What Is Righteousness By Faith?

            In my last blog I used a term (Righteousness by Faith) that might not be entirely familiar to all readers.  By that I mean it may be a term you have heard, but there is a difference between hearing and actually knowing.  Especially knowing by intimate experience. 

            First of all, what is Righteousness?  Or stated another way, what does it mean to be Righteous, since Righteousness is that condition, or state, of being Righteous.  The word Righteous means Right, or Perfectly Correct  (primarily in relation to spiritual things). Therefore it means being right in the sight of God.  Webster defines it as:  "one who is holy in heart, and observant of the divine commands in practice".  In other words, "doing what is right", or stated another way, living in harmony with God. 

            God is Righteous, Right, in all He does;  but more importantly,  He is Right in His character.  "Righteous art Thou, O Lord, and upright are Thy Judgments."  (Psalm 119:137)  That is, He doesn't just do what is right, but He is Right.  If we are to live with Him in a holy heaven we must also be Righteous.  We must have the same Righteousness in order to live forever with Him.   So how do we, who are unrighteous, get to be Righteous in His sight?  How can we be like Him, in harmony with Him in everything we are?

            We first need to define our term.  Talking about Abraham:  "He believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."  (Genesis 15:6) God tells us that He considered, or regarded Abraham as righteous because he believed God.  So first of all we must BELIEVE.  Here is where many stop in their ideas of Righteousness by Faith.  They think this term refers only to how we think in our minds.  In other words,  "I believe God has forgiven me and given me salvation.  There is nothing else that matters.  There is nothing left to say or do.  Just believe in your head and it is so." 

            Now look at Deuteronomy 6:25 - "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us." Here we have the statement that our righteousness depends on us doing the things God tells us to do. "It shall be...if"....   Here is where other people stop in their understanding.  Their pride grasps the idea that they must do the right thing without falling in order to be Righteous.  But a problem arises when people find they cannot perfectly do God's will.  They either give up completely, or they turn to that idea of "just believe" and give up all thought of "doing" what is right. 

            What we need to understand is there is no "either/or" on this topic if our understanding is to be in accord with God.  We are to believe God in all things.  We believe He is right in every area, and because He is right,  (and I am wrong), then I will do whatever God says.  Belief comes first (faith), and as a result of that belief I then do what is right (the works being whatever God commands).  We cannot be Righteous before God if we only have one or the other.  We have to have both faith and works, believing and doing, in order to be what God wants us to be. This is what the Scriptures says:  "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone."   (James 2:17)

            And yet here again this is not a complete understanding of Righteousness By Faith.  There are many who have this idea of both and think they therefore understand what is meant.  This was my condition till a month or so ago.  Have we done what we often warn others not to do?  i.e. - Put together some texts  which are correct in themselves, but do not bring all the Bible has to say on the topic into the picture?  Recently the Lord has brought forcefully to my thinking that mine was just a surface understanding.  It was not grounded and solid enough to save me.  There is much more we must know in order to have a saving understanding of Righteousness By Faith.  I am filled with this thought and will share more next time.