Sermon on the Mount: How We Gain Righteousness

In one of the previous churches I attended, the preacher would often refer to Matthew 6:33:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

Then the pastor would follow up the verse with the following:

"Seek His righteousness, that is, His right way of doing things."

That statement would make me cringe.

No, righteousness is not something we get by what we do!

The New Covenant, the Epistles in the New Testament could not make it clearer!

"For 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)

Two words that I want to focus on in the above verse: gift, and receive.

A gift is not something that you earn, fight for, or work for. A gift is something that is ... given to you as a grace. When we receive something, it is not something that we achieved, conceived, or deceived to obtain. That verb indicates that we just open up our hands and take what is offered to it.

Righteousness under the New Covenant is no longer about what we do, but what Jesus did and what He gives to us because of His Finished Work!

Consider this, too!

"For 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." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Not only do we receive (and keep receiving!) the gift of righteousness, but because of Jesus, we become The Righteousness of God in Him. It's our new identity, our new self, our new being!

So, all this talk about righteousness as something that we get by doing is all wrong.

But here's the kicker: even the Sermon on the Mount foresees righteousness as something that we receive, not something that we achieve!

Let's revisit the key verse in the Beatitudes:

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)

Notice that Jesus promises that those who "hunger and thirst" after righteousnesss will BE filled. They will not fill themselves. The righteousness that they crave will be given to them!

Isn't it interesting that Jesus talks about righteousness as something that is eaten and drunk, something that we taken in, that we feed on? Eating and drinking is not a laborious effort, but something which people by and large enjoy doing. It's not a strenous effort, but receiving something good!

Right away, Jesus is laying the groundwork for the New Covenant! This righteousness that will fill us is not our own righteousness, but His! Not something that we can earn, because no one can be righteousness in His own effort (cf Psalm 53:1)

Remember also what Jesus says later on in the Sermon on the Mount:

"For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:20)

Followed by:

"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

The Pharisees trusted in the works, their lawkeeping, their observance of teachings and traditions. Jesus brushed that all away, and He told the disciples that the Pharisees and their righteousness was not good enough. You want to earn your standing before God? You have to be PERFECT!

And no one can do that. Not one.

No wonder the Sermon on the Mount ends with:

"28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." (Matthew 7:28-29)

From that astonishment should come: "I cannot do that!"

Then Jesus can step in and say: "But I can. Let me be your Savior. Let me be your Righteousness!"

He is our Living Water, and He is our Bread of Life, so that we no longer hunger or thirst for righteousness, but are filled.

Jesus Sacrificed for Us -- Our Only "Sacrifice" is Praise, and To Keep Receiving From Him

This statement from Bishop Macedo is making the rounds on social media.

I have printed the first part of his statement below:

Those who believe that it is possible to be a Christian and not sacrifice are highly mistaken. From Genesis to Revelation, sacrifice is the foundation of Christian life as well as the foundation of walking with God. However, many religious people who have their hearts set on the gold and not the Altar use biblical passages out of context to affirm that we should not sacrifice. But each of these passages, in their proper context, reinforce the need for sacrifice. For example:

I am going to comment on the surface about this statement: "Christians need to sacrifice, give their lives to God."

First of all, we do not really have lives to give God.

We are the ones who need life.

Jesus did not mince words on our need for life:

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

Jesus came that we might have life. That means we have to accept the corrolary behind it: we don't have life.

John was crystal clear on this in his First Epistle, too:

"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (1 John 5:12)

When we came to Jesus, when we receive His Sonship before God as Father, we had nothing.

Consider the prodigal son when he returned to his loving Father.

He was destitute. He was reeking of pigs. He was emaciated. He had nothing. He had been reduced to nothing.

And how did the Father respond to Him?

"20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20)

Is there ultimate a sacrifice that we make to God, our Loving Father?

In a sense, yes:

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." (Hebrews 13:15)

Notice that even when we offer the sacrifice of praise to God, we are doing so through Jesus!

There is nothing that we do, that we have, that we give, that we are apart of Christ Jesus.

It's time for us to give up this idea that we have the opportunity, the resources to give something to God.

He gives us everything, and in return we can only release what He has already given us.

Consider what David the Beloved King shared:

"But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." (1 Chronicles 29:14)

David asked this question, too:

"What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?" (Psalm 116:12)

Here's the answer:

"I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD." (Psalm 116:13)

The answer to God's Goodness?

Say "Thank You!" and take more!

That's what pleases God, and it's hard for our human pride, our flesh. We want to "pay back", we want to have some part in giving back.

Yet the truth is that there is no other sacrifice we can offer. Let's give up this idea that we need to "sacrifice for God."

He had to offer the sacrifice for us in the first place: His Own Son!

"11And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." (Hebrews 10:11-13)

Let's stop trying to "sacrifice everything for God." In and of ourselves, we have nothing to give. Whatever we have, He gave to us first. Let us receive from Him all the more, and offer our praise for how good God our Father is!

Babies Work for Righteousness. Adults Receive Righteousness

We cannot earn righteousness, but rather we must receive it as a gift. If we are still trying to earn or work for it, then we are still little babies in Christ:

"13For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Hebrews 5:13-14)

Righteousness is all about faith, faith in God's promises specifically, and faith in Christ Jesus essentially:

"And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6)

Righteousness is something God declares that He will establish us in:

"14In 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)

So, God's gift of righteousness is granted to us as a gift.

Receiving His Righteousness, and the Rest is Added Unto Us

I was meditating on this verse in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew:

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:31-33)

I found this passage difficult to understand, because wasn't I supposed to take care of myself, wash myself, etc?

It's only in the last five years that I have learned what we are men are without Jesus: Dead.

He is our life (Colossians 3:4), and He has called us to receive His Life (John 10:10; 14:6)

Righteousness produces life in us!

"In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." (Proverbs 12:28)

and

"For 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)

We do not just receive life, but we reign in life!

How about that?!

Furthermore, Jesus relies on key examples to show how our Loving Father takes care of the birds and the flowers:

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:25-26)

The birds of the air are fed by our Daddy God. He cares for us far more than He cares for the birds. WHY? Because He gave His Son for us!

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9)

Notice that God our Father not only set His Son for us, but wanted us to live through Him!

Paul affirms this wonderful revelation, which is still so missing, so lacking in churches today:?

"20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Galatians 2:20-21)

Notice how Paul compares righteousness by faith versus righteousness by the law--which cannot be, since Jesus had to die on the Cross for us to receive righteousness.

Now, at one point in my life, I noticed that I was receiving manifold blessings.

Yet when I came across this passage in Matthew 6:33, I was worried: "How do I seek His righteousness?"

The answer would come to be about three years after that, when I learned what righteousness is all about.

First, Paul explains how we become justified:

"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 cannot be justified through ourselves, but rather we are justified because of Jesus.

Then there's Romans 5:17, which talks about how we receive--keep receiving the gift of righteousness. OK, then why does it say in the Gospels "seek" and in the Letter to the Romans "receive."

In fact, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:21) We are not seeking righteousness, but we have been made the righteousness of God.

We are as righteous as Jesus Christ Himself!

"Herein is love perfected among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement, because as He is, so are we in this world!" (1 John 4:17)

There has been a change, church!

Jesus died on the Cross, fulfilling the Old Covenant and enacting a New Covenant, which He accomplished through His blood:

"Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." (Luke 22:20)

and

"And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." (Hebrews 12:24)

What was the one thing that had kept me in bondage, then, in those earlier years?

I kept thinking that God's presence in my life would come and go depending on how I felt, or what I was thinking. I was not thinking the right thoughts or feeling the right way, if I did not ensure that my mind was on him at all times, then He would go away and I would have to struggle to bring Him back.

That is outrageous! I cannot be condemned for anything. His peace will never depart from me!

"9For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

"10For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee."

God will never be angry with me again!

Why? Because He has granted me His righteousness!

"14In 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.

…

"17No 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."

"Their righteousness is of me!"

So, I no longer fear for the future, because I know that He is already there, having declared the end from the beginning. I also recognize that my righteousness is not dependent on me. No matter how I feel, no matter what I am thinking, no matter how I may fail or do wrong, He has me in His hand:

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." (Isaiah 41:10)

Notice that fear is dispelled because of His righteousness!

This was so new to me.

He is my life. He lives in me and around me. I never have to worry about Him being there for me, because He has promised to never leave me or forsake me.

"10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

"11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

"12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

I never have to worry about failing, because righteousness is a gift from HIM--and He invites me to keep receiving it!

So, now we can come back to Jesus' promise to us from the Sermon on the Mount:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

Every day, I learn more about this gift of righteousness. So much wrong thing which I used to subscribe to, and now it's all being washed away! Even when I fail, I am still righteous. Even when I sin (verb), I am still righteous (adjective), because I receive His righteousness (noun).

Thank you, Jesus!