This post was inspired by my friend requesting me to write on this topic and she sent me a link to a message by David Pawson ( https://youtu.be/5xkDxMckvzE ). In this sermon he argues the best way to describe or define God – it is NOT ‘God is Love’ BUT “God is RIGHT’. It is so important for us to see the sovereign nature of God- That first and foremost GOD IS RIGHT!!! And all the other attributes of God flows from this Righteousness of God. Because he is Right He is also- infinitely just, infinitely gracious, infinitely merciful- And yes He can be and do all this because He is God. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew- 19:26
This immediately triggered in me so many questions and conflicts. For much of my life before I came to Christ, I said very often there is no absolute right or wrong…it always depends! I used to say that “life is not black or white…it is always grey!” How easy it is for us to have a worldly view of things and be happily settled in that falsehood. The last year or so has been a constant battle for me as I kept asking almost every day the question Job asked- How can I be right in God? Are we not all sinners and so can we be right? How can you be sure what you do in this life is right? And why is it essential to be right? What will set you free?
- But how can mere mortals prove their innocence before God? Though they wished to dispute with him, they could not answer him one time out of a thousand. His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed? Job 9:2-4
Like many answers to life’s major questions the answer lies in the fundamental doctrines of the Bible and hope I can scrape the top of this truth in this short post.
First, let us get the terms right. What does righteousness mean, and what does righteousness in God mean? This link gives a detailed explanation to these questions – https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/righteousness-of-god/ But in short there is an ethical rightness ( right by law ) we all aim to exhibit and defined by our behaviour, our efforts. Thats important. But we all due to our sinful nature fall short of this in one form or the other. And it ultimately leads us to self righteousness. The other view of righteousness is the righteousness of God- ( right by grace-justification ), the righteousness that transforms us, makes us fit to be presented to God. It is this righteousness that sets us free and is received through the gift of salvation.
- For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— Phil. 3:9
Righteousness by salvation or justification- This is the Imputed righteousness of God that the blood of Christ redeemed for us on the Cross. We refer to this as the propitiation of sins or the saving atonement. The price God paid for us sinners to make us right for his Kingdom. It is freely available to all who ‘Believe’ – a gift from God by His grace. You don’t earn this, you are given this even though you don’t deserve it. You just need to believe and receive it by faith. And then Gift it for others too so they can receive it.
- For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God- 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Therefore, since we have been justified by faith- Romans 5:1
- For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works,- Ephesians 2:8-9
Then comes the struggle with being ‘Right’ after you are saved- and thats by obedience as the route to righteousness – imparted righteousness that leads to sanctification. Sanctification is “the process of being made holy resulting in a changed life-style for the believer”. It is how we get to righteousness. You get this by just surrendering to the Will of God. This goes back to the point I made earlier about life being all grey or there is nothing really right or wrong…that’s not true. God is the absolute truth. His standards of perfection are right! And he brings you to this perfection by faithful obedience to Him. And even this is by His Grace Alone!!! The scriptures are the revealed will of God and His Providence is the Sovereign Will of God.
- Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thess. 5: 23)
- You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Rom. 6: 18 )
Can you really be righteous in God in this life? Yes. Only when you understand that it is His Righteousness that you wear and not yours – when I say it is not yours I mean that you don’t have any right to claim you are right about anything in and by yourself. For all Righteousness belongs to him and is imputed ( given ) to you when you believe in Christ. So really the foundation of being right in life is to say that you can only be right in God and accepting all righteousness comes from Him, is for Him and in Him.
So in summary ‘Righteousness of God’ is By Grace alone, By Faith alone, By Christ alone .
Below are the attributes of righteousness of God:
- It is Apart from the Law- It is not what you can do and claim but what he gives through his grace
- Through redemption bought by the blood of Christ
- Comes through faith through grace. Depends only on Him. By believing
- Providence of God- what he promises he delivers- both as the saviour and as the Judge!
So don’t ever ever ever think you can buy your way to being right with GOD!!!
