The State of Righteousness

 The state of righteousness is another area where innocent sincere people have been misled, deceived and led astray by the workers of darkness and children of the devil. Righteousness as one can clearly see in combination with holiness forms the nature of the new man that was created n Jesus Christ as clearly stated saying; “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 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 (4:21-24).

What therefore is true righteousness? According to King David righteousness is the act of saying and performing what is right, as he wrote saying; “My tongue shall speak of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness.” He who speaks truth declares righteousness,” In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.” Righteousness therefore, is the act of saying and performing what is true which is the word of God (Psalms 119:172. Proverbs 12:17, 28).

Righteousness therefore comes first and foremost from a renewed spirit of the mind. Originally, as children of the devil, living under the dominion of the kingdom of darkness the mind was carnal and was and could not be subject to the laws of God, for we have been duly instructed saying, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit: For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:5-8).

It is important to note that, once the transformation from carnal to spiritual and the transfer from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, the mind is no longer in enmity against God but is now in subjection to the law of God as we have been duly admonished saying; “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness (Romans 6: 16-18).

Righteousness therefore, comes as the result of obedience. Human beings are not independent creatures; they are either a slave to sin, which is to habitually transgress the laws of God, or a slave to being obedient to the laws of God, which leads to righteousness. Therefore man has to denounce one master and be loyal to the other, as Jesus clearly says; "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Luke 16:13).

So the question us, why have we become slaves of righteousness? The answer is clear it is because we were once darkness dead in trespasses and sins, in which we once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others .but now we are light in the Lord, we therefore, are to walk as children of light.

The verification of this new way of life is demonstrated by exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit which is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord” (Ephesians 2:1-3: 4:7-10)

What is good and acceptable to the Lord are all contained in His law as alluded to by the apostle Paul who wrote; “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet" (Romans 7:7).

Therefore, it is not that difficult or judgmental to make a clear distinction between a child of God and a child of the devil, for we have been instructed saying; ‘Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” It is further stated that; “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother” (1John 3:7, 10).

True children of God have denounced their former slave master, sin, which is the transgression of the laws of God and have become loyal and obedient to Righteousness their new master and have been admonished saying; “And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him” (1John 2:28-29).

To understand why we are to become slaves of righteousness, it is imperative that we first understand righteousness in its true perspective. There is imputed righteousness and there is practical righteousness. Now, just as there are three.-fold aspects of sin, which are, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, similarly, there are three-fold aspect of true righteousness which is actually God´s righteousness.

Unfortunately, the majority of us who profess to believe in Jesus Christ are completely ignorant of God´s righteousness as alluded to by the apostle Paul who wrote: “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:2-4):

So then, how is Christ the end of the law for righteousness? And how can this state of righteousness be attained..

to be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph