Selwyn puts forward three simple tests to determine if ‘we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness’, they are:
‘The first is to ask if we can see the total inadequacy of our own false righteousness . Scripture tells us that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).’ Expressed in a different way – our good works which are based on self-efforts, done outside of a relationship with God, have no value in God’s eyes.
(The second test) ‘is to ask ourselves if we have a real awareness of our need of a Saviour. Do we recognise our complete inability to save ourselves and understand that if God had not sent His Son to save us then we would have been lost for ever?’
Lastly, the third test is, ‘when we read about Bible characters who were out and out for God, such as the men and women we have read about in Hebrew 11 (the reading for today is Hebrews 11:1-13), do we find ourselves longing to be like them? …
Can you pass these tests?’
I think that the key test is Selwyn’s second test because once we understand that we cannot save ourselves by our own self-efforts then we seek a relationship with Jesus which produces a desire to be like Him. This desire based on our love for God results in a hunger and thirst for righteousness – what are your views on this?
I was reading Psalm 96 last night and this morning went back to it and then read Psalm 97, which I thought has some great verses in it on righteousness: (vv 10-12), “Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the rghteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.”
How did you go on Selwyn’s tests – where they a bit of a challenge?
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Three simple tests
Selwyn puts forward three simple tests to determine if ‘we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness’, they are:
‘The first is to ask if we can see the total inadequacy of our own false righteousness . Scripture tells us that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).’ Expressed in a different way – our good works which are based on self-efforts, done outside of a relationship with God, have no value in God’s eyes.
(The second test) ‘is to ask ourselves if we have a real awareness of our need of a Saviour. Do we recognise our complete inability to save ourselves and understand that if God had not sent His Son to save us then we would have been lost for ever?’
Lastly, the third test is, ‘when we read about Bible characters who were out and out for God, such as the men and women we have read about in Hebrew 11 (the reading for today is Hebrews 11:1-13), do we find ourselves longing to be like them? …
Can you pass these tests?’
I think that the key test is Selwyn’s second test because once we understand that we cannot save ourselves by our own self-efforts then we seek a relationship with Jesus which produces a desire to be like Him. This desire based on our love for God results in a hunger and thirst for righteousness – what are your views on this?
I was reading Psalm 96 last night and this morning went back to it and then read Psalm 97, which I thought has some great verses in it on righteousness: (vv 10-12), “Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is shed upon the rghteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.”
How did you go on Selwyn’s tests – where they a bit of a challenge?
Â