2 Peter 1-The Righteousness of God

We talked about our ‘like precious faith’ in our last post. Our shared faith that brings true unity and equality into our lives. A faith that sustains us each day and a faith that can move mountains. Having received so much value from our faith in Christ, Peter reminds us that our faith did not come from something good that we did or that we are. Our faith is based solely on the righteousness of God.

**..and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:** Philippians 3:9

What is Righteousness?

Webster’s 1828 dictionary tells us that righteousness is:

The righteousness of God in us teaches us to be pure of heart in all we say and do. It instructs us to walk in holiness and complete devotion to God and His laws. It is being just, honest and virtuous. On our own we would never be able to ‘be’ all of this. But Christ’s righteousness in us helps us to learn how to ‘be’ like Him and manifest His righteousness more than self-righteousness.

Even David, who the Lord tells us that his heart was perfect before Him, tells us that:

** He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. ** Psalm 24:5

David understood that his goodness and his devotion was of God and not something he manifested solely of his own doing.

**The righteousness of God ** is one of our most valuable treasures as Christians. This supernatural righteousness that we received the day we accepted Christ as Savior, and long after, helped us to effortlessly make changes in our lives, our actions, our activities, our feelings and our attitudes. We may be or have been driven with a great desire to do some intense soul cleansing of the things that no longer served us. We may have had a brand new perspective of what was right and wrong. This new perspective motivated us to do some deep, personal reflection of our motives, plans and priorities. But, over the years, perhaps we have let some of our self-righteousness override the righteousness of Christ in us.

Peter understood how easy it is to walk away from God’s righteousness and start depending on his own thoughts and desires. Peter had a front row seat to just about everything Jesus ever did in His ministry. Yet, his faith failed when things started going in a direction he didn’t plan for. He went back to his old habits and career when he lost that easy connection to Jesus after his crucifixion and death. He also broke away from his fellow believers when things got tough. He did come back again thanks to Jesus’ resurrection and a renewal of his vision, but, he still struggled in the daily temptations of how to live out the righteousness of Christ in him.

If Peter could talk to us today, he might say…’I am still battling the reality of living in the righteousness of Christ and not my own. Who I am and what I have done that has had any merit is not me. It is Him! Because He is the good in me.’

Peter may have written this chapter to let us know that no matter how long we are in the faith,the battle is never over to stand firm in knowing that all of the good in us is not from the goodness of our own heart and ways. We will see later on in this chapter that Peter emphasizes again and again that we need to be reminded often of the basic things of our faith. That we easily forget what we should be doing, being, saying and living. He reminds us because he had to remind himself of the battle of staying in the Lord’s righteousness and not our own.

Even though the subject of righteousness seems too complicated to take on, the Lord gives us some easy steps to get started. Steps that are very familiar to us:

**All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. ** 2 Timothy 3:16

Being transformed into the image of Christ and manifesting His righteousness comes from reading, understanding and living out His Holy Word.

** But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ** Matthew 6:33

Putting God first, before ANYTHING else in our life will invite more of the Holy Spirit to manifest in our words and actions.

**I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels** Isaiah 61:10

Praise. Openly declaring the righteousness, the virtues and the power of God in our lives will draw us farther from our own righteousness and closer to His.

** The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth.** James 2:23

Generosity. Financial Integrity. Mercy.

Mercy. My favorite God word. The Righteousness of God is being merciful to others. It is NOT giving them what they deserve. It is showing compassion. It is giving/sharing our time, money and our knowledge of a merciful God to others. Righteousness is being like Jesus every chance we get.

The Righteousness of God is:

Learning about Him

Being like Him

Putting Him first

Praising Him

Showing His mercy to those around us.