WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?.......Why is it Important in our Services to God?


Righteousness, Makes your services to God acceptable.


God has already ordained that believers should serve Him in righteousness all their days, so it is important that a believer understands what righteousness is all about and confidently walk and serve God in righteousness without fear.  

This is why I have continued to look into the subject of righteousness and will continue till it saturates the mind of Fireinthebone readers.

What is Righteousness?
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 the entire heaven is an abode of righteousness. 

This topic is so important that any service rendered in the house of God and to God generally that is not in righteousness is not accepted. That is why God made a promise to Abraham to deliver us from all our enemies, so we can serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. This is why no believer should be afraid of anything.  Can God lie? - Never.  He has promised to give you victory over your enemies, and He will fulfill His promises to you when trouble and challenges come.

The Nature of Righteousness

Disciples are by nature dependent on the Lord, and so they seek the Kingdom and its righteousness above all other things, and no one argues that. The righteous was included in the beatitude discussed in Mathew gospel to un underscore its importance.  'Blessed are they who know they need God, and those who hunger for the nature of God to be seen in their lives, shall  be benefactors  of the gift of righteousness and the grace to walk in it.

With respect to righteousness, there is a second beautitude, which says blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven' (Mt 5:10). The verse implies a commitment to righteousness for those who make it a priority to seek righteousness. Persecution is mentioned with righteousness to show that the good work involved will not be accepted by all.  This is when the price for seeking becomes too high. You are doing the Will of God and you are persecuted by men and women around you.  It is often the case when some people drop out of the righteous work all together.

We should understand that for whatever kind of ministry, or work, we are called to do in the Kingdom or outside, there is need for preparation.  We need preparation, equipping, training. We need help to be able to help others.  Everything done in the Kingdom or for God must be done in righteousness and faith, otherwise, it will not be accepted. 

So, we should strive for or seek the righteousness of God, our passion should ultimately be hunger for God …'. But it is not easy to put 'God's kingdom and his righteousness' before all other seeking. Yet that is what Jesus teaches us in the Lord's Prayer: 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done … comes before anything else … It means prioritize'.   


Everywhere, in every way possible, the righteous, as individuals must fight against the forces of destruction. First, in ourselves, then on a group level. We must work for anything that will bring people together, to know the Lord and His good plans for mankind.  We should encourage encounters with one another, where love and justice become creatively one. 

Characteristics of the Righteous:

Seeking Kingdom righteousness - A righteous man or woman is one that deliberately  and "diligently keeps the commandments of the LORD His God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded"

A person that is righteous is expected live and walk without fear, who is not seeking after vanity.  A man or woman that hates pride and sin, he abhors iniquity, evil works and flee from every appearance of sin.

Diligence - A righteous man/woman diligently seeks to do things that pleases God.  He makes deliberate efforts to keep the commands of the Lord and obey His voice.  He loves the Lord, and purposes in his heart to please Him.  A righteous man is a lover of righteousness and he hates evil

A mam or woman of Grace - A righteous is a man or woman that has the grace of God to abide in the tabernacle of the Lord always, who walks uprightly and speak the truth in his heart.  He/she does not take up reproach against his neighbor or do them any harm and in whose eyes a vile person is not honoured or celebrated, rather he celebrates people that fear the Lord.

A righteous person does not gossip or backbite with his/tongue, neither does he conspire or lie against the innocent.  A righteous man keeps his word and maintain his integrity at all times.

Friend of God - A righteous man or woman is a friend of God who have the grace to live holy with a pure heart, who do not lift up his heart unto vanity to seek things that do not edify and he does not deceive anyone.  He present things honestly and truly to people.

A righteous man or woman fear God and seek Him continually and trust in Him. These are some of the reason why he is as bold as a lion.  The righteous studies and delights himself in the word of God and does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way off sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful – mockers are not his friends.

Falls and gets back up again - The righteous is that man that falls severally, but will always get up and keep matching on.  He knows that victory belong to those that keep looking at the goal, those that persevere and despite the hardship, they are moved, they keep believing and trusting in God.  And putting behind their challenges, they hold on to the promise of eternal life in Christ, they will get up and keep running.

A righteous man or woman is one that received grace to be free from sin or dead to sin.  The motions of sin does not move him anymore.  They have crucified their flesh and their spirit is constantly alive.  They are prayerful, kind and patient.  They are merciful and easily forgive offences.

Finally, a righteous man/woman confesses Christ in word and action.  They are rich in goodness – helping the needy, poor, visiting the poor and those in Prison and praying for them.



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 fulfillment 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 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 priviledges 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 identifying 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 righteousness 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 is 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 righteous follows after righteousness and they will judge the earth

God blesses the righteous and put him in everlasting remembrance

His security and provision abound with the righteous

He make the righteous have power with Him and they are the ‘Touch Not’

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.

Beloved, we can all operate in the above listed grace, what we need is to take a decision to walk with God and obey His word and voice and then we ask for grace to live right God.  We should ask for grace because no one can righteous without Christ in him.


FIRE...



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