Herbert W Armstrong

   Let's see what the scriptures have to say about the subject of righteousness today—the subject of righteousness in the life of a Christian, one who is living after the example of Jesus Christ, and why being made righteous in the sight of God is essential for entrance into the Kingdom of God.

   The Bible is very clear in the presentation of the subject of righteousness. It's not a subject that there can be a lot of debate about. It's not technical, it's not—you know—not that comprehensive or hard to understand or difficult to understand, or it's not shrouded in controversy. But it is something that you can read the simple, plain statements of people like David, people like the Apostle Paul, and a number of other biblical writers to have a lot to say on the subject, and it all dovetails together very nicely into a little neat package.

   Obviously, we can't read all the scriptures or even cite all the scriptures that have to do with the subject. But we're going to look at quite a number of them today because I think this is a very important subject for us to be reminded of in our own lives, at least from time to time in the church of God.

   How would you define righteousness? Who would like to define that for me? Yes, [Psalm 119:172], you get an 'A' on your report card because that's the first scripture obviously that anybody would turn to. Don't get a big head about it though. OK, that's OK. I like to just a little bit once in a while. Very good. Exactly. Psalm 119:172: "All thy commandments are righteousness."

   Now, what other scripture can you think of that would help explain what righteousness is? Not anybody else. First John 3:4, a popular scripture that we read, which says sin's the transgression of the law, which is the exact antithesis of what righteousness is.

   Psalm 119:172, let's turn back there. In fact, we're gonna spend quite a bit of time in the book of Psalms because David is a man that knew a lot about what righteousness is. You know what his righteousness was and oftentimes was not. And he also knew what the righteousness of God is and how to get it. And he was called a man after God's own heart.

   Psalm 119:172, David speaking, 'My tongue will seek or sing of your word, for all thy commandments are right or our righteousness.' Likewise in Psalm 19, beginning in verse seven. Psalm 19:7, 'The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.' There is something that you know, the human being, human body is made up of which responds to the automatic laws of God. The testimony of the Eternal is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The ordinance or ordinances of the Lord are right and true and righteous altogether.

   And then it says, 'More to be desired are they than gold.' Like we heard in the sermonette, what are our true desires? Is it wealth? Is it money? Is it a big home? Is it the acquisition of a lot of physical things that really deep down inside do not provide the innermost desires of a human being? Or is it harmony with God and living in accordance with the way that really works?

   These things of God, it says, are more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold. Anybody ever been inside — and I know that you can't answer yes to this question — you've not been inside Fort Knox. You may have been to Fort Knox, but unless you work for the Federal government and help to transport gold and move it back and forth, you've probably not been down inside Fort Knox. But there you would see some of the, probably the finest gold on the face of the earth and the most of it in any one catch that you could ever see.

   But it says that these things of God are desired above all of that, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of a honeycomb. So talking about a law, a way of life that really works, it's saying that these things are to be desired more than all of the wealth of the city of Houston put together. And there's a lot of it here, obviously.

   You know what's happened to the price of gold lately, I'm sure, don't you? Because of the downfall of the dollar. You know, the price of gold varies. I guess it is called in inverse proportion to the state of our dollar. The lower the dollar goes, the higher the price of gold goes. And there's a maxim that goes something like this: 'Bad money drives good into hiding.' And so we have an inflated economy, we have a dollar that's becoming worth, worth less and less every day. And as a result, people want to get away from that, and they grab the gold and put it into hiding. Bad money drives good into hiding — diamonds, gold, silver, precious metals, art objects, and so on and so forth take on a tremendous increased value because it's tangible.

   Just a little sideline. But anyway, the things of God, brethren, are desired or should be desired above all of that because those things cannot make you happy. They cannot qualify to be — qualify you to be in the kingdom. They cannot give you the real things of life that you want. And besides all of that, it doesn't really go along with Christ's statement that we should seek first the kingdom and then the rest of those things will be added at the proper time and in proper proportion.

   Verse 11 (Psalm 19:11), it says, 'Moreover by them' — by all of these things, the commandments, ordinances, laws, precepts — 'by them is thy servant warned.' It shows you again the way of life, how to walk, how to live, how to get the things in life that you need. And in keeping of them is great reward. Now what does that mean? Nobody's gonna come and pay you for keeping the commandments of God, at least not maybe tangibly as a human being, but in the long run. And even most of the time in the short run, God pays you in many different ways, sometimes even financially for keeping His laws and commandments.

   And I know some of you would tell me your own stories and that would be the case. Some of the other rewards are great personal satisfaction, a closeness to the creator, a feeling of peace and harmony on the inside, a lack of guilt and a good conscience towards God — all the things that mankind really yearns for and needs deep down inside.

   In verse 12 (Psalm 19:12), 'Who can discern his errors?' So many of us stumble along, and I include myself in this, in life. We make mistakes. We don't see really that we're getting into a problem or difficulty till it's a, you know, till it's over. And as a result, we need to draw that much closer to God and see his way because it says, 'By them is thy servant warned.'

   That David goes on to say, 'Who can discern his heirs? Clear thou me from hidden faults and keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins' — the things that we do without thinking, things that we might sometimes do with thinking but not have the ability or the power to do anything about it. And he said, 'Let them not have dominion over me, then shall I be blameless and innocent of great transgression.'

   It shows us the way, brethren, the way of righteousness is the way of God's law. Back in Psalm 119 again, Psalm 119 and verse beginning in verse 30 (Psalm 119:30-38): 'I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I set thy ordinances before me. I cleave to thy testimonies. O Lord, let me not be put to shame. I will run in the way of your commandments' — you know, not just placidly walk or follow along and maybe not really be diligent about it. But David said he would run in the way of God's commandments — 'when you enlarge my understanding, when I can say that it's right, when I know that it's right, and when I have the help to do something about it.'

   'Teach me, O Lord,' in verse 33, 'the way of your statutes and I will keep it to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep thy law and observe it with my whole heart.' You know, wholeheartedly again, not passively, not placidly, not sort of halfway, but you know, earnestly and completely. 'Lead me in the path of your commandments for I delight in it. Incline my heart to thy testimony and not to gain' — you know, what are we really after, the gold or the righteousness? 'Turn my eyes from looking at vanities and give me life in thy ways. Confirm to thy servant thy promises, which is for those who fear thee.'

   Verse 40 (Psalm 119:40): 'Behold, I long for thy precepts in thy righteousness, give me life.' Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty, the things that really count, what, what you know, what man is really concerned about on the inside that may not recognize but what God is primarily concerned about for us at all times. Can we be men and people after God's own heart concerned about and seeking after righteousness? Yes, we can. Just a matter of how we do it and what we do.

   Righteousness defined as commandment keeping. And it's really the crux of what Christianity is all about. Turn back to the New Testament to the book of I John chapter three and verse 19 (I John 3:19-24): 'By this, we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our hearts before Him. Whenever our hearts condemn us' — you know, whenever we feel guilty, whenever we know we've done something wrong — 'for God is greater than our hearts and He knows everything.'

   'Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and we receive from Him whatever we ask because we keep His commandments and do the things that please Him' — or do the things that are pleasing in his sight. 'And this is his commandment that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he has commanded us. All who keep his commandments abide in Him and he in them.' It's a two-way relationship. You abide in God and God and Christ live in you through his spirit. 'And by this, we know that He abides in us by the spirit which he has given to us.'

   We see what a man says about and thinks about righteousness. What does God think about it? Go back to the book of Psalms, once again, Psalm chapter 11. Psalm 11 verses four through seven (Psalm 11:4-7): 'The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyelids behold, his eyelids test' — and speaking in an analogy or simile — 'the children of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked and his soul hates him that loves violence. On the wicked, He will rain coals of fire and brimstone' — you know, just recompense for their errors and sins — 'and his soul hates him that loves violence. On the wicked, He will rain coals of fire and brimstone. A scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup for the Lord is righteous and he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.'

   But God thinks quite a bit of righteousness, doesn't He? Not self-righteousness but true Godly, the man after God's own heart, kind of righteousness. That's what really counts with him. Turn to Psalm 34. Psalm 34 verse 15 (Psalm 34:15): 'The eyes of the Eternal are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Eternal is against evil doers to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.'

   'The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.' Like I said, God is not nepotistic, so to speak. He is concerned about each and every one of you and he loves us all the same. You know, he's called the God of the fatherless and of the widows as well as the God of those who are well off because He is God.

   Verse 19 (Psalm 34:19): 'Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked. And those who hate the righteous will be condemned for the Lord redeems the life of the servants and none of those that take refuge in him will be condemned.'

   Yeah, it's a way of life. Which way are we gonna walk? Christ illustrated it by saying that broad is the way that leads to death, but narrow is the way that leads to life. 'Choose you, therefore,' he said. Which way have we chosen? And that's not all there is to it. Which way do we continually choose? Because it's an everyday process. It's not over with, with, you know, just one ultimate decision. We have to keep re-choosing that way of righteousness.

   Psalm 84 verse 11 (Psalm 84:11): 'For the Lord as a sun and a shield, he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly' — or righteously — 'O Lord of host, blessed is the man who trusts in thee.'

   Now go back to Psalm the fourth chapter. And in verse three (Psalm 4:3): 'But know that the Lord has set apart the Godly for himself' — and those who are after his way of life and after his own heart, those are sort of reserved, you might say. 'The Lord hears when I call to him,' says, 'Be angry and sin not, commune with your own hearts on your beds and be silent, offer right sacrifices and put your trust in the Eternal.'

   'There are many who say, "Oh that we might see some good! Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord. Thou hast put more joy in my heart than when their grain and wine abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep for thou alone, O Lord, makes me to dwell in safety.'

   Now, this can begin, I think, to illustrate what I'm talking about when I mention a reality relationship with God, one on an everyday basis, one that you are continually seeking after him and continually looking for Him and continually you know, making the right priority choices in life — righteousness first and the rest of the other things later.

   Now, righteousness is very important to God for a number of reasons: One, because he is so himself; two, because he wants us to become so just like Him; and three, because it uses righteousness as a standard of judgment.

   And when you think about it, Christ came to the earth and became, Jesus, the God of the Old Testament, I should say came to the earth and became Jesus born of Mary and he grew up and lived and set an example and died all without sinning once, an incomprehensible feat for you and I — an impossible one for us. But he did it and he was righteous perfectly so. Even though it says he learned by the things that he suffered and he set that example. And because he was so, he's able to redeem you and me from the sins that we commit and apply his very own blood and sacrifice to us so that we can have forgiveness.

   But God uses righteousness as a standard of judgment. And Jesus Christ is that standard and he is the word of this book and especially we see his life exemplified in the New Testament that is, brethren, the standard of judgment. And as Ephesians four says, we are to kind of grow up into his way and after his example, to the maturity of the fullness of Jesus Christ.

   Back in the book of Psalms, once again, chapter 15. In the long run, ultimately, who's really gonna be there is what this little verse has to say (Psalms 15:1-5): 'O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent?' You know, who are you going to let be with you? 'Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?' Well, it answers in verse two: 'He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth from his heart, who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his friend, who takes up no reproach against his neighbor in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those that fear the Lord, who swears to his own hurt' — you know, he keeps his end of the bargain even if he's going to come up the loser — 'and does not change.'

   'Who does not put out his money at interest' — or usury as the King James says, not that that's wrong to do commercially, but I think the intent of this would be if there's a, you know, somebody who needs help and he's down and out and you lend them money at interest. I think it's kind of against the principle of helping and giving it basically what this means — 'and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.' That's who is going to be there. Obviously, those who are righteous.

   Psalm 24 and verse 18 — I'm sorry, Psalm 24 verse two (Psalm 24:2), talking about the earth: 'He's founded it upon the seas, established it upon the rivers.' Verse three: 'Who shall ascend the hill of the Eternal? Who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart and who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from the God of His salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.'

   Now in Psalm chapter 18, we could read these all day long. I want to catch a smattering of them at least to give the flavor of it and illustrate the idea. Psalm 18 and verse 18 (Psalm 18:18): 'They came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth into a broad place. He delivered me because he delighted in me.' Why did God delight in Him? Because he was a man after God's own heart because of righteousness. Simply so.

   Verse 20 (Psalm 18:20): 'The eternal rewarded me according to my righteousness.' And we're gonna find out a little bit later in the sermon that righteousness, your righteousness is important, but that's not all there is to it. Obviously, you could argue that David was not a very righteous man, a man of bloody hands, so to speak, an adulterer and one who committed many other sins. But he's classified as righteous in God's sight 'according to the cleanness of my hands. He recompensed me for I have kept the ways of the Eternal and have not wickedly departed from my God.'

   That's right. His heart never departed from God. His actions did, his sins did, his mistakes did, but his heart didn't, and his heart, brethren, and your hearts is what really counts. And that's what God is really concerned about. 'For all his ordinances were before me and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him and I kept myself from guilt. Therefore, the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.'

   The Bible names three men as being the most righteous, humanly speaking. Does anybody know who they are? Right? Anybody? It's found in Ezekiel 14 verses 12 to 14 (Ezekiel 14:12-14) — Noah, Daniel, and Job, the three most righteous men from a human point of view according to God's classification. And then who made mistakes? Obviously, Noah got drunk, didn't he? Uh, I'm sure Daniel sinned in his life somewhere, and Job, of course, had to go through an exceedingly hard trial to learn that he was self-righteous and that he really wasn't righteous in the sight of God the way that he thought he was, but God still classifies them as the three most righteous men.

   I won't turn there. You can read about it. Well, I think I will because there's another point I want to make — Ezekiel 14. And in verse number 12: 'The word of the Eternal came to me, son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its staff of bread and send famine upon it and cut off from it man and beast. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness,' says the Lord, the Lord God. And he goes on to give another illustration.

   So it sounds like God sees. It sounds like God knows. And it sounds like that, as I've been saying, righteousness is a standard of judgment for God. And if these men were protected and given their lives because of their righteousness, you think about Daniel? Well, first of all, you think about Noah — he got saved on an Ark, didn't he? He and his family because he was righteous. What about uh Daniel in the lion's den? And the other circumstances he found himself in so many times where his life depended upon the decision of some man, usually the king of Babylon. And Job — it was the epitome of human righteousness, but still had a lot to learn before God. God uses that as an analogy. He says that if these three men were in that circumstance, they would deliver but their own souls because of their righteousness.

   Now let's jump over to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament because righteousness has a lot to do with sainthood, so to speak, with Christianity, as I'm sure we're seeing. Revelation 19 and verse number six (Revelation 19:6): 'Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder peals crying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord, our God, the Almighty reigns!"'

   'Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride' — you and I in the church of God around the world — 'has made herself ready. It was granted to her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure' — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints or the righteousness of the saints, as the King James puts it — white and pure and clean.

   That's the way the bride of Christ is illustrated by fine linen. And that's even a custom in our society, is it not, in the wedding ceremony? The bride wears a white, beautiful white gown oftentimes with a big train out behind and, and all other beautiful accoutrements that go with it. Obviously, the intention of that is to illustrate purity and virginity. Just like this example here of the church, spiritual cleanness and purity.

   So where do we sit? Are we righteous? Are you? There's another important thing about spiritual righteousness, brethren, when it comes to the subject of even everyday living, when it comes to the subject, primarily though, of overcoming and of spiritual growth. Because your spiritual strength is directly related to your righteousness and relationship with God.

   You know what happens? I mean, you think about it when you start weakening when you sin and one sin sort of begets another. And you know, you get into a syndrome of sin, whatever it might be, you become weak spiritually, don't you? You know, you maybe lose interest in prayer life, in studying God's word. You began to make compromises, you began to think things and to do things that are not right and it draws you away from God.

   Now that's going to happen, believe me, to every one of you and myself. But the thing we have to realize is that we have to catch it before it goes too far and come back to God whenever it happens and accept the sacrifice of Christ to get our lives pure and clean again and to start over and ask for the righteousness of God to make the difference. That's what it's all about.

   If you're basically living by God's law and you're doing all you can — running after God's commandments, as David said — you don't have a problem with guilt for the most part. You can have a lot of positive confidence because you know, you know that you're doing what God says from the heart, you don't feel like your heart condemns yourself because you are compromising with truth and what is right. There's a feeling of being in the right of knowing that you have, you know, the enshroud and protection and umbrella of God because you know you're there and regardless of what happens because you're right, you know, you're going to stand, you've got peace of mind.

   Basically, you've got spiritual strength back in Psalm 55. Psalm 55 in beginning in verse 22 (Psalm 55:22): 'Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous to be moved.' And remember, we also read that the Lord tries the wicked and the righteous. And when you cast your burden upon Him, you've got security. It says you will never be moved, never be moved away from God. 'Thou Lord will cast them down and the lowest pit men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in thee.'

   Psalm 37 and verse 37 (Psalm 37:37): 'Mark the blameless man.' And that means to set him up to somewhat of degree as an example. Or to note Him to see his example. 'Mark the blameless man and behold the upright for there is prosperity for the man of peace. But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed and the prosperity of the wicked shall be cut off. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their refuge in time of trouble. The Eternal helps them, delivers them. He delivers them from the wicked and saves them because they take refuge in Him.'

   No, God is your power, your faith, your strength and you go to Him when you need him. And I hope at other times as well. Psalm chapter 16 verse 8 (Psalm 16:8): 'I keep the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall never be moved.'

   Therefore, my heart is glad, my soul rejoices, my body also dwells secure. For thou dost not give me up to Sheol, or let thy Godly ones see the pit. Thou dost show me the path of life; in thy presence there is fullness of joy, in thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.

   That's what we have when we have a reality relationship, brethren, with God. If God is ever before us—now, I want to get to a very important part of the subject of righteousness because you and I both know that we aren't really righteous. Not when it comes to comparing ourselves to God and to Jesus Christ, not when it comes to, you know, the—if you want to use it—maybe the example of the letter of the law. We're not perfect. None of us can be.

   Can your righteousness alone really be adequate? Can you do it on your own? Obviously no. As I said, brethren, God looks on the heart, on what is deep down inside. He looks on what motivates you. He looks on what makes you what you are. He makes—or He looks on—what direction in life you're heading, and He sees a lot more than even we see about ourselves. He looks at you to see if you're a man after His own heart and seeking His way.

   In the New Testament Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul goes into the subject as kind of a theme, even through the early chapters of the Book of Romans. He is somebody that understood the subject of righteousness very well, because before he was called by God to be an apostle and came into God's church and received God's spirit, he was an enemy of the church of God, even apparently committing people to death—committing brethren of the church of God to death in that early New Testament period.

   That's when he was Saul—as you know, he was struck down on the way to Damascus and had a vision. He was blinded three days, and he came to see the real truth. And other statements that Paul made throughout his life indicate that, you know, he felt so bad about what he had done, even though he knew he had forgiveness from God, that he dedicated his entire life to trying to make it back up, knowing that he could never ever undo the damage that he had done. And he probably did it to the extinction of his own life, if tradition is correct. But he was a man that became one after God's own heart—one that made a complete turnaround from going one direction to going the other, you know, pulling a 180 so to speak in midstream.

   What we're going to find out as we read through several passages here in the Book of Romans, brethren, is that you do what you can do. And when you sin, you repent and by faith depend upon God to make up the difference. And that works. If you are a man after God's own heart, if not, it does not work.

   Romans chapter 1 in verse 16 (Romans 1:16): "For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed through faith, for faith as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.'"

   What we're going to be talking about now is not just human righteousness, but Godly righteousness—the kind of righteousness that you and I don't have, but the kind of righteousness that you can be given through your faith, as I said, to fill the gap, to make up the difference so that you can measure up to the standard of judgment, which is Jesus Christ.

   "For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed through faith, for faith as it is written. He who through faith is righteous shall live." So, what we're going to find out is that righteousness comes not just according to your works, but also according to your faith. In other words, again, we're getting back down to the nitty-gritty of what's inside you—your motives, whether or not you are really seeking God, whether or not you are a man after God's own heart and have this kind of a reality relationship with God—because we must be made just or justified or made righteous to enter the kingdom because we can't do it with our own human righteousness.

   And the Book of Romans, once again, chapter 2, in verse 12 (Romans 2:12) states that "all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law." That can mean a number of things: without the knowledge of the law, without keeping the law, or whatever. "And all who have sinned under the law, who know the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God." It's not those who sit and listen and do nothing about it who are righteous before God. And I think this even takes on a little bit of a human approach to it, but "those who are the doers of the law will be justified."

   Now, that's a little bit ironic, even in itself, isn't it? Because I think when we see and look into this thing, it's going to illustrate the point that I'm making. It says the hearers of the law only are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law. It doesn't say the doers of the law though are righteous, does it? It says the doers of the law will be justified or will become or be made righteous. Do you see the point? I mean, your commandment keeping is definitely necessary but that is not enough. That does not—simply commandment keeping does not justify you as Paul goes on to say.

   And I do recognize maybe this can become a little bit technical because Peter even said that, you know, Paul wrote things sometimes hard to be understood. But I think this particular portion of this Book of Romans can be easily understood. So obviously, you've got to put forth your effort. You've got to do all you can. You've got to be righteous as you can humanly speaking. But you've got to recognize that's not enough. And because of your faith in God and Jesus Christ, accept it and allow yourself to be made righteous in the spots where you sin.

   Maybe we could kind of use an analogy: you know, people that have maybe fences around their ranches or farms, and sometimes those fences, you know, get knocked down by whatever—cattle or just from deterioration. So you'll drive along the highway and you'll see a stretch of fence and then you'll see a break. You drive along the highway some more, some, you know, the fence will be there and then you'll have another break. In some ways, I think that can illustrate what we're talking about. The fence is your righteousness. The break or the gap is your sin. Who fills it up through faith? That righteousness is filled up because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and God looks on it as being an uninterrupted fence, even though your efforts have got spots and holes probably all the way through it.

   Okay. In chapter numbers three, in verse 19 (Romans 3:19): "Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law"—you know the law, then you're expected to do what the law says—"so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God" or have to give account for what is done. "For no human being will be justified or made righteous in his sight by works of the law." No one is made righteous by commandment keeping alone. Okay?

   Now, you can explain this in several ways. You can even include the ergon or the washing of pots and pans and this type of thing. But that word can also include commandment keeping. No one is justified by commandment keeping alone. "For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes the knowledge of sin."

   Now down in verse 21 (Romans 3:21): "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested." It appears apart from the law or separate from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. That's how you make up the difference. And that's how the righteousness of God is applied to you. "For there is no distinction since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." In other words, you and I are all in that category of having a gap in our sin.

   Then it goes on to say in verse 24 (Romans 3:24): "They are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood to be received by faith." Going on: "This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he has passed over former sins." He bridged the gap. He jumped from one post to another, if you want to continue with that analogy. It was to prove at the present time that He himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.

   And if you want to define that word justify, you can simply say He makes righteous him who has faith in Jesus. All right, going on verse 27 (Romans 3:27): "Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith. For we all hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Or is God the God of the Jews only? Or is he the God of the Gentiles only? And so on. Yes, of Gentiles also since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised because of their faith.

   Then Paul asks an interesting question: "Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?" Does that mean that because of the fact that God gives you this, you know, this righteousness to bridge that gap that you don't have to keep the law? Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law because, as I said, it's kind of a condition because God is not going to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. And the only way to get the righteousness of God is to do the best in your own righteousness that you possibly can.

   Okay. Let's move on here to chapter four verse one (Romans 4:1). What—you know, really as, as you know, these chapters are put in here by translators of the Bible. And in many cases, it just flows from one chapter to the other. And that's certainly the case here with chapter four. "What shall we say then about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God." He had faith in God. "And it was reckoned to him as righteousness."

   You know, you can see that even in the Old Testament times with the Old Testament patriarchs and those that God was working with—God dealt with them in kind of a New Testament way in a special way. And of course, we can see that applied completely to the New Testament Church.

   Then going on in verse number four: "Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift, but as is due." Paul's using an analogy—you work, you get paid for it. "And the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness"—as what makes up the difference and what jumps the gap.

   So David also pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness or applies righteousness apart from works even in the light of sins and mistakes. Because he says in verse seven: "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered up. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin"—or not hold him accountable for or not apply sin to his account. God jumps the gap because of faith.

   Okay? In verse 11, we read "he received"—talking about Abraham—"circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believed without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them." Brethren, because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we have his righteousness reckoned to us to make up the difference, to fill in the gaps so that we can be judged and come out a winner by the standard of Jesus Christ.

   Now in chapter five verses 1 to 5 (Romans 5:1-5): "Therefore, we are justified"—it says we are made righteous—"by faith. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Him. We have obtained access to this grace." You know, you can't have it except by exception, as we saw the example in the Old Testament. We can't have it except by Jesus Christ "in which we stand and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. Moreover than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint us because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us."

   Now in verse number eight: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ dies since therefore, we are now justified" or made righteous "by his blood. Much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath to come? For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?" And you can take that both ways too if you like—say physically protected and shrouded, covered by an umbrella and physical life. But I think the main upshot of this means that you will be saved spiritually—saved spiritually by Christ's perfect righteous life and your faith in Him and having that righteousness applied to you so that you too can be classified by God as righteous and perfect.

   All right. Let's go to chapter six verse one (Romans 6:1): "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?" By no means! Does that mean we don't have to keep God's law to get grace and forgiveness and God's righteousness? By no means! It says also in verse 12 of chapter six (Romans 6:12), Paul just wanted to say, "Don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey their passions. Don't yield your members as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God." Give up to God and yield yourselves as instruments of righteousness unto God, "as men who have been brought from death to life. For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under" the death penalty or under the laws, it says, "but under grace"—under forgiveness, able to go to God and have Christ's righteousness applied to your sin to like erase it or to jump the gap to make up the difference. And you get that, as I said, by faith.

   Verse 16: "Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey—either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin"—and we all have been, and brethren, this whole world is enslaved to sin as a bondage and a yoke that it cannot shed, not at this time, but it's something that we can shed because of our calling, because of the truth, and because of the spirit of God.

   Goes on to say: "Thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart"—and that's what really counts—"to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and having been set free from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness." That's who you are to yield yourself to—God—and become slaves of righteousness. Your body is becoming the instruments of righteousness instead of sin.

   Okay? In chapter eight verse one (Romans 8:1), one of my favorite little scriptures: "Therefore there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"—right now for you. If you're in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. And in verse number 10: "But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness"—whatever feeble efforts you can make and because of the righteousness of God that you have by faith.

   And in verse 13: "For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship when we cry 'Abba! Father!' It is the spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit" showing that we are the children of God.

   "And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ," inheriting the same promises and blessings that He has because we have been made righteous, just like he was "in order that we also may be glorified with him." And Paul says in verse 18: "I consider the sufferings of this present time not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us." You know, when we get the dragging our knuckles on the ground from discouragement and despondency, then we need to think about this and say this suffering shouldn't even be compared to the glory that someday is going to be revealed in me and in all of us.

   Chapter 10, in verse three (Romans 10:1), talking about here—well, in verse one: "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God and seeking to establish their own"—and who can you think of that did that? And who's he talking about here? Nobody else but the Jews—"they did not submit to God's righteousness where Christ is the end" or the outcome "of the law that everyone who has faith may be justified" or made righteous.

   It's a tremendous blessing, brethren. I wonder sometimes in our everyday lives and distractions, how fully aware of it that we are. And that's why I'm preaching this sermon this morning.

   II Corinthians chapter five, verse 20 (II Corinthians 5:20): "So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God. For our sake, He has made him to be sin who knew no sin"—Christ really absorbed, so to speak, our sins—"so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." It all boils down to what Jesus Christ did and what He is able to continue to do for us as our high priest and as our intercessor.

   Philippians the third chapter, verse nine (Philippians 3:7-9)—well, let's start in verse seven: "But whatever gain I had," Paul said, "I count as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith."

   You know, we're not dealing with just the letter of the law now, as in the Levitical system. We are dealing, brethren—and God is dealing with us—in the spirit of the law application. The letter and the spirit together, I would say, would be a more accurate way to put it. But if we sin, we don't have to be, you know, to—as the Old Testament book of Leviticus and others pointed out—you know, the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. And if you sin, somebody did it back to you just the same way. And if you, you know, committed murder, you likewise can be—or will be—put to death.

   God doesn't deal with it that way anymore. I'm glad I didn't live in those times—or if you commit adultery, you're put to death, or if you, you know, do such and such, you've got to bear such and such a burden because of it, you know, black and white, so to speak. That's because God's spirit wasn't there. And God is dealing with us in this way because God's spirit is there.

   I read that one again, Philippians 3:9: "And being found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own"—not self-righteousness because we know that we get nowhere with that—"based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." And is it any wonder why the scriptures say the just shall live by his faith?

   So this morning, brethren, we've seen righteousness defined as the keeping of God's laws and commandments. And we've seen what the antithesis is—the breaking of God's law. We've seen by a few examples in the Book of Psalms what God thinks about righteousness. We've seen righteousness illustrated as a standard of judgment. We've seen that our spiritual strength is relative to our righteousness. And last of all, we have seen that it's not by our own righteousness, but by the righteousness of God that is applied to us through our faith in Jesus Christ that makes up the difference—that bridges the gap when we sin.

   In conclusion, I'd like you to turn to Ephesians, the fourth chapter, Ephesians 4 and verse 22 (Ephesians 4:22): "Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds and put on the new nature created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."