"Yet you are so lovely!"

Believer, see God's heart towards you who believe that you are righteous by the blood of Jesus alone: Romans 5:9-

"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."

Believer, with Christ as our righteousness, in God's sight, we are without spot or blemish: Righteous by the blood of Jesus. 1 John 4:17 tells us:

"By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world."

The TPT version puts it thus: 17 "By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world."

Believer, all that Christ is right now, so are we in this world; not when we get to heaven and not because we did anything to deserve it. It is all by God's Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. This is the crux of the gospel of Christ: Righteousness by faith and apart from works. 

And how is Christ like today? 

He is the Altogether Lovely One. Grace-personified. He is Life. He is the embodiment of righteousness, peace,joy, love, wisdom, compassion, moral excellence and everything that is good. Of ourselves, we are imperfect people made alive and perfected in His perfection. 

Sometimes we look at ourselves and see our many flaws and imperfections. But believer - you who have Christ as your righteousness - Christ wants you to see yourself as He sees you: "Yet you are so lovely!" Bride of Christ, see a picture of our relationship with Him in Song of Songs 1:5 - 

[ The Shulamite ] Jerusalem maidens, in this twilight darkness I know I am so unworthy—so in need. 

[ The Shepherd-King ] Yet you are so lovely! 

[ The Shulamite ] I feel as dark and dry as the desert tents of the wandering nomads. 

[ The Shepherd-King ] Yet you are so lovely— like the fine linen tapestry hanging in the Holy Place.

This is a conversation between the Shulamite (you and I who believe Jesus) and the Shepherd-King (our Saviour Jesus Christ.) 

Believer, Christ wants you to see yourself as He sees you: "Yet you are so lovely!" And this isn't something we do just for the sake of doing it. By seeing ourselves as He sees us, we are being transformed. As we continue to see ourselves in the mirror of God's Word (Christ Himself: Grace-personified) and not through the Law (which Romans 3:20 says was given to show us how sinful we are,) we are being transformed by His Spirit: 2 Corinthians 3:18-

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Let's take our blessed brains to church: only imperfect people need transformation. The one who can transform himself to become godly aka "be like God" by will-power and human striving (arm of flesh) at obeying the Law does not need the Spirit of the Lord to transform him. 

Believer, by Grace, don't let any false preacher deceive you into believing that you are not 100% righteous and "so lovely" in the sight of our Shepherd-King. He gave His life for your righteousness.

He gives Grace for right living. 

In Him, if you sin and mess things up, know that our Saviour Jesus Christ the Shepherd-King will never discard you or do SMH at you. He knows how screwed up we can get; most of the time, we don't. Thank God that Christ is not in the business of beating or abandoning His sheep that mess themselves up to the ravages of the devourer. He will help you. Romans 5:20 says: 

"The law was given so that sin would increase...." 

But purpose of Christ's word (Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) is to keep us from sinning: 1 John 2:1-2:

"My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. But suppose someone does sin. Then we have a friend who speaks to the Father for us. He is Jesus Christ, the Blameless One. 2 He gave His life to pay for our sins. But He not only paid for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world."

Many preachers read this verse and feel a self-righteous urge to add some Law (human effort at attaining godliness) to God's saving Grace in order to put believers in Christ in check regarding the issue of sins. Such call this horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace "a balanced message" when in reality, it is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3. 

For some preachers, this idea of "balancing" Grace with some human effort-driven works of the Law has its root in the belief that God's work cannot succeed without our making it so by some forceful effort on our part, much like how "Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled." in 2 Samuel 6:6. The Ark of the Covenant is a picture of Christ: Grace-personified. See Hagar and Sarah as the two covenants of Law and Grace in Galatians 4. Can you imagine someone telling Sarah (Grace) that she needs Hagar (Law) to help her raise Isaac (you and I in Christ) because Grace is not sufficient for Isaac? No, friend. See Christ's word in 2 Corinthians 12:9-

"And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

The Law that many are trying so hard to keep in order to be godly has no patience for backstories, errors made in innocence or the unavoidable constraints that caused you to sin. It is God's word: righteous, unbending and will judge and punish even the tiniest of sins to the uttermost: Death. In Christ, we are not under law but under Grace where sin has no dominion. 

Many others who preach this mixture that is neither Law nor Grace are plain ministers of Satan following after the example of their master who deceived Adam and Eve into believing that they could attain godliness (be like God) by human effort at doing something.

God's grace is not a license to wallow in sins. God hates sin, as do we children of True Grace. Churchgoers who belittle the power of God's saving Grace and think that they can be good by their own will-power do so because they are yet to receive the revelation that Paul and we True Grace children have received. See this in Romans 7:18-

"For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

But Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at doing right and living a godly life) that will fail says: 

"No, I can accomplish it. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can keep the law and overcome sin by my will-power." 

This is the same way Peter told our Lord Jesus Christ that He was wrong when Christ told him of his upcoming denials. Peter thought the sin of bearing false witness against Christ was beneath him, but Christ knows us better than we know ourselves. Peter lied copiously afterwards, as will anyone who gets tempted beyond what he can bear. 

"Time and Chance" do not conduct SWOT analysis or give notification like Landlord before throwing tests at anybody. The reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them or that they can obey the law in order to be godly. Believer, this is the only reason why you and I are not wallowing in heinous sins right now: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13-

12 "So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

If God was not filtering and screening, we'd all be wallowing in heinous sins. But we often think we did good all by ourselves. The earlier every believer realises this, the better. 

Thinking that, of ourselves, there is some good in us exposes one to being sifted like wheat by Satan as Peter was. But there is something about the arm of flesh (dependence on human effort at obedience) that wants to be relevant and take some credit in the story of our salvation. That something is Pride. Such who think they can keep the Law are yet to see that nothing good lives within the flesh (human effort) of the fallen humanity of anybody. He that is down need fear no fall so by Grace, let's heed our Lord God's counsel and "beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall."

There is no good in anyone of us of ourselves. Grace is the gospel of Christ and the power of God to salvation, even salvation from sins. Without Grace, sin will reign/have dominion:

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14.

Depend on your ability to keep the Law in order to be godly and sin will have dominion over you. Many false teachers know these things. Such try to redefine God's saving grace that saves from sins as license to sin. Such push the false doctrine of law-keeping as the means of attaining rights-standing with God in order to cut churchgoers off from Christ and keep churchgoers under the dominion of sin. They even lie to you that sins is what makes a believer fall from grace. But see the truth in Galatians 5:4- 

"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."

Believer, Sin is the disease. Christ is the Great Physician and Medicine that makes righteous and whole. Beware of false preachers who tell you who can do nothing apart from Christ that you have to heal yourself of your sins by keeping the letter (law) that kills  before the Great Physician can look your way.

Our heavenly Father corrects us when we sin but never with the death (including its symptoms of sickness, poverty, depression and every earthly ill) that Christ already died for you and I at the cross. His correction is not unto death but unto life: Hebrews 12:

9 "Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness."

Notice "His holiness"? Of ourselves, we have none.Beware of any "man of God" that condemns and threatens you who believe with God's wrath in whatever form (generational curse, death, lack) and for whatever reason, even for your sins that you struggle with. They will only make you live under a constant cloud of anxious fears that lead to depression. 

To you, Christ says "Don't be afraid." Christ's perfect love casts out fear. Christ came to free you from those very sins that you struggle with and that Satan's ministers condemn you for; He knows that of of ourselves, there is no good in us. He knows how screwed up we can be, so He came to free us from every kind of sin, no matter how horrid they are: Titus 2:14-

"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."

Believer in Christ, God is not an angry Taskmaster that is just waiting in the wings to catch you in sin so that He can beat you or let the devil have a go at you. For us, He is Abba, Father. He gave His own Son to die our death and give us life. By His Grace, heed His counsel in Isaiah 30:15 -"... 

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves...."

By Grace, let's stop looking to man for salvation. See Christ lifted up for you as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. What more would our Heavenly Father not do for us? He gave His own Son for us that we might live the abundant life in Him. In Christ, He fills us to overflowing with His goodness that we do not deserve, so much that with what is spilling over, we cannot but be a blessing to those around us. 

In Christ, we get to live fear-free. We get to give, love, do exploits and live a life of moral excellence that exceeds that which the Law demands; we get to give beyond the lawful regulations of the law tithe without being under Law, yet not us but Christ in us, so we cannot boast about how works done with our puny arm of flesh (human effort) that will fail is what gingered God to bless us. For ALL our abundance of giving and receiving, Christ gets ALL the glory.

Right believing always produces right living.