"In righteousness shall thou be established: thou shall be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." Isaiah 54:14
Here is one of the most powerful truths recorded in scripture. It is the very thing the enemy feverishly seeks to diminish from our thinking. If he can draw us away from the reality of righteousness and what it is meant to produce in us, then he can halt so much of our advancement in the kingdom of God.
If you study carefully the fall of man, you will discover that the one predominant characteristic that has plagued the whole human race, above everything else, is the fear of death. The moment man lost his ability to function as heaven's facilitator on earth and became confined to a life of inadequacy, inferiority, and ineffectualness that is when the fear of death gained supremacy over his mind. Paul wrote in his letter to the Hebrew Christians the very purpose for Jesus' coming was that "...through death, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb. 2:14-15). Think about that for a moment. The fear of death is behind every kind of bondage known to man. Even though Jesus successfully conquered death, we need only to look around us and see how the fear of death continues to influence so many men and women, especially believers who are ignorant of the righteousness of God, and how it has been restored in the new birth.
This is one reason why it is so necessary that we gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the finished work of Christ. Until Jesus came and died in our place, righteousness was only accredited to those who choose to follow after God by making an attempt to live right, do right, and behave right to the best of their ability, and that by the sure mercies of God. However, regardless of man's effort, without the shedding of the blood of Christ, no one, no matter how saintly they may have appeared to be, were ever truly righteous. Paul said, "As it is written, there are none righteous, no not one!" (Rom. 3:10). Man's inability to function on a level of dominion like God intended is what kept, and continues to keep many under the yoke and control of the fear of death.
Now that the work of the cross is complete it is the righteousness of God that enables us to engage with heaven. Being born again means we have a right standing with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, and that allows us to take our rightful place as heaven's facilitator on this earth. In other words, we hold in our hands the power to call the shots as to what we desire to see occur in our life, and not the enemy.
However, it is not an automatic thing. It takes you awakening to righteousness (1 Cor. 15:34). That means it has to drop down on the inside to such a degree that your heart knows you are made the righteousness of God in Christ, and nothing hell throws at you can defeat you! This is exactly why Paul said, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37).
The moment you take your rightful place in Christ that's when fear begins to lose its grip. All its tentacles that have sought to confine you will begin to drop off. As you seek after righteousness, you will find yourself more and more in the driver's seat and less and less subject to bondage. Instead of circumstances dictating your mood and behavior, the righteousness of God will lift you up with confidence and assurance that nothing formed against you can prosper! You talk about freedom! Living in a world as we are today, with all the threats of terror, and all the uncertainties of tomorrow, what better answer do we have to live above fear than to become established in righteousness!*
