Righteousness From God

Romans 1:17
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

I think that as Christians, righteousness is something that we are always in pursuit of. While we are already the righteousness of God through Christ, we definitely don’t live up to that title. And so we work just a little harder, read and study the Bible just a little more, serve just a little longer, and pray just a little more fervently, all in the hopes of taking one more step in the direction of righteousness - the perfection exemplified by Christ. But does all that really do the job?

While it is true that God would have us read and study the Bible, and serve Him, and pray, and all those things we do in pursuit of righteousness, I think we need to understand that those things do not bring us any closer to righteousness in and of themselves. These are simply tools that God uses to keep our minds stayed on Him, so that He can work in us, making us to look more and more like Christ.

See, our righteousness is a result of a faith walk - it "is by faith from first to last," from start to finish. It is a work of God through faith, not works. We can be doing all the right things, but if we are not walking and living in the faith God has given us, then we will never become more righteous. It is so much more simple than many try to make it! Isn’t that wonderful? It is such freedom to me to know that my righteousness is not something I need to work toward and stress over - my righteousness does not depend on me! It is a work of God.

Keeping our eyes on Christ, walking and living in the faith He has given us, we will let God in so that He can cleanse us and fill us with righteousness. Keep the faith, my dear friends! And breath a sigh of relief that we can serve and study and pray out of our simple desire to know God more, rather to become "better" Christians. Let’s love and pursue God, and let Him take care of changing us.