Righteousness

All true righteousness comes from god

We cannot generate our own righteousness. We can only be “righteous” because it comes from God and is given to us as a gift. Psalm 145:17 says, “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”

Because God is Holy and Righteous, and we are made in His image, we can take on his qualities. Ephesians 4:24 reminds us to put off our “old self” and to put on our “new self” in Christ that was “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Philippians 3:9 notes that we don’t have our own righteousness coming from the law, “but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

Be careful of self-righteousness

It’s important to seek after God’s way, living in love and grace and mercy, refraining from sin and division; however, pursuing a life like Jesus doesn’t mean we live in contempt of those who sin or think we’re better than others. That’s the trouble with “self-righteousness.” 

Jesus often criticized the Pharisees in the New Testament for their self-righteous attitudes, calling them “whitewashed tombs” in Matthew 23. They are not the model of righteousness we are meant to pursue. Only a righteousness that comes from God is pure and holy. When we think highly of ourselves or look down on others, we are practicing self-righteousness. 

If we’re not careful, we will try to act like we have earned the righteousness that was freely given to us. Jesus’ salvation is a free gift, so none can boast (Ephesians 2:9).

people of righteousness

Many people throughout the Bible are referred to as righteous because they walked in God’s ways and kept themselves blameless:

• Abel: “By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (Hebrews 11:4).

• Noah: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9).

• Abraham: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). See Romans 4-5 as well.

• Lot: “and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked…then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:7-9).

• Daniel and Job: “even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 14:14).

• David: “And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you” (1 Kings 3:6).

• Zechariah and Elizabeth: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1:5-6).

• John the Baptist: “for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man” (Mark 6:20).

• Simeon: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him” (Luke 2:25).

• Joseph of Arimathea: “Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus” (Luke 23:50-52).

Jesus is the ultimate example of righteousness for us to follow after.