“Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face. . . . Let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them.” (Psalm 5:8,11, NKJV)
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray one line says, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” David asks the same thing: “Lead me in Your righteousness . . . .”
What is righteousness? One of my Bible dictionaries says, “ . . . the central element in righteousness (is) the intention to be and do right. . . .”
Be right. Think according to the standard set by God, have that as my world view, my guide for life. Do right. Live it out. Conform to God’s standards in all that I do.
His standards are lofty. How can a person be righteous? There are three ways set out in Scripture. The first is righteousness obtained by obeying all the Law of God, but of that measurement the Bible says, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). I cannot be righteous by obedience.
The second and third offer hope. They are the “righteousness of faith” and the “righteousness of Christ.” The righteousness of faith is given as a gift! Because Jesus died on the cross for sin (unrighteousness), God will declare a person righteous when they put their faith in Christ. It is sort of like joining the army. If I signed up, I would immediately be declared a soldier, even though I’d not yet learned anything about how to act like one. For that, I need some lessons.
That is where the righteousness of Christ comes in — which is exactly what He does. When I believed in Jesus, He came right into my life and lives in my heart. It is a mystery — yet clearly taught and amazing to all who experience it. Then, because I “signed up,” He empowers me to start acting like what God has already declared me to be: righteous.
Jesus gets me doing things that were previously foreign to me. I notice a changed attitude toward people. I notice some habits just stop. Other behaviors that I’d wanted to do before but didn’t have the ability, start.
This happens because Jesus is my righteousness. When temptations come and I try to battle them they over-power me, but Christ is the perfect defender who always responds to everything the way God wants. He is like a hand in a glove, motivating me to think and move in ways that please God. Although the “glove” is sometimes uncooperative and resists His thoughts and purposes, every time that happens, I realize all over again how prone I am to sin and how much I need the Lord and His righteousness.
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