God does not love me because I am righteous - I am righteous because he loves me.

God does not love me because I am righteous. I am righteous because God loves me.

It is no lie for me to say that I am righteous. It is not false for me to say that I please God each moment of my life. He is pleased with all that I do. I have not sinned against him in twenty years. I will not sin against him in the next twenty years. It is impossible for me to sin against him. I can do nothing but please God.

Why am I so confident that this is true? Because I understand that my righteousness is not of myself. I please God in all that I do because God placed me inside of his own RIGHTEOUSNESS twenty years ago. Twenty years ago I was placed inside his righteous son JESUS. Since that great event, God can only see the righteousness of Jesus as he looks upon me.

Because he is pleased with me, he is constantly expressing the pleasure he has in me towards me. Because I please God, I live with a 24/7 awareness of his pleasure and approval through his spirit he has given to me. His spirit is always confirming to me that he is happy with me. Because he is constantly expressing his approval towards me, I have no sense of condemnation or failure. I no longer feel like I am falling short of his glory because I feel his glory and praise constantly upon me. Instead of hearing words of condemnation, I only hear God say, "this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."

This pleasure of God that is upon me is a wonderful thing. It is the great prize that the scripture so often speaks of when it talks about the HOPE of GLORY. The "hope of glory" referred to in the bible is a reference to the praise that God expresses towards a man when the man is pleasing God. Because I am seen as righteous in the eyes of God, I enjoy the benefit of this glory constantly upon me. However, I am now learning that the benefit of God's glory upon me is only half of the prize. The other half of the prize is the recognition that I have been placed inside this righteousness of Christ because God loves me. God does not love me because I am righteous; I am righteous because he loves me.

You see, I entered this world with no hope of pleasing God. I can only please God by doing his will, but his will is something that is actually impossible to do with my effort. Doing the will of God is something that can only be done through God's wisdom and power. If he does not intervene on my behalf, I have no hope of pleasing him and I have no hope of receiving the benefit of his glory. But God recognized this. And even when I was not yet doing his will and pleasing him, he had mercy upon me and used his own power to place me inside the righteousness that he provided for me in Christ. He did not have to do this for me, and yet he did. He did this because he loved me. He did this because my joy and happiness mattered/matters to him. He did this because his own joy and happiness cannot be complete if my own joy and happiness is not complete. Because my happiness matters to God, God used his own power and effort to place me inside the righteousness of his son. And now that I am seen as righteous, God is able to express his pleasure to me at all times. This pleasure is upon me because I am pleasing in his eyes, but I am pleasing in his eyes because he loves me. Because I abide inside the righteousness of God, and because I know that I could not be inside this righteousness except by the will and power of God, I am confident that God really is concerned about my happiness. I am convinced that I matter to God and because I am convinced of this, all fear is fading away. How can you be afraid of anything when you know that God is for you? You can't. His righteousness that I abide in is proof that he really is for me. His righteousness that I abide in is proof that he really does love me.

Think of it like this - my dog is allowed in my house because he is clean. Because he is clean, I let him sit at my feet. Because he is clean, I will hug him close as I scratch his ears. Because my dog is clean, I am able to receive the dog with open arms. However, I don't love my dog because he is clean. Rather, because I love my dog, I use my own power and effort to ensure that my dog stays clean. If he roles in a cow patty when we walk in the field, I will use my power and effort to wash the dog off so he can continue to come in the house and lay beside me. Being clean is a condition of the dog being allowed in my house, but being clean is not a condition of my love for the dog. I loved the dog even when he was covered in manure; I then proved that love for him by washing him at my own expense. I don't love the dog because he is clean, but I cleaned the dog because I love him. And this is how is it between my God and I. He does not love me because I am clean, but he cleaned me because he loves me.

Thanks for letting me share this. This is not some quick, overnight conclusion, but it is the product of years and years of being led and taught by God. I am not trying to convince others that they should believe something similar, rather, I just wanted to express this because my soul in hungry to do so. Thanks for reading. Take care!

Hi Caleb - I don't have time to answer your questions at the moment, but I will try to do as soon as I do have time (hopefully within the next day or so).

I do have time to tell you this. I have been following this forum for a very long time (since July of 2003). However, what I just shared was not influenced by the writings of BV. However, I am familiar enough with what he writes to recognize that it might seem to others (based on what I just shared) that he and I are from the same camp. I am not saying we are, and not saying we are not, I am just trying to convey that I did recognize that my post did have a similar tone to the things he shares.

Take care.

Hi Caleb - Let me address what I mean when I say I have not sinned in twenty years.

In the middle part of 2003, God began to draw me to himself. At that time, I began to seek him as never before. In the midst of that seeking, I became filled with a very strong desire to please God. When this desire came over me, I no longer cared about making heaven or escaping hell. All I cared about was making God happy with my life. Because of that desire, I became very careful in all that I did. Because I wanted God to be pleased with my life, I was careful in all that I did and said. I did not want to do or say anything that would cause him grief.

Well, somewhere during those days of seeking to please God, a wonderful thing happened. God placed me inside his son Jesus. As a result of this, my desire to please God was satisfied. Because I was hid in Christ, God only saw a version of me that was pleasing in his eyes. From God’s perspective, I was righteous and from his perspective, he was pleased with me. Because he was pleased with me, he gave me his spirit as confirmation of his pleasure.

Now, please understand, that as this happened, I really had no understanding of it. I only recognized that I was suddenly very content with being me and that I was suddenly very secure in myself. I no longer felt the need to prove myself to others and no longer felt the need to be praised by others. Those things were recognize immediately, but what I did not understand what that I was hid inside of Christ and that I had his righteousness. What I did not understand was that I was suddenly content because I had the pleasure (or glory) of God upon me. It would be years later before I would come to understand "WHAT” God actually did for me.

I was placed in Christ twenty years ago by the power and will of God. In that moment I inherited the righteousness of Christ and the glory of God as a result of that righteousness. However, because I was ignorant of being hid in Christ, I still sought to please God by walking carefully. So, on one hand, I was not a sinner because I was seen at righteous by God, but on the other hand, I was still very much a sinner because I was trying to please God with my own fleshly efforts. And I now understand that this was sin. However, this sin of trying to please God with my own efforts did not cause him anger. He was not angry because it was not done in rebellion. I only sought to please God by my own carefulness and effort because I was ignorant of the righteousness he provided for me. However, God has been faithful to teach me of his righteousness and of his miracle of placing me in Christ. And because of his faithfulness, here I stand twenty years later, now, very confident in the righteousness that he gave to me. I now understand that I have not sinned against God in the last twenty years because there was never really a ME present to sin. The "ME” was hid and buried inside of Christ, and Jesus has since lived for me on my behalf. All he is, I am too. And this is why I can boldly say that I have not sinned in the last twenty years and why I am confident that I will not sin in the future. How can I? There is no "ME” that can sin. Only Christ and Christ alone.

I realize that this does not clear everything up, but hopefully it is a valid start.

[As I look back over this to edit, I realize that I need to point out that I now recognize that the DESIRE to please God I mentioned above was also given to me by God. I used to think that that desire was something I produced on my own, but I am now confident that this desire to please God was also given to me by God.]

IH ? Do you farm? Just wondering. International Harvester?

Not a farmer:) The IH is for In Him.

I once lived in Joplin. It was for about nine months in 2007. I am pretty sure it was a street called Conner (I think it was the 300 block). I liked the town. One of the things I remember most about living there was the 4th of July. In 2007, it was legal to shoot off fireworks inside the city limits on the 4th, and it seemed like the whole town took advantage of that freedom. It was a bit chaotic and yet a bit fun and interesting all at the same time.

Just as the dog is still not clean sometimes and must be cleaned, wouldn’t you also sin sometimes and need to be cleansed from your sin?

I will answer your question in the affirmative, but maybe not in the way you suppose.

After God placed me in Christ (by his will and power), I was ignorant of his provision and I still sought to establish my own righteousness with my effort. This effort to provide what God had already provided for me was a SIN. I needed to be cleansed from my sin, the sin of unbelief. This is the sin that God has spent the last 20 years cleansing me from.

While I doubt you will believe this, I did not come to believe in God's provision of righteousness by listening to anyone else. Prior to 2017, I was still very ignorant to God righteousness and I would have cursed anyone who suggested that they could be righteous apart from their own effort. I loved the thought that I was pleasing God with my careful actions. I loved thinking that he was pleased with me because of what I was doing. But God, was faithful to finish what he started, and slowly, but surely, God began to destroy my confidence in the flesh by teaching me that all that I have is of him. This is God's work, not a product of my own seeking.

So, yes, I did/do need to be cleansed from my sin. The sin of not fully trusting in God as my provider for all things. But he has been faithfully cleansing me of this sin by teaching me and leading me to the truth that all good things are of him, and this includes my righteousness.

For what it is worth, I did not share my original post to promote a doctrine. I have no desire to persuade others to think and believe like myself. If it is God's will to persuade someone of a certain truth, then his arm is not short. He does not need me to yell and scream at others to change their view. It just doesn't work like that. Had someone told me just 7 years ago that I needed to quit trying to please God and to rely on his righteousness, I would have told them to take their hellish doctrine and go jump in a lake. No way, in a million years, I would have accepted such nonsense. And yet, that is the nonsense that God chose to reveal to me. Man could not have done this, and since I recognize this, I am not under any delusion that I can persuade another with my arguments and words.

I did not share my post to preach or persuade, simply as an outlet for my own joy. I was just overcome with the joyful recognition that God really does know me and care about my happiness and I needed a way to express that good recognition. This post was meant to be more a of testimony than any kind of attempt to persuade. While I realized that was subjecting myself to the possibility of having my post scrutinized and challenged, I was willing to take that chance in order to release some of the joy and gladness that was building up inside of me.

I'm a bit confused because you shared about coming into your belief twenty years ago and then in your last post you mentioned seven years ago. Maybe it's just me being confused.

Hi David -

Fair enough. I see how that could be a little bit confusing. I will do my best to explain.

It was 20 years ago that God placed me in Christ. At that time I inherited the righteousness of Christ. Please understand, when this happened, I had no knowledge of what God had done for me. However, I did become very aware of the benefit of what he did for me. Because I was hidden in Christ and seen by God as righteous, I received the glory and pleasure of God upon me. God was pleased with me and I enjoyed the benefit of living inside that pleasure.

This is actually what the Bible is speaking of when it talks about eternal life. Eternal life is not something we gain after we physically die, rather, eternal life is a reference to having the glory of God upon us when we do that which is pleasing to God.

I became a benefactor of this eternal life when God placed me in the righteousness of his son. However, I did not recognize the source of this pleasure of God that was upon me. I assumed it was related to my own determination to live a life that was pleasing to God. I assumed it was related to my carefulness to not willfully and knowingly sin against God.

So, for the next 14-15 years, I would live inside the benefit of God’s pleasure upon me while living without the benefit of recognizing that God’s own righteousness was the source of that benefit. And since I was ignorant of the righteousness he gave me, I lived in the bondage of WORKING to maintain my position in God's pleasure with my own carefulness and effort. And because I believed that my righteousness was the result of my effort, there was always the fear of falling short and losing my place of good standing with God.

It was not God will for me to remain ignorant of his righteousness. Because I was ignorant of his righteousness, I lived in the bondage of fear. This was not his will. Because I was ignorant of his righteousness, I lived a life that was often false. Instead of walking honestly as the ME that he made ME to be, I lived a life of pretending to be something I was not in order to ensure that I kept God happy. This also was not his will. It was God desire for me to live fully and freely as the ME that he created. Also, because I was ignorant of God’s righteousness, I was prone to judging and condemning others who were not working as hard as I was working to please God. Since I thought that pleasing God was something I accomplished with my own effort, I judged and condemned others who were not putting for the same effort to please God. And this also was not God’s will. It was not his will for me to live with the hate and bitterness that is in our heart when we perceive ourselves to be better than others.

So, in the process of time, God began the work of setting me free from my ignorance to his righteousness. He began setting me free from my ignorance SEVEN years ago. And so, that is why I speak of twenty years ago and seven years ago. Twenty years ago I was placed in Christ and received the spiritual benefits of his righteous (the pleasure of God upon me), but seven years ago God began to teach me about his righteousness so that I now have the benefit of understanding that my righteousness is of him. Because I now understand with my mind all that God did for me, all fear of failing God is gone, all temptation to live a false live is now gone, and finally, I am much less prone to condemn others for their lack of work towards God. I can’t judge others for not working hard enough since I am no longer working myself.

So you see, now I have the double benefit of my salvation. My spirit is saved as it was saved 20 years ago when God's pleasure came upon me, but my body has now also been redeemed because I mentally understand the salvation that God provided for me. All the negative affects that were upon me because of my ignorance to God's righteousness have slowly been destroyed as I have come to understand his work of righteousness. Please don't get me wrong - I am not claiming that the work is complete, but it is much further along then it was 7 years ago, and I am very confident that he will finish what he started.