Re-post on Righteousness
God’s Righteousness is that foundation of His power wherein He imparts His Goodness to us, protects our hearts against evil, clothes us with right action, and imbues us with a desire for true justice as we move in the world.
— Makala B. Doulos
–Isaiah 61:10
Righteousness is living a life that is pleasing to G_d. The word for righteousness comes from the Greek root word ‘dikaios’ meaning innocent, faultless, and holy. This is the state in which man, through grace, can actually stand in the presence of a Holy G_d and have fellowship with Him.
- The key to Paul’s reconciliation of the Old and New Testament revelations is found in his concept of “righteousness.” In first-century Judaism “righteousness” was conformity to the written or oral Law. Following Jesus, Paul insists that righteousness requires actually being like God in motive and act. Only God can transform a sinful human being, to make him or her truly like the Lord.
— Lawrence O. Richards
As we live and move and have our being in Him, we start to see things a little more simply. Life gets easier. The circumstances and pain of living in the flesh are real. They just start to be irrelevant in the light of His purposes and glory.
He starts to show us the super-structure of His Word (oh by the way… we gotta read it!) and things start to make sense. Surely it is all about Him. But what does this look like? If anything, it is this: His Righteousness.
Over 180 times in the Old Testament, and in 85 passages of the New, the themes of all aspects of righteousness pervade vast swaths of G_d’s Word. Righteousness is even called the foundation of G_d’s authority.
- Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face, who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted
— Psalm 89:14-16
Continuing, the nexus of the New Testament, the book of Romans, has a central theme: The Righteousness of G_d. Paul uses the term 36 times in the book.
- But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
— Romans 3:21-26
- Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
— Philippians 3:8-11
We grow into the truth that He has covered and filled us with a manifold panoply of His righteousness
- In the array of His Spirit’s fruit in our lives:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-control.
- In the seat of our thinking, we gravitate towards that which is:
- True
- Noble
- Just
- Pure
- Lovely
- of Good Report
- Virtuous
- Worthy of Praise
- In the battles we face, we put on His full-armor:
- The Helmet of Salvation
- The Breastplate of Righteousness (right over the vital organs)
- The Belt of Truth
- The Shoes of Peace
- The Shield of Faith
- The Sword of The Spirit (His Word).
Again, don’t forget the Axiom: It’s all about Jesus. That rule holds true here and gives us ginormous hope for the future. Surely beloved, He is our righteousness. This is true in everything He is and everything He does. Even the root of His name means The Lord Is Our Righteousness.
Romans 14:17 starts to make sense: for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This whole thing is about Him and the living of a peaceful and joyous life in His presence.
