Christ died to make us godly. Only believe.

Believers, this is the truth: "Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!" Romans 4:25

All who believe the truth that Christ was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead because we have been made right with God are righteous/godly in the sight of God, no matter who we are. Romans 5:9 says:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Isaiah prophesied the suffering of Jesus in Isaiah 53. See the result of the work that He accomplished for us in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

Christ died to make us godly/righteous. With Him as our righteousness, God sees us as godly, and not because we did anything to deserve it but because Christ shed His blood for us. He died our death. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour.

Believers, beware of preachers of a false doctrine who preach dependence on human effort at obeying the law as the means of attaining godliness/righteousness or securing a space in heaven. Notice no finished work of Christ in making the sinner who believes godly in this equation? These false preachers are the people that Paul wrote about in 2 Timothy 3:5-

"having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."

Such preachers have a form of godliness but they deny Christ who died to make us godly. They seem holy and righteous, like they just finished having lunch with God and have no sins. But they "reject the power that could make them godly": God's word says we are made godly/righteous in God's sight through the shed blood of Jesus Christ but these false doctrine preachers say that it is your tithing and ability to obey the law that makes you godly and secures a space for you in heaven!

They teach that one can be godly (be like God) by law-keeping aka through knowledge of good and evil, the same way Satan deceived Eve by seducing her to eat from the tree of the same name. See Paul's typology of the law as the forbidden fruit in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG) -

"The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me...."

Satan is still seducing people through his ministers today by deceiving many into thinking that they can be godly by human effort at keeping the law. It seemed good to Eve, as it seems good to many in the church today. But the end is death. The letter kills. We can do nothing without Christ, least of all be godly, but these false preachers deny God's power in making the sinner who believes in Jesus righteous and keep you doing all sorts in order to be godly/righteous in the sight of God after Christ died for us for this very purpose!

Believer, beware of such. Their aim is to keep the flock under the dominion of sin so that death can reign. Sin has dominion over those who depend on their own obedience and (self) righteousness from keeping the law in order to be godly/righteous- "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. Trying to obey the law in order to be godly/righteous is also the way to get cut off from Christ-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." Galatians 5:4.

In Christ, God sees us as righteous/godly, not because we obeyed the law but because Christ obeyed. Only when we receive God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17.)

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

"Death" here includes all of its symptoms such as sickness, lack, depression, all earthly ills, physical death and the second death in hell. In Christ, we get to live in triumph over sin and death. You will not continue to live in sin.

Believer, believe right. Many wrongly call Grace, which is the gospel of Christ, a license to sin. The message of Christ seems illogical to many, "For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18.

Grace is a person. His name is Jesus Christ. Grace is the power of God to salvation, even salvation from sins. Titus 2:14 says of Him: “He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.”

The letter of the law kills but the Spirit gives life, and with the Spirit of the Lord, it is not by might nor by power:

"...I am the Lord All-Powerful. So don’t depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit." Zechariah 4:6.

Right believing always produces right living