Two Kinds Of RighteousnessSample

What Righteousness Means

I believe that there is no other word in the Bible, or in theology, that is less understood and appreciated than the word righteousness. Yet, enclosed within it is everything that humanity has ever craved.

What righteousness gives to man is the seed of all human religions. Both the outward practices of paganism and the inward philosophical religion of the modern day are all the result of man’s quest for the things that righteousness provides. Righteousness restores to man all that was lost in the fall. Let us review a few of the many things that righteousness gives us as revealed in Christ’s finished work.

Righteousness comes to us in the new creation and restores our standing before God. It takes away the old sin consciousness that has crippled and robbed us of our spiritual initiative, as well as our confidence and assurance in His presence. It restores to man a standing before the Father on the same ground that Jesus enjoyed in His time on earth.

Remember the fearlessness of Jesus in the presence of the Father, and when He stood before Satan. He knew He had a legal right in the Father’s presence. He knew He was Master of Satan and of all the forces of hell. Remember how fearless He was during the storm and what absolute authority He displayed over the laws of nature. 

Even in the presence of a large number of doubting people, Jesus was not afraid to say to a dead man, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). He had no sense of inferiority in the presence of death. He had no sense of inferiority in the presence of disease. He was not afraid to speak to the maimed and command them to become whole.

Righteousness is a masterful thing.

Righteousness restores to man his lost fellowship. We see that fellowship illustrated in Jesus’s life. He approached the Father in liberty and freedom. He addressed the Father as familiarly and as simply as a child addresses a father. Jesus enjoyed a unique fellowship. There was no sense of guilt, no sense of sin, and no sense of condemnation in His spirit.

Righteousness restores our peace with God. The individual is like the multitudes—seething, restless, having no peace and no quietness. The sense of lack, the sense of guilt, the sense of want, and the consciousness of burdens and unpaid bills fill the heart with anxiety and restlessness. Righteousness restores quietness and rest to the spirit. We are no longer afraid of bills; we are no longer afraid of circumstances. Faith rises unconsciously and we face the most adverse conditions with a sense of superiority.

Righteousness not only restores peace, but it also gives man the thing for which the human heart has sought and struggled through the ages: freedom. Righteousness restores such freedom—the same kind of freedom that Jesus had. It is freedom in Christ, freedom from the fear of Satan, and freedom from the fear of man because we now trust in God with all our hearts. We lean not upon our own understanding. We are not harassed and depressed by sense knowledge or by our circumstances. This is the kind of freedom that mankind craves.

We are sons and daughters. God is our Father. We are His children. We are in His family. We know our Father. He loves us, and we love Him.