THE RIGHTEOUS IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURE?

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lod, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE RIGHTEOUS IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURE

"He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he
who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is
righteous, let him be righteous still; he who
is holy, let him be holy still" [Revelation 22:11].

"This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was
A RIGHTEOUS MAN, WHO WAS PERFECT IN
HIS GENERATION AND WELL-PLEASING TO
GOD" [Genesis 6:9].

Noah was a righteous man because he found the grace of the Holy Spirit, through which BECAME RIGHTEOUS. He was "perfect" because through the grace of the Holy Spirit he obeyed everything God told him to do [6:22]. His RIGHTEOUS LIVING was "well-pleasing to God." "earth was corrupt…and filled with unrighteousness" because of man’s willful refusal to become righteous through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Their unrighteousness was their own fault [through them], for they had every opportunity to come to repentance. The Lord God made Noah righteous THROUGH FAITH, by which he pleased God [Hebrews 11:6-7]. Through the grace of the Holy Spirit HE OBEYED EVERYTHING GOD COMMANDED HIM TO DO. SO HE AND HIS FAMILY ENTERED THE ARK, WHICH TYPIFIED SALVATION.

Righteousness IS A HEART-CENTERED BELIEF IN AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD WITH THE BLESSING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. The holy Apostle Paul shows in Galatians 3:6-9 that Abraham’s "righteousness" does not consist in keeping the law, but in "believing" God. When God "accounted" Abraham righteous, Abraham was participating with God in the fruit of the Holy Spirit and faith [3:5]. To "justify" in 3:8] means to make righteous and to be righteous. Therefore, to be "blessed" in Abraham is to participate with him in body and soul in communion with God and His Goodness.

"BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS" [Matthew 5:6]. Those who "hunger and thirst for righteousness" see the presence of God, and His Kingdom as the most important thing in life. They have a desperate craving FOR WHAT IS RIGHT BEFORE GOD, COMPARABLE TO A STARVING PERSON’S CRAVING FOR FOOD. "But seek first the Kingdom of God AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore to not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things" [Matthew 6:33]. The Kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus’ teaching, and His "righteousness" is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount. Calling us to be free from anxiety about earthly things, Jesus directs us to LOOK TO HEAVEN, secure in the faith that God WILL PROVIDE NEEDED EARTHLY BLESSINGS.

"The Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND JUDGMENT: OF SIN, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" [John 16:8-11]. Through the illumination brought by the Holy Spirit, the world will be convicted, that is, prove wrong. It will be convicted concerning its "sin", the ultimate of which is denying Jesus Christ; "righteousness", which it failed to accept from Christ with faith and thanksgiving and "judgment", FOR ALL WHO REJECT CHRIST WILL "RECEIVE THE SAME PENALTY THAT SATAN, THE RULER OF THIS WORLD, HAS ALREADY RECEIVED [see Matthew 25:41].

The process of Christian growth requires OUR FREE WILL COMMITMENT TO WALK IN "RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS." [Ephesians 4:24]. A child of the light can no longer act as a child of darkness. A change of lifestyle is possible because of Christ, the ORIGINAL "NEW MAN." So Christ must be "LEARNED’ AND RELATIONSHIP WITH Him must be RENEWED, A PROCESS IMPLYING INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP. Further, Christ must be PUT ON [v 24], a clothing metaphor, an allusion to baptism and the baptismal robe. We chant at the Sacrament of Baptism: "As many of you have been baptized into Christ, HAVE PUT ON CHRIST. ALLELUIA." While spiritual grace MAKES MAN HEAVENLY, RIGHTEOUSNESS IS BOTH A GIFT AND A GOAL, A PRESENT REALITY AND A PROMISE TO BE STRIVEN FOR.

____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George