Favor shields

Psalm 5:12 For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

 Until you know you’re righteous, verses like this one are meaningless. If you are struggling with understanding what it truly means to be righteous, then you certainly can’t fathom what it means to be shielded by the favor, the grace, of God. So let’s establish your righteousness!

Being righteous does not depend on you. Though there are certain things that you can do to appear righteous before man, nothing you do can make you righteous in the eyes of God. This is a true statement: doing righteous things does not make your righteous. Rather, being righteous will cause you to do righteous things.

Since none of our works are even close to righteous (Isaiah 64:6), how do we become righteous? The answer: we don’t. Jesus, through His death on the cross, has made us righteous. It is not by our works or deeds, but by His works and deeds that we are righteous.  Since His work is finished, our righteousness is secure. Just as there is nothing that you can do to earn righteousness, there is nothing you can do to make yourself unrighteous.

This is where we lack in understanding, and this is why verses that proclaim freedom and favor for the righteous aren’t made manifest in the lives of believers. Your unrighteous acts don’t make you unrighteous! Righteousness is a gift (Romans 5:17). God does not take back the gifts that He gives. When God gave you the gift of His righteousness it became a permanent part of who you are. Forever and ever when God looks at you He sees righteousness: not yours, but His. This means that you are always acceptable to Him.

If you don’t believe me, check with Abraham. Abraham lied, but God saw him as righteous by faith. Because God saw Abraham as righteous He caused Abimelech to bless him. This is an example of the favor of God acting as a shield. God didn’t see the lie that Abraham told; Abraham was in a favor shield.

The truth today is this: you’re going to make mistakes and occasionally act in an unrighteous manner, but that can’t change your standing in Christ with God. Because Christ has made you righteous, God will continue to see you as righteous even when you do unrighteous things. If your inheritance of grace and favor depended on your ability to maintain your own righteousness then there would have never been a need for Jesus to go to the cross. Since your righteousness is secure in Christ your continued blessing under grace is secure as well.

Now this scripture can really sink in! God will bless the righteous and shield him with favor! You are righteous because Christ has made you that way (2 Corinthians 5:21). What God has joined together no man can separate! He has joined you, by the cross, to the righteousness of His Son, Jesus. You are now protected by His grace, and blessed according to His perfection. Now you are righteous. Because you are righteous you are blessed, loved, and highly favored. Even your unrighteous acts can’t get in the way of that! It’s God’s grace that protects you even from yourself!