Why is Righteousness Important/Why are we called to it?
- Matthew 6
- Verse 26 – Birds are fed, yet they do not reap or sow
- Verse 28 – Lilies of the field are dress more beautiful than king Solomon yet they do not labor or spin.
- Verse 33 & 34 – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
- 1 Timothy 6
- Chapter 6 instructs us to flee from the love of money and everything attached: jealousy, greed, pride (all lead to destruction)
- Verse 11: instructs us to flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.
What is Righteousness?
– a state of being blameless; without sin
- Attribute of God
- Psalm 7
- Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and integrity
- God is a righteous judge
- Verse 17 – I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High
- God is righteous; therefore He has authority to judge someone’s righteousness and integrity
- Jeremiah 23
- Verse 5 & 6: Righteousness is a characteristic of God – therefore God is righteous. So, when God spoke to the prophets in the Old Testament, He spoke of Jesus coming and named Him – The Lord Our Righteousness
- When Jesus came, He became OUR righteousness on the cross.
How do we receive righteousness?
Righteousness By Faith –
- Habakkuk 2:4 – God has been saying since the beginning “the righteous will live by faith.”
- Galatians 3:11 – the law was designed for us to realize we cannot be righteous, perfect, without sin on our own. We need Jesus to bridge the gap and to have faith in Him.
- Philippians 3:7-11 – Jesus came and fulfilled the law. Us having faith ensures righteousness
- Verse 9 “And” is key – Jesus did not come to replace the old law and create a new one. He came so that the old law would be fulfilled and in doing so, a new covenant was made in our place.
