I just left a church that I had been attending for two years. It was really tough for me, but I had to do it. I am not a big fan of breaking up with a church that I have been attending for a considerable length of time. I was even privileged enough to share a testimony in the church and preach a sermon.
However, I finally had to leave. The pastor was really set in his ways on the matter of righteousness, i.e. that righteousness has to do with doing things God's Way, living God's Way.
That kind of thinking just brings us back under law.
Under the Old Covenant, yes indeed righteousness was something that we had to do, something that we had to attain in our efforts:
"That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou
mayest live, and inherit the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." (Deuteronomy 16:20)
Literally, "Righteousness, Righteousness you will pursue" or "Absolute righteousness you pursue."
Under the Old Covenant, you have to pursue it. You need to capture it. You need to attain it.
And yet, how was Abraham made righteous?
"And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6)
God's original plan has always been that we would just believe on Him, and receive from Him!
In fact, consider some of the key prophesies about the New Covenant in Isaiah:
"In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee." (Isaiah 54:14)
and then
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD." (Isaiah 54:17)
Notice in the first verse "In righteousness you shall be established." The verse is in the passive construction, implying that righteousness is done to us. We do not "do righteousness."
Four verse later, Isaiah prophesies: "There righteousness is of me, says the Lord." Our righteousness comes from Him, not from us! It's not our righteousness through our efforts, but we receive it as something from Him!
Consider also the promises declared in the Psalms:
"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness." (Psalm 31:1)
We are saved, set free through His righteousness, not our own!
Now, many people will counter: "But Jesus said 'Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness'!"
Yes, indeed Jesus declared that we should seek God's righteousness, not our own. However, that was not the first time that Jesus mentioned righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount:
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)
Again, we see "be filled," a passive construction which shows that we receive the action instead of achieving the action.
Righteousness is given to us, not achieved by us.
And there's more throughout the New Testament to affirm this New Covenant revelation. Paul preached in Antioch:
"38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39)
We are granted forgiveness of sins, we are justified from all things through Jesus! Not through Moses, not through keeping Moses' law, not through our self-effort, but through what Jesus did at the Cross.
Paul affirms this revelation to the Corinthians, as well:
"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5:21)
We don't do righteousness: we BECOME righteousness, and we become the righteousness of God in Christ!
The New Covenant is all about how we are justified by what Jesus did, not by what we do.
If pastors are still preaching righteousness as "His right way of doing things," they are bringing people back under law, under self-effort, under the Old Covenant. And I do not want to frustrate the grace of God!
"4Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." (Galatians 5:4)
Just in case there lingers any further confusion on the matter, Paul writes to the Romans:
"17For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:17)
By one person, Jesus Christ, we:
1. receive
2. gift of righteousness
We do not achieve the works or the salary of righteousness. It is a gift, one which we receive and keep receiving, in fact! Paul could not make it more clear.
And yet ... and yet ...
I hear one outspoken preacher after another continue to say, as a matter of forced habit: "Righteousness, or His right way of doing things."
That is wrong! That is error! We need to stand up to this error big time!
And why does this matter? Why does this hit home for me, specifically?
When I meditated on His righteousness as my righteousness, a gift that I receive and keep receiving from Him, I rest in the knowledge that no matter what is happening around me, I will never be condemned. I can rest assured that no matter how many times I fail, or if I fall, my righteousness, my right standing before God does not change!
"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." (Proverbs 24:16)
A just man is not defined or changed or loses his rightousness because he falls. It's as simple as that.
We need that revelation so that we can keep receiving His grace, His favor in our lives. I cannot tell you how many trials I have faced in my life, and how easily I would have been overcome and overwhelmed by those challenges, if I had been reduced to believing the lie that I am righteous based on what I do.
Because of the GIFT of righteousness, I know that I will never be condemned, I will never be rejected, I will never be separated from my Loving Father. That kind of assurance turns wastrels and failures into winners and warriors, men and women who have nothing to fear, but everything to gain when they come boldly before the throne of grace in time of need (Hebrews 4:16).
