We need to start somewhere in this teaching and answering the question “what is righteousness” is as good a place as any. I’ve already said righteousness is important, but what does it mean?
What is the definition of righteousness?
What does it mean to be righteous?
I’m not going to give you a deep theological description of righteousness, as I believe that this is not necessary.
The simple meaning is that it is about being right with God and having right standing with God. It is all about being accepted by God right here and right now.
If you are in right standing with someone it means that you are accepted by them. It means that they are ok with you; that they are no longer annoyed or angry or requiring any more from you. You have come up to the standard that they require for acceptance.
So if we are righteous before God that means that you have His acceptance, and that you are up to His standard. That is a very good place to be would you agree?
That of course is a very simple definition of righteousness. You could search the web, or get a book and get a deep theological meaning if you wish. I don’t think that this is necessary. It is simple meanings that people understand and it is the simplicity of the gospel that changes lives.
The scriptures are packed full of references about righteousness; we have already seen that there are 514 references if this in the Word.
The bible is very clear about righteousness and it very plainly and simply tells us that two there are two types of righteousness, or probably more correctly that there are two ways to go about achieving righteousness.
In the next section we will look at the two types of righteousness……
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