Luke 1:17 — It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]—in order to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.”
A righteous person, by definition in the Bible, is someone with an attitude that says,
I want “to seek and submit to the will of God”
That you? Do you think of yourself as someone who seeks to know the will of God, and submits constantly to that will of God?
This attitude of the righteous is found in Luke 1:17 (AMP):
“…the attitude of the righteous [which is to seek and submit to the will of God]….”
God is at work in us “to make ready a people [perfectly] prepared [spiritually and morally] for the Lord.” – Luke 1:17
God is at work in all non-believers… to inspire them to turn around, to turn to Him. He wants all of us to “to seek and submit to the will of God”. Does that describe your life?
The definition in Luke does not say: The righteous person is one who does not sin. The righteous person is the one who sins less than others. The righteous person is better than others. The righteous person is always doing the right thing. No.
In fact, God expects that we will sin – because He knows our heart:
The righteous person is the one that, in spite of sin problems — seeks after God and actually submits to His will.
Look at examples of followers of God who had sin problems – yet were counted as righteous because they had an attitude of “I want to seek and submit to the will of God”:
Followers of God who had sin problems:
- the adulterous, murdering King David, the “denying Jesus”, “cut off an ear” violent disciple Peter, the “murdering Christians zealot” Apostle Paul, the harlot Rahab, …and, actually — all believers: “…such were some of you….” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [f effeminate by perversion] effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. – 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
- my willful ways
Willful Sinners Who Turned to God: These sinned greatly, but then repented and God blessed them.
King David, Jonah, Rahab, Peter, Thief on the Cross, Liz Curtis Higgs…
What they did… murder by contract/lured to have killed, lust, voyeurism, adultery, fornication; refusing God’s request, hating a people group; prostitution; though a chosen disciple of Christ – three times he denied he knew Jesus; declared guilty of crimes and hung on a Roman cross; lived a promiscuous lifestyle.
Willful Sinners Who Failed to Turn to God: These went away from God – without repenting, and remained under condemnation.
Cain – son of Adam and Eve, killed his brother; Judas – traitorous disciple, did not repent; Pilate the governor – who condemned Jesus to die; King Agrippa who said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.“; Rich Young Ruler – was sad but kept his god, riches – and left Jesus…
“No matter your sin. No matter the gravity of it. No matter how many years. No matter if you are born again or actively atheist…. God loves you, is calling you to Himself, and He wants you to repent and accept Him as your Lord and Savior. He wants you to follow Him.
“What matters is that we accept Jesus, repent and follow Him. Then Jesus accepts us just as we are – and empowers us to grow into living His way. He will make you brand new!” Source: – My Heinous Heinous Ways
Don’t let your sinful ways keep you from confessing your ways to God. As with the Prodigal Son, the Father will accept you.
FOR MORE:
My Heinous Heinous Ways
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