Current Theme: The Right Grip on Righteousness
A word-study on the word “Righteousness” through the Sermon on the Mount.
Theme’s Biblical Foundation: Righteousness - sharing in a total heart-agreement with God (covenantal binding).
To share in this type of total heart-agreement (or covenant) with God is not possible through any form of human-effort. To be able to share in a total heart-agreement with God is solely possible because of what Jesus has done for us by overcoming sin and death and through the renewing counsel and conviction of the Holy Spirit; He gives us a new heart.
This devotion comes from our sermon from Sunday, May 16th. It was entitled: “Righteous Vs Self-Righteous.”
Below is a summation of that sermon:
Text for the Sermon: “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-6, NIV).
Jesus, now offers us a way to test the root-system of our righteousness. Knowing that to be righteous is to share in a heart-agreement with God, means that our practice of righteousness is for His glory, not our own. If we are performing “good” acts to gain a “righteous status” for ourselves in His eyes or in the eyes of others, then we are being self-righteous. Therefore, a self-righteous person is not interested in God’s glory, but their personal-glory.
Self-righteous behavior is rooted in self-effort. That means that the fruits of self-righteousness is the criticism and judgment of others. Self-righteous people use others to measure their greatness against, and want nothing to do with someone that threatens their self-righteous nature.
The self-righteous person also demands that others come into agreement with them about their “right” positions and “good” actions. If you disagree with them, then you are immediately condemned and uprooted from their lives.
When the righteousness of Christ rewrites a sinners’ disposition through repentance, that person knows their great need for His grace; therefore, ceasing to judge others or attempt to perform vain acts for personal acclaim. Instead, the person who is righteous in the eyes of God places their entire hope and rest upon the performance of Christ Jesus, who paid for their sin on the cross. All they can see is their great need for His grace and are excited to offer that grace to those around them.
As we look back at the passage in Matthew, we see that Jesus highlights how we handle our giving to the poor and how we relate to the Lord in our prayer-life. How we conduct ourselves in these two examples reveal the root-system of our righteousness - if it is rooted in self, or in Christ.
Highland, it is my heart-cry that our righteousness be found to be rooted in Christ - that the fruit of His righteousness would be produced within the life of our church. May an overflow of His righteousness pour forth from the Highland-tribe!
I love you, Highland.
Rob