Perfected 02: Righteousness
Righteous
Being righteous used to mean something.
A good character used to be the currency of success.
Hebrews 12: 1-2 NLT
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
* Champion – He leads the way, prince; author
* Initiates – begins a work that can not be stopped
*Perfects. – completes, in his faith brings ours to completion. (Tele ios)
The Result?
Matthew 5:48 NLT
But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
*Perfect (Tele ios) complete, fulfilled; purposed; balanced integral.
We can not attain that level of perfect balance ourselves.
James 1:17
‘Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. ‘
You will be completed by, brought into balance by, given purpose by God. Because He is perfect in these things, you too will be perfected in these things by Him through faith in Jesus.
The ultimate balance is found by aligning your flesh with what God has accomplished in your spirit (made you balanced and complete).
And that is faith…
Your flesh can’t see it, but Your spirit man knows it!
Our flesh runs out of options when the balance of our spirit prevails.
1 Corinthians 13:10 TPT
…but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away.
We adjudicate our entire world by what we can understand.
But all we ever define is the world we can see, feel, taste, and hear.
We have mapped out all the elements of the world we can define.
The balanced world God created operates on a different set of elements.
Jesus injects two divine elements, Holiness and Righteousness, into us to bring our faith to completion and our balance to perfection.
Hebrews 12:2
…the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
It’s perfect faith that fuels everything.
We bring a mustard seed, and He explodes that to completion.
He has to neutralize some flesh elements to help us come to divine balance.
Blame, shame, condemnation, pride, selfishness, and judgment.
The Divine element of holiness neutralizes blame, shame, and condemnation because they directly prevent us from realizing our heavenly position and worth.
Christ’s imputed righteousness dismantles our artificial constructs, the systems, and solutions that we place in our lives to justify and excuse ourselves and that we use to control and manipulate others. All that to mitigate our hurts and control situations towards our comfort.
Righteousness
It is His righteousness, not your stuffy self-righteousness.
Let’s figure out some of the characteristics of this divine element.
IT IS NOT BASED ON HUMAN CONSTRUCT
Because this is not from the physical or human periodic table, it is not defined by human characteristics.
Matthew 5:20 NLT
‘ “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven! ‘
The righteousness we are called to have surpasses religious construct and artificial laws.
IT IS NOT BASED ON OUR SUCCESSES
Matthew 19:21 NLT
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect (teleios), go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
What Is It?
The Equity of Character
Having a Character of Divine Balance
IT IS GIVEN TO US BY CHRIST
God is righteous, and through Christ, that righteousness is ours to live out, reflecting the balance of God’s character in an unbalanced world.
2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
The reflection of the character of God as presented to us by Jesus Christ.
Righteousness RESTORES OUR TRUE IDENTITY
Jesus gives us a gift (imputed righteousness) that enables us to know the character of God and find those same elements in ourselves so that we know in which family we truly belong. (Right Standing)
Jesus gives us a gift that enables us to see the characteristics of our Father, so we know that we are part of His family (right standing)
1 John 2:29 NLT
Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children.
In the divine, righteousness helps us recognize who our Father is. It dusts off the layers of dusty sin and lethargy to allow us to see God’s features in ourselves again.
Righteousness is the obedience to the divine rhythms of the universe God created.
Psalm 17:15 NKJV
As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.
WE DO RIGHTEOUSNESS; WE DON’T DEFINE IT
Proverbs 21:3 NKJV
To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
We reflect the Holiness given to us so that others may see the Holy character of God.
When you bend the rules, people cannot see a Holy God.
It has been given to us (talons) to do business with!
1 John 2:29 NKJV
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
1. Something God wants from us, so it is given to us.
Micah 6:8 NKJV
He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
2. It is something we must practice.
Hosea 10:12 NLT
I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’
3. It is something we can choose and increase in
Romans 6:16 NLT
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.
2 Corinthians 9:10 NLT
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.
4. It has identifiable fruit.
Isaiah 32: 17 NLT
And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.
PEACE IS THE COMPANION OF THE RIGHTEOUS
We find harmony with the divine universe God created when we live our lives according to the elements that God has placed in us (return them to him).
When that harmony that balance becomes our natural rhythm, we can start to dream again.
When we find harmony with the universe God made, we can begin to dream again.
Imputed righteousness and holiness provide the balance we need to begin walking in the perfected faith He gives us.
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