What exactly does it mean to be righteous

In my earlier articles, Why are you Worrying and Righteous Living, I spoke about the Kingdom of God and seeking his righteousness. So let's take a look at what it means to be righteous.

In every country there are laws and when you break those laws you usually pay a penalty of some sort. It is the same with the Kingdom of God. When you break the laws of the Kingdom you become unrighteous. So what do we do to become righteous?

Let us first understand that knowledge is the key to everything in life. So the key to righteousness is knowledge of the law. And since the Bible is the written code of law for the Kingdom of God, we are obligated, if we are to become citizens of the Kingdom, to read, study and know the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16 states "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right." (New Living Translation).

To live righteously does not come naturally. We have to train our minds and bodies to do the right thing.

It says in Romans 8:3-4: "For what the law is powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit."

The problem therefore is spiritual. The main reason for having laws, whether national or spiritual, is to ensure that we treat others with the same degree of respect that we would like to receive from them. So the primary opponent of the law is our selfish nature (Romans 8:5-8).

The Bible tells us that none of us are righteous in and of ourselves (Psalm 14:1-3). There is nothing we can do to make ourselves righteous, but God Himself has provided us with the righteousness we need.

Romans 1:17 states: "the good news tells us that how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scripture say ‘it is through faith that a righteous person has life'". (NLT).

Faith in Christ removes our sin and activates the righteousness of God and applies it to our lives. It is not our righteousness but His.

For everyone who believes and have faith, Jesus becomes their righteousness, that is why we need him in our lives.