August 2001 Teaching 

What about Righteousness?

By Dennis (Eagle Spirit) Bracy

Bible Verses from New American Standard Greek/Hebrew Key Study

        We, the Christian community hear this word all the time.  Yet, somehow we seem to live our lives so often in many of the same ruts as all of the unbelievers we live around.  If we are to shine as the beacon of light and hope that we are supposed to be, we must understand two very important aspects of righteousness.  Webster’s defines righteousness as; acting in a just, upright manner, virtuous.  As we learn about these two completely different aspects, you must remember what the word means.

            First, we must understand that our righteousness as “everyday” Christians must surpass that of people who claim Christ but have no fruit of Him in their lives (Mt. 5:20).  If we have Christ living in us, there will be an outward manifestation of Him as we go about our daily routines.  It could not possibly be any other way because the kingdom of God is that of righteousness (Mt. 6:33).   As we have the Spirit of God inside of us and His Spirit is one of power and righteousness, we must learn that not only do our words have power (Acts 1:08) as we speak {being able to curse or bless} (Rom. 12:14) but, also our actions as we do or don’t release God’s righteousness.

            Let’s bring it down to everyday terms.  How many times have we all heard or even said, “I’ll call you tonight” or “I’ll see you tomorrow” not to be heard from until much later or never.  Some would say that this is very trivial, yet the reality is, our acting in a just, upright manner means that we stand behind the words of our mouth, letting our yes be yes and our no be no.  There must be something about our actions that separates us from the unbelievers.  If we say we will call and don’t, we have told a lie plain and simple.  Can we consistently lie and have any part of God’s kingdom?  Rather, if we are truly part of God’s kingdom will we continue to lie as the unbelievers do?

            Some even believe that righteousness will be seen in the way we look, and what we listen to, etc.  While some of these things can be true I have a problem with this as a blanket statement.  It certainly is not the length of a person’s hair, or their clothes, or make-up, what they can or cannot eat or drink, or even the music they listen to that shows God’s righteousness.  This kind of thinking shows man’s idea of righteousness, which is not the same as God’s.

            Secondly, there is the flip side where we as believers must began to understand that we are the righteousness of God.  Well, how can you possibly say that when Rom. 3:10 says plainly that no one is righteous not even one.  Very simple.  We must begin to understand who we are in Christ before we will begin to understand how we are the righteousness of Christ.  While we are still bound to these fleshly bodies that are filled with sin we must learn to live in the Spirit.  Our wills can be bent toward our flesh to sin if we allow it but we must learn that we are no longer slaves to our flesh because we are no longer children of the flesh but rather children who have been reborn of God’s Spirit. (2 Cor. 5:16-17) also (1Jn. 2:08). 

We literally have the seed of God, Himself living in us if we know Jesus personally.  While we can never be or become God, we certainly will grow and come into the fullness of His likeness.  We have His power and authority available to us right now.  For example, there are many scriptures, which tell us about His power in and through us to release miraculous healing.  Also, many scriptures that tell us that we have authority over the demonic realms.  But even further to prove that we have the seed of, The Almighty God inside of us.  His word tells us also that we have his power to raise the dead and even to forgive sin (Acts 20:9-10) and (Jn 20:23).  Once we begin to live under this truth we will be able to release this truth to the world.  In the words of Smokey the Bear, “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires.”

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