What makes a man right with God? This is a very important question Some have said it is by obeying the Ten Commandments or by keeping the laws of Moses, (that is to say the 613 laws of Moses). Doing what the Lord says. That's what some people say. But how many of the Ten Commandments can you say you have possibly and perfectly kept? None! This is because you can't perfectly keep the commandments of the old testament. This is so because those ten commandments are not stand alone commandments, but are further broken down into a total of 613 laws. Based on this no one can say they have or can keep the Ten Commandments. In the light of the above truth, if we are to ask again "how many of the laws of Moses (the 613 laws of Moses) can anyone keep?" The answer is absolutely none.
To clarify further why no one can absolutely keep the Law of Moses, the Bible tells us in James 2:10, that if you fail in just one point you have failed everything. So you can see how difficult that would be to anybody at all trying to be right with God by doing what the Law of Moses says.
There are those who say it is by fasting or maybe by repenting from their sins and then maybe confessing your sins. The truth is that no matter how much you try, you cannot confess all your sins because in the first place you don't even know the number of sins you commit in a day. You don't know how many wrongs you do in a day, let alone a week or a month or even in a year. There is no way your natural brain, your natural mind can possibly keep a record of all of that.
There are also some who say it is by doing good works and then having a high moral standard, but it is not by having high moral standards because morality is not Christianity. A person can be morally high and yet spiritually low. Morality is for the natural man, you don't even have to be a Christian to have high moral standards.
It's not by how morally sound or how morally high that's not the way. All of these things that mentioned are the ideas that religious people believe and teach but that's not what the New Testament teaches and we've got to find out from the Word of God what the New Testament teaches about what makes a person right with God. We've got to find out what the Bible says about it because the Bible is our guiding rule, our guiding principle.
God never does anything without his word. Now, the first thing you got to understand is that being right with God is not according to your good works. It's not by how much you try. It's not by how much effort you apply. Someone said to me the other day, "I'm trying my best". It's not by trying your best because there is no way your best is going to be good enough for God.
Religion tells people they have to try their best. They have to do good enough. Now, I'm not against doing good works. I'm not against doing good deeds. But you see, you've just got to understand what the Word of God teaches. Good works are not the key to being right with God. As good as they are, as fantastic as they are, as wonderful as they are, they are not the key to being right with God.
The Bible makes it very clear that it's not by works of righteousness which we do. It's not by how much we try. It's not by our human effort. It's not by our human goodness. It's not by our performance. You cannot be right with God based on your performance. No matter how much you try.
That's not the way. You've got to learn to forget about all of those craps that religionists keep churning out every now and then. God's word tells us exactly what makes a person right with God.
The church today has been infected with a theology popularly known as the performance-based theology. Trying to use their performance to please God. Trying to use their performance to get right with God. Paul said, I discarded all those things. I counted those things as worthless, those things as meaningless. Those things don't count as far as God is concerned. Under this new covenant age, under this church age, hallelujah!
Paul tells us in Romans chapter 3 verse 20 and Romans chapter 5 verse 20 the purpose of the law. Why the law was given in the first place. Paul said the law was not given to make anyone right with God. Rather, the law was given to make men become aware of their sinfulness. To make men become knowledgeable of their sin, to make them aware that they needed help and that they actually need a savior. And that savior is Jesus Christ. That's just the purpose of the law.
It makes people become aware of their shortcomings. Praise the Lord Jesus! And the Law puts condemnation on people. The Law makes people self-conscious. It makes people performance conscious. You can't get right with God by doing what the Law says, no matter how much you try.
Now we are going to see from God's word what makes a person right.
Romans 9 from verse 30 to 32. Paul is here telling us that even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God but then he says they were made right with God. God brought them into his family. How? The Bible tells us it was by faith. It was by faith that this took place. Now verse 31 says, the people of Israel tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law but they never succeeded. Just like so many Christians today are trying so hard to please God, trying to get right with God by keeping the law, by obeying the law, by obeying the commandments.
Instead of trusting in Jesus. They were trying to get right with God by their own efforts. Everybody who tries to get right with God by obeying the law has misdirected zeal.
For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way. They cling to their own way of getting right with God. By trying to keep the law. So you see, if you're trying to get right with God by keeping the law, you're doing your own thing. That's your own. It doesn't count. God doesn't place any regard on it.
It doesn't count. It's just a waste of time, a waste of effort and such effort is based on zeal that is without revelation knowledge. You can't get right with God by obeying the commandments. It's not by your good works. It's not by your good efforts. That's what the Bible is saying.
We are made right with God by faith. By faith in Jesus Christ. Not by obeying the Law for no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.
So you see, the way to be right with God is through faith. By believing in Jesus Christ. That is, by receiving Him as your substitute. As your Lord and Savior. And there is no other way.
Under this new covenant age, under this church age, in this grace age, there's no other way to be right with God. And that's just the simple truth. Praise the Lord Jesus! So you see, if you're already born again, then you're already right with God. You are righteous. Hallelujah!
Your righteousness is not based on your efforts in trying to keep the law of Moses. It's not based on your human efforts in trying to perform well so that God will accept you. No, that's not righteousness. Your righteousness is based on your faith in Jesus Christ.
Everybody who's been born again has been made righteous in Christ. Praise the Lord! That's the whole truth. That's the truth the Bible teaches. And there is no other truth apart from this. Praise the Lord Jesus!
(A Prize Chukwuka Teaching)
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