I am continuing to read the letters of John as I am doing the study Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt by The Daily Grace Co. I am not an affiliate, only recommending a wonderful Bible Study.
Reading 1 John 2:28-3:3, and there is so much packed into these few verses.
Here we find John’s heart – his pastoral heart – in calling us “little children”. It is the heart of a father towards his children. It is the heart of a father desiring to shepherd or lead his children well and right.
John reminds us to abide in Christ. This is to be a continual and deepening relationship with Christ.
This caused me to ask myself: is my relationship continual and deepening? Is my walk deeper than it was a month ago, a week ago, than yesterday?
There was a sentence in the study that grabbed my attention:
‘But when we come to faith in Christ, our unrighteousness is covered by His perfect righteousness, and God enables those who have been “born of Him’ to practice righteousness.’
(from Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt, by The Daily Grace Co., page 86)
In the margin, I find myself writing: Our unrighteousness, covered by His perfect righteousness, so that we can practice righteousness.
Yes, another “so that” statement in my mind.
Writing it out in this way gives me such hope. Sanctification will be ongoing in my life, in our lives, until He takes us home. But we can still live confidently, unashamedly, knowing that we are practicing righteousness.
We are working out, with the help of the Holy Spirit, our sanctification each and every day.
I may not have gotten it perfectly yesterday, and probably won’t today either if I am honest, but I am so grateful I am covered in the perfect righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Our unrighteousness,
covered by His perfect righteousness,
so that we can practice righteousness.
When two friends come together to share and encourage us all, well, it’s a post and podcast which must be shared! Join Deborah Rutherford and her guest, Donna Bucher, in this podcast HERE about embracing serenity amidst suffering, understanding the true essence of beauty, and recognizing God’s transformative love in our lives.
Come, sit a spell. Bring your coffee, your posts, and your thoughts. If you link up, kindly visit those who have drawn up a seat around you.
Image by Paul Henri Degrande from Pixabay
I love your following quote Joanne;
“Our unrighteousness,
covered by His perfect righteousness,
so that we can practice righteousness.” Amen!
Blessings to you sweet friend, Jennifer
I just finished reading (and writing out) those precious little letters of John yesterday so your words are especially meaningful this morning, Joanne. Thank you for shedding more light on this passage.
I love how you summed that up, Joanne–” Our unrighteousness, covered by His perfect righteousness, so that we can practice righteousness.” How blessed we are! Not only is our unrighteousness covered, but He helps us walk in a manner glorifying to Himself.
Beautiful post and thoughts, Joanne. God requires us to walk in righteousness, but the wonder of it is, HE is our righteousness! But we do need to draw near and rest under that covering. I don’t always get this right either, and how wonderful to stop for a moment a take stock of where I am in relation to God’s righteousness.
Thank you for featuring my podcast with Deborah Rutherford, we so enjoyed doing it and are praying God blesses many through it!
Joanne, I like how you summed it too. The Bible seems to provide a new definition of righteousness. Being made right with God sets in motion a transformation that surpasses our imagination. What an indescribable gift from God—the righteousness of Christ! (2 Cor. 5:21)
It really is an “each and every day” thing, and that’s why we need his help so desperately!
What a wonderful quote of Truth, “Our unrighteousness, covered by His perfect righteousness so that we can practice righteousness.”