Seek first the kingdom and live righteously

Written by Nana Kwame Owusu-Afriyie.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need” (NLT) Matthew 6:33

Christ Jesus, in His earthly ministry, taught his disciples to pray for Christ to reign in the hearts of men (Matthew 6:10). Christ reigns in the hearts of men when through the obedience of the gospel (Acts 8:37), they are baptized through immersion and added to the Lord’s church (Acts 2:47). In Christ’s kingdom, we have one major preoccupation: to live righteously.

Righteous living is a call to a higher purpose. It demands our all: heart, soul, and mind and our faith in God’s word. It is not human righteousness, for even our righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God.

“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (NLT) Isaiah 64:6

Like Abraham and all the heroes of faith, it is the righteousness of God that is accredited to us through our obedience to the gospel.

“This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life’” (NLT) Romans 1:17

That is why Christ mandated his disciples to continue teaching the new converts the word (Matthew 28:20), because it is only in God’s word that we can live righteously, not by worldly standards, but by divine standards. To be added to the Lord’s kingdom is a necessary condition, but the sufficient condition is the righteousness that comes through faith in God’s word.

“It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By faith, Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT COMES BY FAITH (NLT) Hebrews 11:6.

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