We should take a deeper look at righteousness!

[John Zain]

Any man can be obedient enough to be righteous in God’s eyes
• “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” (Malachi 3:18)
• “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.” (2 Samuel 22:21)
• “And they (Zacharias and Elizabeth) were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:6)
• “And these will go away into everlasting punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)
So, please do not let anyone tell you that born-again Christians
(BACs) are not capable of maintaining their righteousness!

BACs initially receive their righteousness through faith
• “his (the one who believes) faith is accounted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5)
• “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10)
• “the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Philippians 3:9)

A BAC especially can LIVE righteously via the indwelling Holy Spirit
Those of us who are born-again have the precious Holy Spirit inside of us,
leading us and guiding us, and convicting us of our sins.
All that is required is to be led by Him, and be obedient to what He says!
And, “All Scripture … is profitable for … instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Many BACs need to PURSUE righteousness
• “But you, O man of God, flee these things (sins) and pursue righteousness” (1 Tim 6:11)
If a Christian is sinning, does he/she still have righteousness?
And does a BAC pusue what he already has?
No, these Christians (above) were sinning, and had lost their righteousness!

BACs who really are righteous will PRACTICE righteousness
Paul warned the Roman BACs that they have a CHOICE (Romans 6:16-19) …
“(slaves) of sin leading to (eternal) death, OR (slaves) of obedience leading to righteousness”
… and he urged them, “present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness”
• “… whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.” (Acts 10:35)
• “… you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” (1 John 2:29)
• “… let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous” (1 John 3:7)
• “… we, having died to sins, might live for (the practicing of) righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24)
• “Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness,
righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8-10)
Notice that righteousness is one of the fruits of the Spirit of the “children of light”.

Grace reigns to eternal life in BACs who MAINTAIN their righteousness
• “… so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life ...” (Romans 5:21)

How BACs are to MAINTAIN their righteousness
• “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess (repent of) our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:7-10)
Notice that BACs who “walk in the light” can be cleansed from all unrighteousness!

 

[williemac]

In Ephesians 4:22-24, Paul instructs his readers to put off the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts and to put on the new man which WAS created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. The fact is that if a person is BAC, as some like to call it, this means that they have a new spirit within that comes from His seed (1John 3:9), which is incorruptible (1Pet.1:23) . According to the Ephesians reference, this new man within us is righteous and holy. I would say this makes sense since he is born of the Spirit (John 3:6) and carries the life and nature of Jesus. I say this because this is what a seed's function is. It is used in reproduction of a species, carrying in it the life and nature of the species it belongs to. When we were born of our parents, their dna joined together and a brand new version of them came to be in their offspring. There's no way of knowing if dna is used in the spiritual sense, but nonetheless, the same picture is given us; namely that the new man inherits the nature of his Parent.

The old man (our flesh) has no righteousness, but is corrupt and sinful. Our new man is and will always be righteous. We (our soul) have the task of walking according to the new nature rather than the old nature. But our standing before God and our condition in His eyes, is righteous, regardless of how successful we are in walking in this righteousness we have been reborn with. Jesus retains the right to work with His children, chastening them if need be, and instructing them through various means and methods in regards to who they are in Him.

We are a new creation. Our righteousness stands not on the basis of our behavior or daily walk. It stands on the basis of who we are as new creations. It is a good thing, because we carry this treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (2Cor.4:7) Our justification is not measured by our daily walk in Christ. It stands the way it came: by faith.

Our righteousness is maintained by the virtue of our remaining a new creation. It is not maintained by virtue of confession of sin. 1John 1:9 is a picture of the initial experience of the new birth. The confession of sin brings about the new birth. This is a one time event. It is not repeated over and over again. The passage does not say that. In fact, the very next verse debunks that theory and clears up this mistaken conclusion. It says if we do sin we have an advocate with the Father. (1John2:1).

1John 1:9 speaks of forgiveness. It happens at the moment of our accepting the sacrifice of Jesus for our sin. We do not drift in and out of forgiveness from God. That is a harmful teaching. It causes much stress and anxiety in believers all over the world.

 

[John Zain]

Willie,

Please just try dealing with (and explaining) the Scripture passages in the OP.
And, most everyone knows that 1 John 1:7-10 is directed at BACs.

 

[williemac]

Willie,

Please just try dealing with (and explaining) the Scripture passages in the OP.
And, most everyone knows that 1 John 1:7-10 is directed at BACs.

Most everyone is told that it is directed at Bac's. As I explained in another topic, Rom.10:9 is also directed at Bac's. It tells how to get saved. It tells them to do that which they have already done. The point is that a teacher will often teach a concept of salvation or other things for the sake of understanding. Such is the case with 1John 1:7-10. He is giving them a foundational understanding concerning sin, forgiveness, and cleansing. But when we want to find out what happens if we do sin, we go to the next chapter and find it in the very first verse.

I am not willing to deal with a passage as you are asking, if there is no allowance for getting understanding from other passages. We do not find truth by isolating verses of scripture and/or taking them out of context.

Speaking of most everyone, most bible scholars agree that John wrote among other things, to address certain false ideas from gnosticism. One such idea is that there is no sin. I have heard similar philosophical ideas even today.

But hey, if you want to invent the rules by which we play, then go ahead and try. I am playing by the basic rules of bible interpretation, which include finding conclusions from scripture that do not contradict other parts of the bible.

It happens that John also said that in 1John 1:5-7, he talks about walking in light vs. darkness. Light is synonymous with truth.

As I also shared on this very subject in another thread, if we are to maintain righteousness through confession and repentance of sin, then we should find this teaching elsewhere, in specific instruction and in clear language. Of course we cannot.

I do not believe it is advisable to make a doctrine from one passage that is being applied in a narrow context. The conclusion you and many make about repeated confession, is not supported anywhere, and in fact is contradicted in the very next verse...1John 2:1. That particular verse is in fact supported, where we find many passages that speak of the permanency of our condition (ie.Heb.10:12,14) , and the assurance that the blood of Jesus has succeeded vastly beyond anything the old sacrifices could have accomplished.

In the doctrine you are supporting, the forgiveness of sin is only accomplished constantly through the repeated confession of it. Do you recall or acknowledge that there are those who have the honesty to take this to its logical conclusion and therefore teach that people are lost forever if they die with unconfessed sin in their lives? They would die unforgiven. They would die unrighteous. That is the logical conclusion of this doctrine, like it or not. I say that is a gross contradiction of all that we know (or should know).

 

[Levi]

As long as the OP doesn't start teaching we can be saved by our own righteousness - I'm good with what's written. :)

 

[John Zain]

As long as the OP doesn't start teaching we can be saved by our own righteousness - I'm good with what's written. :)

IMO, the conclusion of the OP (below) is quite self-explanatory ...

• “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess (repent of) our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:7-10)

I cannot say it much clearer than this ... the sins after being born-again must be taken care of!

But, you may choose to disagree with this, as does most everyone else!

 

[Levi]

IMO, the conclusion of the OP (below) is quite self-explanatory ...

• “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess (repent of) our sins, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (1 John 1:7-10)

I cannot say it much clearer than this ... the sins after being born-again must be taken care of!

But, you may choose to disagree with this, as does most everyone else!

I agree with you. I'm not sure why people would disagree. Even though God allows us to sin for awhile, the conviction is strong and it seems He won't let us remain there. He is always working on and in us.

 

[John Zain]

I agree with you. I'm not sure why people would disagree.
Even though God allows us to sin for awhile, the conviction is strong and it seems He won't let us remain there.
He is always working on and in us.

Of course, I agree, most BACs will give way to the pressure.
But man can choose to do whatever he desires ... free will reigns supreme!
Several Moderators elsewhere agree that all of those warnings are there for a reason!

Not only that, but for centuries, millions have been taught that they are secure!
So, many are in hell because of the false doctrine of OSAS, which is from the pits of hell.
The other major one is cessationism! ... Even more damaging over 1700 years than OSAS.

 

[Levi]

Of course, I agree, most BACs will give way to the pressure.
But man can choose to do whatever he desires ... free will reigns supreme!
Several Moderators elsewhere agree that all of those warnings are there for a reason!

Not only that, but for centuries, millions have been taught that they are secure!
So, many are in hell because of the false doctrine of OSAS, which is from the pits of hell.
The other major one is cessationism! ... Even more damaging over 1700 years than OSAS.

Yes, I agree we can reject something that once was presented to us from the beginning and we accepted. Like you have said, we have free will, it's not something that stops when we accepted Christ.

I'm not sure what cessationism is.

 

[williemac]

As long as the OP doesn't start teaching we can be saved by our own righteousness - I'm good with what's written. :)

But that's exactly what it amounts to. If justification comes by faith, how is it sustained any other way? And yet that is what is being peddled. O, yeh, sure, God is good and gives us the free gift of life with no strings attached. But this is only temporary. Once we have this life the strings are produced, and the fine print is made clear and bold. We are to hold onto this life through our behavior. And then the realization that our behavior doesn't cut it brings about guilt. So this is managed by confessing and repenting (whatever that is). This is all just hoop jumping to appease a harsh judge. But then those who preach this insanity justify it by condemning other ideas such as having any kind of assurance or guarantee.

They oppose this whole OSAS idea, only to announce the agenda as described above. But in Heb.6:1-6, we can plainly see that if anyone should fall away from the life they were given, this would be permanent. No amount of confessing or repenting can erase the word which is used in that passage, which word is "impossible". Therefore, those who repeatedly confess and repent in order to get forgiven and cleansed over and over again are denying the words written by the author of Hebrews. We do not fall in and out of salvation, or eternal life, or being members of His family and kingdom.

Should we behave ourselves? Yes, but this misses the real mark. It is not what we do but why we do it that happens to be the real importance.
The truth is that for those who are in Christ by faith, the consequence of death and damnation is off the table. This is made clear in John 5:24 in Jesus' own words. It is also made clear in Rom.10:9&10. These are merely two places I can go to. There are many others. So in the case of those who preach warnings of death and condemnation to motivate good behavior, they are fallen into the doctrines of demons. Paul asked the Galatians who had bewitched them. Why? Because after having been justified by faith, and received the Holy Spirit by faith, they had gone back to justification by law. (behavior).

The law can only motivate good behavior for the sake of self preservation. It uses the threat of death and the promise of life as the motive. So then, the command to love one another is annulled. Love does not seek its own. Love can only be genuine if the lover has nothing to gain for self but is sincerely giving or sharing what it has to offer out of its abundance. This is the wisdom by which we are started off with eternal life and given all things that pertain to life and godliness from day 1. It is so that we can turn from self serving motives and serve one another with genuine love.

Do I believe we can fall away? Yes, in theory, it must be possible. But certainly not by way of sinning or not doing good enough. This teaching has got to be exposed for what it is: The promotion of self righteousness. It may not be deliberate in most cases. But it is errant in every case.

The cross accomplished much more than it is being credited for by many.

 

[Levi]

But that's exactly what it amounts to. If justification comes by faith, how is it sustained any other way? And yet that is what is being peddled. O, yeh, sure, God is good and gives us the free gift of life with no strings attached. But this is only temporary. Once we have this life the strings are produced, and the fine print is made clear and bold. We are to hold onto this life through our behavior. And then the realization that our behavior doesn't cut it brings about guilt. So this is managed by confessing and repenting (whatever that is). This is all just hoop jumping to appease a harsh judge. But then those who preach this insanity justify it by condemning other ideas such as having any kind of assurance or guarantee.

They oppose this whole OSAS idea, only to announce the agenda as described above. But in Heb.6:1-6, we can plainly see that if anyone should fall away from the life they were given, this would be permanent. No amount of confessing or repenting can erase the word which is used in that passage, which word is "impossible". Therefore, those who repeatedly confess and repent in order to get forgiven and cleansed over and over again are denying the words written by the author of Hebrews. We do not fall in and out of salvation, or eternal life, or being members of His family and kingdom.

Should we behave ourselves? Yes, but this misses the real mark. It is not what we do but why we do it that happens to be the real importance.
The truth is that for those who are in Christ by faith, the consequence of death and damnation is off the table. This is made clear in John 5:24 in Jesus' own words. It is also made clear in Rom.10:9&10. These are merely two places I can go to. There are many others. So in the case of those who preach warnings of death and condemnation to motivate good behavior, they are fallen into the doctrines of demons. Paul asked the Galatians who had bewitched them. Why? Because after having been justified by faith, and received the Holy Spirit by faith, they had gone back to justification by law. (behavior).

The law can only motivate good behavior for the sake of self preservation. It uses the threat of death and the promise of life as the motive. So then, the command to love one another is annulled. Love does not seek its own. Love can only be genuine if the lover has nothing to gain for self but is sincerely giving or sharing what it has to offer out of its abundance. This is the wisdom by which we are started off with eternal life and given all things that pertain to life and godliness from day 1. It is so that we can turn from self serving motives and serve one another with genuine love.

Do I believe we can fall away? Yes, in theory, it must be possible. But certainly not by way of sinning or not doing good enough. This teaching has got to be exposed for what it is: The promotion of self righteousness. It may not be deliberate in most cases. But it is errant in every case.

The cross accomplished much more than it is being credited for by many.

I don't see it that way. The righteousness we have is the righteousness of Christ, there is no righteousness besides His. "No one is righteous, no not even one."

I think people get confused that obedience is a type of 'works' when it is not, it is a command. Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey my commandments - this is clearly not a 'works', but it IS the righteousness of Christ through grace and through our faith which allows us to be obedient. We can not obey without grace, nor can we receive salvation without His grace.

Of course we can fall away and this is stepping outside of Christ and continuing in our sin, because when you remain in your sin, clearly you are not loving the Lord, so you are basically rejecting that which was given to you freely.

 

[John Zain]

I think people get confused that obedience is a type of 'works' when it is not, it is a command.
Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey my commandments - this is clearly not a 'works' ...

Romans 12:1 ... "present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

Romans 6:19 ... "present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

 

[Levi]

Romans 12:1 ... "present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

Romans 6:19 ... "present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

I hear what you're saying, however this is never going to happen without Christ. It's impossible to present ourselves as righteous and holy without Him. Otherwise the attempt is futile as it would be in our own strength and there is nothing in the Bible suggesting we use our own strength, in fact, it says in our weakness He is strong. Those above verses are exactly why we must remain in Him, abiding in Him releases His power in and through us to be able to present our bodies in such a way.

 

[John Zain]

I hear what you're saying, however this is never going to happen without Christ. It's impossible to present ourselves as righteous and holy without Him. Otherwise the attempt is futile as it would be in our own strength and there is nothing in the Bible suggesting we use our own strength, in fact, it says in our weakness He is strong. Those above verses are exactly why we must remain in Him, abiding in Him releases His power in and through us to be able to present our bodies in such a way.

Where have I ever said otherwise?
ALL of this has to with BACs (born-again Christians).
NONE of this has to do with non-Christians.

 

[Levi]

Where have I ever said otherwise?
ALL of this has to with BACs (born-again Christians).
NONE of this has to do with non-Christians.

You didn't and I didn't say you did say otherwise. lol

What of non-Christians?

Any man can be obedient enough to be righteous in God’s eyes
• “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.” (Malachi 3:18)
• “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.” (2 Samuel 22:21)
• “And they (Zacharias and Elizabeth) were both righteous before God,
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” (Luke 1:6)
• “And these will go away into everlasting punishment,
but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:46)

Ok, I re-read the above and yes, you are teaching heresy if you're claiming a person can be righteous in God's eyes without Christ.

There is no point in Christ if it were the case. It's false teaching.

 

[williemac]

I don't see it that way. The righteousness we have is the righteousness of Christ, there is no righteousness besides His. "No one is righteous, no not even one."

I think people get confused that obedience is a type of 'works' when it is not, it is a command. Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey my commandments - this is clearly not a 'works', but it IS the righteousness of Christ through grace and through our faith which allows us to be obedient. We can not obey without grace, nor can we receive salvation without His grace.

Of course we can fall away and this is stepping outside of Christ and continuing in our sin, because when you remain in your sin, clearly you are not loving the Lord, so you are basically rejecting that which was given to you freely.

Thank you for your comments. Here I see a contradiction in your reply. On one hand, God gets the credit when we obey, but on the other hand we get the blame when we do not. Aside from that, your last comment is presented in absolute terms. This is never going to be possible in our lifetime. We are never absolutely sinless and never absolutely sinful. So then we have a grey area of just what is the standard that measures whether we can be considered to be rejecting the Lord enough for the loss of our life. Does a person bear much fruit for nothing if he still has a sin or a few sins clinging to him? You must realize that one can both bear fruit and sin in his life. It is extremely unlikely that one in Christ will bear no fruit whatsoever and be full of sin at the same time....all the time.

So my point is that the loss of eternal life cannot be as a result of being judged in that area. In fact, Jesus promised that those who are of faith will not come under that kind of judgment (to condemnation). Read it for yourself in John 5:24. No judgment is no judgment. As well, the rejection of Christ cannot be measured by sin in one's life. It is measured by the rejection of His sacrifice for sin. It is merely man's opinion that sin is equivalent to rejection of Christ. If that were actually true, then we can take away the assurance of salvation to most of the church by simply raising the standard above what their life looks like. A standard is merely a mental picture. And a mental picture can be changed. So if the agenda is to condemn, one merely needs to raise the standard in any individual case. Will somebody please stop this insanity?

 

[Levi]

Thank you for your comments. Here I see a contradiction in your reply. On one hand, God gets the credit when we obey, but on the other hand we get the blame when we do not. Aside from that, your last comment is presented in absolute terms. This is never going to be possible in our lifetime. We are never absolutely sinless and never absolutely sinful. So then we have a grey area of just what is the standard that measures whether we can be considered to be rejecting the Lord enough for the loss of our life. Does a person bear much fruit for nothing if he still has a sin or a few sins clinging to him? You must realize that one can both bear fruit and sin in his life. It is extremely unlikely that one in Christ will bear no fruit whatsoever and be full of sin at the same time....all the time.

So my point is that the loss of eternal life cannot be as a result of being judged in that area. In fact, Jesus promised that those who are of faith will not come under that kind of judgment (to condemnation). Read it for yourself in John 5:24. No judgment is no judgment. As well, the rejection of Christ cannot be measured by sin in one's life. It is measured by the rejection of His sacrifice for sin. It is merely man's opinion that sin is equivalent to rejection of Christ. If that were actually true, then we can take away the assurance of salvation to most of the church by simply raising the standard above what their life looks like. A standard is merely a mental picture. And a mental picture can be changed. So if the agenda is to condemn, one merely needs to raise the standard in any individual case. Will somebody please stop this insanity?

We do have free choice to either disobey or to obey, it's ultimately our decision so when we obey, it's good for us and when we disobey it's a shame, correct? It's not a grey area because the Lord looks at our heart and we know one another by our Fruit, focusing on a sinless life is idolatry because that's where our minds are at and not on the Lord. The standard has always been on Christ, Paul said he continues forward and his eyes were on Him. We're always growing and maturing.

My comment was not a reflection of how many times can I sin before I lose salvation. What I said was a person can out right reject Christ after once accepting Him, if a person can first accept Him, why is it now we can no longer reject Him? We once had free will and now we don't? That does not make sense to me.

 

[williemac]

We do have free choice to either disobey or to obey, it's ultimately our decision so when we obey, it's good for us and when we disobey it's a shame, correct? It's not a grey area because the Lord looks at our heart and we know one another by our Fruit, focusing on a sinless life is idolatry because that's where our minds are at and not on the Lord. The standard has always been on Christ, Paul said he continues forward and his eyes were on Him. We're always growing and maturing.

My comment was not a reflection of how many times can I sin before I lose salvation. What I said was a person can out right reject Christ after once accepting Him, if a person can first accept Him, why is it now we can no longer reject Him? We once had free will and now we don't? That does not make sense to me.

I am not arguing with what you just said. But if we filter this through the gospel and all that is taught concerning the differences between the old and new covenants, then we can achieve a reasonable idea as to just how the rejection of Christ would look like. And I am saying that the new covenant is not set up so that sin can remove one from it. However, there seems to contrary ideas presented on this and other threads.

If sin was the equivalent of rejecting Christ, then it in fact would become a matter of just how much would it take. That was my point.

If we look at what He came to accomplish by His death, then I think this can be cleared up. Among other things, the word "remission" pops into my head. By the fact that we still have the ability to sin, then the remission of sin does not mean taking away our capacity for it...at least not in this present body. However, in the resurrection, in a new and incorruptible body, the influences of sin will be gone. In the meantime, God's promise is that He would remember no more, our sin. This is remission. He has removed sin from our record. This was accomplished at Calvary, when Jesus payed the penalty of death for the sin of the world. This was His gift to us. In order to have this sacrifice appropriated into our life, we simply accept the gift. This is faith. It is not sin that erases faith, if sin itself has been erased.

But one way to fall from faith (for justification) is to link yourself with the thing that is given as the opposing force to faith. Namely works of law. In all of Paul's teachings,he compares two forces as being opposing forces. He uses two versions of comparison. One is faith vs.works. The other is grace vs.law.

If you recall, when Paul wrote his letter of rebuke and correction to the Galatians, it was not sin that was the issue. It was their contamination of justification by faith by going under the law as well, for justification. This is how Christ is rejected. By rejecting His ministry to us.

The other way to reject Him is to no longer wish to be in relationship with Him. That is an inward decision. We cannot judge this decision through outward actions. There are plenty of people who seem to walk away from fellowship only to return many years later. The truth is that they had not rejected Christ. If they had they would not have returned, as we can see from Heb.6:1-6. It is more likely that they had been deceived into thinking that Christ had rejected them. This is the kind of unfortunate thing that can arise from what is being presented here by some who's names I will not mention.

 

[John Zain]

... you are teaching heresy if you're claiming a person can be righteous in God's eyes without Christ.
There is no point in Christ if it were the case. It's false teaching.

Thou never seems to understand what I am saying.

I am pointing out that, contrary to the "thinking" of most, BACs are able to live righteously!
As my Scriptures clearly show!

If man could do it before Christ, then BACs surely can do it with Christ, i.e. the Holy Spirit.

 

[Levi]

Thou never seems to understand what I am saying.

I am pointing out that, contrary to the "thinking" of most, BACs are able to live righteously!
As my Scriptures clearly show!

If man could do it before Christ, then BACs surely can do it with Christ, i.e. the Holy Spirit.

It's always been because of Christ though. He was slain before the foundation of the world was laid. Only believers can live righteously would be a better way to state things.