“The Source of Peace”, Genesis 15:6

Review

Isaiah 26:1-2
“In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.”

Only “the righteous nation which keepeth the truth” will enter the “strong city”.
According to Isaiah’s three-fold prophecy, the strong city is not just Jerusalem in ancient times, but also salvation for the believer in our time and the new Jerusalem that God will create in the future.
- Revelation 21, The New Jerusalem
From the root meaning of the word, “to be righteous” is “to be right”.
- How do we know we are right? We keep the truth.
- What is the truth, and how do we keep it?
- Psalms 119:142, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”
- What law? Whose law? God’s, the Ten Commandments found in Exodus along with the rest of the law found in Exodus through Deuteronomy.
  - Exodus 20:3-17, The Ten Commandments
To “keep” the truth or the law is to observe or take heed, in other words, to obey.
All human beings have disobeyed the law.
- Romans 3:10, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”
- Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
This is why Jesus is the gate by which we find salvation now and the new Jerusalem in the future.
- But why is He the gate?
- And if “all have sinned”, how can there be a righteous nation that keeps the truth and enters in?
- How can we become righteous and find salvation (and ultimately, peace) through Him?

Genesis 15:6

Genesis 15:1-6
“After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
“And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
“And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
“And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
“And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
“And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.“

There are two kinds of righteousness.
- Ours, mankind’s, in which we try to be good as much as possible. We know we fail to be perfect, but our goal is to do more good than bad. If we feel we are succeeding, we say we are a “good person” and believe we’ll be worthy of Heaven.
  - Matthew 19:16-17a, “And, behold, one came and said unto him [Jesus], Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God:….”
  - Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
  - Romans 10:3-4, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
- God’s:
  - His personal righteousness, as the only Being who was, is, and always will be truly, completely perfect, righteous, and good. It’s His nature.
  - That which he bestows on us when we believe Him.
    - Philippians 3:9, Paul writes, “And be found in him [Christ], not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”
    - Daniel 9:18, “O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.”
    - John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
    - Romans 10:9-10, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
We keep the truth and are righteous when we obey God’s commandment to believe.
- 1 John 3:23, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”
- What is belief?
  - From the root meaning, “to have faith”, “entrust”, “commit”; “to be persuaded”, “to have conviction”, “to rely”, “assurance”, “faith”
  - You are persuaded that God is and what He says in His Word (the Bible) is true, and based upon that belief, you choose to entrust or commit your soul to the care of His Son, Jesus Christ. You rely on Him for everything forever.
  - Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
  - John 6:37, Jesus says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.”
When we trust in Christ for salvation, He forgives our sin and, spiritually now and literally in Heaven, places a robe of righteousness on our shoulders. We are right in the eyes of God.
- Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”
- Revelation 19:7-8, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”
- Jeremiah 23:6, “In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
- Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

But how can belief in Jesus make us righteous? What is significant about Him? And how is it “righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”? Return next week to learn.

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Review

Genesis 15:6

But how can belief in Jesus make us righteous? What is significant about Him? And how is it “righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”? Return next week to learn.

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