7 Resources God Gives Us to Live Righteously

If righteous living doesn’t come naturally, how can we live righteously? God provides resources that we may have power to live righteously. These resources begin with Christ and continue in the Holy Spirit.

1. The gift of Christ’s propitiation. Christ’s death has satisfied God’s righteousness and freed the believer from God’s condemning wrath (Romans 3:25). Prior to our salvation we were described as “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3), but now we are objects of His mercy, love, grace, and kindness (Ephesians 2:4–10).
2. The gift of Christ’s imputed righteousness. Our righteous God requires perfect obedience to His moral law in order to be accepted by Him. Christ not only came to die to pay the penalty for our disobedience, but to credit His righteousness to the account of the believer (2 Corinthians 5:21).
3. The gift of His regeneration. His righteousness merits for us all of God’s blessings (2 Peter 1:3–4). We are not saved by our righteousness (Titus 3:5). On the basis of His righteousness, our spirits have been graciously made alive or regenerated (Romans 8:10). We are now new creations (Ephesians 4:24) who are no longer slaves of sin but now slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:17–18).
4. The gift of His Spirit. Our righteous God has not only set us free from sin’s control but also has given us the gift of the Holy Spirit. As one walks by the Spirit, the righteous requirements of God’s eternal moral law are fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4).
5. The gift of His leading. The Lord loves righteousness (Psalm 11:7) and loves those who pursue righteousness (Proverbs 15:9). For this reason we can appeal to His righteousness to lead us (Psalm 5:8), to “bring [our souls] out of trouble” (Psalm 143:11), and even to revive us (Psalm 119:40). We can appeal to His honor or name to lead us into paths where we can live righteously (Psalm 23:3).
6. The gift of His cleansing. Our righteous God does not desire us to sin. However, He has provided a way for the believer to walk with Him and be restored to fellowship when we do sin. As we walk in the light (1 John 1:7) and confess our sins as God points them out, He is not only faithful but also righteous in cleansing and forgiving us (1 John 1:9). In this way we are able to enjoy the fellowship of our righteous God who “knows the way of the righteous” (Psalm 1:6) and who will “meet [those] who [rejoice] in doing righteousness” (Isaiah 64:5).
7. Because He loves us and a father’s love includes discipline (see Hebrews 12:7–11), God’s final provision is loving discipline. Discipline is correction designed to yield the “peaceful fruit of righteousness” (v. 11). God disciplines His people by allowing them to experience the consequence of insisting upon their own way. When Israel disobeyed, God “gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart, to walk in their own devices” (Psalm 81:11–12). God loves His people and desires good even for those who are under His discipline.