One of the things that's hard for us humans to realise is that we cannot live righteous lives using our own willpower. The children of Israel thought that they could establish their own righteousness by their actions and we, if we are not careful, can think that God gave the ten commandments to Israel so that they would live by them and be blessed. We somehow believe that God was surprised that no-one kept the law before Jesus came and WE are surprised that no-one has kept them since either! But Paul tells us in Romans...

Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Paul here tells us what the human condition is really like. Of ourselves we are far from righteous. Once you realise that this was no surprise to God, you come to see that the role of the ten commandment was not to bless Israel but to show them that they needed God's mercy, grace and His righteousness.

Jesus came to establish a new covenant of grace which we could enter into instead of the old law covenant. Now as Christians who are cloaked in Jesus' righteousness as a free gift, and living by grace, we can enjoy the blessings of God and reign in life.

This is why Jesus tells us in the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 6......

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

All the blessings that God wants to pour on His children will be yours if you seek the righteousness that can only come from Him! Like Abraham, when we put faith in God, we work His works, and He counts it as righteousness.