1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

You see that they have purified their souls (soul, mind, heart, life are all the same Greek word.)  This purification is holiness.  There is a measure of holiness in those who follow Jesus.  It is accomplished by obeying the truth.  This obedience to the truth is not something that humanity can accomplish, but it is only through the Spirit that it can be accomplished.  When the Holy Spirit does obedience through us, that is righteousness, and it is the only righteousness that can exist in reality.  It is not fake.  It is unfeigned.  When we try to do righteousness ourselves, that righteousness is feigned.  It is faked.  It is hypocritical.  True righteousness is Love.  Love fulfills all the commandments.  All the commandments can be summed up in one word, Love.  God is Love.  To try to love without God is pure folly.  Righteousness is the flow of God through His people.  It is the flow of the Anointing, the Holy Spirit.  Nothing else is Love ever.  Real righteousness is by grace through faith. 

Here is God's Pattern:    

God Speaks.    (some caveats about hearing God's Voice)

You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute [incapable of articulate speech] idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:2-3

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by [the] word (literally utterance) [of] God. Romans 10:17 

I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go. Isaiah 48:17 

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4

This is the point at which you either see reality or you do not.  This is the point at which you look into the totally complete law of liberty.   James 1:22-25   

James 1:22-25 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass:  For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled (the veil is the flesh) face beholding as in a mirror (those who have been created in the image of God) the glory of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.  Literal      

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass [a mirror], darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (Note that we now see in part, but as we walk from glory to glory, our senses are exercised by reason of use.  The light becomes more clear to us.  We see reality more clearly.)    

You become what you see in the Spirit. When we see things as they really are, we see that we are born into Christ the Body, which is joined to Christ the Head.  We have a sinful nature, but we are the Christ.  When we forget this, we fall into sin.  When we abide in this, it is because we maintain fellowship with the Father and the Son.  We yield our mind, our soul, to the Holy Spirit, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and fill us with power both to will and to do His good pleasure.

When a person is born again, they are drawn toward Christ by the Father until the day that they suddenly realize that they were created to be joined to Christ the Body (the Church) and Christ the Head.  For those who have been born into the Church, you realize who you are in Christ, a member in particular in His Body.  You identify with your ministry, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  You realize that your life makes no sense outside of the context of the Body of Christ.  You also discern what is not of Christ, what is of the devil, and you avoid it like plague.

But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil. Proverbs 1:33 

Then said they to him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?  Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. John 6:28-29

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5  Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. Hebrews 3:15"

Then, God's faith comes by hearing. And Faith gives access to His grace.

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:2

Grace, the free gift of righteousness, does the works in us. You reap what you sow. You are transfigured from glory to glory into God's holiness and freedom from sin's slavery.

Topic: Works

The words of which God speaks are real.  They are Truth.  It is His Truth that sets you free from Satan\'s lies.  He who does righteousness is righteous. (1John 3:7) Real righteousness is by grace through faith. God\'s process for righteousness is by grace, and grace is through faith. (Eph 2:8-10) (some caveats about hearing God\'s Voice) FREE on-line BOOK (a classic): The Real Faith, by Charles S. Price FREE on-line BOOK...

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Real righteousness is by grace through faith. FREE on-line BOOK (a classic): The Real Faith, by Charles S. Price FREE on-line BOOK (a classic): The Meaning Of Faith, by Charles S. Price ...

Romans 5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses to justification.   Justification goes beyond forgiveness to righteousness.  It is an imparted righteousness, but it is a righteousness that does the works of God.   Real righteousness is by grace through faith.  ...

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.   Sin shall not have dominion over you.  Every person who has not been born again is absolutely controlled by the dominion of sin.  The unsaved can do self-righteousness, but it is not a true righteousness.  All true righteousness flows from the throne of God.  Real righteousness is by grace through faith. ...

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.   Real righteousness is by grace through faith.  ...

Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law,...

We may have never realized just how very strait (constricted) (Luke 13:24) and narrow (Matthew 7:14) that way of righteousness is. It is very narrow and constricted. If God didn\'t tell us to think it, say it or do it, then it is sin. It is missing the mark. If God did tell us to do it and we get our flesh involved at all, to the extent that we...

The Scripture Testifies to Holiness as the Heritage of the Church 1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now...

 \"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away.\"  Isaiah 64:6 \"For God hath not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness\" (I Thessalonians 4:7).  Some theologians assume that Scriptures that seem so completely opposed as these two are an indication that one of the Scriptures must be...

Question: I\'m 28 years old and I\'m from the United Kingdom. I said the sinners\' prayer in 2005 with some other Christians and I\'ve been going to church ever since. I got baptized in 2006. I was drinking very excessively before I started coming to church and I continued to live in this sin of drunkenness even when I was hearing the gospel at church and after I got baptized. When...

Many years ago while preaching about the harlot who washed the feet of Jesus, the late evangelist JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE (1847-1907) of Zion City, Illinois, related the following: "This poor woman, a harlot, who came in from the streets is called 'Hamartolos'; in the original word, that is to say, a prostitute, a poor, wretched, outcast woman, a harlot. Oh, is there any being upon earth so much to be pitied,...

Topic: Righteousness by Grace through Faith

You can know the will of God by being led by the Spirit. Then, the next question is this: \"How can I know it is the Spirit and not myself?\" Here are ten things you need to know about being led: 1. You must seek God on purpose Hebrews 11:6 God is and He is a rewarder--we will find Him if we seek Him. Matt 7:8 All who seek find Luke 11:9-13 God will give...

\"It is because of him [the Father] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.\" 1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV The battle for righteousness is a battle to correct the proper operation of the human spirit, mind/soul, and body. Of course, this includes correcting our relationship to God. Real righteousness is by grace through faith. Romans 14:23 tells us simply that...

The words of which God speaks are real.  They are Truth.  It is His Truth that sets you free from Satan\'s lies.  He who does righteousness is righteous. (1John 3:7) Real righteousness is by grace through faith. God\'s process for righteousness is by grace, and grace is through faith. (Eph 2:8-10) (some caveats about hearing God\'s Voice) FREE on-line BOOK (a classic): The Real Faith, by Charles S. Price FREE on-line BOOK...

We may have never realized just how very strait (constricted) (Luke 13:24) and narrow (Matthew 7:14) that way of righteousness is. It is very narrow and constricted. If God didn\'t tell us to think it, say it or do it, then it is sin. It is missing the mark. If God did tell us to do it and we get our flesh involved at all, to the extent that we...

You look into the royal law of liberty, and you see reality. (James 2:8) You see the Kingdom of God. (James 1:23) When you see yourself in this royal law of liberty, what do you see?  You need to see reality.  In reality, you are a new creature, created in righteousness. (1Cor 5:17) Do you think that the Christ in you can sin? Of course not. (1 John 3:9) Jesus is that...

The Process Righteousness consists of God leading us and us following. The problem is that we have no capacity within ourselves to follow God. So God has a way to give us the free gift of righteousness. God\'s method is \"by grace through faith,\" and this is the process. God speaks. God has already prepared our heart to receive and hear. (some caveats about hearing God\'s Voice) When we hear, God\'s faith comes. God\'s faith gives...

If a bird lands on your head, that\'s not really your fault... but you don\'t have to let it build a nest. When you are tempted, you may slip across into sin. (Eph 4:26) Temper, lust, covetousness, or disrespect may involuntarily spring forth. (1John 1:10) Think about it. When you have a thought of envy, do you analyze the situation and make a conscious decision to be envious as a first...

We may wonder why, if we have been crucified with Christ, the flesh has any influence on us at all. It seems that crucifixion is a slow death. As soon as you are born again (by believing and trusting in Jesus) you ARE a new creature. However, you still HAVE a fleshly nature. Your REAL self is the Christ nature, that ministry that you have BECOME. This ministry, Christ in you,...

Down to earth righteousness is real and it has to do with the will of the person through whom the righteousness is done..  It is righteousness the flows from the Holy Spirit.  It is the flow of God\'s Own Love through the follower of Christ.  It is the fruit of the Spirit.  God speaks, leads.  The Christ follower hears and directs his or her will to follow.  God\'s Own Faith...

Sin: Acknowledging lies rather than Truth, so you step or slip off the narrow and restricted Way that leads to the genuine and absolute fullness of Life. Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life.    Key Scripture: whatever is not of supernatural belief and trust is sin. Romans 14:23b Whoever does miss the mark (sin) also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. * 1 John 3:4 Owe no one anything, but to love one another:...

 All that is good comes from God     Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding,       Forgiveness,       Repentance,       love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance,       Faith       Righteousness   Don\'t try to make your own.     Yield your members to God\'s righteousness. Don\'t try to make your own righteousness.       Stand in His presence and receive...

Righteousness is by grace through faith. Why do Christians struggle so to be righteous when righteousness is the free gift of God. Salvation is by grace through faith. Salvation is more than being born again and escaping from the punishment for sin. Salvation is forgiveness and it is also being set free from slavery to sin and the sinful nature. Here\'s how it works: God speaks His vision of hope to us....

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.   Sin shall not have dominion over you.  Every person who has not been born again is absolutely controlled by the dominion of sin.  The unsaved can do self-righteousness, but it is not a true righteousness.  All true righteousness flows from the throne of God.  Real righteousness is by grace through faith. ...

Luke 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.   Real righteousness is by grace through faith.  ...

Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourselves to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law,...

 \"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away.\"  Isaiah 64:6 \"For God hath not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness\" (I Thessalonians 4:7).  Some theologians assume that Scriptures that seem so completely opposed as these two are an indication that one of the Scriptures must be...

Topic: Sin

This particular response happens more often in those who have been born again than it does in those who have not been born again. The seed, the gospel of the Kingdom of the Heavens, lands on the trampled path of the heart in a Christian. How did that path get trampled and hardened? Isn\'t a Christian\'s heart supposed to be soft toward God? The heart becomes hardened by repeatedly missing...

The Way Is Very Narrow And The Gate Is Very Strait  Key Scripture:   whatever is not of supernatural belief and trust is sin. Romans 14:23b   Whoever does miss the mark (sin) also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. * 1 John 3:4   Owe no one anything, but to love one another: for whoever loves another has fulfilled the law.  For this: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal,...

 Key Scripture: whatever is not of supernatural belief and trust is sin. Romans 14:23b Whoever does miss the mark (sin) also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. * 1 John 3:4 Owe no one anything, but to love one another: for whoever loves another has fulfilled the law.  For this: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet--and...

1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. Keep in mind that love fulfills all the commandments.  The entire law can be summed up in the one word, love, but it so important that we are not deceived.  There are many lies about love.  We need to know what love truly is. The sure way to create a self-righteous hypocrite is to...

Sin: Acknowledging lies rather than Truth, so you step or slip off the narrow and restricted Way that leads to the genuine and absolute fullness of Life. Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life.    Key Scripture: whatever is not of supernatural belief and trust is sin. Romans 14:23b Whoever does miss the mark (sin) also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. * 1 John 3:4 Owe no one anything, but to love one another:...

God provided a way of salvation, and He is looking for those who will accept it. He is looking for those who will not reject Him. Those who reject God's salvation are rejecting a wonderful gift. They are exhibiting the ultimate in rebellion against God. There is no way to sugar-coat this situation. Those who reject Jesus are rejecting God and are condemned already. John 12:48 John 3:18 ...

Definition of Leaven: Leaven is a type of prideful sin. Definition of Leaven - Define Leaven from Old Testament Scripture Ex 12:19 Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. (we...

The word, \"sin,\" is often translated from a word that means straying from the way/path. Sin is missing the Strait (that is, constrained) and Narrow way/path. This would be the narrow way that leads to eternal life. Jesus is the Way, and Jesus is the Life, so Jesis is both the way to reach the goal, but Jesus is also the goal. The word, \"sin,\" is often translated from two...

 All that is good comes from God     Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding,       Forgiveness,       Repentance,       love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance,       Faith       Righteousness   Don\'t try to make your own.     Yield your members to God\'s righteousness. Don\'t try to make your own righteousness.       Stand in His presence and receive...

 \"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away.\"  Isaiah 64:6 \"For God hath not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness\" (I Thessalonians 4:7).  Some theologians assume that Scriptures that seem so completely opposed as these two are an indication that one of the Scriptures must be...

Topic: Holiness, Sanctification, and Stability

\"It is because of him [the Father] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.\"   1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV   Holiness is progressive.  It is a change in what we are. It is a basic change in our very nature. You were designed for righteousness, holiness, and total redemption.  There is an upward spiral of righteousness, holiness, and redemption...

1 Peter 1:6 & 7  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found to praise and honour and glory at the appearing [Apokalupsis: removal of a covering or veil] of Jesus Christ FREE on-line BOOK (a...

Isaiah 48:10-11 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory to another. Many are called, but few are chosen.  Look at the place where the chosen are chosen: the furnace of affliction.  God does...

 \"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away.\"  Isaiah 64:6 \"For God hath not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness\" (I Thessalonians 4:7).  Some theologians assume that Scriptures that seem so completely opposed as these two are an indication that one of the Scriptures must be...

The Way Is Very Narrow And The Gate Is Very Strait  Key Scripture:   whatever is not of supernatural belief and trust is sin. Romans 14:23b   Whoever does miss the mark (sin) also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. * 1 John 3:4   Owe no one anything, but to love one another: for whoever loves another has fulfilled the law.  For this: You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal,...

If God requires total holiness, how can a Christian live total holiness? Is it even possible? Yes, It is possible to live in total holiness, but watch out for this. Do not modify holiness to be something that you can do. Do not think that holiness is something that you can do. Holiness is something that God causes you to become. You just receive it or reject it. There is a...

The Scripture Testifies to Holiness as the Heritage of the Church 1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now...

Ephesians 4:24-30 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him...

Ephesians 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ; Ephesians 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation (conversation refers to the whole manner of life) the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; Ephesians 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your...

Question: I\'m 28 years old and I\'m from the United Kingdom. I said the sinners\' prayer in 2005 with some other Christians and I\'ve been going to church ever since. I got baptized in 2006. I was drinking very excessively before I started coming to church and I continued to live in this sin of drunkenness even when I was hearing the gospel at church and after I got baptized. When...

Many years ago while preaching about the harlot who washed the feet of Jesus, the late evangelist JOHN ALEXANDER DOWIE (1847-1907) of Zion City, Illinois, related the following: "This poor woman, a harlot, who came in from the streets is called 'Hamartolos'; in the original word, that is to say, a prostitute, a poor, wretched, outcast woman, a harlot. Oh, is there any being upon earth so much to be pitied,...