Mark Hankins Ministries

Righteousness Revealed

Understanding you have God’s divine approval on your life sets you free from the sense of rejection, inadequacy, or inferiority.  You are confident you have God’s approval.  You are free to receive God’s best blessings and to follow His plan for your life.  This confidence in God sets you free from constantly seeking approval from others.

One of the most misunderstood subjects in the Bible is righteousness. The Gospel of Christ is a revelation of the righteousness of God. The center of the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God.  I call righteousness a radical revelation, a revolutionary revelation. It is a reality that is produced for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto

salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:

as it is written, the just shall live by faith.  Romans 1:16-17

For the gospel reveals how God puts people right with Himself.  (GNB)

It reveals God’s way of making men as righteous as himself.  (Lovett)

Paul says the Gospel is the power of God and he mentions faith three times. Your faith cannot be any stronger than your revelation of righteousness. Your faith works best when you have a righteousness consciousness.

There are many benefits to righteousness.  The Old Testament talks about this in Proverbs 28:1, “The righteous are as bold as a lion.”  Psalm 112:3 says, “...wealth and riches shall be in the house of the righteous.”  One of my favorites is Psalm 68:3, “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.”  James 5:16 says, “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  The Amplified Bible says, “makes tremendous power available.”

As a young Christian, Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin (Dad Hagin), went to a church where he got a “truckload” of unworthiness.  Then he went to another church, he got a “double truckload” of unworthiness.  After reading James 5:16, he said, “If I ever get to be righteous, my prayer is going to be powerful!”  In other words, he did not have a revelation of the righteousness of God yet.    

In his book, I Believe in Visions, Dad Hagin tells of a vision he had of Jesus.  When he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and said, “No one as unworthy as I am should look at your face.”  Jesus told Dad Hagin to stand up on his feet, because He had washed him in His blood and made him worthy.  He received the radical revelation that Jesus had made him worthy.

There are very important things to remember about righteousness. 1. Righteousness is a free gift. You cannot do anything to earn righteousness - it is a gift from God. 2. Righteousness is a legal declaration.  You have been declared righteous and are now justified by God.  3.  Righteousness is a spiritual force.

“They who receive the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ,” Romans 5:17.  Notice it says they who receive. You cannot earn this gift, but you must receive the gift of righteousness.  When you understand what you have received, you will reign like a king in life.   You will not be a victim any longer, but you will be a victor.

Romans 4:25 says, “Jesus was delivered up for our sin and raised for our justification.” Jesus died because of our sins and was raised because of our justification. The Fenton translation says Jesus was raised “through our righteousness.”  Jesus could not be and was not raised from the dead until you were declared righteous and the penalty for sin was paid in full.  One way to understand the word “justified” is to break it down this way: just – as – if - I’d never sinned.  Everything Jesus did was for you and you were declared justified or righteous

A LEGAL DECLARATIO                                                                       

This gift of righteousness means you have escaped sin consciousness, the dominion of sin and Satan. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”  You have been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son.

The Jordan translation of Colossians 1:12,13 is descriptive: “It was the Father who sprang us from the jail house of darkness, and turned us loose in the new world of His beloved Son.” This is a really good picture, except for one thing.  When you read “He sprang us from the jail house of darkness,” you may be thinking, “I’ve been saved and made righteous.”  However, you may unconsciously see your righteousness as a jailbreak. The fact is, Jesus did not break you out of jail.  You were legally justified by the highest court and the highest judge in the land.  Therefore, you are not running from the law.  There is no one chasing you.  You are not going through the swamp and you do not have on the old uniform.  You were legally declared justified and righteous, and you legally walked out of the jail house of sin in front of everybody as the righteousness of God in Christ.  You have divine approval.  You do not have to hide from your past because you have been declared justified.  You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. 

PARTNERS IN CHRIST

“The Good News shows how God makes people right with Himself," Romans 1:16 (Deaf). Thank you, our partners, for helping us publish the Good News to people in many nations. Your continued prayer and financial partnership are helping to print and distribute books, support missionaries and pastors in many nations and broadcast the Word through television around the world. This month for your gift of any amount, we will send you the book and 4CD set titled, Divine Approval.  We believe you will have a revelation of righteousness that will take you to the next level.

We want to personally invite you to start your 2024 off with us at our Spirit of Faith - Breaking Barriers Conference, January 9-11, at our new MHM Conference Center.  We expect a great time in the Word and the Holy Spirit and would love to have you here with us.

Thank you for your continued and faithful partnership with us.  We declare to you, our partners, “My God will supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

In Christ,
Mark and Trina

March 2018 - No More Condemnation

NO MORE CONDEMNATION

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.  - Romans 8:33-34

This is the radical, revolutionary revelation of the reality of righteousness. If you believe this, you are a radical. You are not only a radical; you are a revolutionary. This means you are going to change some things in the world.  You have got radical, revolutionary Good News!

It is God who has declared you righteous. It is God who has justified you. God produced your righteousness by the blood of Jesus. Now in Christ, no one can say you don’t measure up or that you aren’t qualified. Why can’t anyone condemn you? Because no one else measures up to God’s standard of righteousness.

GOD WILL NOT REMEMBER YOUR SIN

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.  - Isaiah 43:25-26

Your justification goes into effect the moment you receive divine approval. Since the blood of Jesus has the power to remove sin from the mind of God, it also has the power to remove sin from your mind. You no longer have to live with a sin consciousness or a guilty feeling, but you can now have a righteousness consciousness.

IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT

Several years ago a lady from our church was driving her family home late one night and fell asleep at the wheel.  The van she was driving turned over, killing her husband and one of her children. She called me in the middle of the night screaming, “I’ve killed my husband and my child!” Immediately we traveled to where she was to be with her. 

After the funeral she came back home, broken and alone. I knew how important it was to be in the presence of God. One Sunday I did not see her in church and told someone to go find her. They searched all around the church and found her outside in the bushes. She had hidden there and was sobbing, heartbroken and oppressed by guilt. She came back in the service that day and kept coming to church.

During one particular service, the Holy Spirit said to tell her, “It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault!” The anointing broke the guilt and shame tormenting her as I laid hands on her and she received the power of God. From that moment, she was restored, received peace, and was set free from oppression. If God declares you, “not guilty,” then you are not guilty (Romans 8:33,34).

Psychologists tell us if they could get rid of the sense of guilt, they could help eighty percent of patients who struggle with depression. They try to treat the depression, but what they use cannot reach the root of it. Isaiah 54:14 says, “In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.” The moment you are established in understanding righteousness, you will be far from oppression. What is oppression? It’s a dark cloud hanging over your head, pressure from thinking about what you did and shouldn’t have done. It is impossible to be depressed when you have a revelation of righteousness.   The blood of Jesus has the power to remove sin from the conscience and impart a righteousness consciousness.

FREE FROM SHAME

In the book, The Complete Life Encyclopedia, Christian psychologists, Minirth, Meier and Arterburn, say this about human behavior:

Shame is the issue that drives almost every compulsive, self-defeating behavior known to the human race. Shame is at the root of all addiction – whether it is an eating addiction, spending addiction, drug addiction, or approval addiction. It may be forgotten, hidden, or disguised, but the shame is there, it is real, and it drives behavior. In counseling it is sometimes the shame that surfaces first. In other cases, the addiction surfaces first. Because shame and addiction always go together, whenever we encounter one, we always look for the other – shame and addiction can always be found together.

How are you going to get rid of the shame? If the Gospel of Jesus Christ can get rid of the root of shame in your life, then it can change your behavior. Faith in the blood of Jesus brings freedom from a guilty conscience and replaces it with a sense of righteousness - of being right with God. Your thinking, your talking, and your behavior - everything changes. Most of all you can approach God with confidence and full assurance of faith.

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.   - Hebrews 10:22

…let us draw near with a sincere heart, in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled with the blood which cleanses all guilt from the conscience.  - Way 

Let’s cleanse our hearts from any unworthy feeling… - Jordan

DIVINE APPROVAL

This month we would like to offer you the CD sets, The Power of the Blood of Jesus and Divine Approval.  In addition, we also want to offer you our new book, Divine Approval.  As you listen, read and meditate on these resources, we believe you will have a revelation of righteousness and be set free from depression, shame and constantly seeking approval from others! 

Many thanks to you, our partners, for sending us to the nations.  Our next assignments will be to Mexico City, Nairobi, Kenya and the Ukraine. Your partnership is a tremendous blessing in the furtherance of the Gospel.  We are also distributing thousands of books in Kenya and also in Spanish speaking nations.  Your partnership is causing the Word to grow and multiply around the World.  Paul said in Philippians 4:19, “My God will supply all your need according to His riches in glory.”

We also want to invite you to our Supernatural Leadership Conference, March 13 – 16, 2018.  It is a time of instruction as well as impartation from the Holy Spirit.  Many have said, “It can’t be explained, it must be experienced.”  We invite everyone to come - all believers are welcome! 

In Christ,
Mark and Trina Hankins