“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. Hebrews 1:8 NKJV
I love it when the Lord reveals some of His hidden mysteries! Lately, the Lord has shown me the importance of becoming righteous. I believe that He has purposely exposed this word to me for this time right now. I have been reading Isaiah 45-49 and all I kept running into was this powerful, active word. It was as if it manifested right before my eyes. Just as a puzzle has a pattern to it, I believe this word is a piece we need for life. Part of our walk in this life is to obtain righteousness. We have been given Jesus Christ, as the door of opportunity, for the life that God always has planned for us. When we accept the Son, the entryway is opened for us to start walking and becoming aligned with the One who loves us so much. He gave His one and only Son for us to live, and in doing that, He took away our sins and became sin.
Part of this process is what begins our journey of becoming right with God: righteousness. In choosing to depend totally on God, it is our faith that helps us to live accordingly. Along with this, we get a bunch of cool stuff. We are redeemed from our old ways, thoughts, actions, and are wiped clean—purified as we were meant to be. Jesus paid the price for us to be forgiven for our sins and to become the salvation of the Lord our God. In this, we are free and given the gift of grace from Him. Grace is what justifies and makes us right before the Lord. Wow, that is a lot of big words, but I wanted to get it all out before we talk about what it means to be righteous, because this is the beginning of becoming a new creation.
And now you celebrate your freedom from your former master—sin. You’ve left its bondage, and now God’s perfect righteousness holds power over you as his loving servants. Romans 6:18 TPT
Righteous: acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin 2a: morally right or justifiable; a righteous decision. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
When we choose to turn away from sin, we are deciding to make a change for the best. Righteousness is not a one-time thing. It is something we practice, and the way we do it is part of the blessing we received when we decided to follow Jesus. This gift cannot be obtained through any other mode. It is free and gives us eternal life in the One who created us. At any time, we can go to our Father and ask for forgiveness of whatever it may be that brings us under conviction. Whether a thought or action, often we will not feel right within ourselves, and until we ask for forgiveness, we won’t be able to shake the feeling.
God gave us this gift of forgiveness because we have favor with Him as His children. Now, we can continue along our life journey carrying out the plans that God has destined us for while making ourselves right in His eyes. He knows we are human and knows we will sin. That is why His Son came, to save us from the world and ourselves. God had to put a stop to most of humanity and what it was becoming. You would have thought that after the flood, we would have learned—but man has got in the way once again. God has created an open door, through His Son for direct access to Him always.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8
So, what does righteousness look like today for us? As Christians, we are set to a high standard because we are no longer under the law, but we now live under His grace. When we understand what living righteously looks like for us, we can then move through our lives in more depth and fullness of the faith we have in God. To me, it looks like love and all that comes with it. This includes being filled by the Holy Spirit in the anointing oil of gladness, peace, and joy. When we understand that we carry the heart of God within us, it makes us want to acquire all the attributes of love and in turn, we begin to mirror the image Jesus. It truly is a “work in progress.” Life takes twists and turns. Sometimes we even get off the path, but God loves us so much that we can always come back to Him. There is a peace that comes along with knowing that we are loved unconditionally and made for more than we could ever imagine. God has so much in store for us and in the process, we transform into what He always had planned for us.
As we learn more about the Lord and what His word says for us, much is revealed to us. The secret hidden things are meant for those who walk in His statutes. Unrighteousness was a huge problem in the ancient days, and it hurt God. He seemed to be continually upset with His chosen people. The Bible gives us insight into all of this so that we may avoid many of these same delays, setbacks and problems which tripped up the ones who have gone before us. God has shown us these examples through biblical stories. These revelations help us continue the transforming process from the cross into living through the Holy Spirit within us, from now through eternity. We need God to attain righteousness. He makes our paths straight when we put Him at the center of our lives.
May the Lord bless you and may you prosper in all your ways!
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 NKJV