say. That's what I'm working on this year because I got a lot to say.

When I'm learning that the righteousness of God doesn't speak like that. And I am the righteousness of God. Say that, I am the righteousness of God. Do you feel righteous? It don't matter. No matter if you feel it or not. I rarely feel righteous. But this is about the position that God has given me through Christ Jesus. So I'm not righteous in my own merit. I'm not righteous in my own behavior. I'm not righteous in my own deeds. I'm only righteous in or through Christ Jesus.

That's the only time that God sees me as righteous. So whether you feel righteous or not, I like what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 when he was dealing with the thorn in the flesh. We may talk about that, but I like what he said. He said, when I am weak, then I am strong. At the moment that he feels the weakest is the moment that he's the strongest. Why? Because of the righteousness of God. My grace is sufficient for you. Righteous people, we don't tithe to be righteous.

Oh, I better tithe because the devil is going to beat me over my head. If I don't get this tithe, then I might die this week. No, no, no. No, that's not what we do. Righteous people tithe. This is what righteous people do. We trust God. We give a percentage of our income back to him. We love the Lord. We read our Bible because righteous people read their Bible. Amen. In my house, I tell them, the Alexanders, we help around the house. We don't walk over that trash. You live here too.

Pick it up. Right? We all work around this house. We all help around here. This is what Alexanders do. We help each other. This is what righteous people do. Somebody say amen. So whether you feel righteous or whether you don't feel righteous, none of that matters. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are not righteous by being good or acting right. We are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.

Now this is so important. Let's look at Romans chapter 5 verse 17 in the Amplified Classic. Romans chapter 5 verse 17, Amplified Classic says, For if because of one man's trespass, lapse, or offense, death reigned through that one. Much more surely were those who received God's overflowing grace, unmerited favor, and the free gift of righteousness, putting them into right standing with himself, itself, reign as kings in life through the one man, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one.

Come on, let's break this verse down. One man's offense. Adam is that one man that Paul is referring to. He committed high treason, was deceived of the enemy. Well, Eve was deceived. Adam was not deceived. Adam knew exactly what was going on, but still did it anyway. And because of his one act of sin, sin reigned through the earth. But then Jesus came on the earth. The Bible calls him the second Adam. Jesus came on the earth, perfect, spotless, no blemishes, did everything right.

In his own merit, Jesus was righteous. He fulfilled every activity of the law. In his own merit, he was righteous, but he did not consider himself righteous by his action. He considered himself righteous by faith in his father. Okay, now watch this. So then Jesus came, the second Adam came, and then he died. And then, like we said in Corinthians, he took all of our sin, and then he gave us his right standing in Christ.

And it says in this verse that if we will receive, let's put it back on the screen, grace, watch this, one man who surely those who receive God's overflowing grace and the free gift of righteousness, watch this, will reign as kings in life through one man, Jesus Christ. I wrote this down. You have a right to everything in the kingdom of God by being the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus, you have been equipped to handle every situation that comes your way.

You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. And scripture here says that you will reign as a king. How does a king reign? Is a king concerned about provision? Now I need you to change your mindset. We're not talking about a president. We're talking about a king. Is a king concerned about money? Is a king concerned about what you think about them? Now, is a king unable to make decisions that he wants to make? No, he can do whatever he wants to do. He owns the land and the people.

Okay? When I saw this verse, reign as king in life, it exploded on the inside of me because what the Spirit of the Lord is telling us is we should be in command and control over our own lives. Sin no longer has dominion over you. Now, there are four things where sin's involved. I'll talk about it next week as well. But there's four things that sin's involved. You have been delivered from the penalty of sin. Glory to God. Say amen to that. Amen. You have been delivered from the power of sin.

Sin no longer has dominion over you. Say amen to that. Amen. Here's where you not have been delivered from. You have not been delivered from the presence of sin. It's all around us. And you have not been delivered from the practice of sin, you can still choose the sin if you want to. But the power of sin and the penalty, you're delivered from. Glory be to God. Thank you, Jesus.

And if you're going to reign in life as a king, you're going to have to realize that nothing should have power over you. No sin, no sin, No sin. I said no sin. Not one sin should have any power over you. I just have to I just have to turn that computer on and look at. I just have to. No, you don't. You are the righteousness of God and you are reigning as a king in this life.

And you have power over any sin, any habitual sin, any sin that's enticing you, any sin that's lusting after you, you have power over that sin because you are the righteousness of God in Christ. And the Holy Spirit is reminding you of that today. You're righteous. Say I'm righteous in Christ Jesus. You have power over sin. And if you're going to reign as a king, King, that means you can't have anything controlling you. You need to start practicing reigning as a king and queen in life.

There are times my body says, let's go get some ice cream. It's 9.30 p.m. Let's go get some ice cream. I said, I'm a king, and I'm not getting no ice cream. King's stomach, you ain't telling me what to do. I'm King Devon. And I said, no, we're not getting no ice cream tonight. No, we're not. Well, then my body would tell me, you know, don't be kind. No, I reign as a king. I'm going to be kind in that situation. Come on, somebody say amen.

And then somebody tell me, this bill, this bill's coming up and you ain't going to be able to pay this bill. I'm a king and queen. I reign in this life as a king and queen in this life. And that bill would be paid on time when it's time. Somebody say amen. You're going to have to start thinking, I'm the righteousness of God in Christ.

God is my father and I'm reigning as a king listen to me now watch this listen to me now Jesus we never hear Jesus talk about how much faith he had or how much faith he didn't have we never hear that you know why because Jesus knew how righteous he was by faith in his father. He understood I'm in right standing with God.

The only way I can get up here and preach to you guys every week, every time I get a chance to, when I go other places and preach, the only way I can do that, it's not because I'm perfect. I wish I was, but I'm not. Stacey and my kids could probably tell you that I'm not perfect. It's not because of that. It's because I know who I am in Christ Jesus. I know I'm the righteousness of God in Christ. And while I might do something wrong on Friday, Lord, forgive me.

I got to get up there on Sunday as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Jesus knew who he was. He knew his right standing with his father. He knew that he was acceptable in the eyes of his father. So he reigned in this life. He was never beneath. He was always on top. I don't care where you are in life right now. When you begin to understand that the Holy Spirit is convincing you, you are in right standing with the Father, you'll begin to reign over circumstances in life.

People ask you, why doesn't that bother you anymore? The Holy Spirit reminded me I'm the righteousness of God in Christ. How will you stop that sin? You used to do that sin all the time. How have you stopped that? that the Holy Spirit is reminding me I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I heard a man tell this story, and I thought it was a great story. This particular guy wanted to stop smoking, and he just, he couldn't stop.

You know, he wanted to, and he couldn't. He went to the pastor. And Steve, we talked about this, and he went to the pastor, and he said. I want to stop smoking, but I can't. And the pastor told him, every time you fire up that cigarette, I want you to say, I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He said, but I'll be smoking. He said, yeah, you will be. But every time you take a puff, I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

And so he said, the man said he did it. He started, he fired up some more. I'm the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The man came back to him in two months and said, I don't even smoke anymore. The craving is gone. The desire is gone.

Why is that the case? he started recognizing who he was in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit started convicting slash convincing him righteous people don't smoke I'm the righteousness of God and as he began to declare it his desire for the nicotine began to go away and to this day the man doesn't smoke anymore. I had a guy come to me. I said, do that. That man doesn't smoke anymore either. Praise God.

I learned that from that other pastor. He said, man, I don't even have a desire to do that anymore. The righteousness of God in Christ Jesus will cause you to reign in life. Matter of fact, and I'll end with this, 1 Corinthians 1534, it won't be on the screen.

We'll start there next Next week, 1 Corinthians 15, 34 says, Awake to righteousness and do not sin. Hallelujah. When we wake up to righteousness and understand that the Holy Spirit is trying to convince you that you are in right standing with God, you will stop sinning. Hallelujah. Now, some of y'all want to keep sinning. You want to keep sinning? Well, the wages of sin is death. And why did they leave this earth so soon? Well, the wages of sin is death, you know?

Why don't they have a good communication with the Father? Well, the wages of sin. Like the example I gave of my son or my daughter, they're going to always be in Alexander, but if they act crazy, I'm going to claim them. They're going to always be mine. But they come to me like, can we borrow some money? Mm-mm, mm-mm. Dad, can you give me some money? No, no, I don't know what you're going to do with that money. No, no, no, no. What's happening? the wages of sin, right?

But when you awake to the righteousness, you won't sin. When you realize how God has placed you through Christ Jesus and your faith in Christ Jesus and his finished works, you're no longer a sinner. Those days are behind you. You are now the righteousness of God and you'll begin to reign in life because of righteousness. This is how you experience true life.