Scripture Reading: Heb. 11:7; Rom. 1:16-17a; Matt. 5:20; 6:33a; 1 Cor. 15:34; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 1:11; 3:9; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 John 3:7b; Rev. 19:8; 2 Pet. 3:13
Ⅰ
"By faith Noah…became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith"—Heb. 11:7:
A
The righteousness of God is not merely an attribute of God—it is God Himself—Rom. 3:21; 10:3.
B
Noah believed in God, and his believing was accounted to him by God as righteousness, even as it was to Abraham—Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:4-5, 9.
Ⅱ
"The gospel…is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes…for the righteousness of God is revealed in it"—1:16-17a:
A
God's righteousness, which is solid and steadfast, is the foundation of His throne and the base upon which His kingdom is built—Psa. 89:14; Rom. 14:17.
B
The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel of God; hence, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
Ⅲ
"Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens"—Matt. 5:20:
A
This righteousness does not refer only to objective righteousness—the Christ whom we receive when we believe in Him and are thus justified before God; it refers even more to subjective righteousness—the indwelling Christ lived out of us as our righteousness that we may live in the reality of the kingdom today and enter into its manifestation in the future—Rom. 3:26; 1 Cor. 1:30; Rev. 19:7-8.
B
It is impossible for our natural life to gain this surpassing righteousness; it can be produced only by a higher life, the resurrection life of Christ—John 11:25.
C
This surpassing righteousness is the righteousness of life, which we live out by taking Christ as our life according to the law of life—Col. 3:4; Rom. 8:2.
Ⅳ
"Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness"—Matt. 6:33a:
A
The kingdom of God is the rule and government of God.
B
God's desire is to gain a group of people who are under His rule, authority, and dominion and who are righteousness according to God.
C
God's intention in regenerating us is to bring us under His heavenly rule— John 3:5; Rev. 1:6, 9; 5:10.
D
The church life is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is righteousness—Rom. 14:17; Psa. 89:14.
E
Where God's righteousness is, there His kingdom is also—Isa. 32:1; Heb. 1:8-9:
１
Righteousness is related to government, administration, regulation, and rule.
２
Where there is righteousness, everything is headed up in a proper way; this is the kingdom.
Ⅴ
"Awake from the drunken stupor righteously"—1 Cor. 15:34:
A
To become sober, righteously, is to awaken to soberness from a drunken stupor; it is to cease, righteously, to be drunken.
B
Anyone who is spiritually asleep is not right with God, with others, with himself, or with the church—Eph. 5:14; 1 Thes. 5:6-8a.
Ⅵ
"Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"—2 Cor. 5:21:
A
In Christ we are not only justified by God—we actually become the righteousness of God.
B
In resurrection Christ comes into us as life, and this life lives within us to constitute us into the righteousness of God—Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:4.
C
The phrase in Him refers to our union with Christ; in the organic union with Christ, we become the righteousness of God.
D
To become the righteousness of God in Christ is to become right with God in our being.
E
The righteousness of God is God Himself; thus, for us to become the righteousness of God in Christ means that we become God in life and in nature (but not in the Godhead).
Ⅶ
"Being filled with the fruit of righteousness, which is through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God"—Phil. 1:11:
A
The fruit of righteousness is the living product of the believers' living a proper life by the element of righteousness, with a righteous standing before God and man.
B
The fruit of righteousness comes through our experience and enjoyment of Christ.
C
If we are filled with the fruit of righteousness, we will abound in love, approve by testing the things which differ, and be pure and without offense—vv. 9-10.
Ⅷ
"Be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is out of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is out of God and based on faith"—3:9:
A
If we would be found in Christ, we need to fulfill the condition of not having our own righteousness.
B
The righteousness which is out of God and based on faith is the righteousness that is God Himself lived out of us to be our righteousness through our faith in Christ:
１
This righteousness is of God and actually is God Himself.
２
A living that is right with God and man is God as our expression in our daily living—2 Cor. 3:9; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10:
ａ
Our own righteousness is the expression of ourselves, the expression of "I."
ｂ
The righteousness of God is God lived out of us; it is God becoming our living and expression.
Ⅸ
"The crown of righteousness, with which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will recompense…all those who have loved His appearing"—2 Tim. 4:8:
A
The crown of righteousness will be awarded not according to the grace of the Lord but according to His righteousness, and the One who awards it will be the Lord as the righteous Judge.
B
The crown of righteousness is a reward that will be given to all who love the Lord's appearing and who have not loved the present age—v. 10.
Ⅹ
"He who practices righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous"— 1 John 3:7b:
A
To practice righteousness is to live a righteous life, to live rightly under the principle of God's ruling—2:29.
B
To practice righteousness is to have a spontaneous living that issues from the divine life within us—1:2; 2:25; 5:11-13, 20:
１
Such a living is the expression of God, who is righteous in all His acts and deeds.
２
This living is the manifestation of life, the flow of life from within the divine nature.
Ⅺ
"It was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints"—Rev. 19:8:
A
The righteousnesses of the overcoming saints are subjective and enable them to meet the requirements of the overcoming Christ—Matt. 5:20; Phil. 3:9.
B
Christ lived out of the saints and expressed through them in their daily living as their subjective righteousness becomes their wedding garment—Matt. 22:11-13.
Ⅻ
"According to His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells"—2 Pet. 3:13:
A
The main matter seen in Peter's writings is the righteousness of God maintained in His government; hence, he repeatedly emphasizes God's government—1 Pet. 2:23-24; 3:12, 14; 4:18; 2 Pet. 1:1; 2:5, 7-8, 21; 3:13.
B
Righteousness is the main factor based on which God's governmental judgment is meted out to all creatures in His old creation.
C
The righteousness of God will dwell in the new heavens and the new earth, saturating God's new universe prevailingly and thus maintaining it absolutely under God's righteous order, so that no further judgment will ever be needed.