5 Days to Christmas: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness"

Read: Matthew 5:6

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled."

Observe:

What is righteousness? This is a very profound topic as I found various explanation on the word "righteousness". When we think of righteousness we often relate it to justice and punishment based on our earthly law. However, righteousness could be selfish, like how we deem others should act in a way that seems "right" to ourselves, i.e self-righteousness. For example, younger sibling cried injustice because his parent took his toy to share it with older siblings. Even earthly laws has different standards, for example it is alright for some countries in Asia to have under table arrangements while in Western countries it is a criminal offense. So what exactly is Matthew 5:6 "righteousness" referring to?

A quick look into Strong's Concordance, "righteousness" in greek "δικαιοσύνη" (dikaiosuné, 1343) means "justice, justness, a state of a person who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God). So how can a person be right (i.e condition acceptable to God) before God? Some sources said it is the Law of Moses (Torah) and commandments that man is needed to fulfill to be righteous before God. "And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?" (Deuteronomy 4:8)...."And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.” (Deuteronomy 6:25)..."My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness." (Psalm 119:172)

However, this is not the full picture as there are verses that states man action of righteousness will never measure up to God's standards. During the contention of whether gentiles christian should obey the Law and perform circumcision in Books of Romans Chapter 3 and 4, the topic of justification and righteousness has been brought forward as a case against circumcision. It has being clearly stated that there are no righteous man in this world, and we are only made conscious of our sins because God's righteousness is like an impossible ruler which man action alone cannot be attained.

As it is written:“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless;there is no one who does good, not even one.”

“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”

“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”

“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. (Romans 3:10-20)

To further clarify, Abraham is used to illustrate how he is called righteous by God:

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:1-3)

It was not through the 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. (Romans 4:13)

If Abraham is justified by his works he can boast about it but not in God's sight because it is self-justification or self-righteousness. In fact, it is Abraham faith in God that made him righteous before God, not Abraham's actions. Abraham faith in God is the reason why God credited him as righteousness and this applies to us Christians today when we have faith in Jesus Christ that He died on the cross, shed His blood for our sins and raised to life to redeem us from eternal death.

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 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. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:18-25)

So, does this means once we believe or called righteous in God, we ignore all good works and sin freely against Him since our righteous works is vanity? Absolutely not, we have to remember that God is just and He will judge all deeds. Jesus has taken our sins to bear it upon Himself to be judged in place ourselves. Such grace, such love... would you bear to nail Him on the cross over and over again due to your ignorance towards sin? Hence, if you "hunger and thirst" for righteousness, you shall be filled. Filled with His Holy Spirit and love which compels one to repent and also carry out good works to glorify God.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Apply & Do:

In this season of love and giving, let us not forget to do good. Doing good not for self-righteousness (i.e boasting) but for His glory for we know all our good works does not make us righteous in God sight. It is the faith that He send His son Jesus Christ to be our once and for all sacrifice for our sins, to bleed His precious blood and take the judgement from us that we do not need to bear His justice. For He loves us much.

Prayer:

I pray that all men will thirst and hunger for His righteousness. To open their hearts to God salvation and seek Him. To be filled in Holy Spirit and compelled to do good for His glory but not for self-gratification. Be the helper to the helpless, tent His sheeps, love and encourage one another!

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