What does being righteous mean to you? It can mean different things to different people. For some, it can mean perfection, never doing anything wrong. For others, it can be the process of moving toward perfection, even if never achieved. What if righteousness did not depend on us?
In the strictest sense, righteousness is perfection. Yet, we all know that only God is perfect. We also know that only one person who walked this earth did so perfectly, that being Jesus. Through His perfection, God’s grace, and God’s love for us, we are considered righteous.
As the Psalmist writes, Jesus is the gate of righteousness. Because of Jesus dying on the cross and being raised on the third, the gate of righteousness is opened to all. It is our decision to walk through the gate or remain on the outside. When we walk through the gate of righteousness, by the waters of baptism and accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become righteous by the blood of Jesus.
As we realize the amazing grace of God that allows us to be righteous, we naturally give thanks to God. Our eyes are opened, and we understand that we could never be righteous on our own. It is Jesus who is the gate by which we enter righteousness. It is in Him that we are washed clean of our sin. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that changes us into the person God made us to be.
Therefore, give thanks to the Father for his wondrous plan to redeem us. Give thanks to Jesus for obeying the will of the Father. Give thanks to the Holy Spirit for working in our lives to make us into the person we were created to be. Give thanks for the righteousness of Jesus that covers us when we walk in Him.
Psalm 118:19-20
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
Marty Pressey 