God is… Our Righteousness

God “is” “Our Righteousness”. “Is” meaning ; “existing in this moment of time“, and “the substance, characteristics, and/or character of a thing”. God “is” a “right now”, “in this moment” God; alive, active and available to us. His “substance”, “characteristics”, and “character” is “Our Righteousness”.But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,…..” Hebrews 11:6

Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NKJV)
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

There are several Hebrew words that are translated “righteousness”, they come from a root word “ṣādaq” ( tsaw-dak’) that means; “to be (causative make) right (in a moral or forensic sense): (Strong’s Greek & Hebrew Dictionary). The Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words states: “to be righteous, be in the right, be justified, be just.”… The basic meaning of ṣādaq is “to be righteous.” It is a legal term which involves the whole process of justice. God “is righteous” in all of His relations, and in comparison with Him man is not righteous:… In its causative pattern, the meaning of the verb brings out more clearly the sense of a judicial pronouncement of innocence:…” (Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words.) .” It is a legal term which involves the whole process of justice… a judicial pronouncement of innocence:”
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A general description of “righteousness”, in relation to our relationship with God, has been that righteousness means we are in “right-standing” with God. In other words, there is nothing in our relationship with Him that would hinder that relationship; all possible barriers have been removed. According to the definition in the previous paragraph, we would have received a “judicial pronouncement of innocence.”

There is a “small” problem with a barrier-free relationship being formed between God, who is absolutely Holy, and natural man, who is sinful. God possess within Himself, complete Righteousness; in himself, natural man does not possess the “righteousness” that makes him acceptable in “right-standing” with God, nor does he have the capacity to achieve it on his own merits. Man’s “self-righteousness”, righteousness based on his abilities, efforts, and accomplishments can produce a “very good” person, but they CAN NOT achieve the purity and holiness of the Righteousness of God.

“And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).” Genesis 15:6 (Amplified Bible)

God “counted” (credited) Abram’s “faith” as “righteousness”, placing Abram in a position of “right-standing” upon which a relationship with God could be established. This “crediting Abram’s faith as righteousness” did not remove the sin-barrier between God and Abram, and did not impute the “righteousness of God” to Abram; it put him in a position where God could work with and through him. The Israelites had the “sign of the covenant” in their body through circumcision, and they had a system of sacrifices where the blood of animals would “atone” for (cover over) their sins. The animal blood “covered over” the sin-barrier between them and God, the blood of animals did not “remove” that barrier; it placed the Israelites in a position where God could work in and through them.

As we move to the New Testament, and the New Covenant with God, it is said of Jesus Christ:

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Hebrews 10:4 (NKJV)

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:7-9(NKJV)

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

The only way that God can impute His Righteousness to us, and that we could “become” the Righteousness of God, was for Jesus Christ to come and “remove” the sin-barrier for us. He paid the “sin-debt” of mankind and through His blood we are forgiven of our sin, and “cleansed” from “ALL” unrighteousness. As a result of this, by His grace, we are “judged innocent”, “given” the privilege and the capacity to live in a state of “His Righteousness” that was totally impossible for us to attain, and, by His grace and His indwelling Presence, we are enabled, equipped, and empowered to live in “right-standing” with Him through “His Righteousness” that has been imparted to us.

Our concept of His “isness”; the manner in which we define His nature, substance, characteristics, and character, and the way we “receive” His “isness” into our life and depend on (have faith in) it, will be the role that we “anticipate/expect” or “will allow” God to play in our lives.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,…..” God “is” “Our Righteousness”.

*** Fred Wilson *** is an  author, former coach, teacher  and Life and Liberty News Contributor