The Righteousness of God

Richard Thetford

The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel of Christ. The apostle Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17). We learn from these words that the righteousness of God is revealed to us through His Holy, inspired word.

How Can We Become Righteous?

We become righteous before God by understanding and doing several things. First of all, we must read and understand the significance of Christ’s death on the cross for us. God loved us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross so that we can have forgiveness of our sins (John 3:16; Romans 5:19; Philippians 2:8). When we understand His great sacrifice and what it means to us, then we develop a strong and abiding faith in Him. Our faith must be an unwavering faith (James 1:6-8). A faith that longs to be obedient to all of Christ’s commandments and ordinances that He asks of us as we strive to serve Him each day (Luke 1:6; John 14:15). There are many religious people that are willing to submit to most of Christ’s commands but not all of them. The same Jesus who asks us to believe in Him as being the Son of God (John 3:16; Romans 10:9), also commands us to be baptized in order to receive the forgiveness of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38), and then be faithful until death (Revelation 2:10). In order to become righteous in God’s sight we must be willing to submit to ALL the commands of Jesus.