Righteousness
February 3, 2021
Defined in Kings James version dictionary, “Righteousness denotes one who is holy in heart and observant of the divine commands in practice; as a righteous man. Applied to things, it denotes consonant to the divine will or to justice; as a righteous act. It is used chiefly in theology, and applied to God, to his testimonies and to his Saints.”
Righteousness, as used in Scripture and theology, in which it is chiefly used, is nearly equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law. It includes all we call justice, honesty and virtue, with holy affections; in short, it is true religion.”
As it is written in the Bible, the good deed of humans believing in God, gain glory and favor is called righteousness.
The righteous in Scripture are the servants of God; the Saints. They are people like father Abraham whom are highly esteemed because they are God’s chosen children. His story illustrates the life of righteous people. Abraham searched all creatures on earth for a he seek to know his Creator, and he knew God, trusted in Him, and lived a righteous life. According to the book of Enoch, the righteous live by faith for all of their lives, pleasing their Creator. The work of righteousness is to first understand and believe in the existence of God; It is necessary to do what pleases him. (Enoch 15:29-38)
Righteousness should be at both time of joy and sorrow; No matter what trials or tribulations we face, we must not give up in doing what is right. The righteous strive for righteousness in the face of adversity; they hunger; they thirst. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
However, sinners will be destroyed for they have been deceived by the earthly and temporary life. They are subject to their flesh consuming food and drink; they are unable to do the work of righteousness, but evil. Instead of fasting and praying, they often fill their stomachs with food and go to bars instead of going to Church. But their consumption of earthly rations separates us from God; since our heavenly Father will place us in His heavenly home, we must be able to partake of the bread of heaven. We can obtain this only through works of righteousness.
He that doeth righteousness shall inherit the kingdom of God; The gospel of the kingdom of God does not preach food or drink, but faith in the Holy Spirit, hope and love. The gospel is not in union with the body if we are to only edible ; “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:19-25)
Righteous do not only to starving and thirsting for the righteous, they are persecuted and despised. It is said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:10)
Saint Paul also spoke of the righteous who were persecuted for righteousness’ sake. “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, a]”>[a]were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” (Hebrews 11:37)
The righteous will even be sacrificed to their religion; we might have read from Holy Scriptures that pagan kings of ancient times persecuted Christians when refused to convert into heresies when persuade to change their religion. Especially in the Book of Sinksar, we find the story of the righteous Martyrs. All their life they have been hungry and thirsted, we find that when they quenched their thirst, they comforted the afflicted and healed the sick by the grace given to them.
Blessed are the martyrs as Saint George, Saint Stephen, the Martyr Cyirus and his mother Saint Julitta, Saint Arcema and many others who have pleased God; their Creator, who have died a glorious honorably, and who have transcended salvation for others as well. We must do the work of righteousness in order to be called a Christian; It also means walking in the path of truth, obeying God’s law and living a religious life.
In order to live a righteous life, we need to endure trials and tribulations; It is better for each of us to do more good deeds for the rest of our lives than to wait for the end of our trials and tribulations. At a time when the world is so troubled by war, suffering, and pestilence, we must live in righteousness and draw close to God. Because the earth is at once the opportunity of both the righteous and the unrighteous, we need to work righteousness until we are both judged according to our deeds.
The church is now under trial, and its children are in persecution; and many have turned their backs on the sword, Their bodies and property were burned. Others have died of persecution, torture, and abuse. But some of them have survived. As our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake. For the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” They hunger and go astray. As this is a manifestation of Christianity, we must never give up in our work of righteousness without complaining or exhaustion, as it will continue to this day and tomorrow until our death; we must endure trials, tribulations, and suffering.
