Knowing the Righteous One

Deuteronomy 32:4 NASB95

4 “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

Righteousness is the moral perfection of God and has to do with His equity.

He is and always does what is right, what is equitable. He is morally correct, always and only.

We might say that His character and thus His actions are always ethically straight, without any twist or crookedness.

Sin is called inequity because it represents the absence of moral equality or rightness from human thoughts and actions.

So righteousness is that quality in God’s person which guarantees that all He desires, thinks, says, and chooses is morally perfect, equitable, and right.

Righteousness and justice are virtually synonymous. When we apply this rightness of God to a moral situation we call it justice.

God’s Righteousness is Essential to His Being

God’s Righteousness is Connected with His Other Attributes

All Authority: oppressive tyranny

All Power:

Love:

Patience:

Mercy:

Wrath:

God Delights in Righteousness and Justice

There are different things which reveal the true character of a person: Words, Actions, Delights

Psalm 11:7 ESV

7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

Jeremiah 9:23–24 ESV

23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Psalm 45:6–7 ESV

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; 7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

God is Righteousness is Unique to Himself

Job 4:17–19 ESV

17 ‘Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? 18 Even in his servants he puts no trust, and his angels he charges with error; 19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed like the moth.

God’s Righteousness is Infinite and Incomprehensible

Psalm 36:6 ESV

6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.

God’s Righteousness is Timeless, Eternal, Enduring

Psalm 119:142 ESV

142 Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.

“… a kind, equitable person may turn bitter and crotchety; a person of good will may grow cynical and callous. But nothing of this sort happens to the Creator. He never becomes less truthful, or merciful, or just, or good than He used to be.” —J. I. Packer

God’s Righteousness is a Sovereign Righteousness. Possessing All Rights to Do as He Desires

Psalm 89:14 ESV

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

God’s Righteousness is Unchanging and Unchangeable

Psalm 7:11–12 ESV

11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;

2 Chronicles 19:7 ESV

7 Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.”

A Mystery Answered!

Romans 6:23 ESV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 3:21–26 ESV

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Isaiah 45:21 ESV

21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

Let us wonder; grace and justice

Join, and point to mercy’s store;

When through grace in Christ our trust is,

Justice smiles, and asks no more.

He who washes us with His blood

Has secured our way to God.

How Will we Live Unto the Righteous God?

1. We worship the righteous and just God

Revelation 15:3–4 ESV

3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! 4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

2. We Plead for God to act based upon His perfect justice

1 John 1:9 NASB95

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Have you so fully understood the work of Jesus on the cross that you confess your own sins before God and then plead for the strictest justice?

3. We confess God’s perfect justice even when He judges us

Daniel 4:37 ESV

37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

4. We delight to have all our manner of life conformed to the righteous pattern of Jesus Christ

Ephesians 4:22–24 ESV

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.

5. We will delight to speak of God’s righteous character and activity

Psalm 92:15 ESV

15 to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 71:15–16 ESV

15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. 16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

Psalm 145:6–7 ESV

6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

How can you apply these verses to evangelism? Are you guilty of only speaking of God’s love and mercy when you speak of the cross of Christ, and hiding the righteousness of God by not explaining it carefully?

How can you begin to bring the story of the righteousness and justice of God into the heart of your personal evangelism?

How can you apply these verses to counseling? How can you begin to apply the reality of a God who is righteous and only does what is right when you speak to needy Christians who are heartbroken, confused, or drifting?