Accounted righteous

 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah 53:11 ESV

The last half of this verse is significant to the prophecy, it speaks to the fact that Jesus sacrifice would serve to bring many to a faith in Him because of His sacrifice. In His sacrifice He bore our sins and when we come to that realization and obey His command and act on our faith it will be accounted to us as righteousness.

Did you notice I said act on our faith? Simple belief is not enough, we must act on our faith. Jesus gave a command concerning being one of His disciples before He went to the cross. Read Matthew 28:18-20 in order to follow Christ we must be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Peter repeats the need for baptism, for the forgiveness of sins in Acts 2:38. Simple belief is not sufficient to be counted righteous.

James 2:19 says this; Even the demons believe--and shudder!ESV We know they believed in Jesus and knew His mission yet they were not saved by His sacrifice. Here are several verses where demons acknowledge who Jesus is: Mark 3:11, Luke 4:34,41

Would anyone dare to claim that the demons have salvation in Jesus simply because they believe? No, of course not. One must be obedient to God's will, and we know demons are not obedient to His will. So, belief is not enough. Read the gospels and see how often Jesus speaks of obedience to His Father in heaven and His will. There must be a reason He speaks of it so often.

Jesus died on the cross so many could be accounted righteous. Don't you want to be accounted righteous? Read Romans chapter 4. If we believe in Jesus and obey His commands; It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Romans 4:24b & 25 ESV

© 2012 Leo J. Woodman