Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness!
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt. 5:6 NIV)
To be “hungry” or “thirsty” means having a strong desire or craving. That is the kind of desire you must have about gaining righteousness.
What is Righteousness?
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness.
The Bible’s definition of Righteousness
According to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, “God the Father is righteous (just); Jesus Christ his Son is the Righteous (Just) One; the Father through the Son and in the Spirit gives the gift of righteousness (justice) to repentant sinners for salvation; such believing sinners are declared righteous (just) by the Father through the Son, are made righteous (just) by the Holy Spirit working in them, and will be wholly righteous (just) in the age to come. They are and will be righteous because they are in a covenant relation with the living God, who is the God of all grace and mercy and who will bring to completion what he has begun in them by declaring them righteous for Christ’s sake.”
The Bible describes the righteous person as just or right, holding to God and trusting in Him (Psalm 33:18–22).
We all fall short of God’s righteousness!
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23)
The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.
You cannot become righteous by your own efforts!
True righteousness is possible for mankind only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
We are made righteous in the sight of God because of Jesus!
We are accepted as righteous and treated as righteous by God on account of what the Lord Jesus has done for us on the cross. He was made sin; we are “made the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21). On the cross, Jesus was treated as if He were a sinner, though He was perfectly holy and pure, and we are treated as if we were righteous, though we are defiled and depraved. On account of what the Lord Jesus has endured on our behalf, we are treated as if we had entirely fulfilled the Law of God and had never become exposed to its penalty. We have received this precious gift of righteousness from the God of all mercy and grace.