Righteous: characterized by uprightness or morality; without guilt or sin; in accordance with virtue.

Righteousness: the quality or state of being righteous; state of him who is as he ought to be.
1. How did Israel look at righteousness?

a. Romans 2:13 “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is
those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.”

b. Romans 10:5 “Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who
does these things will live by them."”

Israel believed the only way to righteousness was through careful observance of the Law. The more obedient,
the more righteous one would be. Performance became the ultimate indicator of righteousness.
2. Was anyone able to achieve righteousness this way?

a. Romans 3:10 “As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one;”

b. Romans 3:20 “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law;
rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”

Not a single human being has ever been able to fulfill all the requirements of the Law through careful
observance to avoid sin.
Note: Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law but not through careful observance. His ability to obey all
aspects of the Law, and therefore remain sinless, came through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
3. Was Israel wrong to go about it this way? Is the Law even righteous?

a. Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”

The Law, in and of itself, is perfect. Proverbs 30:5 explains that “every word of God is flawless,” and based on
the above definition for righteous, i.e. in accordance with virtue, the Law is righteous.
4. If the Law is righteous, how come it doesn’t make us righteous?

a. Romans 8:3-4 “For what the law was 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.”

Sin destroyed any natural chance humans had at obeying God’s commands. Instead of bringing righteousness
the Law actually brought death:
Romans 7:9-10 “Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I
died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.”
5. If we cannot be made righteous through the Law then where does righteousness come from?

a. Romans 3:21 “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to
which the Law and the Prophets testify.”

b. Romans 10:3 “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to
 establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.”

Because sin ruined any chance of righteousness being obtained by observing the Law, righteousness has now
been made available from God Himself. Those who refuse to acknowledge that they cannot possibly obey the
Law continue to try to create their own sense of righteousness and therefore reject the righteousness that comes
from God. Performance based righteousness ideas still control much of Christian thinking today.
6. If it’s not through obedience to the Law then how do we become righteous?

a. 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."

b. Romans 3:22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe.”

c. Romans 4:3 “What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him
as righteousness."”

d. Romans 4:5 “However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked,
his faith is credited as righteousness.”

e. Romans 4:13 “It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that
he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.”

f. Romans 4:23-24 “The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also
for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord
from the dead.”

g. Romans 5:17 “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how
much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness
reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

h. Romans 5:19 “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

i. Romans 10:4 “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes.”

Faith is the craftsman who creates righteousness in Christians. Through faith in Jesus Christ we’ve been given
righteousness as a gift from God. No works are needed to achieve this righteousness, only the Holy Spirit
testifying with our spirit that we are heirs with Christ.
7. Are you absolutely sure we can’t work to become righteous?
a. Romans 4:6 “David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom
God credits righteousness apart from works:”

b. Romans 9:30-32a “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of
righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by
works.”
Working for righteousness makes us feel good, and this is exactly the kind of trap the Jews fell into. In John
6:28-29 the Jewish leaders asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered,
“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Work will never make you righteous, just as keeping yourself from sin will never make you righteous.
Remember that all our attempts at righteous acts are like “filthy rags” before the Lord (Isaiah 64:6). You don’t
keep yourself from sin in order to BECOME righteous; rather you keep yourself from sin because you ARE
righteous.
8. Now that we know we’re righteous what must we do?
a. Romans 6:13 “Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but
rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts
of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”

b. Romans 6:15-16 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no
means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are
slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to
obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

c. Romans 6:18-19 “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I
put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts
of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to
righteousness leading to holiness.”

d. Romans 8:10 “But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
because of righteousness.”

An understanding of our righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ allows the everyday, average
Christian to become the once-in-a-generation, lethal Christian that God intends us to be. This righteousness
opens the door to “the new way of the Spirit” and frees us from “the old way of the written code” (Romans
7:6). This God-given righteousness guarantees every Christian the absence of condemnation, entrance into the
law of the Spirit of life, and freedom from the Law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).

Jesus’ sacrifice has bought for us the ability to live everyday in complete holiness, righteousness, and
acceptance in God’s sight. Through Christ, overcoming becomes the natural state of life.