The Righteousness of the Father's Love
Greetings and good morning brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series
where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years,
the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them
with you. This morning we seek to understand the righteousness of the Father's love.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
The Righteousness of the Father's Love
Jesus saith, "I can of mine own self do nothing: As I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just;
because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John, Chapter
5, Verse 30.
Brothers and sisters, when it comes to doing the Father's will, there are two kinds of wills: the will
that does not believe the Father's Son, Jesus, and the will that does. The will that does not believe
Jesus tries to avoid doing what is wrong, but the will that believes Jesus does what is right. The
nonbeliever has a definite set of concrete rules of "do nots". Initially the nonbeliever is successful
in avoiding those things that he defines as being wrong, but as time goes on he experiences
increasing difficulty in avoiding all the things that his moral sense says he should avoid. He runs up
against the barrier of selfishness and self righteousness.
The nonbeliever expends a lot of energy using the force of will to avoid certain kinds of behavior.
He is constantly on guard least he should be tempted. He must avoid all circumstances where the
objectionable behavior might surface. Eventually the strain of having to guard against so many
constantly increasing do nots overwhelms him. He eventually fails.
At this point, not wanting to believe Jesus and surrender to the Father's will, the nonbeliever
becomes self righteous. It establishes its own standards of righteousness which he is perfectly able
to abide by. It matters not how unrighteous or inconsistent such a standard might be. He uses this
standard as satisfying all the factors of self righteousness. In his estimate, the act determines the
righteousness of the motive.
On the other hand, the believer pursues a divine standard of righteousness. This standard is so large,
infinitely large, so long in duration, eternally long, that when comparing himself to this standard, the
result is humility. He strives for divine righteousness through faith in Jesus, and as he strives for this
divine righteousness, he acquires more and more of it.
At the same time, his self righteousness decreases more and more. He is so preoccupied with the
pursuit of divine goodness that his focus only sees that which needs to be done. He perceives the
divine meanings and values that should be in a given situation and supplies them. When he
encounters turmoil, he demonstrates peace. The demonstration of divine peace effectively provides
the picture for those who are victims of turmoil to see what they must strive to be. Instead of being
adversely affected by the evil, he asserts the values and meanings of divine goodness.
And while it is true that his success rate may not be very high at first, as he continues to strive for
the mastery of divine righteousness, the Father's will, his success rate increasingly becomes constant.
And since he is not focusing on the do-nots, he does not expend ever increasing energy on trying to
prevent himself from doing those things. Rather he draws upon the divine energy to pursue divine
righteousness. He knows that the motive of the act determines the righteousness of it.
He recognizes the various levels of growth in his brothers and sisters. He knows that they possess
various levels of morality and spirituality, indicating their degree to perfectly abide by the Father's
will. He recognizes that the ability to discern lower levels of morality and spirituality in others does
not give him the right to judge and condemn them. Far from it, the revelation of divine goodness in
the minds of the believer is a divine responsibility. The believer is being trusted with this insight so
that he can effectively know what his erring brothers and sisters need. The knowledge of another's
fault implies the ability to show others what their correct behavior should be.
We acquire divine righteousness by faith. It is the gift-response of our heavenly Father in response
to our faith-desire for divine righteousness. This righteousness is not imparted to the consciousness
of the mind, but to the soul. The degree of divine righteousness of the soul is unconsciously
displayed in the moral and spiritual life of the believer. The believer has overcome the doubting of
the skeptical mind and a disbelieving environment. He knows by faith the reality of the Father's will.
He knows the Father because he trusts Him. As he looks over his partnership with the Father, he sees
the accomplishments of the partnership. Thus, his personal experience confirms the reality of his
faith and trust in the Father.
The nonbeliever is constantly seeking for some materialistic sign of the reality of the Father's will.
And since there are none, he does not pursue the Father's will. His life is not dominated by the
pursuit of truth. His is not a life predicated upon love, trust, and faith. He is like the Pharisees who
constantly said, "Show me a sign, and I will believe." The nonbeliever can never quite get over the
nagging doubt. And the reason for this is that he tries to prove spiritual truths by material facts. The
proof of truth is the experience of truth, otherwise it remains a faith-trust.
This concludes today's message on understanding the righteousness of the Father's love. We hope
you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next
time, this is Dr. James Perry
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
The Righteousness of the Father's Love
