JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH:

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH:

Righteousness of God:

Paul the apostle wrote as recorded in Romans 1:17, that: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

The Greek word for righteousness was rendered dikaiosyne, and the Hebrew counterpart or equivalent was tsedakah.

The present English word was developed from Anglo- Saxon. Originally the word righteousness was rightwiseness, i.e. right wisdom, and specifically described justice, right and to know. Therefore a righteous man was a man with the right wisdom, not deception- i.e. not the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world is wrong wisdom, and is exactly foolishness before God- 1 Corinthians 3:19. Psalms 14:1 states: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” Proverbs 23:7 states: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”

The righteous man is a person who understands the claim of justice and right, and who, knowing them, acted according to their dictates. That person is thoroughly wise, and he aims at the attainment of the best end by the use of the best means. This, to the level best is the true meaning of wisdom. The righteous man is he that knows most about God, and acts best by obeying God completely/ fully. David the son of Jesse wrote in Psalms 34:8, that: “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Peter the apostle, son of Jonah, wrote in his epistle (1 Peter 2:1-3), that: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As new babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

Before we could move into deeper aspects, or parts of righteousness, it is good for us to look much first on the Greek world, the wisdom of the Gentiles.

According to classical Greek, righteousness was unwritten, eternal, or divine principle brought into shape both the physical and moral characters, and the consciousness of man. The word was applied in the phrase qemiv ejsti- It is right fundamentally and eternally, equivalent to Latin fas est.

“So, Homer, of Penelope, mourning for Ulysses, qemiv ejst gunalkov,- it is the sacred obligation of the wife (who founded in her natural relation to her husband, ordained of heaven) to mourn” (“Odyssey” 14,130). “So, also Antigone appeals to the unwritten law against the blasphemy of refusing burial to her brother.” This understood according to the pagans.

The unwritten law, in the Christian domain, is the Gospel. It is unwritten, in the sense that it is written in the hearts of believers.

The Hebrew word tsedakah, for righteousness, in the proper ideal description, breads the notion of a beam or a scale, in equipoise, what we call balances, and is well known in all the personifications of justice both ancient and modern. Righteousness is right wisdom.

The Hebrews presented wisdom as a woman, who was beautiful, with a bandage on her eyes, a beam and scales in her hands, so perfectly poised that neither end preponderates.

Solomon, the third king of Israel wrote: “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee… Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.” (Proverbs 4:5-9, 13). In Ecclesiasticus 24:1-2 (Apocrypha) Jesus ben Sirach wrote: “Wisdom shall praise herself, and shall glory in the midst of her people. In the congregation of the most High shall she open her mouth, and triumph before his power.” He wrote again in Ecclesiasticus 51:13-16, that: “When I was yet young, or ever I went abroad, I desired wisdom openly in my prayer. I prayed for her before the temple, and will seek her out even to the end. Even from the flower till the grape was ripe hath my heart delighted in her: my foot went the right way, from my youth up sought I after her. I bowed down mine ear a little, and received her, and gat much learning.”

Here are the things spoken more of righteousness in the scriptures:

1. The Greek word dikaiosyne for righteousness, further has the sense to divide, derived from dochasoo, hence justice, not determination, neither robbing, slapping of justice. It is written in Acts 17:31: “Because he (God) hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness (dikaiosyne from dochasoo) by that man (Jesus Christ) whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him (Jesus Christ) from the dead.” It is written in Revelation 19:2, that: “For true and righteous are his (God’s) judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”

2. Righteousness is holy life. The record in Luke 1:75, states: “In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.” This was the prophecy of Zacharias, the husband of Elizabeth, the father of John the Baptist, concerning Christ, his son (Zacharias’) as the forerunner, and the expected state of Israel, at that time.

3. Righteousness is practically exercised or demonstrated in alms giving. The record in Matthew 6:1 supports: “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”

4. Righteousness is God’s method of saving sinners- the responsibility he placed on his Son Jesus Christ. Romans 9:30 indicates: “What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness even the righteousness which is of faith.”

5. Righteousness referred to liberality. 2 Corinthians 9:9-10 states: “(As it is written, [that is Psalms 112:9] He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness).”

6. Righteousness referred to collection of graces, completing Christian characters or living, hence: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6). The characters or living seen must be completely different, distinctive, from hypocrisies, seen, evident in denominations, ministries, religions- “For I (Jesus Christ) say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees [that is equivalent to present denominations/ ministries], ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven”- Matthew 5:20. The graces, characters, or living, can only be received from God- “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

7. Righteousness signifies the result of faith in God and submission to his will, exemplified in holy and useful life- “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

8. Righteousness signifies an exact observance of the Gospel ordinances, and precepts- contrary to what Paul the apostle originally did- “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:6). The Gospel ordinances are the fulfillment of all righteousness- “And Jesus answering said unto him (John the Baptist), suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he (John the Baptist) suffered him (Christ)” (Matthew 3:15).

9. Righteousness signifies the favour or pardoning mercy from God- “Even as David also decribeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying [that is Psalms 32:1-2], Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:6-8).

10.    A righteous person becomes the righteousness of God. One who knows sin MUST BE saved by ONE who knew no sin, but made sin, for the sake of salvation. This man, who knew no sin, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the man in glory. To know sin, meant that such a person practiced sin, before the salvation brought by Christ. The record in 2 Corinthians 5:21, states: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

The verb right explains to: 1. Approve, praise, commend, declare something to be proper. A judge is said to justify not only when he condemns and punishes, but also when he defends the cause of the innocent. This is the basis of the Greek word dikaioo, also pronounced dichasoo.

2. Set free, escape from. The record in Acts 13:39, indicates: “And by him [Jesus Christ] that believe are justified {made righteous} from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

3. To receive one into a favour, to pardon of sin. Romans 8:30: “Moreover whom he {God} did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified {made righteous}: and whom he justified, them he also gloried.” Luke 18:14: “I [Jesus Christ] tell you, this man went down to his house justified {made righteous} rather than the other {comparing a Pharisee and a Publican who went in the temple to pray}: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” See also Romans 3:20; 4:2 and 1 Corinthians 6:11.

4. Lastly righteousness is synonymous to justification, and is taken in the sense of remission of sins, through faith in Jesus Christ. The concept does not make a person righteous or just, but treating him as if he were so, having his or her sins forgiven by God, through believing, trusting in God’s only begotten Son- Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23-26 states: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say {Paul the apostle}, at this time his {God’s} righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.”

Romans 5:1-2, states: “Therefore being justified {made righteous} by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Verse 9 indicates: “Much more then, being now justified {made righteous} by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him {Jesus Christ}.” See also Galatians 2:16-17; 3:11, 24; 5:4; Titus 3:7; James 2:21-25.

What can we draw into, as the righteousness of God? First, the righteousness of God is his wisdom; Secondly, the righteousness of God is his knowledge; Thirdly, the righteousness of God is acting according to his wish or dictates; Fourthly, the righteousness of God is his justice {compare the parable of the widow and the non-fearing judge mentioned in Luke 18:1-8}. The heat, or gravity of God’s judgment, will be evident at the end of the world; Fifthly, the righteousness of God, forever positively indicates that he knows most and acts best. He acted best, by creating everything. He acted best by creating man in his own image (Genesis 1:1, 26). He knows most by giving us the scriptures; Sixthly, the righteousness of God is his unwritten, eternal or divine principle; Seventhly, the righteousness of God is his revelation; Eighthly, the righteousness of God, is his generosity, or as plainly put, his mercy, loving kindness, grace; Ninthly, the righteousness of God is his balance, in separating the obedient from the wicked at the end of the world.

The list is not exhaustive, but the individual with divine educational pursuits will learn more as he or she gets along.

The question that arises, then, is: “How can we get the righteousness of God; how can we know we have it; and how can the righteousness functions in our lives?

Since righteousness is wisdom, the Christians must seek the wisdom of God. In Proverbs 1:7, we learn that: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The passage continues, Proverbs 2:5-6, 10-12, that: “Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding…. When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things.” In the New Testament, James, one of the apostles, the brother of Christ, wrote: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5). God alone has his righteousness or wisdom, and he alone can give it to anyone, as he pleases. Man had no faculty whatsoever to give such wisdom. It is indicated in Wisdom of Solomon 7:7 (Apocrypha) that: “Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the Spirit of wisdom came to me.” But the simple and comprehensible doctrine is that: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written [that is Jeremiah 9:23-24], He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord”- 1 Corinthians 1:30-31. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. Seek him.

Righteousness of God is received from his word, called the Gospel. The record in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” Again in Proverbs 30:5, it is written: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”

To get righteousness from God, the following are mandatory or compulsory:

(a)          There must be obedience to God. The obedience to God, must be seen by obeying every precept of the Gospel;

(b)          The obedience given to God must direct the committed responsible recipient to Christ, and;

(c)           The righteousness of God MUST is obtained by studying his WORD. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”- 2 Timothy 2:15.

ALL these answer the question “how can we get the righteousness of God?”

The next “how can we know we have it?” was specifically answered by Paul, the apostle in the passage of Romans 1:17, which had been the introduction of this discussion.

To know, we have the righteousness, we must have revelation from God.

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, that is: (a) to have faith in his word. One MUST believe that the BIBLE is the WORD OF GOD. The BIBLE is not any other bible, but AUTHORIZED VERSION, elsewhere known as KING JAMES VERSION, 1611- anyway the Gospel is about Kingdom, not religious supremacy. This is the first step of faith; (b) to have faith in God himself. This God is the God of Israel, and not any other god. This is the second step of faith; (c) to have faith, in the only begotten Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the third step of faith. Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life, to heaven. Any other way is the way of eternal death. Peter the apostle courageously spoke that: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”- Acts 4:12. This is the third step of faith. First, one must study God’s word, obtained only from the BIBLE; secondly, he must have faith in God; and thirdly he must accept the Lord Jesus Christ as the only begotten Son of God, the only Person having the key to open and close the door of eternity. In plain, he MUST accept Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.

Jesus Christ himself attested of this, when he said: “All things are delivered unto me {Christ} of my Father {God}: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

The righteousness of God, is revealed precept upon precept, faith upon faith, and could be compared to what Peter, the apostle wrote, that: “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:1-8).

The condition for righteousness is perfectly clear, that is, “the just shall live by faith,” quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, and could be explained in this wise:

(i)             A person cannot be right, or righteous, unless he or she had faith, which is, believed in Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Father, called God, and the Kingdom in heaven. If one cannot, or does not know Jesus Christ, reject him, in his/ her attitudes, publicly denounced him, then it is obvious that such person has no faith at all. This person is a wicked person living in sin, with wrong characters. Jesus Christ, not denominations/ ministries people had set, is the litmus test. There is no value added to the Gospel service when man establishes/ builds extravagant places of worship. Ministries or denominations cannot make a person righteous. The righteousness of God had no short cuts. It cannot be achieved through the corrupt translated bibles done by man, to make things sweet to their reading or hearing. No man will be righteous before God, by his or her own efforts. Jesus Christ is the test given by God in order to know whether one is righteous or foolish/ wicked. The just or righteous man must have holy and useful life. He must know Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour, for the Son of God, is the only one who can save man from stupidity or foolishness of the world, physically taking course or appearing as sin. Foolishness attracts the wrath of God. Foolishness hides man from the face God. The other option, is this, that:

(ii)         The person, whose righteousness, had been approved or established, by complete belief in Christ, is the only one, who will be saved, that is, taken to eternity by Christ, the Son of the living God himself. We must be careful, when we give this reasoning. A Christian must be Christ-like. It is only Christ, who made us little christs, here in the world, in a move, or identification known globally as Christians. We are not God- men (“within me is no God- man”) as preached by Benny Hinn, and other Satanists. Without Christ, we are not Christians. Without Christ, we are completely/ fully nothing, hence, the record in Philippians 2:5, which indicates: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” We don’t do to Christ a favour when we are converted be Christians. When we become Christians, the favour is on our sides. We could have been lost terribly, destined to be in the hell fire, but God had given us unmerited favour, something we don’t deserve, by wiping out all our sins, in the blood of the Lamb. The condition for sins to be wiped out, for any person, is to believe in Jesus Christ. This belief in Christ tantamount to the belief in his blood. A person without Christ is total flop, helpless and a failure, being destined to hell. If one cannot behave as Christ, follow the footsteps of the Son of God, then he is none of the Christians. One will never do Christ a favour by establishing ministries/ denominations/ religions. Christ never ordered for this. One cannot do to Christ a favour, by begging money in the name of spreading the Gospel. One cannot do to Christ a favour, by establishing homes for destitute children, orphans, widows, or people with AIDS. One cannot do Christ a favour by using satanic powers to duplicate miracles, or, cannot, either by soliciting funds from cultic organizations to back up his established ministries/ denominations.

He who believed in the world political leaders, religious corrupt clergies- who used voodoo magic to duplicate/ apostate miracles, calling them mighty prophet of the Lord or servants or men of God, is a fool, not righteous, not just. Such person is not saved, and will end up in hell. One, who is called by God, must embrace the example of Christ. Christ never came to accomplish his will. He never came to saturate the little penny from the poor in order to get rich. He was not for himself, but for the service of God. How then are people completely blinded to the extent that they expect the current wolves with large bellies to be doing God’s work?

The record in Hebrews 5:4 makes it perfectly clear, that: “And no man taketh this honour {priesthood- currently preaching} unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.” How it is that one imposes himself on the Gospel, when really what he is doing is business? How can one expect salvation when what he is doing condemns him? How can one expect the love of God, when he loved himself very much to the extent of oppressing and despising others? He who believed in the world will not escape with his life, at the time when God will finally besiege the entire universe. Jesus Christ in one particular time asked this question: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and loose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”- Mark 8:36-37. John the son of Zebedee, the Greek form of the Hebrew name Zebediah, wrote: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever”- 1 John 2:15-17.  

The righteous man is a man whose inside had been pumped up, cleaned thoroughly by God. The man is made divine, when he was not originally divine. The man is made moral by God, when he was found to be immoral.

In the ancient religions of the Gentiles, who were originally pagans, immorality stood to expose loose, developed characters, which generated fear, guilt and wrath. Refusal to grant hospitality was considered offence against the gods. Compare this with Hebrews 13:2, though to Christians gods are nothing. There is only one God- JEHOVAH. Uncivilized, and fierce or arrogant, stubborn tribes or clans, were rated as immoral or unrighteous.

The Greek philosopher, Plato, in his fourth book of the Laws, asserted that God in his hands holds the beginning, the middle and the end of all things, so that he could dispense justice, by rewarding the obedience, while on the other hand- left hand punishing the disobedience. This statement is true about the God of Israel, but not Allah of Islam, not Zeus of Greek, neither any other.

Those who dear, reverence God must be like him. Without holiness, that is the righteousness of God or God’s character, no one will be, or can be righteous. God told the children of Israel through Moses, that: “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy….”- Leviticus 11:44. In Exodus 19:6, God told them again, that: “And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation….” Peter the apostle told Christians beginning with the Jews, and followed by Gentiles, that: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation”- 1 Peter 1:13-15.

The beginning, in the Christian domains, or perspective, is the time of Hebrew patriarchs; the middle is the time of the world currently, while the end of all things is ultimately the end of the world.

Reasoning in respect to the world, it is obvious that ethics, points first to what is established by customs. Morality is something whose weight is determined by God in his true worship, and ethics is established by dressing code. One is known to be a prostitute with the kind of dress she attired herself into. Peculiar emphasized on individual. Social sentiment is placed on morals. Case is concerned on public opinions. Murder on the other hand, is the breach of both social and moral law. Compare what Peter the apostle wrote: “But you are a chosen generation,  royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous glory”- 1 Peter 2:9.

God’s law called the Gospel stands for the purpose of to guide and to sanction. One would be charged in the court of God, by Jesus Christ, for:

(i)                         Not believing in God, neither his Son, Jesus Christ;

(ii)                     Disagreeing/ rejecting to be made righteous by God;

(iii)                  Agreeing to do contrary to what the citizens of heaven are doing; and

(iv)                   Voluntarily, blatantly refraining from the right and became part of the things forbidden by God.

In the civil courts worldwide, a person is charged with treason, or given death penalty, if:

(a)          He is against the head of state- president, something compared as not believing in God, neither his Son, Jesus Christ.

(b)          He had rigidly rejected the particular country’s constitution, violating it.

(c)           He does grave crimes specified in the governing constitution.

(d)          The person is found to be spy, who puts the country’s security or welfare in general to threats.

(e)           If the person claims to be president, or heading rebels with parallel government, something like engraving gods, and claiming to be Christ.

If these can be done to a person before the civil courts, then why do we think God would not do the same to people who had committed treason before him? Will divine judgment surpass the civil courts? Yes absolutely. What about people who started their own churches, rival governments to Christ? These are rebel leaders who must face God’s wrath to the full potential.