In Strong's Concordance's Greek Lexicon , the English word "Righteousness" is defined as:
#1343 - dikaiosune dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay from #1342; equity (of character or act); specially (Christian) justification:...
#1345. dikaioma dik-ah'-yo-mah from #1344; an equitable deed; by implication, a statute or decision:--judgment, justification, ordinance, ...
#2118. euthutes yoo-thoo'-tace from #2117; rectitude:...
Seeing God has said, by the words of the prophet ...
"I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD" (
Jeremiah 9:24),
and, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ commands us to
"seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;... (
Matthew 6:33)...
and, whereas we find it noted in the words of
Psalms 89:14 and 97:2 that
"righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne," and in
Psalm 145:17 it is written
"The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works,"
and, seeing that there prevails such disparity of beliefs even amongst saints today when it comes to their understanding of all that the word "righteousness" entails, then I must wonder... Do we, individually and collectively, really have a proper understanding of everything this word encompasses? I would enjoy reading how others define it. Here's what has motivated me to ponder this matter ...
In October 1987, I occasioned to hear a UPCI minister preach, during which he mentioned the abundance of "messages in tongues" and their "interpretations" which were received during the famed Azuza Street revival meetings in the early 1900s. One such "message" which had become of utmost interest to him, considering the "times" in which we are presently living, went something like this:
"As the time of the end draws near, greater emphasis would be placed upon worship than upon righteousness."
This caused me to wonder - Are we witnessing the fulfillment of this prophecy in our day? I think so!
Note the admonition put forth in the words of this "message" is NOT that "worship" isn't important, or that it is something which should, or can, be discarded altogether, rather it's a matter of it's importance in regards to those things which we accept, embrace, and propagate as truth. This is to say, if our "worship" is not being done in accordance with truth, as Jesus explicitly decreed must be done (see
John 4:24), then it is not acceptable to God for He will not honor any of our worshipful words or deeds which contains error (i.e., 'unrighteousness'). Why? Because John the apostle has written to inform us that
"All unrighteousness is sin:..." (
II John 5:17).
What's your opinion concerning this issue?
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