HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS YOURS

 

Do you remember the mid-1960’s pop music singing duo, “The Righteous Brothers”?  The foremost pioneers of what was termed “Blue-eyed Soul”.  That is a great name, now, isn’t it?    (Pause …)

 

Do you think “The Righteous Brothers” were “righteous”?  You do know, they weren’t even brothers, don’t you?  They were righteous rockers, but were they really righteous?  Let’s take a peek at a man who was righteous.

 

By inspiration, the Apostle Paul says in Romans 4:3 “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness!  That is to say: Abraham took God at His word, and demonstrated his willingness to obey without question and without hesitation.  Therefore, God declared Abraham a righteous man.

 

But the Paul  says in Romans 3:10-12  “As it is written, there is none

righteous, not one”.   And that would be    not even the Righteous Brothers!

 

Romans 3:23, 24  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

And Romans 7:18, Paul confesses: “I know that in me dwelleth no good thing.”

Isaiah 64:6  “… we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness  is as filthy rags.”

 

So, exactly what is righteousness?  Right-doing?  Performance of good works?  The dictionary says it’s the state of being morally right, or justifiable.  And what about Abraham, who never actually carried out God’s command, yet he was deemed “righteous”?

 

Listen to this:  Proverbs 11:4  “Wealth will be worthless in The Day of the Lord, but righteousness  will deliver from death.”   (This is a reference to the Final Judgment)

 

According to God’s Word, we possess no righteousness whatsoever of our own.  Yet, listen to Ephesians 2:10:  “We are created in Christ unto good works … that we should walk in them.”

 

So the question now becomes “Where … might ‘The Righteous Brothers’ go to obtain righteousness?”   Where can righteousness be found?

 

Let’s go to a Wedding Feast – Matthew 22, Jesus is telling the story - 

 

          The Kingdom of Heaven is like this: There was a king who prepared a feast for his son’s wedding; but when he sent his servants to summon the guests he had invited, they would not come.  He sent others again, telling them to say to the guests, “See now!  I have prepared this feast for you.  I have had my bullocks and fatted beasts slaughtered; everything is ready; come to the wedding at once.”

          But they took no notice.  One went off to his farm, another to his business, and the others seized the servants, attacked them brutally and killed them.

          The king was furious … (to verse … Then he said to his servants, “The wedding feast is ready, but the guests I invited did not deserve the honor.  (KJV: were not worthy)  Go out to the main thoroughfares, and invite to the wedding everyone you can find.”

          The servants went out into the streets and collected all they could find, good and bad alike, so the hall was packed with guests.

(It really gets good, now!)  But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, “Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?” And the man was speechless. Then the king said to his servants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”   NASU

 

 

Have you ever heard of anyone getting tossed out of a wedding reception for being dressed inappropriately?  Sounds a bit harsh, but here’s some background information, so the parable will make a lot more sense:

 

Remember, this was a royal wedding, and according to the custom at that time, along with the invitation to a royal wedding, the wedding garment was provided, at no cost, for each invited guest.  The non-conforming guest had no excuse for his being dressed inappropriately, because his host had supplied the garment, totally free of charge, and thus the King rightfully expected his guest to wear the robe provided to his son’s affair.  Scripture tells us that the guest “had nothing to say.”  What excuse could he possibly offer?  He was speechless!

 

Remember too, that this parable illustrates, in symbols and representations, The Final Judgment.  The King is God the Father, preparing for the wedding banquet of His Son, Jesus – This is the Marriage Feast of the Lamb!  Jesus is the Bridegroom.  And who is His bride?  It’s His church – the Redeemed of the Lord – that’s us; it’s you and me – those who are hidden in Christ.

 

Now, in Biblical prophecy, clothes or vestments, represent character.  Let’s take a look at some examples:

 

We’ve already found “all our righteousness is like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)

 

Here’s a good one: In Job 29:14, “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me.”

 

And there’s the prophet Zechariah’s vision: Zechariah 3:1 “Then He showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the Angel of the Lord . . . verse 3: Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments . . . verse 4: Then He spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to Joshua, He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”  verse 5: So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the (clean) clothes on him.  NKJV

 

Contrast: The Woman of Revelation 12,  with The Woman of Revelation 17

 

So, where can righteousness be found?  What is the source of righteousness?  How can we obtain it?

 

Isaiah 61:10  “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for HEhas clothed me in the garments of salvation, HE has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”

 

Remember, in the parable of The Wedding Feast, the robe was supplied with the invitation.  Who was it who provided the wedding garment?  It was the King, wasn’t it?  And in that parable, Who did he represent?  God, the Father.

 

God wants us to know to a certainty that He is the source of our righteousness.

 

Psalm 71:16  “… O Lord, I will proclaim Your righteousness, the only righteousness there is.”   The Lord is the source of ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS!   He has all there is!  Because He is righteousness.

 

 

HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS MINE – W. W. Prescott 

 

Jesus, the Son of God, Who became the Son of Man, bestows His righteousness upon me as an absolutely free gift.  As I meditate upon this, I know not how to express, in a worthy manner, the thoughts that throng my mind.  Without flaw, without defect, His righteousness is perfect.

 

Jesus is the only Man of Whom this can be said.  And He wove this beautiful robe of righteousness that He might clothe me with it.  This is the wedding garment that the King furnishes for every guest.  When thus clothed, I can go in “with Him to the marriage feast” (Matthew 25:10)

 

My own garments are defiled with sin, and my own righteousness is as filthy rags.  He provides for me the white raiment, that the shame of my nakedness may not appear.  At infinite cost to Himself, but “without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1), He imparts to me the riches of heaven, the most precious treasure in the universe, His own righteousness.  This He does by giving Himself to me.  He Himself becomes my righteousness.   His righteousness, His life, and Himself are inseparable.  This increases my joyful wonder.  He does not divest Himself of what He bestows upon me.  He Himself is the gift.  He asks me to give myself to Him in order that He may give Himself to me.

 

The righteousness of Jesus is not a theological creed, but a living experience.  It not only changes my standing with God, but it also determines my conduct.  The gift of His righteousness is not an entry on the credit side of my ledger account in the books of heaven to balance a troublesome account, a transaction entirely devoid of any personal touch with me.  It has to do with my in-most being.  It purifies the current of my life, and sweetens my thinking, my speaking, and my doing.  It makes me a new creature in Christ Jesus.

 

When a gift of such infinite value is offered to me, what am I to do?    Accept it, of course.  Yes, but how?  There are four simple steps:  1)  I must admit my lost and helpless condition, and my need of more than human help;  2)  I must fully submit my will to God’s will;  3)  I must commit my life entirely into God’s hands;  4)  I must permit Him to reveal His righteousness, not only to me, but also in me.   Admit, submit, commit, permit – these are the steps, and they must be taken anew every day.

 

The real experience of a Biblical faith covers the whole ground.  By that kind of believing which takes God at His word and acts accordingly, I enter into the full possession of “the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).  How God does His part, I can not explain.  How I can do my part, I know, and so do you.  “Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts”  (Hebrews 4:7)

 

“My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”

 

 

1 John 1:9 NAS  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all un-righteousness”.  (“… to remove all our filthy rags”??)   Can we say that un-righteousness is a “wardrobe malfunction”?

 

When we surrender to Christ, invite Him to cleanse us from all our un-righteousness, to remove our filthy rags, and to place around us the robe of His righteousness, so that He may begin to reproduce in us His character and His goodness – then our behavior, our conduct, our words and our deeds, will serve as evidence of this change that He has wrought in us.

 

Our actions, our speech, our behavior are evidence of our character – both before and  after our wardrobe exchange!

 

Jesus’ death on the Cross at Calvary cancels our sin debt, cleanses us of all our UN-righteousness – rescues us from condemnation, from judgment – removes all our filthy rags. 

 

However, it is His life of obedience and His fulfillment of God’s purpose for us – it’s His Robe of His Righteousness – that gains us entrance into His Kingdom.   In fact …

 

II Cor 5:21  “For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus), Who knew no sin, to be sin for us; that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him (that’s in Jesus).”

 

Jesus was, for a time (temporarily) made a little lower than the angels.  And during the time when He “wore” our condemned, fallen, sinful human flesh, while robed in our “filthy rags”, what was the source of Jesus’ righteousness?  While carrying all our baggage and our infirmities, how is it that He was able to fulfill without flaw The Father’s purposes for you and me?

 

He relied entirely on the power, strength, and guidance supplied by His Father above, in every situation.  Remember when Jesus testified: “I can do nothing but what my Father tells me to do”?  He also testified, “The words you hear me speak, my Father gives me to say”?

 

So, was He a robot?  An automaton?  Didn’t Jesus have available to Him everything that is available to us?  So, do we have free moral agency – the power to choose?  Then, did Jesus have free choice?  Of course He did!  He wasn’t a robot any more than I’m a neurosurgeon!

 

Jesus chose to rely fully and completely, wholly and totally, on His Father for every thought, every action, every impulse – moment by moment.  Could we do that?  Could we?  Do you genuinely believe we can do the same?  Then why in the world aren’t we doing it?

 

I grew up in a boys’ home in the middle of the streets of Philadelphia.  There was a 10-foot stone wall around it, but we found the nooks and crannies and secret places to “hop the wall” and steal moments of freedom.  One night, my Brooklyn-born rock’n’roll buddy Steve and I hopped the wall, took the trolley out to the old Philadelphia Arena to see Bo Diddley.  Man, what a show!

 

He had a flaming-red, square guitar!  He had a fur-covered guitar!  And he filled that arena with his innovative, raw, earthy sounds and rhythms.  I remember in particular one routine he did with his percussion partner that went something like:

 

“Say, man.  I can do what you’re doin’ ”

“Well, how come you ain’t doin’ it?”

“I don’t have to – I got you doin’ it!”

 

But our Lord not only expects us to do as He has done – He enables and empowers us to follow His example.

 

Ephesians 2:10:  “We are created in Christ unto good works … that we should walk in them.”

 

So if you genuinely believe that we can do the same as Jesus did?  Then why in the world aren’t we doing it?  Why aren’t we relying on the power of His indwelling Spirit to guide our footsteps, to guard our speech, and prompt our every move – to work His will in us and give us the walk that Jesus walked?

 

Listen to the words of Jesus: John 14:12 “He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to My Father.”

 

This is obviously a reference to the promise Jesus made that He would bestow upon His followers the power and the presence of His Holy Spirit, following His ascension; as well as to the beginning of His mediatorial work in the Heavenly Sanctuary.

 

Jesus, our Living Example, demonstrated in our flesh, in Adam’s fallen humanity, the righteousness of God, which HE received from above, just as we may do, thru His abiding Spirit!

 

Jesus’ showed us that, by relying on the same source of power and guidance that He did, we too can live a righteous life.  WE can walk in HIS righteousness.

 

Remember? “We are created in Christ unto good works, that we should walk in them.”  And God never asks us to do anything that He does not empower us to do!

 

So what is righteousness?  Righteousness goes far beyond just what we do – it’s really Who He is, and who we are in Him!  It’s having the purpose of our heart – the willingness – to permit God to work His pleasure and to do His bidding in and thru us – whatever that may be – even before we know what it is that He might want us to do.

 

How do we acquire righteousness?  Through faith in the finished work of Christ, rather than thru struggling in our own weakness, so says Paul’s letter to the Galatians.  The life and the righteousness, and the victory of Jesus are given to us as we submit to Him.

 

We also acquire righteousness thru regularly, daily, feeding on God’s Word, as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for . . . instruction in righteousness.”  He is our Counselor in righteousness!

 

Rev 7:9 – The Apostle John’s vision of the Redeemed:

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes …

Rev 7:14 “These are the ones who … have  washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” NASU

 

That story of the wedding feast is a parable of the final judgment!  The invitation was open to ALL – every invited guest was provided the proper attire – so the inappropriately-dressed guest had no excuse.  He condemned himself!  No wonder he was speechless!

 

In Matt 6:33, Jesus’ counsels us to make Him first priority in our lives.  He says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness … and all these things will be added unto you.”

 

The invitation to eternity is free and open for everyone – and the robe of His righteousness is just as free as the invitation!  Will you respond to Him?  Will you allow Him to place around you His robe of righteousness, which He has provided at no cost?  Will you do that?  What could you possibly have to you say, if you don’t??  You would be speechless, too!