David declares in Psalm 145:17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.  In an earlier post, we talked about the holiness of God.

Today let’s see where the differences lie between holiness and righteousness.  They are not the same but are connected.

The word Righteous looks like this:

It is Strong’s #6663 and it is defined:  צָדַק tsâdaq, tsaw-dak’; a primitive root; to be (causatively, make) right (in a moral or forensic sense):—cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just(-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be turn to) righteous(-ness).

Tzade90 = Humility. Picture-Fishhook. Means: Righteousness, to pull toward, Desire, Trouble, Harvest

 Dallet 4 = Earth or creation.  Means: Door, Gate, Impoverished man

Quf – 100= Election of God’s chosen ones, set apart as holy.  Meaning: Holiness, consecrated

God’s righteousness Pulls us Toward the Door (Yeshua) and in Him we are Chosen and Set Apart as Holy, Consecrated to Him.

Ephesians 1:3-6  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, ⁵ having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Psalm 19:9  The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

2 Corinthians 5: 21 For He has made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Holiness is being separated from, distinct from, that which is ordinary or common.  God is holy.  He is separated from all that is not God and is in a class absolutely by Himself. God is 100% unique.  There is no other like Him.

Righteousness isn’t about being separate and distinct from what is common. Righteousness is about conforming to a standard. Righteousness is conformity to the standards set by the Word of God. When that standard is conformed to, behavior, thinking, and actions are righteous.  Yeshua completely obeyed God.  He conformed to the standards set by God’s Word.  Yeshua was righteous.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

How did He do this?  He set aside His position as God and was a human being, just like you and me.  Hebrews 4:15 says: For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

He walked in righteousness because of Holy Spirit, Who lived in Him.  The same Holy Spirit we have in us.  He listened to His prompting and obeyed without question.

We were made righteous at the cross.  We were given the position of righteousness.  Still, in 2 Timothy 3:15-16 it says, “and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

Let’s say you get a new job, one you’ve never done before.  You have the title, the position, and the salary, but you still need the training to fulfill the job in excellence.  Yeshua already got the job, took all the tests and passed.  Our training will be getting to know Him completely. Following Him and letting Holy Spirit teach us through our obedience to His word.  It’s not a legalistic list of rules. It is a relationship with our Righteous Savior.

God calls us to be holy.  Again it isn’t a check off list of behavior.  It is a oneness with Yeshua that makes sin totally unattractive.  We WANT to be like Him and will do whatever Holy Spirit says, with joy, as a gift of love to the One Who gave all for us.  When we walk in righteousness, we are manifesting holiness as well.  We don’t look, or sound, or act like the rest of the world.  We are children of the only Holy God and King.

Let’s focus on our oneness with the Righteousness and Holiness of Yeshua.  Let’s remind ourselves that we have died and our new real lives are hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3). Let’s thank Him for the price He paid to remove our sin and give us His righteousness.  And may our focus change our thoughts and our behavior until we walk in who we really are–holy and blameless before Him. (Ephesians 1:3-4). He is coming back for a Bride without spot or wrinkle.  By the grace afforded us through the Spirit, we have all we need.  It’s not about striving.  It’s about resting in who we already are.  How blessed we are to be His.

Have a wonderful week everyone.  Shalom