Righteousness pt. 1

Righteousness: acting in accord with divine or moral law.

Whoa. What does that even mean?! Divine and moral law? This all seems confusing, and we are told to be righteous. How can I be something that I don't even truly understand? The more I studied about righteousness the more I found written about it in the Bible. It was completely overwhelming. Originally I was going to do a single blog post about righteousness, but the more I studied it the more I learned and had to share.  

Christ is Righteous 

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways and faithful in all He does." Psalms 145:17

"The Lord reigns forever; He has established His throne for judgement. He rules the world in righteousness and judges the people with equity." Psalms 9:7-8

"And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for He is a God of justice." Psalms 50:6 

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; love and faithfulness go before you." Psalms 89:14

This last verse is key to understanding God. Yes, He is a righteous and just God, but He also has compassion and understanding when you fail.

Righteousness comes through faith
"As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one" Romans 3:10

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law: rather through the law we become conscious of our sin" Romans 3:20

WHAT?! I thought we were supposed to be righteous, how can we be if it is written that no one is?!

"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is GIVEN through FAITH in Jesus Christ to all who believe.." Romans 3:21-22

Okay, so through faith in Jesus can be righteous.. but wait there's more! :)

"God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood- to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." Romans 3:25-27 

So, Jesus lets me be righteous by showing HIS righteousness through dying on the cross?!

Exactly. God is just, our sins were paid for through Jesus' blood so that we can have faith in Him. So through that faith that comes from Him, we are allowed to believe in Jesus and be righteous in the eyes of God.

Whoa. This is a lot to take in. All I know is that I'm glad we are able to be righteous through having faith in Jesus, because the Bible talks so much about what it is to be righteous... and THAT'S where part 2 comes in.

Let Your Light Shine!

-Beth