Psalms 112:6- Surely the RIGHTEOUS will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever.

 

Proverbs 11:4- Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but RIGHTEOUSNESS delivers from death.

 

Proverbs 11:5-The RIGHTEOUSNESS of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

 

Proverbs 11:6-The RIGHTEOUSNESS of the upright delivers them, but the treacherous are taken captive by their lust.

 

Proverbs 13:6-RIGHTEOUSNESS guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked.

 

1 Peter 3:12- For the eyes of the Lord are on the RIGHTEOUS, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

 

WHAT DOES RIGHTEOUSNESS DO?

 

It seems here that RIGHTEOUSNESS keeps your ways straight so you do not stumble, exalts you, grants you life, makes your prayers heard, guards you and delivers you from the enemy.  I certainly would want RIGHTEOUSNESS to be on my side when I go to battle because the verses above describe a fate of unfortunate destruction for those who are without it.  So now that we know how it EQUIPS us, what exactly does the bible say it is?

 

 

JUST AND FAIR

 

Ezekiel 18:5-9-“If a man is RIGHTEOUS and does what is just and right— if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is RIGHTEOUS; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.

 

Proverbs 29:7- A RIGHTEOUS man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.

 

Psalm 106:3- Blessed are they who observe justice, who do RIGHTEOUSNESS at all times!

 

By the Bible's definition, being RIGHTEOUS means to be just and fair, it means to follow all the Lord's statutes and laws.  How many of us can say we are RIGHTEOUS by that definiton? How many of us follow every law and statute that is in the Bible?  How many of us are fair and just all of the time?  I would be very suprised to hear anyone who says they are righteous by the Bible's definition.  The thing is, the Bible says if we break one law, we are guilty of them all (James 2:10)... So wouldn't that mean that everyone has transgressed the whole law and no one is truly righteous?  Absolutely, because it says in the verses below:

 

Ecclesiastes 7:20- For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin.

 

Romans 3:10- as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

 

WOW, well that makes you really think! If we are to wear the breastplate of RIGHTEOUSNESS which God promises will bring us success and protection, then how are we supposed to do that if not one of us is made righteous by the things required of us in the Bible?  Let's check out this next verse and see what it has to say...

 

Genesis 15:6- And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as RIGHTEOUSNESS.

 

OUR FAITH MAKES US RIGHTEOUS

 

Even from the very beginning of the Bible, it says that having faith was counted as RIGHTEOUSNESS!  Even before Christ died for our sins, it was our faith that made us RIGHTEOUS! I know many have asked about all the people who lived by the law or didn't have it before Christ came, if they received salvation... The answer is if they trusted in God and believed His promises, they were counted as righteous and received salvation!  For further reading on this topic, check out Galatians 3:1-9 and Romans 4.

So now we will address the other kind of RIGHTEOUSNESS which is often referred to as the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD and how this is different from the righteous acts we do.

 

GOD, THE AUTHOR OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS 

 

Romans 1:16- For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

 

Romans 3:21- But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 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. 26 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 4:1- What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

 

Here it is saying that the reason God gave His son to die for our sins is so that God may be the one to take the credit for our salvation and RIGHTEOUSNESS, so that He may make known to us His abounding grace and mercy.  He wanted us to understand that it is Him and always has been Him who saved us, not by our own works or doing.  It is simply our faith in His Son that makes us RIGHTEOUS.  Whew! I am glad I read that, I thought for sure I was going to be left out from God's promises, but fortunately for us, God loves us so much He gave us another way.  Let's read some more from the book of Romans...

 

RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A REQUIREMENT FOR SALVATION

 

Romans 5:17- For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made RIGHTEOUS. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through RIGHTEOUSNESS leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Romans 6:15- What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Romans 8:1- There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 

Romans 9:30- What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. 

 

Romans 10:1- Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

 

Romans 10:5- For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

 

What we can gather from the rest of Romans is that RIGHTEOUSNESS is a requirement for salvation, but because God sent his only Son to die for us, we can now obtain the free gift of salvation by beliving and confessing He is our Lord and Savior who rose again.  By having this faith, we are now made RIGHTEOUS, but it is not by our doing or by following the law, but by God's grace and favor.  

 

Let's make no mistake though, that this is not a free pass to sin, because whoever we chose to follow is our master...  If we say we belive but continue to live in rebellion, the fruit is evident that our master is sin and we do not truly have Christ. For anyone that truly belives will be made obedient and produce fruit that testifies to the Holy spirit dwelling within us.

 

CHRIST IS THE ONLY ONE WHO MAKES US RIGHTEOUS

 

Just to make the point clear that it is Christ who makes us righteous by our faith, here are a few more verses:

 

Titus 3:5- He saved us, not because of works done by us in RIGHTEOUSNESS, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

 

1 Peter 2:24- He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to RIGHTEOUSNESS. By his wounds you have been healed.

 

Galatians 2:20- I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

 

These verses explain that when you have faith in Jesus Christ, He comes and lives in you and now it is He who produces acts of RIGHTEOUSNESS through you.  It is those acts produced by Him that are witness to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the assurance of our salvation.

 

RIGHTEOUSNESS COMES THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST

 

Phillipians 1:9- And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of RIGHTEOUSNESS that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

 

1 John 2:28- And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

 

1 John 3:7- Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.

 

There you have it! Righteousness comes through faith! So what are some promises made to those who are righteous?  What kind of blessings do we receive?

 

THE BLESSINGS OF BEING RIGHTEOUS

 

Matthew 5:6- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS,
for they will be filled.

 

Matthew 5:10- Blessed are those who are persecuted because of RIGHTEOUSNESS,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

 

Proverbs 10:6- Blessings crown the head of the RIGHTEOUS, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. 

 

Proverbs 11:18- A wicked person earns deceptive wages, but the one who sows RIGHTEOUSNESS reaps a sure reward.

 

Psalms 37:16- Better the little that the RIGHTEOUS have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the RIGHTEOUS.

 

Proverbs 10:7- The name of the RIGHTEOUS is used in blessings, but the name of the wicked will rot.

 

Proverbs 14:34- RIGHTEOUSNESS exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

 

Proverbs 12:28- In the path of RIGHTEOUSNESS is life, and in its pathway there is no death.

 

I am so glad that I have Christ as my saviour who promises such great things to me just for having faith in Him!   How does this make you feel?  Do you have a different view of RIGHTEOUSNESS than when you first started?  How does this affect your relationship with Christ now?  Do you trust Him to be your BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, to protect and guard your heart when you are in battle?