Righteousness

Righteousness

What is righteousness? It is something we will not enter heaven without, Jesus makes that clear. So it is upon us to know what this really means. Dictionary meaning of "righteousness":

"The state of him who is as he ought to be; rightness; one who is acceptable to God; morally just"

Jesus said," Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no case enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

So what does that mean? How does the Bible describe the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? First, Jesus said they say one thing, but do another. So, they are hypocrites. Secondly, even what they did do as acts of righteousness were only insignificant deeds in God's eyes, that omitted what were the more important aspects of the will of God. They tithed of every minute possession, such as spices, while neglecting faith, justice, and mercy.

So, the answer is to just get better at obeying the "greater commandments" of the law? No. One scribe answered correctly on which were the greatest commandments: love God with all you are, and love your neighbor as yourself. But with such an answer, Jesus only told him that he was "not far from the Kingdom".

The key to the difference between "not far from" and actually being a part of the kingdom of heaven lies in the fact that knowing the will of God only condemns us the more when we have knowledge of it, but don't do it. The Bible declares that none is righteous (no not one, it says). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, his glory meaning us glorifying him in loving him or attaining his righteous standard. Knowing that we should love God above all we are, but not doing it, brings great condemnation. Our good attempts earn us no points on judgment day. Isaiah declares by the Spirit of God:

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

It can't get any clearer than that. Jesus Christ's blood is for each and every person. All stand in dire, indispensable need of it. Even as a Christian, our righteous acts do not commend us to God; only the righteous blood of Jesus can do that. But it is clear that all who are begotten by Him will be like him. 1 John says:

 

If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

And

Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

 

Righteous living, springing from a righteous heart, springing from the life of Christ within us, is the result of eternal life abiding within us, not the cause of it. Trying to do "righteousness" as a way to trick yourself into thinking you have eternal life is a blind method employed by Pharisees since time began. The tree is good or it is bad. God alone can change the nature of anything, anyone. Only God in Jesus Christ can resurrect a dead spirit, with its dead works, its dead religion, its worthless fruit.