Righteousness - Doing the Right things Rightly

We are not saved by our righteousness. It’s a good thing, because we do a lot of wrong things, or perhaps a lot of right things wrongly. No, we are saved, first and primarily, not by our righteousness but by Christ’s righteousness. By faith in Him, He gives to us what we could not accomplish ourselves, and then, and only then, we seek to follow Him righteously - that is, doing the right things rightly. But what are the right things?

Some would go to the Ten Commandments, but I’m not sure whether we get the depth of it all, right from the beginning: “no other gods before Me.” It also ends with a tough demand: “you shall not covet.” Those are right things, and big things. If we find the Decalogue inconvenient, where do we go next? The short form these days seems to be “Love God, love neighbor.” Good direction, but short on the detail. What does it entail?

I would like to suggest two passages from the Bible that seem to outline the proper direction, one from the Old Testament, and one from the New. The first is from the prophet Micah, chapter 6 and verse 8. The first line answers the question we are asking:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:8 NAS95)

To “do justice” does not mean just to talk about it. It does not say to fix things in places where you have no influence. Where you live, in your setting, with people around you, do justice. This would naturally point you to “hard luck” cases and the disadvantaged. It leads to the second element, which is to love kindness. This translation, “kindness,” is very weak. It speaks of covenant love and loyalty. Love those to whom you are bound, your family, your church family, your community. And yes, be kind. And in all of this, you walk in the shadow of God’s presence and grace, not making a name for yourself, but giving glory to Him. That’s a start in doing the right things rightly.

Jesus faced off with the Pharisees and gave them a piece of His mind, that being the mind of Christ. Here is what He said:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; (Matthew 23:23 NAS95)

It seems that the Pharisees were doing some of the right things, but wrongly. It is wrong when we focus on minor issues and neglect major issues. If you give your spouse a birthday card, good for you, but not if you are cheating on him or her. Whatever the dumb card says, it is a lie. “Justice, mercy and faithfulness” are major. It seems that this NT passage mirrors the Old: the first elements line up; mercy corresponds with the covenant love and loyalty of Micah 6:8; and faithfulness can easily hold hands with a humble walk with God. The Pharisees were certainly in a place to help people who were hurting, but instead, they were counting and weighing the spice drawer. Jesus didn’t die for the spice drawer. He died for that neglected kid down the street. The Pharisees were also very good, extremely good, at keeping track of other people’s sins. This makes them experts at passing down judgment, which is not the same things as justice, and which is the exact opposite of mercy. Those who are called children of God have received a God-sized boatload of mercy, and we should be extravagant in sharing it with others who need it, and especially those who know that they need it. And then there is faithfulness, which means, in part, do things every day, starting today. May God help us to do the right things in the right way.