Righteousness
What is Righteousness?
Along with many other terms, righteous and righteousness have become
religious clichés that have lost their meaning to many people. Many
Christians are unsure of what righteousness is, preventing them from
understanding what it takes to have a relationship with God.
"Righteousness" and "righteous," appear 542 times in 512 verses of the Bible. In contrast, "faith," "faithfulness" and "faithful" are only used 348 times in 328 verses. This means that there are 1.5 times as many scriptures about righteousness as there are about faith. Therefore, we can rightly conclude that righteousness is important.
So what does righteousness mean? Righteousness is the condition of being in right standing or relationship with God. This can only happen through total faith and dependence upon Christ, as the Bible says, For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. [Ephesians 2: 8] There is no other way to be righteous and there is nothing we can do on our own to accomplish this. It’s either all grace or all works and not a combination of the two. To quote Bible teacher Andrew Wommack, “Jesus plus something equals nothing; but Jesus plus nothing equals everything.” He was simply summarizing what the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 11: 6, And if by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace; otherwise work is no more work.
Furthermore, righteousness is not a character trait of a Christian; but rather the Christian bears fruit of his or her right standing and relationship with God, which we call works of righteousness. This truth is vital when seeking to fully understand righteousness and how we receive it and walk in it.
The Righteousness of God
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference. [Romans 3: 21-22]
The Lord Jesus and His righteousness is the standard by which everyone is measured by God in order to have relationship with Him. Jesus was completely sinless, pure, and holy, and therefore was able to not only have relationship with the Father, but to be in union with Him. For us, the Bible teaches that all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. [Romans 3: 23] and that our own righteousness is as filthy rags [Isaiah 64: 6]. Therefore, how can anyone other than Jesus have relationship with God? The answer is that no one can if he is trusting in his own righteousness. We must have a righteousness that exceeds anything we could ever produce through our own effort. This is where Jesus comes in. He has made the way for us to not only have relationship with God, but to be in union with God as well through the Spirit.
Many Christian and biblical scholars view the Lord's sermon on the mount [Matthew 5-7] as an instruction in righteousness and way of life. While definitely a teaching on righteousness, I would disagree that the sermon—specifically chapter 5—was a "How-To" for living a godly life. After what are called the beatitudes [Matthew 5: 3-16] the Lord begins to make reference to the law and the prophets (or the old testament).
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. [Matthew 5: 17-18]
The Bible teaches that the law was given to Moses, not as a set of rules by which we should aspire to live, but rather, to show us the exceedingly high standard God requires in order to be in relationship with Him, and how much we need a savior to be restored. Many people, including Christians, view the law, especially the Ten Commandments, as the basis for the way we should live. While I agree (as the apostle Paul agreed) that the law was perfect, and that in it, had a display of wisdom [Colossians 2:20-23], it is humanly impossible for anyone (other than Jesus) to keep all of it. And this is what Jesus intended to teach us in this message.
Immediately after the beatitudes, the Lord Jesus said, For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 5: 20]
When one is able to understand the comparison the Lord is making (to the Pharisees and scribes) we can see that whoever heard His words was shocked because the Pharisees and scribes were viewed as the holiest people in Israel. They made long prayers, fasted twice a week, and paid tithes of mint, anise, and cumin. If their righteousness had to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, they had to conclude it was impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And this is what the Lord was teaching—that it was impossible for anyone to enter into the kingdom of God in their own righteousness.
After this statement, the Lord begins going through the commandments beginning with murder. With each commandment, Jesus reveals a more strict application to it, thereby conveying the impossibility of keeping the law in our own strength. Not only could you not murder, but if you were angry with someone without cause you would be guilty of the same offense. In the sense of sexual sin, not only could you not commit adultery, but if you looked upon a woman (or man) with lust, you were guilty of the same offense. I’m sure there were people there who like the rich young ruler in Matthew 19: 16, believed they had kept all the commandments. They hadn’t murdered anyone; nor had they committed adultery, stolen, or even told a lie. However, the Lord was leveling the playing field, inferring as the Scripture concludes that all men are under sin, so He could have mercy upon us all.
The Lord used the commandments as they were intended, which as it is written in Galatians 3: 24-27: to be our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For you are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, once we are in Christ, we are no longer in need of the law. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1: 8-11 that the law is good, if a man uses it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is not made for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
Therefore, as the Lord Jesus proclaimed, He did not come to nullify or destroy the law because God's standards cannot be changed. God’s divine justice had to be served, and since no person born under the curse of sin could be righteous enough for God, and because of God’s great love for us, He sent His only begotten Son to the world to suffer the wrath and judgment of God for us so that He could reconcile His beloved creation to Himself. Because Jesus fulfilled the requirements of God’s law, His righteousness is imparted unto us through faith.
This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 6: 33 when He said, But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Many people view this passage to mean that we should seek the kingdom of God and also seek His righteousness, and then all the things He mentioned (clothing, provision, etc.) will be added unto us. While I agree that we should definitely seek to walk in God’s righteousness, I submit that the Lord was really telling us that if we seek the kingdom of God through placing our complete trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, then His righteousness and all these other things would be added unto us.
The Gift of Righteousness
Perhaps the greatest hindrance to having full comprehension of righteousness is the misunderstanding of how we become righteous in God’s eyes. It is commonly believed that our righteousness is determined by our actions. While there is a link between our actions and our right standing with God, our relationship with God produces actions or fruit, not the other way around. In other words, we do not become righteous by what we do, but because we are righteous, we bear the fruit of righteousness.
The Bible teaches that righteousness is a gift from God and is imparted to those who accept and rely on what Jesus has done for them to reconcile them to God. Therefore, by grace, we receive the righteousness of Jesus that makes us “right” with God. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. [Romans 5: 17]
When a person is born again, his heart is changed, which results in a change of behavior, or fruit of righteousness. Unfortunately, many in the church have been taught that actions and prohibitions are what bring change in a person. This deception has resulted in the growth of Christian activism where Christians are focusing their efforts on legislating and protesting instead of preaching the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation. Someone was quoted, “Julius Caesar tried to change men by changing the world; but Jesus Christ changed the world by changing men.”
And this is exactly what Jesus taught in Matthew 23, when Lord chastised the Pharisees and scribes saying, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. You blind Pharisees, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. The Lord is teaching that only through a changed heart will you see true fruit of righteousness.
The apostle Paul described the manifestation of God’s righteousness in us and called it the Fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5: 22-23]. Paul also confirmed this truth in Philippians 3: 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
Declared Righteous
To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness that he might be just, and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. [Romans 3: 26]
Because Jesus completely fulfilled the righteousness of the law, God has declared all who will trust in Jesus righteous in His sight. The Bible says that Jesus condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. [Romans 8: 3-4] This is an awesome truth—that God, because of Jesus, has called us righteous as long as we rely on the righteousness of Jesus alone—and not our own righteousness. Again, this is where the devil has deceived many in the church—that God deals with us according to our own righteousness and performance instead of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. Most Christians fully accept that it is Jesus alone who is responsible for their initial salvation, but many unfortunately fall into the same trap the church of Galatia had fallen into where they had turned back to the weak and beggarly elements of following the law to keep them saved. The apostle Paul asked, Are you so foolish—having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? [Galatians 3: 3]
As God called Abram the father of many nations when he had no children, God was illustrating what He would eventually do for us by declaring us righteous by faith.
A great illustration of this truth is found through the bald eagle. In 1782, the 2nd Continental Congress officially declared the bald eagle the National Emblem of the United States. Most students of U.S. history will remember the controversy surrounding the choice of the eagle as the country’s emblem. History teaches us that Benjamin Franklin strongly opposed using the bald eagle saying, “For my part, I wish the eagle had not been chosen as the representative of this county. He is a bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched in some dead tree where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing hawk and, when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish and is bearing it to his nest for his young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes the fish. With all this injustice, he is never in good case.”
While the eagle, in all appearances is a majestic bird representing honor and courage, it is actually, by nature, a glorified buzzard, feeding himself by the labor of others, or from roadkill. However, by no merit of its own, the bald eagle has been declared majestic, and is viewed to be honorable, and a symbol of the greatest and most courageous nation ever to exist on the face of this earth.
By the same token, because of the Lord Jesus, we, who were by nature children of wrath, have been declared righteous by God by no merit of our own. Furthermore, while viewed as an honorable and majestic symbol of a great nation, the inherent nature of the eagle has not changed: it continues to behave as Benjamin Franklin illustrated “he is never in good case.”
Fortunately for us, we have a better case than the bald eagle—in that not only are we declared righteous by God, but we are actually made righteous.
Made Righteous
For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. [2 Corinthians 5: 21]
That we have been declared righteous by God when we place faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ is a glorious truth, but this is not the extent of God’s grace. In Christ we have much more. While the Old Testament saints like Abraham and David were declared righteous by faith, we, under the New Testament in Jesus Christ, have a much better state. In addition to being declared righteous by God, we are made righteous by the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the essence of the new creature as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Once we are born again, our nature changes from that of the devil to the nature of God. This new man is what the Lord described to Nicodemus in John 3 and has been created righteous. The Bible teaches us to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. [Ephesians 4: 24]
I used the example of the eagle in the previous section to illustrate how we are declared righteous by God; but now I will use a caterpillar to illustrate how we are made righteous by God.
Most people are familiar with the term metamorphosis, the process by which a caterpillar is changed or transformed into a butterfly. This same word in the Greek metamorphoo is used only four times in the New Testament and was translated “transfigured”, “transformed” and “changed.” Transformation and change refers to what occurs when we are born again; and the other transfigured refers to the Lord Jesus when He was transfigured.
- Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. [Romans 12: 2]
- But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. [2 Corinthians 3: 18]
The comparison of what occurs when we are born again and the metamorphosis of the caterpillar is compelling. The short life of a caterpillar is spent crawling on the ground, consuming everything in its path, not producing anything of real value to the world, other than food for predators. Similarly, according to Scripture, our existence apart from Christ is spent much the same way—living by the lusts of our flesh, seeking only what contributes to the fulfillment of self, being ripe prey for an enemy who has blinded us to the truth of not only his existence, but of the knowledge and glory of God. The Bible says that we were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of obedience; among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. [Ephesians 2: 1-3]
But, if it’s not consumed by a predator before, the caterpillar is led instinctively to spin a cocoon and wrap itself within its changing power, emerging a completely transformed being. When as a caterpillar, it spent its life crawling and consuming, now the new butterfly spends its life flying and giving life and peace to the world. How great a contrast of the two natures!
For us, we have a similar transformation. Whereas before when we were by nature servants of the devil, God has provided the gospel by which we are led to the loving arms and heart of God, a cocoon of redemption from which we truly never emerge, being sealed by the Spirit of God whereby we can walk as a completely new creature. And as the butterfly, the new creature in Christ now gives life (salt and light) to the world.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, has quickened (made us alive) us together with Christ (by grace you are saved) and has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. [Ephesians 2: 4-10]
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. [1 Corinthians 1: 30-31]
Again, as with the eagle, we see the transformation of a caterpillar to a butterfly as glorious. However, in Christ, our transformation is much more glorious. We are of more value than many sparrows, as the Lord said in Matthew 10: 31. While the butterfly has gone through such a dramatic transformation, the truth is that this transformation is more like a child becoming an adult than what occurs when we are born again. The caterpillar is but one stage of the life of a butterfly—the larvae stage; and although it acts in a different manner, it is not a different species of being. The Bible says Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away; behold, all things are become new; and all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. [2 Corinthians 5: 17]
Therefore, according to Scripture, any person in Christ is a completely new creature—different from the person he was before. Similar to the butterfly, when we are born again, we are given a new nature, meaning that we have been changed from the inside, which will produce outward expressions or fruit of this change. Because of our new nature, we should not desire to live the same life we lived before this transformation. While your old sinful nature lived according to the ways of the world, your new nature lives according the word of God. After emerging from the cocoon, the butterfly doesn’t desire to crawl on the ground anymore; neither does it proclaim to be only a glorified caterpillar, or a worm transformed by cocoon. The truth is that the caterpillar, by its own actions, reveals an understanding of it being dead to being a caterpillar and alive to being a butterfly. And this is what we must do, but unfortunately, most Christian churches do not teach and embrace the truths of the Bible that teach that in Christ we are dead to sin and have been given a new nature. Instead, they still see themselves as sinners, and use the term “sinner saved by grace.”
This is what the apostle Paul was teaching in Romans 6: 2-14 when the question of continuing to live in sin when grace would abound. How shall we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? Do you not know that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man (nature) is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Now if we are dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead can die no more; death has no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he lives, he lives unto God. Likewise reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin (once as Christ did), and alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law, but under grace.
What a powerful teaching this is! Because of our new nature in Christ, we, being dead to sin, are no longer compelled to live in sin, but to live for God. Grace has broken the power of sin over our lives, and by grace we should not desire to live in sin. Why? Because we are dead to sin and our nature has changed.
Unfortunately, many Christians have neither understood nor embraced the truth of the new creature. Therefore, their view of their new identity in Christ is similar to a pig. You can take a pig out of the sty, give it a bath, dress it up and put perfume and makeup on it, and it will look pretty for a while, but sooner or later, it will break free from your control and head right back into the sty and wallow in the mud. Why does it do this? Because it’s the pig’s nature to wallow in the mud. A pig’s nature does not change, but ours does. Praise God!
Unlike the pig, eagle, or caterpillar who don’t have a choice to change, people do have a choice to allow God to change them through the gospel.
To further support the truth of the new creature, we are also given a new name. Our identity is contained in a name. Adam named all the animals and even though they existed without a name, they had no identity. The Latin name that identifies both the caterpillar and butterfly does not change throughout its existence, but ours does. As a bride takes the name of her husband, we take the name of Christ when we are born again. When before we were sinners; now we are Christians. In Revelation 2: 17 and 3: 12, the Lord said He was going to give those who overcome a new name—His new name. [See also Isaiah 62: 2]
