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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!

HOW RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU?

INTRODUCTION

Our God is a righteous God! Though people are all the time trying to find fault with God, yet there is no unrighteousness in God! Whatever He does is right!

God is always good, God is always right!

Psalm 145:17 - “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.”

God always has been righteous in the past! God is righteous now! God will always be righteous!

Psalm 119:142 - “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness. . .”

Not only that, but God wants you and me to be righteous! In fact, He wants every person on the face of the earth to be righteous!

Psalm 11:7 - For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness. . .”

SO LET ME ASK, HOW RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU?

In your mind I want you to review this past week in your life for a moment.

            What did you do this week that God would call righteous? (Thoughts or deeds)

            What did you do this week that God would call unrighteous? (Thoughts or deeds)

SO HOW RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU? We want to see three things about righteousness this morning:

I.         THE PROBLEM WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS.

            Before a person comes to Christ, they don’t have any righteousness!

            In ourselves, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we are unrighteous!

Isaiah 64:6 - “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Romans 3:10-12 - “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: [11] There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. [12] They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

            But, there is more to consider. Look again at the statement of Matthew 5:20.

            Now understand that statement would have really shocked Jesus' hearers.

The scribes and Pharisees were known for being religious and for keeping the letter of the law. But also, the scribes and Pharisees added laws to the law and expected men to keep them as well!

Jesus is telling us that the way we live should be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees if we expect to see Heaven! Look at Matthew 5:17-19.

            What kind of righteousness did the Pharisees have?

            The Pharisees’ righteousness was a self-righteousness.

                        They believed they were righteous because they saw themselves as righteous.

Matthew 9:11–13– “And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

            The Pharisees’ righteousness was an outward righteousness.

Matthew 23:27-28– “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

            The Pharisees’ righteousness was a proud righteousness.

Luke 18:11-12–“11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”

            The Pharisees’ righteousness was a selective righteousness.

Matthew 23:23–“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

            The Pharisees’ righteousness was a fault finding righteousness.

                        They even found fault with the perfect, sinless Son of God!

            The Pharisees’ righteousness was a wrongly based righteousness.

                        They used the wrong standard of righteousness.

2 Corinthians 2:11–“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

                        Jesus is our standard of righteousness! 

            SO HOW RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU?

                        Christian, how right is your attitude towards other Christians?

                        How right is your attitude towards your family members?

                        How right is your behavior on the job or in school and at home?

                        How right is your language on the job or in school and at home?

                        Are you honest on the job, in school, and at home?

Do you lie or stretch the truth to make others look bad?

In your mind, do you fantasize about having immoral relationships?

                        Is your mind do mind full of worrying and fretting? How righteous is that?

            SO HOW RIGHTEOUS ARE YOU?

            THE PROBLEM WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS.

II.       THE PROVISION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Romans 5:6-9)

2 Corinthians 5:21 - “For He (God) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Christ has provided righteousness for those who have a problem with righteousness!

That is, every one of us who is here today and every person who has ever lived or ever will live!

Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

When a person comes to Christ, and admits their own unrighteousness and helplessness and unworthiness and by faith turns to Christ as their only hope for forgiveness and acceptance before God, then and only then does salvation takes place in their life.

            That is when a person is saved or justified. To be justified is to be "declared righteous".

God looks down at that poor lost sinner who has trusted Jesus as Saviour and sees a righteous man or woman. He sees the righteousness of His Son, Jesus!

What does God expect of us once we have been declared righteous?

            HE EXPECTS US TO LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY!

            Look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-12

1 Peter 1:15-17 - “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; [16] Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. [17] And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:”

Although we who are Christians do not need to fear condemnation, we must realize that we will give account to God for our behavior as Christians.

2 Corinthians 5:10 - “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”

            Even though we are saved, we still have a problem with righteousness don’t we.

            We did not have power within ourselves to live righteously before we came to Christ and

            we do not have power in our own strength to live righteously now!

            The good news is that Christ has provided the power for us to live righteously.

Please look at Romans 5:17 - “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)”

            Let's think about this verse for a moment. 

By one man's offense death reigned. Because of Adam's sin, death entered the world and not only entered the world, but reigned.

And this death is not only a physical death, but a Spiritual one as well. Ephesians 2:1 tells us that before a person is saved he is "dead in trespasses and sin". He has no hope of eternal life.

            But then enters Jesus onto the scene. Jesus is our only hope and Jesus is our life!

            But God has something better for those who receive this "abundance of grace".

                        Grace is God's unmerited favor.

                        Grace is God giving me what I don't deserve.

                        Grace has been called God's Riches at Christ's Expense.

                        God's grace is abundant, enough to save anyone who comes to Christ by faith.

Ephesians 2:8-9 - “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

            Not only have we received abundance of grace, but we have the gift of righteousness.

                        When we accepted Christ as our Savior, He justified us, or declared us righteous.

                        Righteousness, like grace, was a gift we accepted when we put out faith in Christ.

                        Have you thought of righteousness as a gift? It is! We can do nothing to earn it!

            This verse is promising a reign in life.

                        And I believe that reign in life starts when one is born again!

                        Instead of being defeated, we can be victorious.

                        Instead of acting in an unholy manner, I can act in a holy manner.

                        Instead of living unrighteous lives, we can now live righteous lives.

            What's the practical secret for living a holy life now?

                        The secret in this verse is two fold.

First we have the abundance of grace.

                        God continues to pour out his favor upon us as we ask, trust, and obey.

Look at Romans 6:10-14

Secondly, we have the gift of righteousness.

Just as Christ provides the gift of righteousness for eternal life. He provides the gift of righteousness for daily living. All we have to do is accept it.

Galatians 2:20 - “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

            What is it that you are doing in your life that is unrighteous?

                        First confess it.

1 John 1:9 - “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

                        Forsake it.

After you confess the sin, forsake it by asking the Lord Jesus to be victorious over that sin through you. Accept His gift of righteousness that gives us victory.

                        Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

            THE PROBLEM WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS.

            THE PROVISION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

III.      THE PRACTICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

            You and I need to have a constant and continual hunger and thirst for righteousness.

            It should be a goal in our lives!

Not a hunger or thirst that comes from deprivation of righteousness, but a hunger or thirst that comes from developing an appetite for righteousness.

            There are some things you have to work on developing an appetite for.

(Exp–I developed an appetite for Grits, Turnip Greens, and other foods at a young age by taking them into my life on a regular basis! )

            So where do we go to satisfy our hunger and thirst for righteousness? 

            We need to go to the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

            Some people are living spiritually on a starvation diet.

                        Some only hear the word preached once or twice a week at best.

And then they go home and don’t even bother to read the Word of God.

Suppose we ate physically the way that we ate spiritually. What effect would it have on us?

With Christ's help we need to follow his admonition found in Luke 11:28 - “But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”

Psalm 119:9 - “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

When you hunger and thirst after righteousness you will make every effort to be in Sunday School, Sunday Morning Service, Sunday Evening Service and Wednesday Bible Study and Prayer time where the Word of God is taught.

Conclusion

This morning, the challenge is that each one of us would strive to live righteously.

Are you righteous?

Have you received the Righteousness that only comes by Faith in Christ?

Are you practicing righteousness in your life?

Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness in your life?

Are you developing an appetite for righteousness in your life?

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NOTICE:   THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!