God's Righteousness is Perfect

Opening

Good Morning....

During our time this morning we will cover several points and topics as uncovered by our passage such as grace, righteousness, religious piety and legalism. It will surely be a long bumpy ride this morning so buckle in!

Missing the point-

Have you ever missed the point of something? I know I have many times....

Too often we let our tasks and our attitudes get in the way of what God is trying to teach and completely miss the point. God will point that out to us this morning as He seeks to reveal His righteousness.

Ephesians 4:17–24 ESV

17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

We are a new creation that must put off the old self that yearns to be right, not righteous, but right. That desires to fulfill its own will, not Gods. The self that is more concerned about temporary earthly things than kingdom business. And when we find ourselves still partially clothed in the old self we have a tendency to create and implement wants and desires that don’t match up with the truth. We must not walk this way.

In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus pulls out the big guns and draws a hard line in the sand when it came to legalism by pretty much waging war against the religious institution that had watered down the teachings of God.

When we look at this passage it is very clear Jesus’s intentions.

We see this call to Christians to be Salt and Light just prior this..... Our place in this world is incredibly important and that our witness to those around us is paramount.

Are you being the salt of the earth?

Are you shining as the light of the world?

Are your actions and words and posts pointing others toward the cross or are they deflecting them towards the things of this world?

For us this morning, Jesus leaps from calling us to be visible to the world to this place of making sure we remember His purpose in everything and that the righteousness of God must be coursing through our veins to the world around us.

It’s an ultimate call of loving our neighbor. We have heard that a lot over the last year. What better way to love them then to shine the light of God’s righteousness for them to see.

Read Matthew 5:17-20

Jesus starts this section in 17 and 18 by speaking directly to a known problem that would arise and still is the source of much debate. The Jews held fast to the Mosaic Law. It was known and had great importance to them. So, right out the gate Jesus wanted to clear something up.

His purpose was not to do away with the law. The Greek word here goes beyond our meaning for the word fulfill. It literally means to fill out or to give complete meaning to. So, Jesus wasn’t replacing anything. He wasn’t doing away with anything. He came so that the law could be viewed in it’s entirety or fullness.

The Jewish people had missed the meaning behind many things and Jesus wanted to make sure they were getting the correct meaning to things....... and subsequently to us.

We see this same thing in John 5 when Jesus is being followed by the religious leaders and they are trying to snare Him by quoting scripture at Him.

And Jesus’s response is this massive mic drop moment if there ever was one.....

John 5:39 ESV

39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

They had completely missed the point. Everything they had learned and talked about and discussed and taught to others was all about Him and they had no clue.The Word that had been entrusted to them simply remained this theological lesson for knowledge and they never truly knew anything or understood it. We can easily fall victim to the same thing when we allow legalism and religious devotion and tradition to rule us.

Our goal should be to approach scripture to know Jesus and surrender our lives to him.

The moment we don’t is when it becomes impersonal theology that can lead to prideful biblical literacy and nothing more.

Paul Tripp says this about this topic-

Study of the Bible ought to alter more than the way you think; it ought to alter the deepest desires of your heart, the fundamental ways you think about who you are and what you need. The Bible should produce in you a fear of idolatry and a growing worship of the One who alone has offered you forgiveness, transformation, rescue, deliverance, life eternal. It's not enough to learn the content. It's not enough to become theologically literate. It's not enough to memorize large portions of Scripture--those are all wonderful things, but those have direction, those have purpose!

Romans 3:31 CSB

31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Nothing is to change in what is being taught. Jesus is fulfilling it until the day when it will no longer be needed.

What is taught and it’s meaning is of utmost importance. Jesus was here to fulfill that and to make sure it was fully understood. That’s why he says what he does in verse 19.

Matthew 5:19 CSB

19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

It’s a dangerous game we play when we tamper with the Word of God. When we start adding rules and implementing societal guidelines to uphold scripture, we are messing around in an area we have no business being in.

That’s because our version of right and wrong often does not match up with God’s righteousness. It may even sound good, but if you haven’t checked it with this(hold up bible) you are going to find yourself in the wrong.

And that is what Jesus is getting at here. If we start teaching things that aren’t here or changing things or outright saying you don’t have to do this we are sinning and are wrong.

That leads us into verse 20, which is the culmination for us and the area I wish to spend the rest of our time together in.

Read verse 20

Jesus goes on to and uses a phrase that indicates it’s time to be quiet and listen to what he has to say.....

He says I tell you the truth.....at the core of these verses that’s the point he is driving towards…the truth.

This was a shocking moment as Jesus drew that line to those listening and made it very clear what side they needed to be on. His listeners were undoubtedly in shock and amazement at this statement. For us it may not seem that bad as we are in an age and generation that is taught to question everything, but for the listeners of the time they believed that what was being told to them and taught was coming from the ultimate examples of righteousness and it was nothing shy of complete truth.

Jesus point here is this-

No amount of law keeping, though keeping it is good, will not matter if your heart is still corrupt.

Righteousness must surpass Religious rules

We see this word often throughout scripture....righteousness. It shows up more than 500 times throughout scripture. It ranks in terms of usage within the top 6 words in the Bible which include God, Heaven, sin, Jesus. Paul’s letter to the Romans revolves around it.

And here in Matthew 5 Jesus refers to righteousness three times.... All within 20 verses.

It’s important......this is a word we need to understand and where it comes from.

So, lets look at righteousness and its role in our lives as believers.

First, lets look at what is righteousness.

1. God is righteous. If you want an easy definition for it....God.

a. Everything about God is righteous so therefore the whole concept and idea comes solely from Him. He determines what is right and what is wrong. So, God’s very character is the standard for what is right. Nothing else. PERIOD.

2. Imputed righteousness. This is something that is given to us or credited to us by God. This is our basic morality as humans.

a. We are sinners and therefore our natural desire is to sin. So, we must be made righteous. it is perfect because of where it comes from.....this is justification by faith.

Romans 5:19 CSB

19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

3. Imparted righteousness or personal righteousness. This righteousness, through faith, that we are pursuing daily.

a. This falls into the category of progressive. We are working at it. This is the call we see in verse 20 from Jesus. Our desire, if we trust in Jesus, should be to hate sin. Though we are sinners and sin should not be our desire.

b. Our desire should be righteousness....doing the right thing....which is defined for us and found in the character of God.

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus is talking about what brings us peace, settles our anxieties in life and He gets to verse 33 and says this:

Matthew 6:33 CSB

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

So, lets pause for a moment.....

Where are our priorities?

Where are our convictions?

What drives us daily?

What are we focused on?

What are you dwelling in each day?

Because if it’s on negative things....the wrongs made against us… the hurts, the bitterness....revenge....even personal atonement. We are going to have a really hard time seeing God’s righteousness. But the answer to this problem.....the practical approach is to literally strive after God…are you spending time with him in the Word, prayer, meditating on scripture, serving Him, sharing him with others. Those are the things that keep us focused.

God has laid out His plans and objectives for us in scripture. And all of them are good. All of them are pleasing to the Lord as they define His character which is righteous.

Grace is another important facet of our christian life as that is God’s great gift to us. We are often called to show grace because God has shown us such immeasurable grace.

Grace is what we get when we don’t deserve it. Think about it. You got it! He gave it to you....who are you to withhold it?

We sing songs about the grace of God. Christian Pastor and Author Thabiti Anyabwile has this to say about grace:

It (saving grace) teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope–the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:11-14).  Grace teaches us righteousness.  Grace teaches us to “just say ‘no'”.  Positively, grace instructs us in self-control, uprightness, and godliness–even in an age of lawlessness and darkness.  Grace becomes for us a purifying agency, and creates in us a strong inclination to do good.  Grace reigns in the Christian life, but it does so through the inculcation(instilling through repetition) and cultivation of righteousness.

Grace is evident through righteousness. Doing the Godly things in life. Not through the need to be right or win an argument. Those stem from a different motive. It isn’t through self-righteousness, which is all about you and not the cross.

If you want people to see the grace of God, you must also show them the righteousness that comes from Him.

God is good and does good and stands for good. As people of God we must reflect that same character to a world that needs it so desperately. They don’t need my opinions on right and wrong. They don’t need my judgement on right and wrong.

They need HIS truth on right and wrong....

THEY NEED GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS!

......

I’d like to dig into a topic for a moment that pertains to God’s righteousness and that is justice. Justice has become politicized in a big way recently and I want to start by saying justice without God is no justice at all. You can put any word in front of it you want, if it’s not God’s, it’s not worth looking at. And we have to be aware of that when we cry out for justice or support this cause or that cause or even government policy....does it match up with God’s righteousness? If it doesn’t, drop it.....we have to do our homework in a world that is corrupt by sin because once again, the world’s definition of righteous is not God’s.

And so this past week, our nation endured another moment of people being killed in a mass way that seems to be racially centered.

And let me clarify something before I go on, when the injustices of people created in the image of God are on the line, it transcends politics and dives deep into the realm of God.

This area continues to be incredibly convicting for my heart and so I dare to tread softly and sensitively forward for a moment on this topic as we keep it biblically focused.

Carl Ellis, a professor of theology at RTS defined righteousness in this way and by default unrighteousness,

“Righteousness is a relational, covenantal term. It means to do right by the other party in the covenant. God always does what is right, and therefore we—those saved and set apart to him—should also always do what is right. Unrighteousness, on the other hand, is simply a failure to do what is right.”

So, I need to disclose that much of this sermon was written about 9 months ago the week after the death of George Floyd.... this isn’t an attempt to resurface the past but the reality is when it falls under the category of biblical truths, we never shut up about it. Because this transcends beyond race and addiction and comforts and even annoyance over hearing about it....again. Much has happened over the last year and again we find ourselves in place from this past week, confronted with more unrighteousness.....how do we as the church respond in these moments?

All of these things are incredibly heartbreaking and I’m not here to debate with anyone about the politics of it. That’s not the point. As a believer in Christ, my heart literally hurts over these events. And so should yours.

I have sought to put on compassion above all else in these moments.

And the big idea here is that unrighteousness cannot be met with unrighteousness.

Some may say why should I care about this. People are killed daily. This is not my issue.

James 3:9–10 CSB

9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness. 10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.

James is talking about the things we say here and draws this connection of praising God and issuing insult toward others. If he cares about what we say about others, He certainly cares about if we care. God cares how we react, treat, talk about, think about others. It’s important as the body of Christ that our words and actions line up with the righteousness of God.

And church, this does go beyond racism and addiction and privilege. It’s the same with sex trafficking, and abortion and adultery and idolatry and even political party affiliation.

If it’s not righteous. It’s the opposite of God’s character...... I get why people are mad. I see where the cries for justice are coming from. But there is a need for us as Christians to retain a focused view in times such this and not lose focus or allow judgement to set in.

As I have prayed and reflected on this all and I’ve kept hearing these words from Colossians-

Colossians 3:12–17 CSB

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is the response of the church in these moments.

Racism has been the cited reason for many of the situations that have happened this past year. Now I can’t speak to what the hearts of these people felt about others but I do know this. Man is sinful and fallen.

Racism is sin. We can call it whatever we want, it is sin and it’s here. It’s around us.

I hate racism.... But its also why we must understand that political reform and policies will do nothing long term.

At the core of it all our fight isn’t against this thing we call racism. Our fight is against sin. Our fight is against something far bigger that uses this to divide us.

Ephesians 6:12 CSB

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.

This goes for any injustice that is in opposition to the righteousness of God. We should not be content with sin in any form and just turn away from it and act like it doesn’t exist. And we must never allow it’s effects to jade us to it and say I’m tired of hearing about this.

The Christian faith is action oriented. We must be willing to proclaim the Gospel and shine a spotlight on the love, mercy, grace, justice and RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.

We have found this common ground during this pandemic....love your neighbor. Love them by wearing mask right? Church.....our love must go deeper for our fellow man....our neighbors. Jesus goes as far to tell us in

John 15:13 ESV

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

We have to be love in a world filled with so much hate.

We must stand for righteousness but not just any righteousness....God’s.

And we as believers must be willing to stand up and say this is not ok. All people are made in the image of Almighty God and we must stand up to injustices because it goes against the very character of God which is righteous.

Galatians 6:2 CSB

2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

My job and your job is not judge and jury. Justice is that of the Lords.

My job and your job- Put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

That’s my job, that’s your job. That is what we are called to do because through that we shine the light on God’s righteousness- which is found in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We must be crying out to our God for His righteousness to be shown through us so that the world will see His goodness and bow down before the cross to experience the grace that only comes from above.

Closing

We must daily be pursuing righteousness in our lives. That only comes from the desire to seek the Kingdom of God. We must be focused and dwelling on the things that are from above as we fight this fight.

As I was writing this this movie quote kept popping into my head and i couldn’t shake it. It comes from the movie, the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. If you have ever seen the movie or read the books....spoiler alert. Up to this point the fellowship had been split and several were helping the kingdom of rohan and they had sought refuge in a mountain stronghold. They had been overrun by the enemy and had held up inside. The enemies only objective was to wipe out the race of men. It wasn’t about land or jewels or possessions. And in this moment the King of Rohan, Theoden raises this question “So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?

Unlike this fictitious world we find in the LOTR, we are not being oppressed by this large physical army. We have not been backed into the hole of a mountain.

But, we are fighting a very real spiritual battle. The same battle that Jesus fought when he drew that line in the sand against the religious rulers and declared to the people, their righteousness is found in me that should rule your heart, not merely a list of rules.

Church, we must stand for righteousness.

Do we wish to see a difference in the world?

Do you want to make a difference?

Then shine the light and be the salt that declares that the righteousness of God is what defeats the sin that plagues us. What can we do against such reckless hate? Shine righteousness upon this world. Speak out against injustices that exalt sinfulness. ALL INJUSTICES.

Jesus wants us to be righteous. He does not want to us to be a religious rule book.

This world doesn’t need our ridicule, judgement or opinion. It needs the righteousness of God.

As we shine the light of God’s righteousness we illuminate the cross.

And that is what is needed. This is a fallen sinful world we live in that is full of people that sin, which includes you and me.

-Gospel

They have a savior who died for their sins. Shine the light on that.

Isaiah 41:13 ESV13 For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”