What are the grounds or foundations of favour?

Peace and grace from the Lord be multiplied unto you today!

I would like to continue our talk on the power of God’s favour.

So far we have talked about what favour is and what it does for us. We also saw that favour is the heritage of every believer in Christ. Today we will talk about the foundations of favour.

Every builder knows how important the foundation of a building is. The weight of the building rests on the foundation, and if something is wrong with it, then the consequences can be devastating. In spite of the fact that favour is the heritage of all the children of God, yet favour depends on certain conditions or grounds to function. We need to consider this foundation otherwise, we will have a serious crisis or disappointment in an attempt to claim or walk in our heritage of favour. So, what are the grounds or foundations of favour?

«For You, O Lord, will bless the RIGHTEOUS; with favour You will surround him (the RIGHTEOUS) as with a shield» (Psalm 5: 12).

From the above Scriptures, we can establish that it is righteousness that qualifies a person for receiving blessings and God’s favour.

The foundation for favour is righteousness.
This might raise a question in your mind: aren’t we all righteous in Christ? Yes, every believer is righteous in Christ. However, when we read the Bible, we see the difference between our legal status in Christ and our practical position.

For example, in most of the writings of Apostle Paul we find that he devoted much of his time showing us what our new legal position in Christ is. Yet, after that he always called us to live according to this new position. If we being righteous through faith in Christ do not live according to this new status, then we are not qualified for God’s favour.

Let’s imagine that a person committed a terrible crime but was acquitted because someone else took the blame for it. Would it be right to show favour to this person if he continues to commit crimes? I don’t think so. That is exactly the situation with believers who call themselves righteous, but still continue in their sinful lifestyle. Favour does not belong to these kind of people.

«A good man obtains favour from the Lord, but a man of wicked intentions He will condemn» (Proverbs, 12: 2). «Fools mock at sin, but among the upright there is favour» (Proverbs, 14: 9).

Those who mock or laugh at sin are called by the Bible fools, not righteous. Only the righteous are qualified for the favour of the Lord.
We will continue tomorrow.

Be blessed!
Pastor Rufus Ajiboye