You’re Righteous by Faith, So How Should You Live? | Season 06, Episode 6 | Simple Truth Podcast

Could God really call someone like you righteous? If you're ]honest, righteous may not be the word that you would use to describe yourself. You know your own mistakes, your weaknesses, and the times that you don't do what you know is right. So, when the Bible talks about God calling people righteous, you might wonder, "How could that possibly include me? And even if God does call you righteous, what does that mean for the way that I should live? Now, in this episode, we're going to answer three important questions about righteousness. First, why does God call someone like me righteous? Second, if righteousness is a gift that is given to me, then why does the Bible tell me to pursue it? And third, how do I know if I'm living righteously or just trying to appear righteous to others? [music] Welcome to the Simple Truth Podcast. I'm Ted Ross and this is season 6, episode 6. You're righteous by faith, so how should you live? We're talking about righteousness. Last episode we saw that God has set us apart, sanctified us through Jesus Christ, and continues to change us from the inside out. Today we're going to look at the two sides of righteousness. How God makes us right with him, also known as right standing, and how that righteousness should show up in the way we live, also known as right behavior. So, we're going to answer three questions starting with question number one. Why does God call someone like me righteous? A lot of Christians, I think they measure their place with God by the quality of the last few days. When we're doing well, we feel accepted by God. When we're struggling, we can feel like our entire relationship with God has collapsed. But the Bible tells us something very different. Righteousness is not something that you or I earn. It is a gift of God. In fact, Isaiah chapter 61 describes righteousness as something that God covers us with. Let's take a look. Isaiah 61:10. As a reminder, all verses in this episode are from the New King James Version. So, feel free to follow along. In Isaiah 61:10, we're going to see if you wonder why God can call someone like you or I righteous. Isaiah helps us see that righteousness is not something that we create for ourselves. It is something God provides. Isaiah 61:10, quote, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness." It says, "He has clothed me." God has clothed us. That means to dress us, to cover us, to put clothing on us. He has clothed us with garments of salvation, right? Those are outfits. That's clothing of rescue, of deliverance, of saving, help. Such powerful terms. And he has covered us with a robe. A robe is what you think a robe is. It's an outer garment. It's a covering. He has covered us with a robe of righteousness. That means rightness before God. What a powerful scripture just to start off. Do I really trust that God can cover me with righteousness so that whatever is happening on the inside, God will still wrap us in a robe, wrap the exterior of us so that when he views us, he's viewing righteousness. He's viewing rightness before God and right standing. Do you or I really believe this? Well, you don't have to prove yourself righteous. God provides it. What a powerful thing. But it shows God from start to finish and how the death, burial, and resurrection is what is the source for our righteousness. The blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we put our faith in it because that is the source of our righteousness. Righteousness is not based on your behavior over the last few days. It is based on what God provides to you through the blood of Jesus Christ. So, we shouldn't look inward at our recent behavior when we're interacting with God, but we should look outward to Christ, to Christ Jesus, our Lord and our Savior. Let's see this in Romans 3. Romans 3 verses 21 and 22. We're going to see here that God's answer to our shortcomings. It isn't, "Well, Ted better try harder until he's good enough." That's not God's answer to our shortcomings and to our sin. It's to give us righteousness through faith in what Jesus did. There's a distinction there. Not righteousness in what we did, but a righteousness, we put our faith in the righteousness in what Jesus did. Let's see Romans 3:21. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Verse 22, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. It says, "Now the righteousness of God, the right standing, the right behavior before God." Remember, there's two aspects of righteousness that are important to address. And we're going to define further what righteousness is. But if you walk away from this episode with anything, it's to remember that righteousness is both a right position and a right standing before God where he sees you as righteous, but it's also right behavior before God. It's doing what's right in God's eyes. Righteousness encompasses both of those concepts. It says, "But now the righteousness of God, the right standing in the right behavior of God apart from the law," which means not in the Old Testament, not the Old Covenant, there's a righteousness of God that is separate from the Old Testament, the thou shalt not. It's been revealed. And on top of that, the law and the prophets themselves bear witness to it. That's why the Old Testament was so often quoted in the New Testament. Jesus quoted it repeatedly because God showed over and over again a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ and the new covenant to come of righteousness. Well, how does this righteousness come about? Well, it doesn't come through the Old Testament law of Moses or the customs associated with it. It's instead revealed. It's made visible. It's known. It's openly shown in the New Testament in the New Covenant. And that is righteousness of God through faith. That's trust, belief, confidence in God. Instead of finding a set of rules and customs, adhering to it, and say, "Well, I did most of those rules and most of those customs, so I hope God accepts me." Instead of that being your relationship with God, instead, God says, "I want you to repent. I want you to change your mind and have another mind, as it says in Mark chapter 1, and I want you to believe the gospel. I want you to hold trust and belief and have confidence in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want you to put faith in your Lord and your savior and to have faith in the blood and the sacrifice he shed for you. And in doing so, I God will call you righteous. That is what the new covenant is. That is what the entire Old and New Testament points to. That is literally the central theme of the Bible. Does God accept you more in your good days or your bad days? I'm setting you up. It's a setup question. Does God accept you more on your good days or your bad days? Neither. Your standing, your position with God, it comes from one thing alone. Your faith in Jesus Christ, not your performance on any given day. So, we see here where righteousness comes from, through faith in Jesus Christ. That's why God can call someone like you or me righteous because what he's looking at is the suffering and the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus. And then he's looking at all who receive that blood and sacrifice. And so faith in the gospel, putting your faith in the death, the burial, and resurrection as the source of your relationship with God that is fully accepted by the father. That's why God can call someone like you or me righteous. So now Paul is going to show us how God counts that righteousness to the person who believes and he uses Abraham as the example. So let's see this in Romans 4. Romans 4 verses 1-5. Here we're going to see that if righteousness were something that we earned, then God would owe it to us. Kind of like wages, right? You do a job and you get paid wages or a salary for it. Instead, it is counted to us, right? Righteousness is counted to us when we believe God. Romans 4:1. What shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. There's a lot in here. It says if Abraham was justified, if Abraham was declared right before God or acquitted, if Abraham was justified by works, by his deeds, by his actions, by what he did day-to-day, then he has something to boast about. One day he could say, "I did such a great job before God. God must love me and accept me and receive me as right." And then the next day he'll say, "Oh no, I think I made a mistake. I fell." And then he'll start condemning himself, etc. That is not how Abraham operated, did he? It said Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham trusted, had confidence in, relied on God what God said and the work that God said he would do and it was accounted to him. It was reckoned. It was pointed out to him. It was counted as righteousness. Is obedience like the price you pay to be worthy of grace? If I obey, then I will earn grace. Is that the way God describes it? No. Grace is not wages. Grace is not payment for work performed. Instead, you trust God and you receive what you could never earn. You or I could never work hard enough to receive the grace and the forgiveness, the justification, the righteousness, the sanctification, the reconciliation. We could never earn the work of what God is giving us freely. That was what makes God so good. We look to him and say, "Father, I can't earn any of these things." Uh, we found ourselves, I don't know about you, but I found ourselves in places where I was desperate. I was at the end of my rope and it's like I look up to heaven and say, "Dear Father, please help me with this. Deliver me. I can't see anyone else who could help me. I desperately need your help." And God delivers me. And when he does, I feel so thankful because I know in my heart that it wasn't some other person. It wasn't my own abilities or skills, but it's God himself who worked to deliver me. And he didn't do it because I'm just some great person or he owes me in any way. He did it because he's wonderful. He did it because he's gracious and he's long-suffering and he's truthful and because he's perfect. Right? God is so wonderful. And we love God not because someone told us to love God. We love God because we've seen the wonderful things he's done in our life and the life of others. And so we commit ourselves more and more to his will and more and more into trusting him. Grace is not wages. You trust God and receive what you can't earn. So you and I could never accumulate enough spiritual wages to erase our sins or to put God somehow in our debt. Right? Abraham was told by God to be circumcised, right? As a physical sign of the covenant that God made with him and with his descendants. And while this act of obedience was important, he obeyed God, Paul later on emphasizes in the book of Romans that Abraham was called righteous before that work even happened. So while God called Abraham to be circumcised, God accounted him as righteous before he even performed the work. He accounted Abraham as righteous when Abraham believed. And that is the message that the book of Romans is providing to us today. The faith in God made Abraham righteous, not the works before God making Abraham righteous. That is why God can call someone like you or me righteous. Romans chapter 4 goes on to make this very clear that it applies to Christians too, not just Abraham. Let's see. Romans 4:19- 24. The same righteousness credited to Abraham is credited to those who believe the gospel, the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as defined in 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1-4. Romans 4:19, quote, and not being weak in faith, he, that's Abraham, did not consider his own body already dead since he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what he, that's God, had promised, he, that's God, was also able to perform. And therefore, it was accounted to him, that's Abraham, for righteousness. Now, it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but also for us, that's you and me. It shall be imputed to us who believe in him, that's the father, who raised up Jesus our Lord, from the dead. There's a lot of meat in here. We have a lot to cover this episode. So, it says that it was not written for his sake alone. Abraham believed, right? Abraham believed. Abraham was fully convinced that what God promised, by the way, you and I read scripture. We read promises of God all day long when we read the Bible. And Abraham was fully convinced that what God promised, God would perform. For many of you, you might be in a wilderness experience where, you know, you're born again. You know, God called you out of darkness into his marvelous light and he's working in your life. But then as you start to go through the sanctification process, and you trying to overcome desires and thoughts and and spirits and all sorts of things resisting you and bad habits and bad behaviors, you may start to find yourself wavering and even questioning. Is God for me? Is this God? Did I make some kind of mistake? You may have friends or family who go, "What are you doing with your life? You're going in the wrong direction because they don't understand that in your heart. You know that you have an unction from the Holy One and that you are going in the direction you need to go and that there will be resistance and tribulation. But if you can continue believing God and seeking his face and praying and reading your scripture and meditating and coming closer and believing God and obeying God, you will be delivered. That is what Abraham did. Abraham was fully convinced in what he had promised, what God has promised that God would be able to perform. And that was called righteousness. And that is what you and I are called to do. And it says this was not written for Abraham's sake alone. that it was imputed, that it was counted, that was charged against his account. Instead, it was done for us. Right? All those who believe that the father raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, that's the same faith Abraham had because we know that the father who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead is working in our bodies, is working in our souls, working in our spirit to convert us, to change us, and to call us to fulfill our purpose. So, does the gospel only forgive us or does it change how God sees us? Well, more than just removing guilt through faith, God counts us as righteous and he does so through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Right? So, trusting in having confidence in the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, it's what counts you and I as righteous before God. So, what exactly does it mean to be righteous then? Great question. The meaning of righteousness. What exactly is righteousness? Well, righteousness is, as you heard us say before, it's right standing with God through faith in Jesus Christ. But it's also living in a way that is right before him, also known as right behavior. Through Jesus's sacrifice, God counts us righteous through faith. So we're accepted as right before God except as right with God because of what Jesus Christ did, not because you or I earned it in any way. And that new standing, that position with God, it begins to shape how we think, how we behave, and how we live. So then as God calls us righteous, as he wraps us in a robe of righteousness, as we saw in the book of Isaiah, then God calls us, the people that he made righteous, to walk in righteousness. That's the relationship between those two things. So being declared righteous, it doesn't mean that our behavior is already perfect. Our lives should increasingly reflect the righteousness that we have received. So we don't become righteous by finally getting everything right or being perfect from day one. We begin by receiving what God gives us through faith in Jesus Christ. And that's how someone like you or me can be called righteous by God. So do you believe it? Do you believe that God calls you righteous? Do you believe that you are righteous? And if you do believe that, do you believe that God is converting your soul so that you will walk in righteousness before God? Which brings us to our second question. If righteousness is a gift, why does the Bible tell me to pursue it? Great question, right? The Bible describes righteousness as something God gives us through faith. We saw that in the earlier part of this episode. And yet God still commands Christians to pursue righteousness in the way we live. So one meaning of righteousness is right standing. It addresses our position. And then the other meaning of righteousness, right behavior, addresses the direction and the conduct of our life. Right? So our life belongs to God. Therefore, we should live it as if it belongs to God. Acts 26 describes this. Acts 26:19 and 20. Here we're going to see that grace, it changes more than what God calls us, more than just our position. It turns us toward him and begins changing the way we live. Acts 26:19. Here's Paul writing. Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. So Paul says that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. He's blinded and knocked off a horse. So he goes to the people of Damascus in Jerusalem and throughout all of Judea and then to the Gentiles and he teaches this message. Repent. Turn to God and do works befitting repentance. So repent means to think differently to have another mind. So he says have another mind. Stop believing what you've been believing. Stop doing what you've been doing. Think differently. Change your mind and have another mind. Then turn to God. Right? Turn your direction. You were going one direction. Now turn your direction toward God. Return back to God. Fall in line with God. What God wants out of your life. Do works, actions, deeds that are worthy or fitting for or appropriate for repentance? That's thinking differently, having another mind, etc. So when I repent, do I only just feel sorry? Is repentance me just feeling bad? Or do I really change direction? Ask yourself that. When you do that thing and you hate it and you you ask God for forgiveness or you say you repent, do you just feel bad about it or do you change direction? Cuz that's what God is looking for you to do. Grace doesn't leave us where we are. Grace doesn't leave us where we are. When God loves us and forgives us and has mercy on us, it's not to just be left where we are to do the same things over and over again. It leads us to a different way of living. So God calls us right and he wraps a robe of righteousness and then he begins to work in us to convict us to chasten us to teach us to guide us to lead us into righteous paths so that we could live a different life and fulfill the purpose that he has for us. So when we really turn to God that new direction will start showing up in the way that we live. And the Bible doesn't just tell us to turn away from what's wrong. It tells us to pursue what's right. John writes this very clearly in 1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3:7. We see here that turning to God is only the beginning. We are then called to practice what's right in our daily lives. 1 John 3:7, "Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous just as he, God, is righteous." Says, "Little children, don't let anyone deceive you. Don't let anyone lead you astray or cause you to wander from the truth. He who practices, you know, a man or a woman who carries out an action or does righteousness, right? Upright, they're conforming to God's standard. They are righteous. That means they have right standing and right behavior just as God is righteous. So carrying out the actions and doing what is upright, what conforms to God's standard, you are righteous just as God is righteous. So what does practicing righteousness actually look like? It's increasingly choosing what is right in the same way Jesus did it. Do you understand? Practicing righteousness is not passive. It means turning away from what pulls us towards sin and actively going after the deeds, the actions, the tasks that God calls right. Second Timothy chapter 2 makes this plain for us. Second Timothy 22, it's two two two. Four twos in this one. It shows us that righteous living doesn't happen accidentally. The Bible says that there are things we should run from and there's things we should actively chase after. Second Timothy 2:22, quote, "Flee also youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." It says to flee youthful lust. Run away. Escape. Avoid youthful lust, but pursue righteousness. Chase after it. Press toward it. Earnestly seek after righteousness. Right. Right standing and right behavior before God as well as faith, love, and peace right with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Why should I actively pursue righteousness if it is a gift? If it's something that God gives me? Because God's ways are not only right, they are good. And scripture shows that it produces great things in our lives. It's not just about doing something because it's the right thing to do. It's about submitting and obeying God because it's a good thing to do and it has good effects in your lives. And scripture shows us many, many benefits that come with walking in righteousness. The benefits of acting righteously. What does righteous behavior actually produce in my life? Well, first of all, and we're not going to read all these scriptures, but we're going to reference them. It says in the Bible, God blesses the righteous in Psalm 5:12. I don't know about you, but I really want to be blessed. I really want to be made happy. I really want health in my body. I want prosperity. I want forgiveness. I want to be a blessing to others. I want everything associated. I want peace. I want to be strong in faith. I want everything associated with blessings. And it says that God blesses the righteous. It also says God upholds and strengthens the righteous. That's found in Psalm 37:17. It says God's ears are open to the prayers of the righteous. In 1 Peter 3:12, God delivers the righteous from trouble. In Proverbs 11:6, the righteous are tested, but God holds them up. Psalm 55:22, the memory of the righteous is blessed. We're in an era where people like to talk about legacy. Do you want a legacy? Serve God. Walk righteously before God. You take that robe of righteousness and that right standing that he gave you through faith in the blood of Jesus. And then you start repenting and obeying him in your life. And the memory of the righteous will be blessed. People will look and say that person had a legacy. Thank God. Proverbs 10:7 that comes through submitting and obeying God. The Bible has over 50 plus passages. I counted them describing the good fruit and the benefits associated with walking in righteousness. That's a lot of scripture about this. So the Bible is clear. The righteous will still face challenges and resistance. We all will. But scripture keeps pointing us back to the same truth. God's way is the best and the most fulfilling way to live both an earthly life as well as one with eternal consequences. Which brings us to simple truth number 113. God gives you righteousness and calls you to pursue what's right. So God makes us righteous through faith, but then he calls us to pursue what is right and to do right things, right? Works worthy of repentance. We're not trying to earn righteousness, but we are learning to live like people who belong to God and ]do his will in our lives. Our choices should increasingly reflect the righteousness that he has already given us, that robe he has wrapped us in. To quote Isaiah again, so if our works don't make us righteous, then why does the Bible care so much about what we do and how we should act? Let's take a look at this. Righteous by faith. So why works? If righteousness comes through faith, why does the Bible say faith without works is dead? Right? A famous quote from James chapter 2 verse 26. Let's talk about this for a second. So works don't earn our righteous standing since faith is what is counted as righteousness. We saw this in Romans 4 verses 3-5. However, real faith should be visible in how we live. That's where James 2:17 and 18 for those who want to read can see that. So a faith that produces no works is called dead because it calls into question whether that faith is real or genuine. Do you understand? We may be made righteous by faith and that Abraham had faith in God counted it as righteousness. But if you have faith and it produces no works, James calls it dead because it calls into question whether you really have any faith. Is it real or is it even genuine faith? Works don't create faith, but works also perfect and mature your faith. We see this in James chapter 2 verse 22. Abraham's obedience, it revealed the faith that Abraham already had. In fact, James describes this in James 2 verses 21- 23. Faith, it's the basis of our right standing. Our position in God comes clearly through faith in the blood and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But works are evidence that our faith is alive. So works don't make our faith real, but real faith shows up in our behavior and the choices that we make. Romans 6 shows us what this looks like in everyday life. Romans 6:12 and 13. Here we're going to see. So what does pursuing righteousness look like in real life? It is something very practical. what we allow our bodies to be used for. That is what righteousness looks like in real life. Romans 6:12, "Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lust. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God." It says, "Don't let sin reign. Don't let sin exercise control or rule you like a king in your mortal body that you should obey it that you should listen to the sin that you should submit to the direction of sin. Don't do it. Paul is writing, it says, "Do not present your members, don't offer yourself, don't offer your body parts for use or be at the disposal as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but instead present yourselves, offer yourself, be at the disposal of God, as being alive from the dead." Right? You were, you died, you died in Christ. Paul says, "I am crucified with Christ. I died with him. Nevertheless, I live, but it's not I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Praise God. You and I, when we become born again, when we commit to something like water baptism, we're showing the death of the old person, your old man, your old woman, you go under the water, you're buried in baptism, and then you're raised again with Christ. We are dead to ourselves and we're alive to Christ, which by the way is the only way to live and a fantastic way to live. And that's how you fulfill your purpose in life and have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. Where you have joy and you have strength and you can do so many wonderful, fantastic things. I don't know about you, but as I get older, there's those temptations and those feelings where you say to yourself, "Oh my gosh, I'm getting older. I'm not as young as I used to be. Did I make the right decisions? Praise God that I could have faith and I can put my faith in Jesus Christ to say, "Father, no matter what decision I made or thing I've done, I have a relationship with you and I can not only have a wonderful, blessed relationship here on earth, but spend an eternity with you in your presence." And then I could submit myself and calm my fears. I'm not late. I'm not behind. I'm where God wants me to be. And you are too. You are where God wants you to be. So commit yourself. run this race to win this race as Paul describes. Lay aside the sin and the weight that tries to snare you from this race and get to running. Get to running and obeying and doing what the father wants you to do and just enjoy all that God has for you in your life. So it says instead yield your members, your body parts as instruments of righteousness, what's right according to God. Ask yourself, do your habits, do the things you do every day, do they make you more available to God? Are you more available to temptations? Do you put yourself in a position where over and over again instead of fleeing youthful lust, you're bringing yourself, you're pursuing youthful lust, you're putting yourself in one predicament after another where you're tempted by desires and by bad behaviors. Or do you put yourself and present yourself and make yourself available to God? God calls us not only to resist what's wrong, but to actively offer ourselves for what is right. So if works are evidence of our living faith, then we have to ask, does every outwardly good action actually count as righteousness before God? In other words, is it possible to do things that look right on the outside but are done with the wrong reasons or from the wrong intentions? I think you know the answer to this. And if so, how do we let tell the difference between real righteousness and just giving a righteous appearance? That's question number three. How do I know if I'm living righteously or just appearing righteous for others? Jesus knew it was possible to look righteous on the outside without truly living right before God. That's why he gives us all a warning in Matthew chapter 5. Matthew 5:20. Here we're going to see it's possible to do all the right looking things and still completely miss the mark and completely miss what God wants in our hearts. Matthew 5:20, "For I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." That's a strong word. It says, "Unless your righteousness, your right standing, and your right behavior before God exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees." The scribes and Pharisees were the pastors, the ministers. They wore special outfits. They were religious leaders. They were teachers of the law. They knew the Bible back and forth, you could say, specifically the Old Testament, right? In their time, they knew matters of the law. They gave their opinion. They had fancy seats when it came to feasts. These were people who on the outside were very impressive. And yet Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness, your behavior, and your position, it exceeds their behavior and position, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." You and I will never match the outward religious zeal of a scribe or a Pharisee. But through sincere faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will have the kind of righteousness that Jesus says exceeds their righteousness. Praise God. Can I confuse looking right to others with obeying Jesus? Yeah, you can. Religious appearance is not enough to enter God's kingdom. This may sound like a strong word, but God doesn't care what others at church think of you. You can win over tens, hundreds, thousands of people at a church and it doesn't mean that God looks you one different way. Jesus calls for a righteousness that is genuine, not just a righteousness that is visible. So you got to watch yourself. If people are not the audience, then who is? Colossians 3 tells us. Colossians 3 verses 23 and 24. If righteousness is about pleasing God more than impressing people, then God gives us a very practical test. Who are we really doing something for? Colossians 3:23. And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. It says whatever you do, that's a powerful word, whatever. Everything you do without exception, do it heartily. To do it heartily literally means do it from the soul. It means to do it sincerely. It means to do it wholeheartedly and do it as unto the Lord. So whatever you do in life without exception, do it from the soul and do it to God. Don't do it to others. Don't do it to men or to women. It says, "Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward." A reward is a recompense, which is again a term that we don't typically use, but it's something it's a return given in response to something else. We know what a reward is. The common English term for reward probably handles this Greek word quite well. So, you will receive a reward. You will get returned. You'll get paid back, so to speak, for the response they do. So, the things that you do to the Lord will be paid back to you. That's what the scripture says quite clearly. So ask yourself, am I doing this for the Lord or am I doing this for someone else's approval? Would I still obey God if no one else was here to see it? These are great questions to ask yourself for any action. You don't need recognition from people when you know you were doing it for God. Do you understand that is a very powerful aspect of righteousness that Jesus himself warned of and Paul to the church at Colosse made sure to write about the difference between living righteously and merely appearing righteous comes down in part to who we're trying to please. Our motive is the first test to confirm whether we are living righteously. So look at your motives. And to look at your motives, you must look at your heart. 1st Samuel 16:7. People can only judge what they see on the outside, but God sees what is really happening in our hearts. 1st Samuel 16:7. Quote, "But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." Powerful. It says the man looks at the outward appearance. Man sees. Men and women see. They observe. They examine based on what they can perceive by their eyes or by their ears or by their nose. I don't think they want to perceive by taste, but they can't by touch. But this is how people perceive. And remember what we described when we discussed the whole Christian. If you're perceiving it through your eyes and through your ears and through your mouth and through your touch, right? If you're perceiving it that way, you're perceiving it through your body effectively. You're perceiving it through your flesh. And that's not God. You want to perceive it spiritually. And that's what God does because he looks at the heart. And so it says that man looks, they see, they observe, they examine outwardly. The outward appearance is what can be seen by others. But the Lord looks at the heart, the inner person, the hidden part, the soul, and the spirit of a person. And that's where t]he Lord looks. Is your heart submitting to God even when others don't like your choices? Right? That's what matters. That's what matters. It's righteous when your heart submits to God. When you come to God with a whole heart and say, "Father, I'd like to please you. I'd like to submit myself to the will of Jesus Christ." And others may not like your choice. Heck, I may be in my flesh and I may not like your choice. And it doesn't matter because I'm not your Lord and Savior. I'm just another person. Now, I will try to be spiritual. If you come to me and you talk to me, I'll pray with you. I will try to be discerning. I do have Christ in me, right? And I will try to be discerning and I may say, you know what, that does seem like God. I may be able to bear witness to it and help be able to strengthen you. Iron sharpens iron. But the reality is, you shouldn't be looking to my opinion or other people's opinions. You're looking to God. You want to be right with God. He's the judge. And he has called you to do something in your life. You need to understand what that something is. And then you just submit your spirit, soul, and body to his will. Righteousness starts with a heart that wants to obey God. And then the outside reflects the inside whether people approve of it or not. So the answer isn't simply well just make your motives good, right? Remember, righteousness is right standing and right behavior. You get right standing through faith in the blood shed through the gospel of the Lord Jesus. And the right behavior comes by submitting to God and being led by his spirit in your life. And so what is the pattern then of righteous living? If we were to say, what's the pattern? The pattern is Jesus Christ. First John 2:6, if you want to know what righteous living looks like, you don't have to invent a standard. You don't have to write some new book. You can just look at Jesus Christ. He's our example. 1 John 2:6, quote, "He who says he abides in him in Christ ought himself also to walk just as he Jesus walked." Right? Whoever says that they dwell, they abide, they remain, they continue in Jesus, that they're a Christian, well, they ought, they're obligated, they should, they have a responsibility to walk, to conduct themselves, to live like Jesus lived. It's a powerful scripture. Does the way that I live increasingly look like the way Jesus lived? Ask yourself that question. Jesus had love for people. He had a devotion to do the father's will. He had humility. He was willing to serve. He was patient. He had self-control. He had a commitment to the truth. He showed courage. This is Christlikeness. Are you increasingly showing Christlikeness in your life? Righteous living, it isn't about looking impressive. It is sincerely following the example of Jesus Christ. And to learn more about it, please watch simple truth podcast season 2. You can start with season 2 episode 1. In that season, you'll see what it means to be a Christian. So, how do we know if we're living righteously instead of just appearing righteous? Well, we stop living for people's approval. We let God examine what's happening in our hearts and we look to Jesus as our example. And that brings us to simple truth number 114. Righteous living comes from a heart that's wanting to please God and follow Jesus. If the goal is a heart submitted to God and a life that follows Jesus, then there's some concrete ways that we can pursue this every day. What should I do now? Okay, so God calls me righteous through faith in Jesus, right? That's the right standing component of righteousness. And he calls me to pursue what's right before him. That's the right behavior component of righteousness. I know now that I need to trust Jesus's sacrifice, not my day-to-day performance. My position before God comes through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And I may have made a mistake today or made a mistake yesterday. It could be a really big one. I go to the father for forgiveness and I repent and I put my faith in the death, the bared resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I use the five disciplines. I read and I pray and I meditate on God's word and I fast and I seek to be led by his holy spirit and my trust is in the sacrifice of Jesus not in how many scriptures I may have read not in how many prayers I may have prayed I put my trust in the death burial resurrection because that is where the power is at. I stay close to God through those five disciplines. Remember, I can sit there and say all day long that I have faith in God, but God wants a relationship with me and I have a relationship with him and I overcome the things that resist me by getting closer to God. I get closer to him through the five disciplines which you can find in Simple Truth Podcast season 3. We delineate reading the Bible, meditating on God's word, praying, fasting, being led by God's spirit. Take the right next step, right? Even when no one else notices, walk righteously before God. You pray. You seek God's face. You believe you know what God's will is. Go ahead and do it. Right? Even if no one else gives you any credit or notice is, you're righteous before God, and that's what matters. So, how do you actually put this into practice when maybe the right choice isn't so easy? Try this. Consider trying this for the next seven days. The what's right before God 7-day challenge. Right. Day one, name that area of your life. Identify an area where doing right isn't always known. It's not so clear to you. You're like, Ted, I understand I should do what's right. I'm I have a right position before God, but I don't exactly know what is right that what God wants me to do in that area. And ask God to help you recognize the righteous choice. Father, what do you want me to do? Not my will, but your will be done. Help me to understand your will and I will do it. Days 2 through seven, ask three questions. So when a decision may come up in that area, pause and ask yourself, is this right before God? One way to do it is to confirm what scripture says. Second, is my heart right? Am I pleasing God or am I just doing this for appearance? That's another way to try to vet whether it's God's will. Number three, does it look like Jesus? Would this reflect the way that Jesus loved, obeyed, served, and lived? If so, that's another way to vet whether this is God's will. On days 3 through seven, do what you believe is right in your spirit and monitor the results. Take the next step in what you believe is right and watch the fruit. If you choose wrong, if you look and go, "Well, that wasn't God." Repent. Turn back to God. Watch Simple Truth podcast episodes 3.8 and 3.9 where it talks about how to recognize and obey the Holy Spirit. Because in a lot of ways, what you're looking for is you're looking to hear God's voice, to understand what the spirit of the Lord is saying to you, and then to obey it. And that is righteousness. God bless you. God bless you as you receive the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that wraps you in a robe of righteousness. God bless you as you not only have a right standing with God, but as you learn to walk in right behavior before him, the God who created the heaven and the earth. And don't miss next episode because if the blood of Jesus made you right with God, then exactly what kind of relationship does God want to have with you? Now, we talk about the meaning of the new covenant in our next episode. So, watch the video on the screen for more practical Bible teaching that answers the questions you're asking and subscribe for more simple, biblical, and essential truth. [music]