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 9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
The “fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ”?  Didn’t, we just talked about that in Ephesians 5 - May the Righteous Shine? But let us zero in on the scripture, Ephesians 6:9-11…
 8For you were once darkness, but now …

As we saw yesterday in Ephesians 5 - May the Righteous Shine, Paul was exhorting the Ephesians to live intimate (i.e., emotionally trusting, not necessarily sexual) lives with the believing Christians God has put in your life.  After focusing on the practical consequences of attaching yourself intimately with unbelievers (they don’t have God’s light, and so at least unwittingly bring you into darkness), Paul then turns his focus to exactly how you should be within your Christian relationships.  As Paul states in 5:21:
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
He then gives examples in chapters 5 and 6 of the kinds of relationships the Ephesians were already …

How we come to righteousness matters.  That is, how we live, where we look, what we do, will determine whether or not we actually come to the point of believing God and obeying him.  This is why Paul writes the following in Ephesians 4:
 17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so …

Following is every verse on righteousness in Galatians.  They show a thorough understanding of righteousness by Paul, and are ordered quite logically.  I present them together, instead of separately because they help explain each other.  They tell the story we’ve been seeing in scripture all year… 
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! - Galatians 2:21

Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” - Galatians 3:6

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. - Galatians 3:21

But by faith we eagerly await through the …

Monday, I said the following scripture needed no commentary.  Well, this morning I changed my mind…
 6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As it is written:
   ”He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
      his righteousness endures forever.” 10Now he who …

2 Corinthians 6
 1As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2For he says,
   ”In the time of my favor I heard you,
      and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Paul’s opening for 2 Cor. 6 is interesting.  He has just finished writing 2 Cor. 5, explaining to the Corinthians that the only distance they have from God is Christ.  Whatever distance they have, Christ spans it. He is now their “distance” from God… literally their “sin”.  Truly such a connection to God is by grace, because one could never accomplish it on our …

“If Young Earth Creationists are out of their mind, it is for the sake of God; if Old Earth Creationists are in their right mind, it is for you.” — 2 Corinthians 5:13

Okay, I’m kidding.  People who believe in a young earth are not insane, but they are out of their mind… in the way 2 Corinthians 5:13 says.  Oh wait.  That isn’t really 2 Corinthians 5:13, is it?  Sorry about that.  Couldn’t resist.  As much as I emphasize that YECs have admirable faith and should not be converted to being Evolutionists at the cost of their faith and fellowship, the very tension of the Creation debate sometimes finds its release in potentially offensive jokes.  So for that, I apologize.  …

Chapter 5 is interesting.  In verses 1 to 5 about how our body clothes us in this world, yet we fear being unclothed.  That fear began with Adam and Eve, and we still have it!  Well, Paul says, our home in Heaven will keep us clothed forever, so look forward to it!  Yet, our desire for remaining clothed is so great, that we tend to cling to what we have on earth.  It’s the human condition, clinging to this fleeting life, to fulfill the need Heaven was made to fulfill.

And so, as Paul says in verse 6 to 10, given how “at home” we feel here, if that is going to be our perspective, then we must make up our …

9If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!
The ministry that condemns refers to the Law of Moses, which outlines consequences for disobedience.
Where there is Law there is disobedience.
Where there is faith in Christ, there is obedience.  
Though both come with their own set of rules, there is a higher set of rules within which both sets operate.
Believe God and He will account it to you as righteousness
With righteousness, you can obey God
The difference is perspective.  The Law requires believing God and makes one fearful to disobey; faith in Christ requires believing God, and makes one capable of obedience.

In both cases, we are obedient on some counts, and disobedient on other counts.
In …

30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
We already know that the righteousness we have is really God’s choice to see us as such.  We know that our redemption is through justification, which is another word for Christian righteousness.  Finally, holiness is from God’s choice to fellowship with us.  Notice therefore, that Christ has become our righteousness, holiness, and wisdom… and that, just as is taught in the Old Testament, it is by choice.  He is our wisdom by choice.

Notice also that our justification, our salvation, …