The Essence of Righteousness

What is the Biblical meaning and the essence of the word righteousness.

Righteousness is a standard of goodness and acceptability to be justified or be found not guilty at any judgment seat. To be equated from guilt or punishment for wrong doing.

To be considered righteous is to stand above in being found guilty from wrong doing.

Righteousness is one of the greatest attributes of God. This word has been mentioned more than five hundred times in the Hebrew Scriptures. This is what makes God the ultimate law giver and Judge, Since He dwells in the abode of Righteousness or guiltlessness. It also is a virtue of His Holiness. This truth is also appropriated through the brightness of His holiness.

This great Godly attribute is also speaks of the absence of sinfulness and a separation from all lawlessness.

Dwelling in Righteousness is the final destination of the Bride of Christ.

The first time that the Bible speaks of Righteousness after the Adamic fall was when Cain murdered his brother Abel.

The Bible calls Abel righteous and his actions pleasing to God. Even in coming to the New Covenant we hear Matthew speak of the vengeance of the blood of righteous Abel and that Zachariah’s righteous blood would be asked for from this generation. Wow what an amazing declaration of justification and judgment pronounced by Christ Himself. ( Matthew 23:35)

In Abel’s blood’s case even the author of the book of Hebrews speaks about it’s demand for justice until today.  By these examples we understand that this standard of purity and moral excellence is highly esteemed with God even into the New Covenant.

Ofcource we  do understand that in Able’s case it was still an appropriation of justice by faith in presenting the right sacrifice.

Ofcource the Bible speaks of a Blessedness of  a hunger and thirst for righteousness, that would identify the sons of the Kingdom. By this The Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 verse 6 speaks of such an honorable place of spiritual abode, which should accompany the redeemed, and  would be only fulfilled through faith by grace. Yet we see still many are left barren from such understanding. Though it is to be our greatest desire few even pray or ask for such heavenly blessing. The carnal believers are constantly praying for their earthly needs, yet they do not recognize that their first need should be to live with this heavenly mandate.

Some come close to see it’s beauty only at times, but never truly desire it’s habitation. There is a Blessed state of joyful living when we understand the principal spiritual reality of such a peaceful state of being.

It is almost a forgotten plea with many.

The Bible teaches us to first seek His Kingdom and righteousness and it is after this that everything else would be added on to us, yet we all seek all things , before we seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness and that is why many starve on the famish land of spiritual poverty, which leads them into physical poverty too.

Many of us do not realize our heavenly order of things and keep on staying in the wilderness going around the same mountain for many years.

While we seek to live in prosperity we live unrighteous lives and trying to put our hands on the heavenly promises that is only available through living in Kingdom Righteousness.  Many are attracted to be crowded with those  are wanting to be entertained by the Church and her servant leaders, yet neglect to admit their own spiritual  blindness and poverty, just like the  Laodicean Church of Rev. chapter 3.

To some in the body of Christ who are searching for the truth the word righteous or just become an appealing virtue, yet in many occasions it’s truth needs to be expanded upon. See we hear it’s demand in our spirit, since the Holy Spirit in us is crying out to us for the unveiling of this truth, but sometimes we need to examine it’s truth in a more detailed essence.

The Bible speaks of men like  Able, Job, Noah and Abraham and even  Lot in the Old  Covenant and  even Zachariah and Elizabeth  in the New Covenant as men and  women of righteousness, but it still is not clear to us what was the standard of their justification and in what measure of comparison it is calling them just or righteous.

There is the earthly scale of comparison and the heavenly measure of justification.

For example the Bible calls Job a just and a righteous man and I trust that he was, but this righteous standing could be explained in two different dimensions, one upon appropriation of Christ’s righteousness and the other is in comparison to the human level of the right standing that men can attain in hating lawlessness. Job was called just like Noah righteous in his generation, yet the standard of heaven was not the measurement of his right standing with God I believe.

I trust the Lord through appropriation saw them righteous through faith by election of grace a far off, yet in Job’s life story we hear Job’s own justification when he finally had God speaking to him  and showing it to be as a filthy rag before God.

Humanistic earthly righteousness in itself embodies pride and self justification, though it could be taken as the genuine, yet in it’s core is full of self deception.

We can and do justify all our works and in our own eyes we are always right, since with out such false assurance we are left very naked and need to hide like Adam or in our best we need to put the fig leaves to cover our nakedness otherwise we can not live with ourselves too long. An earthly self righteousness is called false humility and is not in agreement with God’s pronouncement of judgment. It is shame based and is always works to cover up it’s barrenness. Although it could have earthly merits of works of goodness, yet it is never meeting God’s standard of Justice since it’s inception is originated through sin.

Adamic sin is the empowering source of all it’s justification. This is why James calls it’s wisdom an earthly, sensual and demonic from it’s inception.

When Job was defending himself with his friends

he was speaking many truths, yet

Upon encountering God He needed to humble himself before God’s standard of Heavenly demands.

Even in the case of Zachariah and Elizabeth whom the New Covenant scripture is calling righteous I believe there was a justification by appropriation spoken over them, since they would not have been able to be called righteous with the heavens standard of justification in the weakness of their flesh.

As you see Zachariah even failed in believing the angel’s good tidings brought to him about John the Baptist ( Yokhanan the Immerser) their promised Child.

These two were a couple who in every ordinance of the law walked blameless the bible says, but that was still short of the heavenly righteousness, which was by faith.

As you saw Zachariah while in the Holy of Holies at altar of the incense was found short in the righteousness according to faith. Therefore having said all this I need to blow a trumpet in Zion today.

I am pleading with us the bride to come in terms with not only being appropriated by Christ’s righteousness positionally, but to live in the truth of it this side of heaven. Let us not touch  the hem of the garment of his righteousness in pretense or by deceit and live the rest of our life in Him by the works of lawlessness of our own self diluted human justification.

Let us come to Him with a true heart, declaring our own need for His righteousness so that we may not be cast aside like the wicked servant in the parable of Matthew the 22^nd chapter.

I pray that in this last hour the Lord will grant us mercy and grace to see our nakedness and that we too would fulfill Revelations chapter 19^th verse 8’s demands which is to have true acts of righteousness produced by true heart of faith, which the bible says is the fine linen of the bride’s wedding garment.

I plead with us Church let us get serious