Your Sin Is Not the Devil's Business: Rest in Righteousness
Dr RJ Sing, 23 min, Part 1 of Resting in the Righteousness of God
Originally recorded as “Resting in the Righteousness of God”
Sermon outline
Righteousness is a free gift you received the moment you received Christ, and you can never earn more of it, so let it rest on you all the time and come to God without guilt, expecting Him to answer.
Main text
- Romans 5:12-18
Opening
The recording begins with him saying the church is sin conscious and keeps calling itself 'sinners saved by grace'. He corrects this, then announces his subject, resting on the righteousness of God, and says a believer who knows his covenant rights prays differently from one who only hopes God will hear.
You were a sinner; now you are a saint
If you are born again you are no longer a sinner. The epistles are written to the saints at Ephesus and at Corinth, whether or not they looked or felt like saints. Because the blood of Jesus has cleansed us, we do not come to God as poor little sinners hoping for a moment of His time: when you pray, He hears and answers.
Illustration: Two men praying: one knows his covenant rights and enforces them, the other comes hoping that God will leave His busyness and give him a little time.
“You were a sinner saved by grace. You're no more a sinner now.”
- Ephesians 1:1
- 1 Corinthians 1:2
- 1 John 1:7-9
Death in Adam, life in Christ
Reading Romans 5 from verse 12, he shows that the passage does not stop at 'all have sinned'. By one man, Adam, sin entered and man was doomed and separated from God, but by one man, Jesus Christ, grace abounded to many. Christianity is therefore not another religion but a life: you are now the temple in which God's Spirit dwells.
Illustration: We used to go to temples to worship and thought that God lived there. Now you are the temple, and when you speak and pray the Spirit of God goes out from it.
“Death in Adam, life in Christ.”
- Romans 5:12-15
- Hebrews 12:2
- 1 Corinthians 3:16
Justified: just as if you have never sinned
The free gift is 'unto justification', which means you stand in God's presence, with all your issues, as if you had never sinned. God looks at you through the finished work of Calvary and says what He said over Jesus at His baptism. The devil is defeated; the real problem is that believers do not know who they are and whose they are.
Illustration: Before Christ your family said you would not amount to anything, 'but when we met Jesus', that changed us and made us children of God.
“You stand in the presence of God just as if you have never sinned.”
- Romans 5:16
- Matthew 3:17
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
The gift is righteousness, and you cannot work for it
The gift Romans 5 speaks of is the righteousness of God. Nobody works or begs for a gift; the only condition is that you receive it, and the day you received Christ you received it. Praying, fasting, going to church and tithing are all good, but none of them can make you more righteous, so you can come before God with no inferiority, guilt or condemnation.
Illustration: A man who has lived a wicked life walks down to the altar, believes and receives Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The moment he turns to walk back up the aisle he is the righteousness of God.
“You are just all the righteousness you'll ever be right now.”
- Romans 5:17
- Hebrews 4:12
- Matthew 4:4
- Romans 8:15
Let righteousness rest on you all the time
We take up the gift at salvation, then keep laying it down and trying to reach God by works. Righteousness is the centre of your salvation: answered prayer, healing the sick and deliverance all rest on it. It does not change in church, in the garden, in worship or in trials, so when the devil brings up your failures, tell him you are justified.
Illustration: While he is casting out a devil, the devil reminds him that he had an argument with his wife. His answer: 'It does not matter. I'm still the righteousness of God.'
“Your sin is not the devil's business.”
- Romans 5:18
The fact and the truth: your blood-bought rights
You cannot pray with condemnation, doubt, fear and unbelief. When the world gives you a fact, such as a job you may not get or a doctor's bad report, answer with the truth of God's Word: He will make a way, and by His stripes you are healed. Answered prayer, healing and long life are blood-bought rights, so do not leave them to 'whatever He wills'.
Illustration: Go to the bank, fill in a withdrawal slip, hand it to the teller and say, 'Whatever she wills, she wills.' If you asked for a thousand rand and got nine hundred, what would you do?
“That's a fact. But the truth is, my God shall make a way.”
- 1 Peter 2:24
- Psalm 107:20
- Hosea 12:13
Putting it into practice
- Stop calling yourself a sinner saved by grace: you are a saint and the righteousness of God.
- Stop trying to earn more righteousness by praying, fasting or giving; do those things because they are good.
- Come to God in prayer without guilt, and do not rehearse yesterday's failures.
- When the devil reminds you of your sin, tell him you are justified.
- Answer the facts you are given with the truth of God's Word.
Closing
There is no closing on the recording. It stops in the middle of his bank withdrawal illustration, with the question, 'Would you come to church?'
Declarations he led
- I'm the temple of God.
- I know who I am. I know whose I am.
- I'm the righteousness of God. I'm sanctified by Christ. I'm filled with the Holy Ghost. I'm full.
- Nothing changes that.
- My sin is not the devil's business.
- I refuse to die prematurely.
In his words
- “You stand in the presence of God just as if you have never sinned.”
- “The only condition with a gift is that the recipient needs to receive it.”
- “You are just all the righteousness you'll ever be right now.”
- “That righteousness should rest on you. All the time.”
- “Your sin is not the devil's business.”
Every scripture in this message
- Ephesians 1:1
- 1 Corinthians 1:2
- 1 John 1:7-9
- Romans 5:12-18
- Hebrews 12:2
- 1 Corinthians 3:16
- Matthew 3:17
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Hebrews 4:12
- Matthew 4:4
- Romans 8:15
- 1 Peter 2:24
- Psalm 107:20
- Hosea 12:13