God is Righteous

In a world obscured by chaos, we have often found ourselves teetering on the precipice of despair, asking profound questions about purpose and justice. Imagine the ancient Israelites as the escaped their Egyptian captors, their feet dirty from wandering, their spirits weary from running, questioning the very nature of the God they served. It was in these pivotal moments, against a backdrop of doubt, that the profound message of God’s hope echoes through the ages: God is righteous and He promises salvation.

The narrative of the Bible tells of a Creator intricately involved with His creation, longing for a relationship marred by the stain of sin. The Israelites, God's chosen people, experienced this firsthand. They had moments of great triumph, witnessing the Red Sea's parting and manna descending from the heavens. Yet, they also grappled with the shadows of idols and the allure of worldly desires. Throughout their journey, a theme emerges - God's righteousness is unwavering.

In the face of human inconsistency, God remains the same — a beacon of righteousness, offering salvation to all. The prophet Isaiah declared God's singular nature, proclaiming that beside Him, there was no other righteous Savior. This divine righteousness was more than just an attribute; it was a beacon, an invitation to salvation, a promise that those who believe would stand justified before Him. As Apostle Paul later echoed in his letters, this righteousness is revealed through faith in Christ, bridging the vast expanse between man's failings and God's perfection.

God’s Nature as Righteous

Deuteronomy 32:4

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

2 Samuel 22:31

“This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Psalm 7:9

“Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!”

Psalm 11:7

“For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.”

Psalm 19:9

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.”

Psalm 33:5

“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.”

Psalm 36:6

“Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord.”

Psalm 50:6

“The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah”

Psalm 97:2

“Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.”

Psalm 119:142

“Your righteousness is righteous forever, and your law is true.”

Psalm 145:17

“The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.”

Jeremiah 9:24

“But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

God's Righteousness in Judgement

Genesis 18:25

“Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

1 Kings 8:32

“Then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.”

Psalm 9:8

“He judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.”

Psalm 58:11

“Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”

Psalm 96:13

“…for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.”

Psalm 98:9

“...before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.”

Psalm 119:160

“The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.”

Acts 17:31

“...because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Revelation 16:5

“And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments.”

God’s Righteous Acts for His People

Exodus 15:11-12

“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them.”

1 Samuel 12:7

“Now therefore stand still, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers.”

2 Samuel 22:21

“The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.”

1 Kings 8:32

“Then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.”

Psalm 22:31

“They shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.”

Psalm 31:1

“In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!”

Psalm 65:5

“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas;”

Psalm 103:6

“The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.”

Psalm 111:3

“Full of splendor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.”

Psalm 119:137

“Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules.”

Psalm 143:1

“Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!”

Isaiah 46:13

“I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”

Daniel 9:16

“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us.”

Matthew 1:21

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Luke 1:68-75

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

John 3:16-17

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

Acts 2:38-39

“And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’”

Ephesians 1:3-7

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

Hebrews 9:12-14

“He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

1 Peter 1:3-5

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Revelation 5:9-10

“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’”

God's Righteousness and Salvation

Isaiah 45:21

“Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.”

Isaiah 46:13

“I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”

Jeremiah 23:6

“In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah 33:16

“In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’”

Daniel 9:24

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.”

Romans 1:17

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

Romans 3:21-22

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

Romans 5:17

“For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

Romans 10:4

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Galatians 3:6

“Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’”

Philippians 3:9

“...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

2 Peter 1:1

“Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The Call to Reflect God's Righteousness

Psalm 15:2

“He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;”

Proverbs 21:3

“To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.”

Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

Matthew 5:20

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Romans 6:13

“Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.”

1 John 2:29

“If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.”

A Prayer for Righteousness

Heavenly Father,

In a world of uncertainty and shifting sands, we turn our eyes to You, the constant and unchanging beacon of righteousness. When doubt assails us, and our footsteps falter, remind us of Your unwavering promise of salvation and grace. As the ancient Israelites sought You amidst their wanderings, let our hearts, too, be perpetually drawn to Your light, ever seeking Your face in times of both trial and triumph.

Lord, in our frailty and imperfections, we are in awe of Your perfect righteousness. We are humbled that You would offer us salvation, bridging the chasm between our failings and Your holy standard. Grant us the faith to cling to this precious promise, to live lives reflecting our gratitude for such an incomprehensible gift.

May Your righteousness be the compass that guides our every decision, the anchor that grounds our every action. Fill us with a hunger and thirst for righteousness, that we might seek to emulate Your character in all we do. As Apostle Paul declared Your righteousness revealed through faith, strengthen our belief and trust in You each day.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and the embodiment of Your righteousness, we pray. Amen.