Righteousness


We know that without “righteousness”, the Lord can have nothing to do with mankind. There can be no interaction with (un-righteous) man by a righteous God until the man has a “right standing” with Him. Additionally, He is required to “judge” (eradicate) all unrighteousness if He “sees” it. Also, the Bible is replete with appeals for the Lord’s people to live in, walk in, bear the fruits of, and be servants of “righteousness”.[1] However, if the body of Christ is going to “awake unto righteousness” and do these things, then we need to know exactly what the definition of “righteousness” is.

Interestingly, Bible dictionaries don’t actually define what righteousness is but rather what it does (more attention will be given to this matter further into this chapter). We really need to know what it is so let’s see what the Bible has to say about the matter.

Let’s begin with the “givens” concerning “righteousness” (as we now understand it) then a definition will be explained. It is accepted by all “Christian” doctrines (of which I am aware) that “righteousness” is a “right standing” (with God) that the Lord imputes unto us and which is afforded by the blood of the Lamb (through faith) or, in the case of the Old Testament, through obedience to the Law and Ordinances. The Bible says:

Ø “Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 53:4)

Ø “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith” (Romans 9:30)

Ø “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6)

This leaves us understanding that there is no question of the imputation of undeserved (and, importantly, un-manifested) righteousness given to man by our merciful Father. We can look at it this way: the “sin issue” between God and man has been resolved since the sin was taken away by the blood of the Lamb. He then gave us the available righteousness of Christ when we believed on Him. That meant that God could no longer see our sin which then gave us a “right standing” with God. That also means that God cannot and will not deal with His people according to their sins (other than in regard to “chastisement unto manifest righteousness”) but according to imputed righteousness.[2] He cannot regard us as “sinners” since: 1) the “Ten Commandments” has been nailed to the cross so it can no longer be use to condemn and accuse us; 2) if we were “sinners”, His ear would not be open to us (He wouldn’t be able to answer our prayers[3]); 3) if He saw our “sin”, He would be required to judge it and grace would be ineffectual; 4) since we are the “body of Christ”, that would make Christ a “sinner”.

Concerning the 4th aspect; think of it this way: we are His body. We notice (in the Bible) that, when someone persecutes the body of Christ, it is nothing less than doing it to Christ. Saul of Tarsus learned that lesson the hard way. Hear what the Lord had to say:

Ø “And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” (Acts 9:4-5)

When someone does anything to the body of Christ (either good or bad and whether a “non-believer” or another “believer”), it is the same as doing it to the Lord. Therefore, if you make the body of Christ “sinners”, you make Christ a “sinner” since they are one. That would also discount being blessed of God if we are a bunch of “sinners” since God won’t bless such. This point is being emphasized since we need to understand that the body can never be (manifestly) righteous if they think they are “just sinners saved by grace”. That teaching is an extra-Biblical false doctrine to be sure since it enslaves the believer to sin after coming to Christ. It cheats the believer from receiving the grace of God and negates the work of the cross.



The “Sin Issue”

Another extremely important point needs to be noted. Though the “sin issue” has been resolved between God and man, the “sin issue” yet remains between man and sin and (Christian) man must not sin since the wages of sin is death. This point must be established since many “preachers” deny that sin exits and that it no longer has an effect on the believer. In fact, many teach that Satan has no influence over the believer at all. That means that whatever happens in the life of the Christian has been allowed by the “grace of God” and/or “sovereignty of God”. This too is beyond the teaching of scripture and is a doctrine that can only be arrived at by not reading all of the word all of the time.[4]

Let’s get this straight: sin is deadly and will kill the believer (the same way that it did Adam in the beginning).[5] In other words, we don’t sin because of being told not to do so (i.e. we don’t obey the “Ten Commandments”). Rather we “sin not” because of the understanding that it’s deadly in and of itself and, if we don’t actively live righteously, it will kill us. The Bible says that we are living the “Ten Commandments” since they are written in our hearts and minds with word of God. We now have wisdom and understanding through the revelation of God’s word. Romans 6:22-23 says this:

Ø “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”

The first thing we want to notice here is that the Bible is written to the church and not to “sinners”. This scripture is to Christians. We know this because Paul the Apostle was writing to the church at Rome and because the “sinners” (the unsaved) are already dead. Let’s say it again this way: Romans 6:23 isn’t to the “sinner” or “un-saved” since they are already “dead” and because the Bible isn’t written to them.

Notice also the “fruit unto holiness”. That doesn’t sound like the believer is a “sinner” but is rather a righteous person partaking of eternal life and who bears peaceable fruit. The writer of Hebrews speaks of the “peaceable fruit of righteousness” in Hebrews 12:11.

Since the believer is not a “sinner”, this means that God is not going to judge us since we are part of the body of Christ. Christ was already judged and you cannot “smite the rock” a second time (Moses found that out the hard way). For God to judge us would be to re-judge Jesus. That just isn’t going to happen.[6] Therefore “sin” has its own reward; death. We see it in the scriptures this way:

Ø “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15)

It is vitally important to always keep the Bible in context and take all of the word all of the time.




Righteousness Defined


Righteousness, then, certainly is an imputed “gift” appropriated through faith. Since we are always dealing with faith, then we must account for the fact that we are dealing with “those things that are not as though they were”.[7] That is to say that we are always, through faith, going from the “un-manifested” to the “manifested”. It is the same principle used in the natural with a tree. It has everything necessary to bring for fruit. However, you don’t see the fruit until the “due season” (i.e. upon maturity). Since we are “trees of the Lord’s planting” (Psalm 1:1), then we have not yet manifested our fruit (as “babes in Christ”). In “due season” (upon maturity) we are to develop the “peaceable fruit of righteousness”[8] (by being doers of the word and not hearers only). We can and must do this (unless we listen to the doctrines of men which tell us that it can not be done by the believer).

On any number of occasions I have heard people teaching that righteousness is “right-standing” with God. The fact of the matter is that righteousness causes “right-standing” with God. So what appears to be the current teaching is actually more what righteousness “does” rather than what it “is”. Let’s arrive at a definition by letting the Bible interpret itself. Paul the Apostle said this:

Ø “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14)

In another place he said this:

Ø “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

Are there two separate breastplates or have we discovered the definition of righteousness[9]? In fact, it is the definition of righteousness and the dynamic by which we as believers “do rightly” and live in manifested righteousness.



Faith and Love

We need to see that “through faith” we are justified and are the “seed of Abraham”. Just as Abraham was counted as righteous because of his faith, so are we in Christ. Because of the grace appropriated through faith, we are no longer under the “Law” (which precluded walking in faith). That means that we are now creatures of love with a new (divine) nature who operate according to the “Law of Faith”. This point is being emphasized so that we understand that we are free from the “Ten Commandments” and now have the liberty to walk in faith and love as new creatures in Christ.

Importantly, we see in the word of God that, when you are walking in love, there is no law or any such condemnation against you. This is because manifesting “love” means that you are fulfilling the intent of God (i.e. the “spirit of the Law”) when He gave the Law of Moses to His chosen (but “carnal”) people:

Ø “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:36-40)

We can say it this way: there is no law against those who walk in love. You don’t have to tell someone who is walking in love not to steal, or to kill. They care more about others than themselves because they know that God cares for them and has given them all covenantal provision (i.e. grace) as well. This is what the Bible says:

Ø “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)

We need to keep in mind that “the Law” was given to force un-born-again people (who were incapable of having a “love” nature) to walk in Love’s principles. But we must then remember that we have been given a divine (love) nature (as “new creatures”).[10] That makes it easy to see that, when walking in love, there is no need for “the Law”. It also means we can walk without the condemnation and accusation of “the Law” since we aren’t under “the Law” (or the “curse of the Law”, for that matter[11]). Walking in this new divine nature is part of being manifestly righteousness (which could not be accomplished under “the Law”).

To walk in love is to actually be a “Christian” (as opposed to “acting” like one) and to do all things in the same manner as did Christ (who is God, who is “Love”). This means that we grow the fruit of “love” in due season. Until our fruit “ripens”, we have the imputed righteousness through faith. We see that the fruit of the (human) spirit includes both “faith” and “love”.[12] Note that “faith works by love”[13] so can’t be separated from it. That’s why “righteousness” has the constituent parts; “faith” and “love”. It is these two components which make up one breastplate. Once this is understood the matter of becoming manifestly righteous becomes much clearer.



Recapping

Let’s recap what we are learning about righteousness. Firstly, we see that it is comprised of the individual components of “faith” and “love”. Secondly, we see that there is an “imputed” or “non-manifest” righteousness through the dynamics of faith (speaking of those things which are not as though they were already manifested[14]). Thirdly, we see a “manifest righteousness” which is indicative of fruitful maturity and which is the end product of faith, hope, and the disciplines of the believer (as a “doer of the word”).

We can say it this way, then: we have, by grace through faith, an “imputed” righteousness until we “grow” or “mature” into a “manifest” righteousness (i.e. we “bear fruit” as the trees of the Lord’s planting[15]). The “imputed righteousness” is no longer necessary when a Christian is mature (one could even say “ripe”) and is actually living righteously. The Bible refers to this as “walking in love”, “walking in the light”, and “walking in the spirit” (these three are congruent and inseparable).

Grace (always a provision[16]) has been extended to us to get us to the “destination” of manifest righteousness. God wants His children to grow up and walk in righteousness like our Lord Jesus Christ. We are His body and are the only representation (or image of God) that people will see. It can also be stated this way: if we are the body of Christ, why would God want a bunch of babies as representatives of Christ rather than a powerful and mature body? We are the word of God made manifest in the flesh. We are His body. This is all the more reason for us to “walk in the spirit” and manifest the righteousness of God unto all men”[17].


[1] Romans 6:13; Romans 6:16; Romans 6:18; Romans 6:19; 1 Corinthians 15:14; 2 Corinthians 6:14; Ephesians 6:14; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:22; James 3:18; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:7
[2] “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8)
[3] The only requirements for having prayer answered is that the Lord hear us and that we apply our faith
[4] i.e. “Cut and paste theology”
[5] See Jude 1:12
[6] There will be a “judgment day” but not while we are on this earth. We will be judged only for the things we have done in this body and not for “sin issues”
[7] Romans 4:17
[8] Hebrews 12:11
[9] Notice that this is merely a cross-reference word study. Anyone using this simple method will easily see through most of the doctrines of the “spirit of error”
[10] 2 Peter 1:4
[11] Galatians 3:13-14
[12] Galatians 5:22-23
[13] Galatians 5:6
[14] Making it a “substance” of things hoped for and an “ evidence” of things not seen
[15] Psalm 1:1-3
[16] Grace certainly is “unmerited favor” from God. However, you can never scripturally separate “grace” from “provision”
[17] This is being a true “witness”