Confessions for Life; The Righteousness of Faith

David W Palmer

(Romans 4:13 NKJV) For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.

Through the apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit speaks of “the righteousness of faith.” Then, in the lead up to his explanation of how to receive salvation and Jesus’s new birth, he mentions it again:

(Romans 10:6–9 NKJV) But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) {7} or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). {8} 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): {9} 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.

From this passage, we see that our all-important salvation is dependent on confession: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. …” Furthermore, he says that our words of spoken confession need to come from faith in the heart: “believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead.”

In this series of devotional studies, we have seen several times Jesus’s statements emphasising that the words that are creative, effective, living and powerful are the ones that overflow through our mouths from fully assured faith in our hearts:

(Matthew 12:34–35 DKJV) “You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of that which fills [and overflows from] the heart the mouth speaks. (35) A good man, out of the good treasure [collected in and overflowing from his heart], sends out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure sends out evil things.”

Overflowing words from faith in the heart are creative or destructive—depending on whose words you have put your trust in. If they come from God’s word, planted in the heart and harvested through overflow—he will watch over them to perform them. If they come from doubt, unbelief, or the devil’s planted seeds, they will be watched over by him; and he will use them for his destructive, life-stealing purposes. Jesus, the Living word, put it like this:

(John 10:10 NKJV) “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

The faith we need in our hearts comes by hearing God’s words in our hearts (Rom. 10:17). And this is exactly how we receive the faith we need for salvation and to walk in the “righteousness of faith”:

(Romans 10:13–14, 17 NKJV) For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” {14} How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? ... {17} So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The Holy Spirit clearly says that salvation—the righteousness of faith—is received when the faith that comes by hearing from God is expressed in confession of his words from the overflow of the believing heart. If you have received Jesus’s new birth, this is how it happened. According to these verses, we simply cannot receive salvation without confessing that Jesus is Lord.

We saw yesterday that the only ones who will not wholeheartedly confess that Jesus is Lord are of a different spirit; they are not saved; they do not belong to God. The only—and I gratefully repeat only—way we can receive salvation and be right with God is through the righteousness of faith. Without faith, pleasing God is simply not possible:

(Hebrews 11:6 NKJV) But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Once having received the new birth, we then become disciples, learners, and apprentices to Jesus and his ways. We have much to learn and to digest from his word. As we read, hear, and swallow his words, this renews our minds and gets established in our hearts. From what we plant and grow there, a whole raft of new confessions spring forth—words we speak that are the same words as what he says.

Today, we begin by looking at some of the words that we need to confess about ourselves—the reality of who we are now through our union with Jesus. These are in-Christ realities; they are mind-renewing statements of who God has recreated us to be in our new birth and covenant with him. Let’s begin with the truth that in Christ, God has made us the righteousness of God:

(2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. ... {21} For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

I encourage you to confess these passages, and then make from them a mind renewing confession to apply them personally: “I am a new creation; I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”

This concept is staggeringly challenging to believe. Having been born again from a life of guilt and shame, in which we lived under the condemning accusations of the enemy and his kingdom, we have much mind renewing to do to fully believe that we are now the righteousness of God. Because, when we think deeply about what “righteousness” means, we can initially find it very difficult to swallow and to believe that it applies to us, let alone apply its implications:

(Ephesians 3:12 NKJV) in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

(Proverbs 28:1 NKJV) The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

Here, the Holy Spirit is speaking of our access to Father God. He says that in Jesus our Lord, we have this access—not merely as observers, visitors, or menials—but with “boldness” and with “confidence.” Having been born again, you are God the Father’s very own child. You access him with the right standing of his Son. This is both astounding and completely freeing.

“The righteousness of God,” means that in Christ, you now have the very same righteousness as Jesus and the Father have themselves. But let’s not get proud about this; he has credited this righteousness to us—not through anything we have done or deserve—but simply by Jesus’s achievement and our covenant with him. But it is real, and he wants us to operate in this amazing privilege:

(Hebrews 6:19–20 NLT) This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary. {20} Jesus has already gone in there for us. …

Jesus has opened this access, confidence, and boldness for us. Being the righteousness of God in Him means that we have as much right to be there as he does. I know this sounds extremely hard to believe and swallow, but that is how good God is; and that is what Jesus suffered and died to achieve for us. He made us his children through being born into his family, and he gave us the family privilege of being right in Father’s eyes and always welcomed unreservedly at his “throne,” “inner sanctuary,” or “secret place.”

(Hebrews 4:16 NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Psalm 91:1 NKJV) He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Today, I encourage you to begin to confess Jesus is Lord if you haven’t yet, or continue making that confession if you are already born again. Plus, add to it the confession of 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21 (written above) and the application of it to your own life:

“I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Add to it …

“In Jesus, I have access with boldness and confidence.”

“In Christ, I come boldly to the throne of grace, enter within the veil, and abide in the secret place of the Most High.”

Remember, renewing your mind from the way it has been trained will take some time. Think of it as planting God’s word seeds in your heart. Keep at these confessions of God’s word and in your meditation on them until they come to harvest. Persist in saying them quietly to yourself until the growing faith in your heart leaps out of your mouth in creative, bold, confident exclamations of faith-filled words that affirm the truth written in the Bible.

During this growth period, your confidence to draw near to God, and your peace when you do, will grow. At the throne, inner sanctuary, and secret place await love, acceptance, encouragement, answers to prayer, insights, wisdom, overflowing life, and joy:

(Psalm 16:11 NKJV) In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

When your faith pleases God, you will experience the “pleasures” at his right hand.