UNDERSTANDING RIGHTEOUSNESS
Introduction
Righteousness is a free gift given to us by the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross of Calvary. It can be described as a state of uprightness. Righteousness is one of the natures of God and an important gift for every believer to embrace and walk-in.
Righteousness can also be defined as conformity to God's Word in our hearts and in our deeds, inside and outside. Righteousness comes by faith in Christ. Righteousness is the character of God. Christ's righteousness is given to us by our faith, and so, we can live like our Master.
It has been ordained that you should serve God in righteousness and holiness all your days. God also, made a promise to Abraham to deliver us from all our enemies, so we can serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness all our days on earth, so righteousness is not negotiable. It is the nature of God that must manifest in the life of every born again Christian. Watch this... Any service rendered to God that is not in righteousness is not accepted -(See Luke 1:73-75)
Every believer should believe the Almighty God, who cannot lie. He has promised to give you victory over your enemies, and He will fulfil His promises if you will believe.
Nature of Righteousness
The goal of the Christian life is to pursue righteousness, character and all things, that will allow us to think and walk in the Spirit as our Master. A righteous man is a man of the Spirit and faith in God's ability to supply all his need and more. The Lord supply resources to them in abundance, because they have the large heart to share the good things of life with other people around them that have need. They are liberal minded.
Righteousness in the external sense is sharing the love of God with people. A righteous man, apart from being pure in heart, does a lot of good works, which is pleasing to God. He considers the poor and take steps to help him. So, if you consider yourself to be righteous, but you feel a disconnect with loving people, I will suggest its an attack from the devil.
Every work that brings joy to the Lord is essentially done by Him through us. An essential requirement is our faith. God is looking to see your faith, and positive response for what He has done, not necessarily your emotions. Many times, people are overwhelmed by the condition they are looking at, forgetting that crying or weeping will not bring a solution, but putting their faith in God for the change they want to see.
A righteous man, who feels stale and no sympathy towards peoples has a problem. If something is withholding you from going closer to people to understand their feelings and show them sympathy, you should know its an attack. For the sign of our Righteousness can be seen in the amount of love and sympathy we have for one another and the lost. This is what leads us to pray for even those we do not like.
Understanding Righteousness will help us understand who we are in Christ, and what He expects from us. We then can respond better and faster to the opportunities and the 'call' He has for us.
This act is divinely initiated. It is grounded in the obedience of Christ who fulfilled the requirements for us. It is based on the faithfulness of our Lord, and not of our goodness. Our goodness comes from God's working in us so we produce Fruit. Remember that all have fallen short of God's standards; sin has affected all of our being and all that of the world's.
Even if we had not actually committed any evil, it is still our nature to do so. We have all sinned, some more than others, but the smallest sin falls way short of God's requirements. This is what "total depravity" and "original sin" are all about (Rom. 3:21-26; 1 Cor. 15:42-49; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:24; Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:10). Growing in faith, education, and commitment will prevent the practice of sin even though sin will still be present.
Every believer should believe the Almighty God, who cannot lie. He has promised to give you victory over your enemies, and He will fulfil His promises if you will believe.
Nature of Righteousness
The goal of the Christian life is to pursue righteousness, character and all things, that will allow us to think and walk in the Spirit as our Master. A righteous man is a man of the Spirit and faith in God's ability to supply all his need and more. The Lord supply resources to them in abundance, because they have the large heart to share the good things of life with other people around them that have need. They are liberal minded.
Righteousness in the external sense is sharing the love of God with people. A righteous man, apart from being pure in heart, does a lot of good works, which is pleasing to God. He considers the poor and take steps to help him. So, if you consider yourself to be righteous, but you feel a disconnect with loving people, I will suggest its an attack from the devil.
Every work that brings joy to the Lord is essentially done by Him through us. An essential requirement is our faith. God is looking to see your faith, and positive response for what He has done, not necessarily your emotions. Many times, people are overwhelmed by the condition they are looking at, forgetting that crying or weeping will not bring a solution, but putting their faith in God for the change they want to see.
A righteous man, who feels stale and no sympathy towards peoples has a problem. If something is withholding you from going closer to people to understand their feelings and show them sympathy, you should know its an attack. For the sign of our Righteousness can be seen in the amount of love and sympathy we have for one another and the lost. This is what leads us to pray for even those we do not like.
Understanding Righteousness will help us understand who we are in Christ, and what He expects from us. We then can respond better and faster to the opportunities and the 'call' He has for us.
Characters of the Righteous:
This act is divinely initiated. It is grounded in the obedience of Christ who fulfilled the requirements for us. It is based on the faithfulness of our Lord, and not of our goodness. Our goodness comes from God's working in us so we produce Fruit. Remember that all have fallen short of God's standards; sin has affected all of our being and all that of the world's.
Even if we had not actually committed any evil, it is still our nature to do so. We have all sinned, some more than others, but the smallest sin falls way short of God's requirements. This is what "total depravity" and "original sin" are all about (Rom. 3:21-26; 1 Cor. 15:42-49; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 4:24; Phil. 3:20; Col. 3:10). Growing in faith, education, and commitment will prevent the practice of sin even though sin will still be present.
Importance of Righteousness:
Jesus was teaching on the importance of righteousness in Mathew 5:20 - when he told the people "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven"
This statement stresses the importance of righteousness to a believer. The Scribes and the Pharisees fast days a week and pay their tithes and probably offering, but righteousness goes beyond tithe and offering or fasting to include the deeper things as Faith, love and showing mercy. Jesus later rebuked for neglecting the deeper things of the Word like faith, love and showing mercy.
Again the bible says the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven. The attitude of love, kindness, mercy and fairness to all, standing for justice and speaking the truth must become part of you as a born again Christian. Jesus in Mathew 25:31-46, commended the righteous servants, for helping their neighbours in diverse challenges of life, the same is expected from us today, and if we are not doing so, we are not doing well.
God uses the righteous - We see in Isaiah 45 that it is God uses the righteous for special assignment in the fulfilment of His will on earth. The Lord speaking in Isaiah 44:28 described Cyrus as a shepherd, who shall perform all His pleasure. He continued to say that He raised him up in righteousness and He will direct his ways; he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price or reward, says the Lord in Isaiah 45:13.
Righteousness is not a title. Like salvation, the righteous man must continue in righteousness till the end to inherit eternal life, otherwise, if he departs and begins to do evil. The Lord is no respecter of persons. If a righteous man turns from his righteous way and do evil, such a man will surely die. In Ezekiel 18: 24.
How Can You be Righteous?
Without Christ, no man can be righteous. Our righteousness is like a filthy rag in the eyes of God - Isaiah 64:6. But we have been made the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. When a man accepts Jesus as Lord of his life, he becomes a new person in Christ and is open to receive all the blessings and privileges of the Kingdom of God, including the gift of righteousness.
So, righteousness makes the services you rendered to God acceptable, hence righteousness is not negotiable. You have to identify all that the word of God says about you, believe them, confess them and walk in that consciousness. This is what makes you righteous - Godly attitude, mindset and conduct.
When you do this, you will shun sin and all iniquity and your conducts will be just - holy. If you are righteousness-minded, you will shun sin. A person that is righteous is expected to be pure in heart, full of love for God and man. He is blameless in his relationship with his neighbours and full of good works – help rendered to people without expecting anything in return.
God commanded us to be righteous as He, our God is righteous. All those seeking Him are required to be righteous - Isaiah 51:1. It is for this reason that the bible said in Mathew 5:7 - “Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be satisfied”, and those who are persecuted for righteous conducts in their places of work, homes and business, Jesus says theirs is the kingdom of heaven - great reward.
REWARD:
The reward for righteous living is enormous - Not only for the person, but it extends to his children. The bible says the righteous are in everlasting remembrance - Are we remembering Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Paul, Peter today? What about Kenneth Hagin, T.L Osborn, Watchman Nee, Smith Wigglesworth – Are we not remembering them? We are.
The Lord demands righteousness and asked us to seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness. The bible says anyone doing righteous works is righteous, and in the end, such righteous men and women will judge the earth. The following are some of the rewards of the righteous:
1. God blesses the righteous and put him in everlasting remembrance
2. His security and provision abound with the righteous
3. He makes the righteous have power with Him and they are the ‘Touch Not’
4. Reasons, why the prayer of the righteous is always answered, is because the eyes of the Lord is constantly overlooking the righteousness and all his needs are met by God.
Conclusion
We are called to do good! However, no one can make himself righteous, without the Holy Spirit working in him. The righteousness that will please God must come from the Spirit of God. This is because, we all are corrupted by sin, and unable to live according to God's standards. Even though some people are better than others (your righteous self and your neighbour), both has fallen short of the glory of God. You are not able to think and act godly without the help of the Holy Spirit
We are called to do good! However, no one can make himself righteous, without the Holy Spirit working in him. The righteousness that will please God must come from the Spirit of God. This is because, we all are corrupted by sin, and unable to live according to God's standards. Even though some people are better than others (your righteous self and your neighbour), both has fallen short of the glory of God. You are not able to think and act godly without the help of the Holy Spirit
FIRE...
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