Tag Archives: Issue WOT27-1

Words of Truth

The Righteousness of God

God has graciously given us a complete, divine revelation of Himself in His Word. But how little have we studied and searched it! How little we understand of its fullness! The distinct object of the Spirit in each book of the Scriptures is very little understood by many. Passages are often quoted which, if examined, would be found to refer to totally different subjects.

Let us consider an important illustration of this_the righteousness of God. How commonly this is quoted from such scriptures as Rom. 3:21-26 as if it meant the righteousness of Christ. Is not this great and serious confusion? Is it not as clear as words can express, the righteousness of God in justifying the believer, whether before Christ came or after_ the righteousness of God without law, or apart from law altogether? "Being justified freely by His [God’s] 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 [God’s] righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time His [God’s] righteousness, that He [God] might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." This great foundation truth, how God is righteous in justifying, is scarcely ever heard, even in evangelical preaching.

I have read carefully the teachings of many in defense of the gospel which is being attacked by hosts of infidel ministers, and I thank God for the zeal of many of these teachers. Yet we are compelled to say on this most important truth_"the righteousness of God"_the trumpet often gives a most uncertain sound. In many of the writings it is difficult to tell what "the righteousness of God" means_it is so confused with the righteousness of Christ.

What then is the righteousness of God? and what is the righteousness of Christ? Righteousness is perfect consistency of character and actions according to the relation of one being to others, or with himself. Thus the righteousness of God is the perfect harmony of His attributes in His dealings with all created beings_perfect consistency with Himself, and that in justifying the ungodly sinner. How could His perfect love to me a sinner and His infinite hatred of my sins be in absolute harmony? The redemption work and infinite propitiation for my sins, and substitution on the cross, is God’s only possible answer to this crucial question. Blessed be God, He is righteous, and is my Justifier! Let a man place himself honestly before God as a guilty sinner, and then he will find in the gospel the only possible revelation of the righteousness of God in justifying him. Now the way God is righteous in justifying the sinner is "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The Scripture does not say through the righteousness of Christ imputed to the sinner to restore him before God, just as if he had kept the law and never failed to keep it. It is quite a different gospel to seek to reinstate man as a fallen child of the first Adam.

Bearing in mind that the righteousness of God is God’s whole purpose of salvation for guilty man, and that purpose has been accomplished by Christ in redemption, let us then inquire, What is the righteousness of Christ? and what is the redemption that He has wrought? The reader may not be aware that there is not exactly such an expression in Scripture as "the righteousness of Christ." 2 Pet. 1:1 is the nearest to it, but there His Godhead is spoken of. We may say, however, that the Gospels present the only perfect righteous Man that ever trod this earth:perfect, and in absolute harmony with the mind and will of God, consistent with every relationship in which He stood. But that obedience must go up to the death of the cross. He must die, or remain alone. That one obedience must meet all the sinner’s need in order that the many may be made righteous (Rom. 5:18,19). He must be a spotless victim, without sin, to do this, as it is written, "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"
(II Cor. 5:21).

Thus "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Rom. 10:4). Every type and shadow, every sacrifice, the utmost demand and curse of the law on the guilty has found its very end in Christ. Is it Christ’s law-keeping that is placed to man’s account to restore him, and make good his standing before God? Does righteousness come in this way by law? If so, there is no meaning in redemption.

What is redemption? Let us take God’s own type for illustration_the redemption of Israel from Egypt. It would require quite a different story to illustrate the different or false gospel. Take just one point in Exodus 5. The Israelites are in bitter bondage as slaves; they have no straw, and they cannot make the count of bricks. They are in sore distress. Does Moses, as a figure of Christ, make up the count of bricks for them? Are the bricks that Moses made imputed to them so as to make up the full legal count? There is no such thought in a single figure of the Old Testament, or a verse in the New. Redemption is not the amelioration or improvement of man as the slave of sin and Satan; but, as in Egypt, it is the bringing man out of the place of slavery altogether into an entirely new place and condition. And this could only be by the blood of the Lamb, whether we speak of the present redemption of our souls by His precious blood, or the still future redemption of our bodies at the resurrection. When Israel had passed through the water, figure of death, they were dead to the law of brick-making in Egypt. They passed out of that state altogether. Is not this the very secret of the believer’s power for a holy, righteous life even here? Being dead to sin (Rom. 6:2), is he not to reckon this to be so (verse 11)? Is he not also as dead to law? "Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (7:4).

This is God’s way. Man’s way is just the opposite. He would say, "If you are born of God, now you must be married to the law to bring forth fruit by keeping it; and where you fail, the law-keeping of Christ will be imputed to you to make up.” Can any soul have peace or deliverance in that way? Read the whole of this chapter before us (Rom. 7). Here is the very case:a man born again, but still under law, trying to find some good in the flesh, in the utmost distress as we have all found_he cannot make his count of bricks. It is not something to make up a deficiency, or a helper he needs. He finds there is not a bit of good in the flesh. As born of God he delights in the law of God; but, oh, that other law in his members! He needs, and in Christ he finds, full deliverance.

Do you say, I want this old sinful nature to be unproved and made fit for heaven? Ah, there is no such thought in Scripture. No, on the cross the Holy One of God was sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom, 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21). No, the righteousness of God is seen condemning our sinful nature on the cross, as well as in Jesus bearing our sins; and thus, by the cross, He set aside forever the old man with his deeds, and gives the believer a new place in Christ, the second or last Man.

Oh, think what it is to be in Christ. This was the purpose of God before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; but all this "in Him" (Eph. 1:3-7). And mark what God has given us in Him, according to His eternal purpose. No, it is not the lost man restored and made a good Jew under law. It is not Moses making up the bricks under law; but, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [or creation]:old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God" (2 Cor. 5:16-18).
What can the believer need or even desire more, except grace to walk worthy of this high calling in Christ Jesus. He is thus our righteousness, but not to make good the old man under law. It is what He is now, made unto us, as risen from the dead. As He is, so are we, and all of God. Oh what a difference is felt and enjoyed when we come to the end of all hope of the flesh under law, and find all in Christ in resurrection! Not I, but Christ. O God, our Father, bless these few remarks to the deliverance of many souls; and to Thy name be all praise!

(From Selected Writings of Charles Stanley, Vol. 2.)******************

  Author: Charles Stanley         Publication: Issue WOT27-1
Words of Truth

A Just God and a Saviour

"There is no God else beside Me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me" (Isa. 45:21).

There is in all persons a certain knowledge of good and evil; such and such things they say are good, and such and such things are evil. But perhaps no two persons follow exactly the same standard of either good or evil. What people do is to set such a standard of good as they can come up to themselves, and such a standard of evil as shall just exclude themselves and include others. For instance, the drunkard thinks there is no great harm in drinking, but would consider it a great sin to steal. The covetous man, who is every day perhaps practicing some cheating or deception "in the way of trade," satisfies himself by thinking, "It is necessary and customary to do so in business, and at all events I do not get drunk or curse and swear as others do." The profligate person prides himself upon being generous and kindhearted to others, or, as he says, "I do nobody any harm but myself." The upright, moral man and the domestic, amiable man satisfies himself with doing what he calls his duty, and looks around and pities the open sinners that he sees; but he never considers how many an evil thought, how many a sinful desire he may have cherished, unknown to others, in his mind; nor does he consider that God judges the heart, though man looks only at the outward conduct. Thus each congratulates himself upon his not having done some particular evil, and compares himself with someone else who has committed the sin, which he thinks he has managed to avoid.

Now all this proves that men do not judge themselves by one common standard of right and wrong, but just take that which suits themselves and condemns others. But there is a standard with which all will be compared, and according to which all will be judged_a standard of righteousness; all who fall short of this standard will be eternally condemned. This is no less than the righteousness of God. When a person begins to find that it is not by comparing himself with others that he is to judge, but by comparing himself with God, then his conscience begins to be awakened to think of sin as before God, and then indeed he finds himself guilty and ruined. He will not then attempt to justify himself by trying to find out someone that is worse than himself, but he will be anxious to know whether it is possible that God, before whom he knows himself condemned, can pardon or forgive him.

Now the scribes and Pharisees, mentioned in John 8, were very moral and religious people, and were greatly shocked when they found out a wretched woman taken in open sin, and very indignant against her. Justice and the law of Moses, thought they, demand that she should be made an example of_it is not fit that such a sinner should live. It comforts and quiets the depraved heart of man if he can only find a person worse than himself. He thinks the greater sin of another excuses himself, and while accusing and vehemently blaming another he forgets his own evil. He thus rejoices in iniquity.
But this is not all; for not only do men thus glory and exult in the fall and ruin of another, but they cannot bear to see, or think of, God exhibiting grace. Grace_which means the full and free forgiveness of every sin, of every evil, without God demanding or expecting anything from the one so forgiven_ is a principle so opposed to all man’s thoughts and ways, so far above man, that he dislikes it; his own heart often secretly calls it injustice. He does not himself deal in this way, and does not like to think of God doing so. It is very humbling to be obliged to own that we are dependent upon grace entirely for salvation, and that nothing we have done or can do will make us fit subjects even for grace. Our misery and sin and ruin are the only claim we have upon grace. The scribes and Pharisees could not understand this; and not liking to own that they were themselves sinners, they wished to perplex Jesus. If He acquitted the woman they would say He was unjust; or if He condemned her, they would say He was not merciful. "Such should be stoned," say they, "but what sayest Thou?"

True, the sentence was just, the proof of the woman’s guilt was undoubted, and the law was clear; but who was to execute the law? Man may easily condemn, but who has a right to execute? "He that is without sin … let him first cast a stone at her" (verse 7). Who could say "without sin”? and if not one of them could say, "I am without sin," there was not one of them but was under the same sentence as the woman, that is, death, for "the wages of sin is death."

Here, then, was a strange situation_the accused and her accusers alike involved in the same ruin_criminals all. No longer "such should be stoned," but all should be stoned. From the eldest to the youngest, all were convicted sinners.

Have you thought of that_that you and all the world are guilty before God? It is not what your amount of sin is, in man’s estimate; but can you say you are "without sin" before God? If not, death is your sentence. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:4). And in this sad condition what have you done? Perhaps the same as the scribes and Pharisees did when they were convicted by their own conscience_left the presence of the only one who can pronounce the forgiveness. Adam in the garden had done the same before; he went and hid himself from God when he knew himself guilty; he turned away from his only Friend just when he most needed His help. And so it is still. Man is afraid of the only One who is ready to pardon. You may be able to persuade yourself that you are not so bad; you may find others manifestly worse; but are you a sinner at all? What is God’s thought concerning you? Does not even your own conscience say, "I am not quite without sin." Well, then, death is the sentence. God cannot lie. It is His sentence. And if we heard only that God was just there could be no hope. But He is "a just God and a Saviour." He has condemned, and He has also the power to execute; the only question that remains is, Can He pardon?

"And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst" (verse 9). She was standing before One who could say, "Without sin," and who therefore could cast the stone. She was alone with One whom she owned as Lord; and what would be His sentence? The law had already condemned her; would He execute it? What a moment of intense anxiety it must have been for her! She was alone with One who had the power of life and death. Everything rested on His word. What would He say? Man had not dared to cast the stone; now what would God do? "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more" (verse 11).

Such is still the gracious message to the ruined sinner, pronounced by the very Judge Himself. But it is only to the ruined sinner, standing consciously convicted before the Judge, that it is spoken. The righteous Pharisees heard it not. They were indeed convicted; but they had no desire to confess their sin, and they sought to get rid of their convictions, to bury them in some good works of their own. They would not put themselves in the same condemnation with the wretched woman, who got this blessed word of peace. And so it is still. If you desire to have God’s full and free pardon, it must be your place to stand first as the guilty sinner; to be alone with Jesus, consciously self-condemned; to have no one else to trust, no one else to compare yourself with; not to try to get better first before you come to Him, but to be brought to Him by your very sins, to stand in the very place of condemnation, and before the very Person who has the power to condemn; to make your very guilt the reason of being alone with Him.
Notice that the Lord gave her no conditional pardon. He did not say, "Neither will I condemn you if you will not sin anymore." No, He gives her full and complete forgiveness first, and that He knew would enable her to avoid the sin in the future. If you desire to have power over your sins, you must first know them all pardoned by God through Christ. But if you try to master your evil before you know the forgiveness of God, you will obtain neither the one nor the other. Through faith in Jesus you must be justified freely from all things before you will ever be cleared as before God.

Now, some who really believe on Jesus do not clearly see this. They are seeking to have peace by holiness of life instead of first acknowledging themselves as ruined sinners fully and freely pardoned, and then letting their life and conduct be guided by the knowledge of that pardon and the love of God which the knowledge of His mercy must necessarily create. Begin with, "Neither do I condemn thee." Let your peace come from faith in the blood of His cross, by which He has made peace. God’s knowledge and estimate of your sin is much deeper than your own, but He has provided the blood of His Son. He says that blood cleanses from all sin. The more I see and know my own sin, the more I shall value that precious blood by which it is put away; and the more desirous I shall be not to grieve the heart of Him who, in His own love, has provided such a wonderful sacrifice on account of my sins. Hence, the deeper I know my own guilt, the more secure will be my peace; for the greater will be my value of the blood, through which peace has been made.

May you know the peace and joy of having all your sins forgiven through faith in the blood of Jesus, and the consequent victory over the power of those very sins by which you have been led captive.

  Author: John Nelson Darby         Publication: Issue WOT27-1
Words of Truth

Justification

Four points in connection with justification are discussed in the fourth chapter of Romans:(1) the principle on which anyone can be justified (verses 1-5); (2) the moral class that can share in this favor (5-8); (3) the limits in the human family to which such a blessing extends (9-17); and (4) the testimony set before us, believing which we can share in this grace (18-25).

The Principle

God justifies the ungodly through faith, and the earliest example of this is found in Abraham. "What shall we then say that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God" (verses 1,2). Now it is clear that he was justified by works, as James 2:21 reminds us; but in that he could not boast before God. For his being justified by works was after all but the witness that he had done his duty, as he had been commanded. If Abraham then was only justified by works, however much he might have boasted before men, he must have been dumb before God. This is because he was included in the verdict brought in against men that "all have sinned" and that "there is none righteous, no, not one." But "What saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (verse 3). He was then justified on the principle of faith. His faith was counted, or reckoned to him for righteousness. How instructive is the language when pondered over. "To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt" (verse 4). Such an one would claim to be righteous. He would not need to be reckoned righteous. "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (verse 5). The kernel of this part of the gospel is found embedded in the history of Abraham. That night, so fruitful in blessing to Jews, is fruitful in instruction to us; and though nineteen centuries were to run by before the gospel times could begin, we are taken back by the Spirit of God to that time in the patriarch’s history (Gen. 15) to see therein illustrated the simplicity of faith, and the results from such an exercise of it. "Abraham believed God." How much is expressed in these words!

The Moral Class

What is the moral class that can share in this favor of being justified? It is the ungodly (verse 5), and we are turned for a fitting example of this to David’s history, whose words are quoted in proof of it:"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (vs. 7,8). Justification by faith, then, is no new procedure on God’s part, nor is it a new thing that He should justify one who is ungodly; a precedent for each can be quoted from the Old Testament, precedents which a Jew would be the last to gainsay. And the precedent of David is particularly useful, because it shows that one guilty of willful sin, as he was, could nevertheless come to rejoice in the non-imputation of guilt of which he had been convicted.

The Human Family
But who can share in this? Again we are turned to Abraham’s history for an answer, which should effectually silence the cavillings of those who would Judaize. Now, there were two articles in the creed of such in Paul’s day, to which they clung tenaciously and pressed most persistently:(1) a Gentile must keep the law of Moses to be justified (Gal. 5:4); and (2) they must be circumcised if they would be saved (Acts 15:1). Both these contentions were refuted by the history of the patriarch. Abraham was justified by faith, centuries before the law was given by Moses. And since he was justified by faith, he was certainly saved years before he was circumcised (Gen. 15:6; 17:26). Thus, neither the keeping of the law nor the submission to the rite of circumcision are needful for any one to be justified by faith. Hence it was plain that Gentiles could share in the grace of justification just as much as Jews. And if the latter could boast of having Abraham for their father, so could the former. Abraham was the "father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised" as well as "the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised" (verses 11,12). Did this shock Jewish prejudices? Careful study of the Word would settle it all beyond the possibility of dispute (verses 13-17). Indeed, keeping to the ground of the law, or putting people under it for Christian blessing, was, as far as they were concerned, the way to lose all. Faith in that case would become void, and the promise be made of none effect (verse 14). So little perception had those people of the baneful effect of such teaching.

The Testimony

We pass on now to the final point, namely, the testimony to be believed in order to share now in such grace. Again we are reminded of Abraham’s case, and the parallel and contrast between him and us are clearly marked. Abraham believed God. We are to believe on God, that is, have confidence in Him. So far the parallel. Abraham believed God’s promise about his seed:"So shall thy seed be." Hence he trusted in God as the God who can quicken the dead. We are to believe God’s testimony about the death and resurrection of His Son, having faith in Him as the One who raises the dead, even "Jesus our Lord . . . who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (verses 24 and 25). Abraham believed God, "Being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (verses 21-24). Righteousness was imputed, or reckoned, to Abraham. Righteousness on the same principle, that is, of faith, is imputed or reckoned to us.

He "was raised… for our justification," that is, that we might be justified by faith. It is in consequence of His resurrection that we know God has accepted His sacrifice on our behalf. The blood speaks to God, the resurrection speaks to us.

(From An Outline of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans.)

  Author: C. E. Stuart         Publication: Issue WOT27-1
Words of Truth

Attributes of God:Righteous

Righteousness has been described as "an attribute of God which maintains what is consistent with His own character, and necessarily judges what is opposed to it_sin" (Morrish’s New and Concise Bible Dictionary). As the one who is perfectly righteous and just, God does not play favorites; He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34); He is not capable of being bribed. All of His actions are perfectly consistent with one another and with every aspect of His nature and attributes.

The righteousness of God is revealed in a number of Scriptures. The following represent a sampling of these:

Abraham interceded with Jehovah to spare Sodom and Gomorrah:"That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:25).

Nehemiah acknowledged that God was true to His word:"Thou art the Lord the God, who . . . made a covenant with [Abram] to give the land of the Canaanites … to his seed, and hast performed Thy words:for Thou art righteous" (Neh. 9:7,8).

"Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright are Thy judgments. Thy testimonies that Thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful" (Psa. 119:137,138).

"The Lord is righteous in all His ways" (Psa. 145:17).

Jeremiah acknowledged God’s righteousness; but in his impatience, he wondered why God allowed the wicked to prosper, not realizing that God is longsuffering as well as righteous:"Righteous art Thou, O Lord, when I plead with Thee; yet let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments:Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" (Jer. 12:1).

Daniel confessed Israel’s sin that led the nation into captivity. He owned that the Lord was righteous in having dealt with the nation in this way:"Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all His works which He doeth:for we obeyed not His voice" (Dan. 9:14).

God, in His righteousness, both will judge those who have died in their sins, and rewards those who serve and obey Hun:"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" (Rev. 20:12). "God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister" (Heb. 6:10).

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is equally righteous. The following Scriptures confirm this:

"By His knowledge [or, by the knowledge of Him] shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities" (Isa. 53:11).

"But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you" (Acts 3:14).
"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day" (2 Tim. 4:8).

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

"If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1). Note that we have an advocate described as righteous, not merely gracious and merciful. His advocacy is based on the fact that "He is the propitiation for our sins" (verse 2), that is, He bore the punishment for our sins in our stead.

Man’s salvation is inextricably bound up with the righteousness of God. First, in the Old Testament we find:"There is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else" (Isa. 45:21,22). Then in the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament we have the following references to the righteousness of God with respect to saving the sinner:"I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth …. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed" (1:16,17). "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,. . . even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe" (3:21,22). "God hath set forth [Christ Jesus] 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, at this time His righteousness; that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (3:25,26). God’s righteousness is revealed through Christ in His judgment of sin. The just penalty for sin was exacted when Christ died for us as our substitute upon the cross. God’s attributes of grace and mercy also shine forth in the atoning death of Christ for us, but mercy does not become effective until justice has been satisfied.

As a result of God’s righteousness in thus dealing with the question of sin_that is, how sinful man can be reconciled with a holy God_ those who place their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation are pronounced righteous. This is our standing before God because of Christ’s work. The believer in Christ is justified or accounted righteous, not by his own works but by Christ’s work on the cross. "Being justified freely by His grace" (Rom. 3:24). "That He might be … the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus" (3:26). "To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (4:5). "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (4:8).

This justification or righteous standing before God is a wonderful thing. It goes much further than being pardoned or forgiven. It means that the entire record of my sins, iniquities, and offenses against God and man has been judicially wiped clean because Another has taken them as His own and received the full penalty for them. Surely, then, we can joyfully exclaim, "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).

Now, given that we have this righteous standing before God so that there is no longer any judgment hanging over us because of our sins, what is our responsibility in our daily lives? Are we free to do as we please and sin with abandon because there is no judgment awaiting us? "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Rom. 6:2). It is a denial of the position God has put us in to go on living in unrighteousness. It is also an affront to Him and a display of gross ingratitude for all of the blessings He has given us. Thus, believers are frequently exhorted to righteousness, as shown in the following scriptures.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6).

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom. 6:12,13).

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness" (Eph. 6:14).

"But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness . . ." (1 Tim. 6:11).

"Flee also youthful lusts; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. 2:22).

"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24).

May we all, therefore, be encouraged to live righteously, dealing honestly and fairly with all men, not playing favorites, having no respect of persons (Jas. 2:1-9), rewarding or complimenting those who do well, and rebuking or judging (as in 1 Cor. 5) those who do evil. God our Father and our Lord and Saviour are perfectly righteous in all their ways. Let us be "imitators of God, as beloved children" (Eph. 5:1 JND), and thus seek to be righteous in all our ways.

FRAGMENT
The perfect righteousness of God
Is witnessed in the Saviour’s blood;
"Tis in the cross of Christ we trace
His righteousness, yet wondrous grace.

  Author: Paul L. Canner         Publication: Issue WOT27-1
Words of Truth

Follow Righteousness, Faith

"Flee also youthful lusts; but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. 2:22).

The order of Scripture is everywhere most important, and particularly so in its practical exhortations. So with the passage before us, to "follow faith" we must "follow righteousness," and it is the relation of these to one another that I would dwell on a little now.

It is, of course, in the adoption of it for ourselves, and not in the exaction of it from others, that we are called to "follow righteousness." There are those who imagine that the apostle’s exhortation to the Corinthians_"Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?" (1 Cor. 6:7)_to be really inconsistent with the following of righteousness. They think that we are called to maintain righteousness upon the earth, and that we are therefore morally bound to make war upon unrighteousness; whereas it is grace of which we are the witnesses, as having received grace. Yet this also may be misunderstood and abused.

Suppose I hid a thief from the policemen that were in pursuit of him or refused to give him up into their hands; this would not be grace, but a perversion of it. Allowing a criminal to get away with his crime is not grace since it tends to reinforce his criminal behavior and thus is harmful to him. It would certainly be unrighteousness on my part, for I should be interfering with government which God has established for the restraint of evil. Nor have I liberty to show grace where another’s rights are concerned and not my own. I am only allowed to give up my own rights, never another’s, in order to show grace.

But I am to give up my own rights in order to show grace, as the Lord’s words as to the non-resistance of evil so emphatically enjoin (for example, Matt. 5:38-48). Such words are indeed so little akin to the spirit of the world in which we live, that if we are influenced by this worldly spirit at all, we shall not be able to understand them. The maintenance of rights has all the support of common sense and the general culture, and unless we are ready to maintain them or even demand them, we shall be counted as very strange indeed, if not traitors to one cause or another. The Lord has said, "If My kingdom were of this world, then should my servants fight" (John 18:36), and most of Christendom has decided that His kingdom is of this world.

There is no contradiction between following righteousness and showing grace. Guarding this point, then, it is of the utmost importance to see that in our personal conduct, righteousness is the very first necessity. "Righteousness" defines for the Christian a circle beyond which he cannot go, a boundary line he dare not transgress. He must therefore know precisely the limit, and in no case act until he is sure that he is within the limit. Here is need for continual exercise, for the line is not always perceptible at first sight.

God has denounced an emphatic "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isa. 5:20). There must be no blurring of the moral boundary lines. We may not put "faith" before "righteousness." We may not argue, "We believe this is of God and therefore it must be good." We must argue the other way:"We know from Scripture this is good, and therefore we know it is of God." "God is light," and light is that which "doth make manifest" (Eph. 5:13). Thus, only as walking in the light, and with our eye single to take it in, can we walk without stumbling.
But alas! how common it is to allow ourselves to participate in something the character of which is uncertain to us! How many think it enough to stop where they are convicted of evil, rather than first making sure before they act that what they do is good!

Righteousness always acts in consistency with our position and relationships. Thus, to show grace is for a Christian only righteous. The manifestation of grace is not something over and above what is required of us. Righteousness embraces the whole sphere of conduct, for "to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). How solemn, how searching are such words as these!

Righteousness, then, is the first thing to follow, but it is not all. We are next to follow "faith." "Faith" supposes more than a mere rule of conduct, however perfect. Faith is in a person; not a rule, but a ruler. Faith puts us under a living Leader, from whose love we cannot for a moment withdraw ourselves. The One who has perfect wisdom has concerned Himself with the path we tread, and it is for us to consult that unerring wisdom and to govern ourselves according to the will of Him who is our Master and Lord.

It is in following faith that we find our true individuality before God, for faith is of necessity individual. How earnestly the apostle insists upon this! To induce another to do so innocent a thing as to eat meat, if the other could not eat in faith, was to "destroy" him spiritually (Rom. 14:15-23). Thus the doing of what in itself was no evil and of what in another might be an act of Christian liberty, without faith would be sin and an act of real self-destruction.

What a view of our responsibilities does this open up to us and what a sense should it give us of the necessity of faith in every step that we take in our path down here! "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23). We do, indeed, perhaps recognize in matters of greater importance the need of knowing and following the divine will. But life is made up mainly of smaller matters. From how much of our lives, then, we must banish God if we do not seek His will for everyday matters.

Nothing, therefore, must be allowed to interfere with knowing God’s will for our individual path. The Lord has bought us for Himself. He is both Master (Teacher) and Lord. We may help each other in ascertaining His will, but no more. "One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren" (Matt. 23:8).

(From Help and Food, Vol. 8.)

  Author:  Anon         Publication: Issue WOT27-1