Revisiting Righeousness

[tsth]

I am realizing that in this particular day and time, that we are void of righteousness, and I am distraught. I long to see distinctions again. I thirst and hunger for it, and I am dying to speak of it! Please afford me the opportunity to do so, as I may burst if I do not.

Do we as Christians understand and practice righteousness? What is it? Where does it begin? I want to begin with Scripture verses for that is the foundation of righteousness, it is from the Word Himself.

1 Cor. 15:34

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Genesis 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Ge 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Matt. 13:43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Mt 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Mt. 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Luke 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

(the last 2 words of the above, proved what was true)

John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Heb. 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Jas 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

1 Peter 4:8 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

2Pe 2:8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

1 John 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

1Jo 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Just to start with.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[tsth]

This thread is from an old one, that I'm still contemplating.

I was trying to find which verse to take the study of the word righteous from.

It is this one:

1Jo 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous , even as he is righteous.

For we are on the verge of being deceived about righteousness, if it has not already happened. We are not embracing it, because we have been deceived into confusing righteousness with "self-righteousness". There is a difference.

righteous:

righteous, observing divine laws

in a wide sense, upright, righteous, virtuous, keeping the commands of God

of those who seem to themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves in their virtues, whether real or imagined

innocent, faultless, guiltless

used of him whose way of thinking, feeling, and acting is wholly conformed to the will of God, and who therefore needs no rectification in the heart or life 1a

This is the definition that we have lost.

To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Proverbs 21:3

Any comments here?

In His Truth,

Suzanne

[WayneB]

Sister Suzanne,

I look forward to seeing this discussion.

For now, I will post these two Scirptures for starters:

Psalm 85

10 Love and faithfulness meet together;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,

and righteousness looks down from heaven.

12 The LORD will indeed give what is good,

and our land will yield its harvest.

Righteousness can only come from God and we receive it by Faith.

Galatians 5:5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

Blessings,

Wayne

[rafter]

Very interesting discussion. And like the scripture that Wayne quoted "righteousness is by faith". Looking forward to more from you tsth. I am sure Holiness will also come up in this study. For it is something we have really lost in this day and age.

Keep it coming

[tsth]

How about Zachariah and Elizabeth? Did they have faith?

Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

What did they do, as those who were righteous before God? What was significant about them? They knew Him/His Word!!! They believed!!! They obeyed!!! They prayed!!! They worshipped Him!!!

In His Love,

Suzanne

[tsth]

John 7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

Do we seek God's glory, in what we do? Are we the example of Christ in us, so that no one may say otherwise about us? Are we upholding the indwelling of Christ in our daily lives?

John 7:24 24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

Are we making those righteous judgments, that are of our Father? Or, are we only concerned with appearance before men? Do we seek the Father's approval, or do we seek man's approval?

Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Do you obtain witness that you are righteous? Do you serve the Living God? It must be evident by your works, as to Who you belong to. You must be set apart.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[WayneB]

What did they do, as those who were righteous before God? What was significant about them? They knew Him/His Word!!! They believed!!! They obeyed!!! They prayed!!! They worshipped Him!!!

Solomon spent a lifetime searching out what you just summarized. His said that life without God is meaningless and concluded in Ecclesiastes (chapter 12) ---

13 Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

There is no righteousness apart from God...never was and never will be.

Blessings,

Wayne

[serotta]

Wayne said:

There is no righteousness apart from God...never was and never will be.

Amen!

My two cents:

Righteous: "doing or according with, that which is right". That follows parallel to what Wayne said. "free from wrong, guilt, or sin; holy". I would hope that we all aspire to be righteous, but, IMO, if we EVER think of OURSELVES as righteous, we have become as pharisees and have crossed over into self-righteousness. And since we are called to be humble, we should never think of ourselves as righteous. There is always room for improvement.

Everyday I see people whom I consider righteous. My point is that we should all aspire to be righteous, and to hope that others see us as righteous. But it is never something we should call ourselves. Righteous is an adjective we should use for others and never ourselves.

[tsth]

Very interesting discussion. And like the scripture that Wayne quoted "righteousness is by faith". Looking forward to more from you tsth. I am sure Holiness will also come up in this study. For it is something we have really lost in this day and age.

Keep it coming 

You are absolutely right rafter, they go hand in hand.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Isaiah 26:9

With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Isa 26:10

Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

In His Love,

Suzanne

[ginakay]

I've been re-reading Nee's book "The normal Christian Life" and one of the things he says sort of along this line , is about knowing and reckoning. He says we have to know that we were crucified with Christ and then reckon ourselves dead to sin. Not that we cannot sin but rather that sin cannot have dominion over us. As far as righteousness, the only righteousness that will be acceptable is the righteousness of Christ. This is his gift to us. I know there is a part that believers play in this but mostly it seems it is our part to know our postion in Chirst, reckon ourselves dead to sin and accept the righteousness of Christ. Of course, living this out is what should be the normal Christian life.