The third pillar of truth

1.      Righteousness

The third pillar of truth that must be taken into consideration is the fact that we are enslaved to righteousness which is one of the compositions of the new man; as we have been duly admonished saying; “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

.Righteousness is a spiritual state that most people have difficulty understanding: But for one to have a good and thorough understanding of righteousness, one must first and foremost make a clear distinction between imputed and practical righteousness.

Imputed righteousness is the righteousness of Christ which is a gift bestowed upon us by which the new man was created. “For if by the one man's offense (Adam) death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5: 17).

But there is also practical righteousness which is applicable in three ways.

·         Man`s righteousness

Although man`s righteousness according to the word is as filthy rags before God as explained by the prophet Isaiah who wrote: “For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, who remembers You in Your ways. You are indeed angry, for we have sinned --- In these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness’s are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:4-6).

Nevertheless, man`s righteousness is a very important component of righteousness: Because Jesus admonished His disciples saying; “And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:44-45).

The apostle Paul in his final exhortation said; “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21).

.The apostle John admonished us by saying, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him” (1 John 3:16-19).

And last but not least, although it is by grace we have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Nevertheless, we are His (God`s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10)..

Therefore, although our own righteousness is as filthy rags before God, nevertheless, it plays a very significant role in our new way of life as slaves of righteousness.