Our Identity in Christ – Righteousness
Ephesians 6:14
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness
Righteousness is “the character or quality of being right or just. The righteousness of God means essentially the same as His faithfulness, or truthfulness, that which is consistent with His own nature and promises.
Romans 3:23-26
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
This speaks of His “righteousness” as exhibited in the Death of Christ, which is sufficient to show men that God is neither indifferent to sin nor regards it lightly. On the contrary, it demonstrates that quality of holiness in Him which must find expression in His condemnation of sin.
God’s righteousness is closely aligned with God’s justice. It is just that our sin be paid for by our death. But is it God’s grace that Jesus died in our place thus fulfilling justice and causing the righteousness of Christ to be imputed to us. In that way it is the death of Christ that guards our hearts as a breastplate of righteousness.
Righteousness is not self-righteousness. It is not self-justification. It is not works. The law must either be kept perfectly at all times or it is broken. No amount of good works can repair or replace the broken law. Once the law is broken the result is death, the death of the lawbreaker, unless someone who hasn’t broken the law agrees to die in the lawbreaker’s stead.
2Corinthians 5:21
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Genesis 15:6
And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord, and He (God) accounted it to him for righteousness.
Righteousness is not the good opinion of men nor is it found in seeking the good opinion of men. Remember that it was the “good” religious leaders that were so offended by Jesus they had to kill him. For us, being well thought of in the community is no measure of our relationship to God. Both the praise and censure of the world are meaningless.
Proverbs 11:4
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
But righteousness delivers from death.
Righteousness is no reason for pride. In fact, as we become more aligned, by the renewing of our minds, with the righteousness we have in Christ we become more like him also in humility. A man who is proud of how good he is has much further to go than a man who is deeply aware of his sinfulness and his need for God’s goodness to fill up with eternal life the endless void of ‘dead in sin’.
James 4:10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
Psalm 23:3
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
As we previously discussed, the breastplate of righteousness is buckled to the belt of truth.
Righteousness and truth are inextricably linked. Holiness must be pursued in sincerity.
James 1:2-8
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
And knowing the right from the wrong is of no value unless righteousness is pursued and evil shunned.
James 4:17
Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
It is God’s will that his children exhibit the power of a holy and righteous life. All our parts and powers are from God and belong to him, we must not use them for selfish ends.
Our enemy the devil hates righteousness and wants us to compromise because unrighteousness spoils the power of the church.
Holiness is our evidence of Heaven, it capacitates us for communion with God, it is necessary to peace within the soul, and holiness is effective outreach.
We are to exhibit the power of a holy and righteous life in our struggle against sin, in our worship of God, and in our everyday lives.
James 4:7
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Psalm 29:2
Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
How to live out the walk of a holy and righteous life.
Stay in the word.
Stay away from false religion.
Stay away from self-righteousness.
Walk after Christ.
Walk in dependence upon God.
Walk with the saints.
What will be your legacy?
Remember its all grace.
Romans 14:17
the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The call to holiness must be undertaken with sincerity and vigor. Living out holiness in the midst of a perverse and corrupt culture is costly. What will it cost?
brotherpayne 