Righteousness is one of the concepts used by many persons in the Christian faith.
The use of the word is not strange as it appears 137 times in the Holy Bible. It is one of the attributes of God, and the whole christain race is tied to it. But as widly used as the term is, many people really do not understand what the righteousness of Christ is. Why? Because severally, many Christians have described the righteousness they have received as filthy, justifying their stand from the bible (Isaiah 64:6).
Indeed, the bible has spoken about such, but the question is: whose righteousness is filthy?
But before we answer this, let us look at the meaning of the word: ''Righteousness''.
Righteousness as a word comes from the word, ''RIGHT''. The Word has a pre and su-ffix. Righteousness has been said to be associated _Just, Right, balanced_ and so on. It is an English word translated from the Elizabethan word _righwis_. The Hebrew version is *Tzadik* which root is of the word
*_tzedakah_* , which means 'charity', literally 'righteousness'
Thus, the word ordinary can be said to mean the state of being RIGHT. In other word, when we say God is righteous, what we simply mean is that God is RIGHT or JUST.
But there is something that makes God to be right, and that is his nature which is LOVE (1 John 4:8). Love is what defines God's life which is eternal. So man can only be RIGHT according to God's own standard if he has the life or nature of God. Hence, righteousness is also synonymous with God's nature or life, which means love and righteousness are often used interchangeably.
Righteousness has been defined as an ability; an ability to stand in God's presence without sense of guilt and inferiority complex. But despite this fact about God, Christians have described their righteousness as filthy. I say, *THEIRS* because whatever given to them in this new dispensation has become theirs. But then, is this reasoning really right? The answer is NO. Therefore, again, whose righteousness is described as filthy according to the bible? (Isaiah 64: 6)
We know about the story of the fall of man. When man sinned, he lost the life of God, thereby losing the righteousness of God as well. He was no longer Just or Right in the side of God. He became full of guilt and was seen inferior as per being a son.
Yet, God while working with man even before the law described man's work as righteous. This was not God's righteousness. God simply classified their work as RIGHT because they obeyed him as far as the standard expected of them was met (Genesis 15: 1- 7, Romans 4: 3)
Yet at the coming of the Law of Moses, God made it clear that if they were able to keep the wordings of the law, it will be unto them THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Deuteronomy 6:25, Romans 10:5).
In other words, God will judge them as RIGHT as per men in the flesh (1 Peter 4:6). One wins judgement only if he is JUST, and for living up to the standard expected of them in the flesh, God counts whatsoever thing done right in the flesh as righteous. Yet, all their effort we're described as '' FILTHY''. Why? Because these works done by them were a shadow of the mean thing to come (Colossians 2:17). They were not the main thing.
They struggled to please God and this was not what God wanted for men. But God accepted it because that was the best they could offer. Their righteousness was a seasonal one as they worked as their strength could carry. They sometimes acted based on circumstance. They loved conditionally; they loved because they were taught and sometimes compelled to, not necessarily because it was their life. (David, Solomon, Abraham, etc are good examples). By constant teachings, sometimes, these acts of love became part of them, but then it wasn't really their life. Sometimes, they even left the big matters of the law and bothered themselves about what is not.
The coming of Christ was to give us something better which is the righteousness of God (Romans 8: 3-4). Through the death and resurrection of Christ, we have received a new kind of life; eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have become like God. We have received Love which will make us righteousness before God. So what does God want from us? We just have to believe it. We have to believe that we have been forgiven and made clean. We just have to work in this new light by living a sin free life. Yes, it is possible. it is real because God said so.
So if we have received the righteousness of God, why then do we describe our righteousness as filthy. Any Christian who does that is simply describing God's righteousness as such which is not correct. As a matter of fact, such a person does not understand what God has done. We are perfect because of the love of God in us.(Colossians 3:14).
For he had made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made *the righteousness of God in Him* .
All we need to do is believe it and not establish our own righteousness (Romans 10:1-2).
Ebi Robert