The Power of Right Believing: 7 Keys to Freedom from Fear, Guilt, and Addiction by Joseph Prince

their lives will be transformed, and they will never be the same again. Self-help books point you to what you must do. My messages and books are all about Jesus helping you—pointing you to Jesus and what He has done for you!
    It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve failed. When you make Jesus the center of your life, God will cause His blessings, favor, and grace to flow into your situation. That addiction that you have been battling with will be no more. That heavy load of guilt and condemnation that you have been carrying around for years will be lifted off your shoulders. That eating disorder, that bitterness, and that paralyzing fear will all be consumed in the person of Jesus!
    Shielded in Christ
    When you begin to see what God sees, your life will never be the same again. I’ve said this before but it bears repeating: When you became a believer, God no longer saw you as you! When He looks at you today, He sees Jesus. You are now
in
Christ. When I teach this in my church, I like to illustrate it like this: I take an ordinary ballpoint pen, place it in the middle of my Bible, and close the Bible.
    “Can you see the pen now?” I ask my congregation, holding up my Bible. No, they can’t. All they can see is the Bible. The pen is now completely hidden in and shielded within the pages of the Bible.
    In the same way, the moment you accept Jesus, you are shielded in Christ. When God looks at you today, He doesn’t see you with all your flaws and imperfections. He only sees His darling Son, Jesus! His Word says, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6). That refers to you, my friend. By God’s abundant and lavish grace—His unmerited favor—you are accepted and approved in Jesus, the Beloved!
    What this means is that God is no longer assessing and judging you based on your merits. It is no longer about what you have done or
not
done. His love for you is not contingent on your actions; it is contingent on Jesus. No matter what mistakes you have made, He sees you washed in the blood of His beloved Son.
    Because you are in Christ, having a blessed future is not contingent on how much you strive to be perfect or how hard you work at changing yourself. It is contingent on the person of Jesus. It is not about whether
you
deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious.The question is, does
Jesus
deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious?
    The Bible proclaims, “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). Does Jesus deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious? Then so do you! This is what being in Christ Jesus means. It means that today, God assesses you and sees you based on the perfection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ righteousness is your righteousness. In fact, the Bible explains that because Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, we are now the righteousness of God in Christ (see 2 Cor. 5:21).
    Does Jesus deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious? Then so do you! This is what being in Christ Jesus means.
    Your Righteousness Is a Gift
    “Righteousness” is a legal term. It means to have right standing before God.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words
defines righteousness as “that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God.” 1 In other words, your right standing before God is based upon Jesus’ right standing before God.
    Today, you are as righteous as Jesus because your righteousness is from Him. He purchased it for you at the cross. When you received Him as your Lord and Savior, He took away all your unrighteousness once and for all and gave you
His
gift of righteousness. This righteousness is something that you can never obtain or achieve through your right doing; it can only be
received
by your right believing in Jesus.
    And do you know what happens when you receive this gift of righteousness? The Bible declares that “those who receive