Tired of living a defeated life where you are bound to addictions, depression, lack, condemnation, and guilt? God wants you to reign in life through two gifts that Jesus has freely given to you—grace and righteousness. Join Joseph Prince in this three-part series and be set free from whatever bondage you are struggling with.

Confess Your Righteousness In Christ And Reign

How do you apply the powerful truth of your everlasting righteousness in Christ practically? Suppose you are struggling with an addiction and you want to break free. Instead of trying by your self-effort and willpower to kick the habit, only to fail time and again, make this confession: “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”

In the midst of your struggle, declare your righteousness in Christ and receive the abundance of grace.

In the midst of your struggle, even if you give in to the temptation, believe and say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ…I am the righteousness of God in Christ…” The Bible says that “the righteousness of faith speaks” (Rom. 10:6). So declare and receive your righteousness in Christ by faith, and receive the abundance of grace for your situation. When you do this, you are silencing the devil and reminding yourself that God does not see you in your sin because of the blood of Christ. He sees you in Christ, and in Christ you are righteous, holy, and blameless!

Now, please understand that I do not say this to encourage you to sin. I am NOT saying go ahead and smoke or abuse drugs and just confess that you are still righteous in Christ.

As a pastor, I have seen how sin destroys the body, destroys relationships, breaks up families, and robs you of the peace and joy with which God wants you to live life. Being bound to sin is a painful, horrible thing. It is so horrible that it caused God to send His Son to die on the cross so that you may find freedom and victory over it. He doesn’t want you being ruled by any sin. He wants all sin to be under your feet!

But how do you come to this place where sin has no dominion over you? As we saw earlier in Romans 6:14, it is when you are under grace and not under the condemnation of the law that “sin shall not have dominion over you.”

In other words, the more you are conscious of God’s gift of righteousness to you, the more you put yourself under His abundant grace and allow it to operate in your area of struggle and give you victory. It may not happen overnight, but it will happen. 

 You see, when you believe and confess that you are still the righteousness of God in Christ in the face of your failings, you are not making light of your failings or of sin. Rather, you are making much of Jesus and the perfection of His finished work. And when you do this, you cannot help but experience His power to set you free from your bondage!

On the other hand, if you don’t focus on your righteousness in Christ when you blow it and simply allow the devil to heap condemnation, guilt, and shame on you, there is no power at all to break free. Unknowingly, you will also strengthen and perpetuate the dominion of sin in your life.

No Longer Bound By Nicotine

I have received many testimonies from people who were able to quit smoking effortlessly, simply by leaning on the grace (undeserved favor) of God and confessing their righteousness in Christ—right in between puffs. One lady from South Carolina in the US wrote to me, excited because she had discovered that “real change through grace is truly effortless.” She described how as a believer, she had grown up under the law and later became addicted to cigarettes. Every time she felt condemned by the law, she would try to quit but ended up smoking even more.

Real change through grace is truly effortless.

One day, after listening to me preach on grace, she prayed and asked God to show her “some fruits from grace” to prove that the message she had heard was true. In the meantime, according to what I had preached, she kept confessing the truth that she was the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, even as she reached for her cigarettes.

A few days later, she noticed that amazingly, she had “actually forgotten to smoke.” It was not until the following night that she realized she had not smoked for two whole days without even being conscious of it. “And I have not smoked since,” she happily testified.

Beloved, what Jesus did for this lady, He can do for you too, whatever your addiction, and however long it has been! When you simply—like this lady—believe and declare that you always have Jesus’ undeserved favor and His gift of righteousness right in the midst of your struggle, you can’t help but see the grace and power of God totally transform that area of your life!

Receive A Robust Revelation Of Your Righteousness

Now, I need to make it clear that confessing your righteousness in Christ in the midst of your sin is NOT some magic formula. It’s NOT a quick fix to your addiction. And it’s certainly NOT a license to continue in your sin. If you are going to use it as an excuse to continue in your sin, go back and reread what I said about sin and its consequences—sin destroys lives!

What I really want is for you to reign over sin and in all areas of your life by receiving a robust revelation of your righteousness in Christ. I want you to be so conscious every day of God’s supply of His grace and righteousness toward you.

The Bible tells us that blessings crown the head of the righteous (Prov. 10:6), so the larger the revelation of your righteousness in Christ, the more you will see the blessings of God manifest in your life. Let me put it in another way: see the robe of righteousness that God has already clothed you with having pockets labeled “favor,” “healing,” “deliverance,” “provision,” “wisdom,” “family blessings,” and so on. The more conscious you are of this robe on you, the more you will enjoy the blessings that come with it!

I believe this is why the Bible tells us that God, in knowing the things we need daily, tells us not to worry about them, but to seek first His (Jesus’) righteousness, and all these things that we need will simply be added to us (Matt. 6:33).

So take some time to get this revelation of your righteousness in Christ deep into your spirit. Meditate on it and declare it every day. It will put courage in your heart and bring an unshakable peace to your soul no matter what your situation. It will energize your faith when you pray and give you a confident expectation to receive only good from your heavenly Father.

When you know that your right standing with God always puts Him on your side, every fear will melt away like butter on a hot day. Bondage to fear will be a thing of the past—for if God is for you, who or what can successfully prevail against you (Rom. 8:31)?

Jesus At The Center Of It All

My friend, let me say again that it is not by focusing on your sin and self-effort to be free that you reign in life. When you do this, you become sin-conscious and self- occupied, and that only leads to distress, defeat, and despair.

But when you focus on the abundance of the Lord’s grace and His gift of righteousness, you are focusing on Jesus Himself, who is grace and righteousness personified (see John 1:17, 1 Cor. 1:30), and every addiction, every demon, has to bow to His name!

Put Jesus in the center of it all—receive His gifts of grace and righteousness in every situation—and begin to reign!

So when you receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness whenever you fail, you are really receiving and releasing Christ into your situation. Your focus turns from yourself to Christ, and when He is your focus and in the midst of your situation, that situation will surely turn around (see Acts 2:28, 2 Cor. 3:17)!

Beloved, whatever your addiction, whatever your need, put Jesus in the center of it all. Receive His gifts of abundant grace and righteousness every day, in every situation, and begin to reign in every area of your life!

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>> Read Receive Two Gifts To Reign Over Addictions Part 2/3

>> Read Receive Two Gifts To Reign Over Addictions Part 1/3

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The Holy Spirit Convicts Us Of Righteousness