Righteousness – Right Here, Right Now

Isaiah 54:14 (NASB95)
“In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.”

Righteousness is a Biblical Truth that is at the heart of the Salvation package. One of the reasons Jesus died on the Cross was to restore a “right-standing” relationship between Man and God. While right-standing allows us to enter into an eternal relationship with God after we die, righteousness is also vitally important in living out our days on earth victoriously.

One role of righteousness can be found in Isaiah 54:14. That scripture says that as a result of being righteous we will be “far from oppression and…will not fear; and from terror.” This Truth is a huge benefit to the believer.  Fear is to the devil and his kingdom what faith is to God and His Kingdom.  Since the devil is the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2), that means that fear is everywhere in this world. Therefore as long as we are in this world, we will have the opportunity to be affected by fear.  It could be said that fear is the atmosphere of this world.  We don’t really have to do anything to be influenced by it anymore than on a foggy morning we have to do something special to be exposed to the mist in the air. It’s just there and if we are going to be outdoors we are going to experience the effects of it, unless we have some type of protection.  Righteousness is that protection!

Getting a better revelation of what righteous means and then receiving it into our lives can effectively protect us from the harmful effects of this atmosphere of fear in which the enemy operates.  FEAR – False Evidence Appearing Real – is used to pull us off the Word of God. The Word is Truth and it will always prevail. One minister of the Gospel said that the devil knows he can’t stop the Word from working, so he tries to stop people from acting on it.

When we understand that we are in right-standing with God and that nothing can separate us from His Love and His desire to give us His best, fear has no entry point in our lives.  And if fear has no power over us, then its two close relatives “oppression” and “terror” are also shut down.  Oppression is a heaviness, a burden that weighs on the mind of its victims, slowly cutting off our spirit’s ability to respond to the promises in God’s Word.  Terror, defined as “intense” fear is simply fear on steroids and causes paralysis on its victims.  It can, if unchecked, stop faith in its tracks.  Righteousness is the antidote for all these tactics of the devil.

How important is righteousness to God?  So important that He includes it in the armor He has provided for His children to ensure victory on this side of heaven (Ephesians 6:14).  How important is it to God that we walk in this righteousness? It is important enough that He gave it to us as a gift (Romans 5:17).  Finally, how important is it to God that we get the best righteousness available?  So important that Isaiah 54:17 says that the righteousness we are given is God’s very own righteousness.

God knows the pressure the enemy can apply through fear, oppression and terror. He has made provision for His beloved children to be fully protected from them. That gift of righteousness comes to us in the Person of His Precious Son, Jesus.  In God’s Kingdom everything has been done to assure our victory; the only thing that remains is for us to receive what has been done and respond to it accordingly. Our response is simply acknowledging that it always has been and always will be ALL about Jesus!

Isaiah 54:14 (The Message)
“You’ll be built solid, grounded in righteousness,
far from any trouble—nothing to fear!
far from terror—it won’t even come close!”    

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