We are not defeated. We may appear to be defeated in so many ways, but we are more than conquerors through Him that has loved us. Therefore, God tells His people, particularly His preachers, "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably [to the heart] to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that HER WARFARE IS ACCOMPLISHED, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord's hand DOUBLE for all her sins (Is 40:1-2)."
Our warfare, this whole life of faith, is already a completed victory. God our beloved Father beholds us sitting down with Jesus Christ. In eternal predestination, His unfailing purpose is our conformity to Jesus Christ (Rom 8:28-30). Therefore, we, like the Apostle Paul, in the mind and purpose of God, have finished our course. We have fought the good fight of faith, laid hold of eternal life, and the crown of victory, which we shall cast at the Lord Jesus' feet, is ours. We still have to experience the victory, but it is sure, irrevocable, and completely of God.
The inheritance is ours to enjoy right now. Our Lord Jesus Christ earned it by the shedding of His precious blood. We are joint-heirs in the victory, partakers of the Spirit of adoption, and treated by God our Father as sons (Rom 8:17). This is the DOUBLE that we have received. Not only are we out of debt (Jesus paid it all), but we've also obtained the inheritance of sons. We are partakers of God's unsearchable riches in Christ. And, this great inheritance can never and shall never be taken away. Sometimes our eyes are blind to it for extended periods of time, but it is ours.
This inheritance includes righteousness, and every other blessing comes to us because the righteousness of God has been predestinated for us, accomplished for us, imputed to us, imparted in us, and is worked out through us by faith.
1. We have eternal justification. Before the world was formed, God saw us righteous, holy, and accepted IN Christ – "According as he hath chosen us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, where HE HATH MADE US accepted in the Beloved (Eph 1:4-6)."
2. We have the justification Christ accomplished. He is our righteousness by His obedient life and by His sin-atoning death. God did not deal lightly with our sins because we are His elect; He punished our sins fully and completely in His Son. And, when He raised His Son from the dead, it was because HE accomplished our justification – (Rom 4:25) "[Jesus our Lord] was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." This is why God sat Him upon the throne, and this is why you are justified.
3. We have justification by faith. Our faith is not our righteousness. That would be justification by works, by human merit, by something that you do… and it is an abomination. Rather, God gives us faith to believe that Jesus Christ accomplished our justification OUTSIDE of us and without us contributing a single thing. Therefore, we trust Him as ungodly sinners made righteous by His obedience. And, God says, that the man or woman… yea, whosoever believes that Jesus Christ is your justification, is dealt with by God as righteous. You are treated by the Almighty, through one speck of faith, as an obedient son –obedient through what Christ has done – (Rom 4:5) "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
If you ever want to meet a person that has peace… a peace that endures circumstances, global catastrophes, and failures, then find somebody that believes they're irrevocably righteous through what our Lord has done – (Rom 5:1) "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
4. Believers have the righteousness of a NEW NATURE. Christ dwells in our hearts by faith, and this is where He strengthens us with power "to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (read Eph 3:16-20)."
5. Finally, believers have the righteousness of good works. True faith produces good – (James 2:18) "… I will show thee my faith by my works." When God told Josiah that he would surely die in peace, it didn't provoke him to give up worship. Instead, he became more zealous (II Chron 34:27-33). And, this is the life of the believer. Each time the Holy Spirit reveals the complete satisfaction God has with us in Christ, it provokes us to serve Him in newness of spirit (as accepted sons) & not in oldness of the letter (for acceptance) (read Rom 7:6).
This is why God tells His ambassadors to COMFORT His people. He knows true faith will produce good works (II Tim 3:16-17). He knows that the more we actually believe the riches of our inheritance and all of the things we MOST ASSUREDLY possess in Christ, the more we will faithfully serve and love – "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, & patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God & our Father; Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in the power, & in the Holy Ghost, and in MUCH ASSURANCE… (I Thess 1:3-5)." Someone wrote –