ROYALTY
Crown of Righteousness
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be royal? To
wear a crown? To be clothed in the finest robe? Well, you can have an opportunity to
become royal! “But you are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who
called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (1 Peter 2:9) If you accept Jesus Christ as your
Lord and Savior and follow His path of righteousness, you will become a part of His royal priesthood, where you can receive
five crowns when you enter into glory.
The Five Crowns
- Crown of Righteousness
“Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)
- Crown
of Life
“Blessed is the
man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to
those who love Him.”
(James 1:12)
- Crown
of Incorruption
“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible.” (1 Corinthians 9:25)
- Crown
of Rejoicing
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
(1 Thessalonians 2:19-20)
- Crown of Glory
“and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
crown of glory that does not fade away.” (1 Peter 5:4)
This will be a five-part series. We will first
discuss how you can obtain the Crown of Righteousness. Let’s begin
by defining what righteousness means. Righteousness means holy and upright living in accordance with God’s
standard, not the world’s. To obtain the righteousness of God, you must first submit yourself to
Him. Have you accepted Jesus Christ not just as your Savior, but as your Lord?
Righteousness requires faith and faith requires grace.
Without grace there is no faith and without faith there is no righteousness. We cannot be righteous
on our own merit. Righteousness is imputed to us through the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross.
“For the promise that he would be the heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only
to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:13, 16)
The cross of Jesus is a public demonstration of God’s righteousness. We cannot
become righteous because of any perceived goodness in us; God sees us as righteous because of our identification by faith
with His Son.
To qualify for the Crown
of Righteousness, we must become a soldier of the cross. To become a soldier of the cross, we
must go through training. (2 Timothy 3:16) “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” Are you studying the Word of God, to know what He requires
of you? Are you attending training sessions that are being offered by your local church? i.e.
(Bible study, Sunday school, Small group studies) If you don’t know what God expects from
you, how can you possibly believe that you can live righteously before God and man?
When you stand before Jesus on that “Great Day”, will you be able to say as Paul said, “I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
(2 Timothy 4:7-8) Jesus Himself will decide whether you will receive the Crown of Righteousness.
So, you must examine the life you are living now in view of the future. Have you been living an
obedient, righteous life? Are you making a difference in the lives of others by spreading the “Good
News” of Jesus Christ?
You will receive the Crown
of Righteousness because of the life you live in the here and now. Jesus Christ is the Righteous
and Perfect Judge. He knows all! He has seen and heard everything you do.
He knows what lies in your heart. Do you need to repent and ask for forgiveness, so that you can
be righteous before Him? If so, do it now!!! Tell the Lord, that you no longer want
to live your life for yourself. Let Him know that you are sold out and willing to be on the front line
of righteousness for Him. And if you do that, He will forgive you and wipe away all of your sins and then
you will receive the Crown of Righteousness on the glorious day of redemption.
