WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?
Will Jesus Christ find 10 righteous people in your city when He returns and is revealed?
Are you one of Christ's righteous saints that He will receive be taken for protection and safety through the great tribulation?
All members of the Churches of God, and churches of all Christianity and all religions are either instruments of righteousness or instruments of unrighteousness and wickedness?
Which are you?
Do you really know? Are you a righteous, a faith and spirit filled commandment keeping saint, who has been given eternal life, and who is daily praying to be accounted worthy to escape the earth's and your city's destruction, or are you an unrighteous, commandment breaking church going sinner headed for death and destruction? You are either one or the other!
How can a member really know if he is a righteous member of Jesus Christ or an unrighteous sinning member professing to be of Jesus Christ?
The primary reason for this problem of not knowing what is righteousness is because ministers, church pastors and evangelists of the Churches are not teaching you righteousness, and how you can be filled with righteousness and this is all because they do not know "WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS." In fact they are really teaching a big lie that no one can be righteous and holy before God. By their fruit they are proving this fact of truth to church members who are awake and alert and discerning. These false pastors go about preaching and teaching to its members that the church, the body of Jesus Christ are all sinners and cannot keep God's 10 commandments. They all run to I John 1:8 and Rom.7:5-23 as their favorite Scriptures to try and prove that they are not in error by taking this verse and verses out of their context and in clear contradiction to many other verses in this chapter and all chapters of I John and many verses in Paul's writing to prove that they are in error.
This message that they teach that no one can live without daily committing sin is a clear message from Satan and a message that manifests them as his ministers, but appearing as ministers of light. Nearly every professing Christian church member accepts this lie and false teaching and so each member believes he will always be a sinner, but still somehow believes he can be and will be saved from his sins at the resurrection of the saints when he or she believes they are born again. This is another big lie that the false preachers teach as being the teaching of Jesus Christ. This false teaching means that a person does not have to overcome his sins in his life. Church members accept this false teaching and somehow believe that Jesus Christ will have to accept them as sinners into His Kingdom or else none would be saved and none would be accepted for His Kingdom. Everyone must then ask, why did Christ, who is all knowing, command His followers to " be you perfect,"Mat.5:48, if knew that His followers could not be perfect, meaning blameless without sin. If I John 1:8 means what these false preachers and pastors preach it to mean, that every saint of Jesus Christ sins every day, cannot live their life blameless, without sin even with the power of God's Holy Spirit empowering them to do so? We truly are in the days of churches, who are denying the power of God's Holy Spirit as the Scripture has stated it would be, II Tim. 3:5, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
The Scripture in I John 1:8 that these false preachers quote and which says "If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."However when you read verse 6 which reads "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness (sin), we lie and do not the truth." In plain words this verse is saying, if we are walking in darkness, daily sinning, and say that we have fellowship with Jesus Christ, John says you are lying and there is no truth in you. Is there a contradiction in these Scriptures? No, absolutely not. What John is really saying in verse 8 if you keep it in context all that he is teaching is this, If we are walking in darkness, that is we have sin in our lives, and then say we have no sin because we believe Christ forgives our lack of repentance, our lack of change in our lives, to stop our on going sins, we are deceiving our selves, and the truth is not in us. Now read I John 2:3-5 and then read I John 3:6-10 and then I John 5:2-3 in relation to what is taught here. If God's Spirit is leading you, then you will understand the truth here in these verses and will not be confused, if not, then Satan's Spirit is in command of your life, and you will continue in your deception of following the broad way of teaching, Mat.7:13, which will lead you to your destruction.
Paul in Rom. 7 is giving a flesh and spirit comparision, of being led by the flesh, or being led by the Spirit of God. Paul' life was led by the flesh until he was converted, and became righteous , justified, forgiven of his past sins, but after that, he was led by God's Spirit. Paul was not saying in these verses that in his present state at the moment in his life, that he is continually sinning, and was not able to prevent sinning, and was at that moment the world's greatest chief sinner. Paul is saying, that he had been a chief sinner and was showing how the person that follows his flesh works to serve sin and his flesh, not God's law and not righteousness in one's life. But when one repents of his sins, desires to follow Christ's Word is being converted to the leading of the Spirit of God, a person obeys God's commandments because he has repented and has accepted Jesus Christ's sacrifice, which covers our sin, justifies our sin, and so becomes righteous before Him at this time of conversion where one is converted from following his flesh to the leadership and following the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, and that point can live a blameless life, a complete and perfect life. Even if he after this breaks some aspect of God's law unknowly, Christ continues to forgive him knowing that when he taught to come to see this point of law breaking that he having God's Spirit will repent of it quickly to continue to live a blameless life.
What does the word PERFECT mean? The Greek word for perfect means as the word is defined in the Greek dictionary and God's Word, Ecclesiastes 12:13, Eph. 5:27, James 1:4, as being spiritually whole, complete, without blemish (sin), total, and fully mature in one's life, complete in the understanding of what is the manner and way of a true Christian. The false pastors teach that members cannot be spiritually complete, total, without spot and blemish, and cannot fully understand what is total obedience in keeping God's 10 commandments in order to become righteous. This is in fact teaching, that members of all the Churches of God and all of today's churches of Christianity cannot keep all of the 10 commandments without breaking one or more of them in their daily or weekly routine. They teach and say to their members that "nobody is or can be without spot and blemish, " that this is impossible, meaning nobody can become righteous, complete, totally submissive, without sin, totally obedient, and fully mature in understanding the keeping of God's commandments, even though the Scripture teaches we can be and should be to become a son of God. All things are possible with God and His Holy Spirit. One must grow in this faith if one really desires to gain salvation from Jesus Christ and be accepted into His Glorious Kingdom.
In plain words what they are saying and teaching is that no one can keep any one of the commandments and especially all 10 of them in order to be in total obedience, because what they, these false preachers, don't teach is, if a member can keep one of the commandments, then why can't he keep all ten? They leave out the truth that one can do so with with the help of God's Holy Spirit. Their kind of confusion is really discouraging to a God fearing and desiring to be obedient young church member to be told that he cannot please God because he cannot obey Him, I John 3:22? John says here in this verse - "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him , because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight." The truth and the fact of all this is denying God's power and teaching that no one can keep God's 10 commandments which is rebellion against God, despising His law, and is denying God's Power through the help of His Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ to help one to accomplish this obedience, and is doing spite ( treating with malice) to the Spirit of Christ's Grace. Paul said in the last days, in ll Tim. 3:5, men "will have a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
Paul says in Hebrews 10:26-31, - "For if we SIN WILLFULLY (that is your continuing to break God's 10 commandments or are compromising in your keeping of any one of them) after you have have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the SON OF GOD, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" These are real serious judgments against sinners, comandment breakers of those bashers who are troding down God's Holy Spirit of Grace.
When one teaches against keeping the 10 commandments, one is despising Moses law, which is God's commandments. This means if you are teaching that a church member can not keep Gods commandments, then that church member who is not proving all things from God's Word will believe that lie and will believe there is no punishment for willful sinning, the willful breaking of God's 10 commandments, then you are likewise despising God's law and are headed for a sorer punishment described in this verse. Please read what Christ says in Mat. 18:4-6. When any member of the body of Jesus Christ continues to sin as many professed Christians do and many claim that they do and are sinners, are they righteous in God's sight? No they are not, but are simply instruments of unrighteousness, yes sinners and not headed for paradise with eternal life as is preached, but headed for death and hell.
A second reason for church going people not knowing what is righteousness is because they do not have the faith in the true Christ, and have not been looking to Him by studying His Word and learning through His instruction and inspiration of God's Holy Spirit. Church people have been too busy serving their own created false christ. Once a church member does some study in God's Word on his own, he will realize and come to see that his or your minister just does not have saving knowledge and understanding about righteousness , and salvation. The more one studies the Scripture, the more one will come to see that his pastor has been putting on a big religious show before his followers, maybe sincere, but not filled with the Holy Spirit to teach Christ's teachings. One will soon come to see that his pastor is not spiritual, but has been relying on his own spirit and Satan's spirit, and has to rely on materials from the world's theologians and their twisting of the Scriptures to teach and try to impress you that he is a godly man, but does not have the fruit to prove it.
As church members study God's Word they will begin to see their pastors are filled with false knowledge of Scripture and lack true understanding of God's Word. They will soon see this "professed servant of God" does not really and truly know the real Jesus Christ, His Word, His true understanding of what Christ says through the inspiration given in His Word about righteousness . When you come to see this, then you will realize your pastor has been deceiving you and others, and you have been wasting your time in their fellowship and need to withdraw from him and his followers in order to really begin to overcome, to become a member of God's Kingdom. Make solid plans for your future based on Christ's Word or your life will come to a complete waste of time.
Pastors and evangelists, through their school taught theology and false teaching, are very deceptive by their teaching that God's law is too complex, too complicated for a spirit begotten Christian to keep without breaking one of its points, and then twist James 2:10-11 and other Scriptures to try to prove their twisted point. Or they will teach that Christ has done it all for us, that there is nothing we have to do to receive salvation and God's Power in our lives. All such preachers are total liars. Any member accepting their false teaching is accepting a teaching that is against Christ, is denying Christ and is denying the power of God and what His working Spirit can do in a true Christian's life. The Churches through their evangelists and pastors make the statement to their members that "nobody is perfect,"
The fruit of sin is death and every sinner who has not repented and stopped his sinning, which is the breaking of God's 10 commandments will sink with the ship of false Christianity and perish. These false statements from these false ministers are all self-defeating statements to church members and are messages continually being preached against God's law. This has been going on for centuries all across the land and world through missionaries and tracts! However, Peter in writing to the church in II Pet. 3:10-14 about the coming of Christ and the day of Lord, said that Church members should be diligent and be found without spot and blemish, meaning to be found without sin or breaking any point of God's law at the time of His coming. Christ teaches perfection and that complete obedience is possible in a person's life.
This false teaching about sin is all very confusing, discouraging, and faith destroying to a true righteous member of the body of Christ in who Jesus Christ is dwelling, and who is truly diligently obeying God and His commandments and has obtained righteousness in his life. How can a professing minister of Jesus Christ stand before church members in the authority of Jesus Christ and teach this deceitful and heretical teaching that all members of the body of Jesus Christ are sinners and will always remain sinners? This satanic teaching undermines, and confuses what is righteousness to ever member, and qualifies that minister as sitting in the office of Satan and as being an accuser of the brethren , Rev. 12:10. Any brethren who has repented of breaking God's 10 commandments and has through Jesus Christ been justified of his past sins and is not daily or weekly breaking any of God's 10 commandments, stands before God as His righteous saint, without spot or blemish and not as a church sinner. Jesus Christ says in I John 3:7"Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as He (Christ) is righteous." and in verse 6 He says "Whosoever abides in Him (Christ) does not sin: whosoever sins (continues to sin) has not seen Him, (Christ), neither known Him."
This satanic teaching of these false ministers could destroy the faith, if possible, of the righteous members of the Body of Christ, if these brethren permit them to do so by continuing to listen to them through their sermons and tape messages.This is the reason Jesus Christ said "beware of false ministers and you can know them by their fruit," Mat. 7:15-16. These same false ministers of Satan who state that all members of the church are sinners, would also mean that all members are unrighteous . They explain away righteousness as just accepting Christ without repentance and obedience to Christ's commandments. This, in affect, is accusing all believers of being sinners by which they do not have proof, and if they did have proof, why not, for the love of those sinning brethren, go to them and point out their sin in a merciful and loving way. They need to point out to them which commandment they are breaking, be a true watchman as God defines a watchman, so they can take it to God in repentance to be freed from their sin and be lifted from the curse of sin and death.
James says to the brethren to the Churches of God and the churches of Jesus Christ in James 5:19-20 -- "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, (committing sin or teaching a lie, a false doctrine) and one converts him; 20, Let him know, that he which converts the sinner from the error (sin) of his way, shall hide (justify sin by covering over through understanding of God's Word and Christ's sacrifice) a multitude of sins,"
So to accept this false teaching by these false ministers, that all members are sinners, then one would have to come to the conclusion that all church members are instruments of unrighteousness and servants to sin. Study I John 3:8-10. In verse 8 Christ's Word says "He that commits sin is of the devil ---." Also, members, by these false teachings, would have to conclude all members, by being instruments of unrighteousness, are no different from all the sinners out in the world. Then, why do people play church and even have church fellowships? All church fellowships by all of this false teaching about sin are religious excerises in futility! This is the reason why some church members are asking the question "WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS?"
These same ministers teach that members who are obeying all of God's commandments in their fullness are doing this to work out justification of their sins. This is a lie! These righteous saints of Christ realize that only Christ's sacrifice can justify sins, however, they also know the Scriptures that Christ requires repentance with obedience to God's commandments to be accepted for His justification of sins as His Scripture correctly points out, Rom. 2:13. These false ministers are undermining these brethren for their submission and their desire to obey the will of their Father and Jesus Christ. These highly inflated, false ministers are thereby making void the power of Christ through His Holy Spirit working in a member to help keep him free from sin and its ultimate penalty of death. With this kind of terrible heresy, subtle lies, deceitful workings and teachings of these ministers, this all makes Satan's job easy in his deceiving of believers, and is it any wonder why some are asking the question WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS ?
Why do the Churches of God members tolerate this heresy and deceitful teaching from their minister? Really, isn't it because they have been taught to fear and worship the ministry, its idol shepherd and its false, idol Christ through its "In The Truth Sacred Cow" system of beliefs, that members are still following today. Satan is really happy with his ministry because his ministers are certainly accomplishing his objective, to cause as many members as he can to not understand about being saved, by not overcoming their sin and not seeing the need to repent of their sins. In a subtle deceptive way, Satan's ministers are teaching that Christ will accept sinners into His Kingdom. If you believe that sinners will be accepted for salvation without works of repentance, obedience, and faith please find that verse in the Bible. So if brethren by Satan's desire will just accept this false teaching, that they will always be sinners and can not overcome sin, and by them accepting this heresy, this will cause them to let their guard down. They will not do what they need to do to be filled with God's spirit in order to beware of and resist the temptation of sin to overcome sin, they are headed for death and not eternal life.
There was a false teacher in Paul's day, who Paul blinded because this false teacher sought to turn away a member that desired the truth of God. Paul called this false prophet a child of the devil, enemy of all righteousness, and told him, when will he not cease to pervert the right ways (the righteousness) of God, Acts 13:6-11. Will the ministers of the churches of God and all of today's churches of Christianity have to be physically blinded to see or be left to go through the dark days of the great tribulation to be able to see the spiritual light of Jesus Christ and see and understand what is true righteousness? Satan's ministers appear before the church as ministers, apostles, and evangelists of light, but is it the light of Jesus Christ or really the darkness of Satan, and his called and deceived ministers II Cor. 11:12-14?
It is true and a fact that there are sinners, many sinners in the professed Christian churches, and in those churches referring to themselves as the true churches of God and Jesus Christ. In those chruches there are members and ministers bearing the evil fruit of fornication (committing unlawful sex acts, shameful sex acts, and many sinning by just living together without commitment, and many living in adultery). Many church people are bearing the evil fruit of being an idolater (worship of men, office, and power and authority), and many ministers bearing the evil fruit of extortion (stealing uncommanded extra tithes from the sheep and calling it the commands of God). Others bear the evil fruit of being covetous (lusting for money and power), and bear the sins of deception as liars (teaching false doctrines, a perverted gospel and try to justify their sins by teaching that all members are sinners, but yet believe they have been born of God). Others bear the fruit of sin as Sabbath profaners (working or working someone on the Sabbath), and many, many professed church members do not even recognize God's Holy Sabbath, much less keeping it as Christ has commanded. And all of them sit or stand in a church fellowship every Sabbath or the first day of week, Sunday, appearing before each other as if they are the saints of God, headed for the Kingdom of God. They all see Jesus Christ as all mercy and not as the coming judge over all the earth and over their on going sins! There will come the condition of the gritting and knashing of teeth for not doing what they were commanded to do with their lives.
However, at the same time there are members in the church who take obeying Christ, His 10 commandments and all His statutes and judgments very serious by their diligent effort of studying to know God's law and are obeying His 10 commandments and teaching others to do so. They are studying to really know the true Christ and believe in what He teaches, and accept Him and His Grace, and because of these things, are His righteous saints, and are not sinners, because Jesus Christ knows them and is living in them through the power of His Holy Spirit. Christ is directing their life and helping them daily to overcome sin through His Spirit, and even to help keep them from being tempted to break His law.
These members are not sinners, but the righteous of the church and living a life of righteousness, but are accused of being sinners by Satan and his ministers of today's churches! These righteous members are accused of being judgmental and legalists, meaning by their definition of legalism, because these saints are by their wholehearted behavior obeying Christ and His 10 commandments and are working out their own salvation, but at the same time are accused by these false ministers of working out their justification of sin by obeying the law which is a lie . Satan and his ministers are trying to make these righteous brethren feel toward themselves that there is no difference between them, God's righteous law keepers, and the unrighteous law breakers, the unrighteous in the church who have created their own false Christ of no law and accepted his name. These false ministers openly teach that all are sinners. This is the discouraging situation in the churches today. These ministers, and all who are the unrighteous, and sinners of the church, will have to repent of their sins or perish. Christ is making manifest today those who are born of God, daily being guided by His Spirit, and are not committing themselves to sin, and those who are manifesting themselves as the sinners, committing to the ways of the flesh, and sin, and are showing themselves as the children of devil, I John 3:8-10.
Yes, but many will say "there were all kinds of sinners in the church in Paul's day," and yes, if you will read further, you will see what Paul told them all, "that unless they repented they will not inherit the kingdom of God and will perish." Read it in I Cor. 6:8-10. Likewise John in the book of Revelation and his writing of giving Christ's message and warning to the seven Churches of God , corrected and warned them by saying to them, "to repent and to overcome their sin, or have their name taken from the book of life," eternal life in God's Kingdom. Somehow ministers and brethren don't seem to get these messages and don't take these verses and the warning of these verses very serious! Why is this? It is because of the lies and errors of the deceptive, Scriptural teaching of all of the false ministers that they have been following in all of the professed false Christian Churches, and the other false Churches of God, and all false religions of today!
God's Word plainly says in Romans 6:12, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof," and in verse 13, "Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Romans 6:16, "Know you not that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." How can so called professed Christians just by-pass these Scriptures as if they don't exist? Hatred against God's law is one reason, Rom. 8:7, and another reason is they will not become as a little child in order to become converted, Mat. 18:3.
What is righteousness? David says in Psalms 119:172--- "for all your (God's) commandments are righteousness." Is God through David teaching in this verse that the keeping of God's commandments is all that constitutes righteousness, and that righteousness comes by the law? However, when one reads what Paul says in Galations 2:21-- "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain," these 2 verses seem to some (for those that cannot understand Paul) to cause a serious problem with the teaching of Christ's Word about righteousness. These 2 verses as taught by some are taught to be in conflict or contradictory. Does God say one thing in one verse and something contradictory in another verse? Why don't ministers teach there is unity of the Spirit and Word of God in these verses along with all other verses relating to righteousness and all of God's Word? Is it because they just don't want to understand about righteousness and what the Bible teaches is the true meaning of righteousness?
Some verses of Paul's writings teach that righteousness comes through faith. Look at Romans 3:21-22, "But the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnesses by the law and the prophets." Verse 22, "Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ upon all them that believe." But John says in his writing that righteousness comes from doing righteousness, I John 3:7---- "whoever does righteousness is righteous." This to some presents a problem, but is there a problem, or is it a lack of understanding the Gospel of Christ because members have been focusing on perverted gospels about a hierarchical church government all their life, or about a false "Christ of no-law," and a faith-only salvation?
Throughout God's Word there are verses that teach, that the keeping of the commandments is what constitutes righteousness, and there are other verses that say plainly, that believing and having faith in Jesus Christ is the meaning of righteousness. Which one of these meanings is true righteousness, or is there a contradiction in God's Word, or could it be a lack of understanding and lack of study on church members' and pastors' part that has permitted a distortion of what righteousness means? Church of God ministers and Christian Church pastors and teachers tend to go in circles at times to teach one meaning at one time, and the other meaning at other times, not connecting the lines or dots. This is confusion and will eventually turn away discerning people from the faith if they are desiring to hear the Word of God and live by His Word. Christ says in Mat.6:33-- "But seek you first the Kingdom of God and His RIGHTEOUSNESS and all these things shall be added unto you," meaning, God will supply all your needs if you put first in your life, understanding how you can be accepted in His Kingdom by seeking and achieving His Righteousness. Have you been seeking God's righteousness by studying Scripture, or has it been by listening to your false minister and his corrupted, twisting of the Scriptures, and it has caused confusion in your mind about righteousness?
What is wrong, and what is missing in the system of beliefs proclaiming to be the "plain truth," or the "full truth" or the True Word" of God whereas ministers, yes, high-ranking ministers, high up the hierarchical ladder as evangelists, along with its members, who do not and cannot explain the meaning of righteousness as is found in the Word of God? Your salvation is depending upon you knowing the answer to this greatly, misunderstood truth, doctrine, and teachng of God!
The words righteous and righteousness have been inspired to be written into God's Word over 500 times! Did you get that number, 500 times? Yet, church members and ministers still do not understand its meaning! The meaning of the similar Hebrew and Greek words for righteousness as found in the Greek and Hebrew dictionaries can be simplified by meaning this: TO DO RIGHT (keep God's commandments) and TO BE MADE RIGHT (be justified of one's sins). In simple, plain terms, righteousness means from these words, to do what is right, lawful--obeying God's 10 commandments and their statutes, and to be made right--through repentance and accepting Christ as Savior who can forgive all our sins in order to to be justified of our past sins, by being forgiven and cleansed of our sins. These dictionary meanings agree with God's Word as to the meaning of righteousness except for one thing, and that is the lacking of the power of God's Holy Spirit and its work in the understanding of the meaning and of the definition as the word RIGHTEOUSNESS is fulfilled, or only can be fulfilled in one's life.
However, in every place of God's Word where the word righteousness appears, you the reader, must determine by spiritual discernment the context of the meaning of the word righteousness, if the writer is referring to keeping God's commandments (doing what is right), or is he referring to justification, (being made right-justified) by believing and accepting in faith the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, for the remission of one's sins. There are different Greek words that have been translated righteousness. In many verses and passages of Scripture, the word righteousness is pertaining to both meanings as to be its total meaning as it pertains to salvation. This will greatly help one in their study of righteousness as it appears in His Word.
Everyone must remember that righteousness pertains to salvation, and the word righteousness, must always include both meanings: DOING WHAT IS RIGHT and BEING MADE RIGHT when it is being referred to salvation. In other words, you cannot accept one meaning without the other meaning, in being accepted for receiving the gift of salvation. In fact, a sinner cannot be accepted for justification of his sins unless he has repented of breaking God's 10 commandments, and has committed himself to obeying God's 10 commandments. This is the reason Paul said in Romans 2:13, "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified." Even though it is not keeping the law that justifies, but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and one's acceptance in faith of His sacrifice, is what justifies one's sins, Romans 3:28, - "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." However, before one can be justified, one must be repentant of breaking God's law and committed to obeying God's commandments before Christ will accept Him for justification , or else there is no forgiveness of sin and no receiving justification, and hence no giving of salvation.
At this point of one's conversion and understanding "WHAT IS RIGHTEOUSNESS" and a member's desire to achieve the righteousness of God, God gives this baptized member a small portion of His Spirit. However, this gift-giving of God's Spirit to a member can only come about after a member of the body of Jesus Christ has committed himself to doing what is right, meaning, he repents of breaking God's commandments and he desires to wholeheartedly be committed to obeying God's 10 commandments, His law of love. This good work and action of DOING WHAT IS RIGHT (obedience), is followed closely with his good work and action of believing in faith, that he can BE MADE RIGHT (justified of one's sins) by accepting in faith, Christ and His sacrifice, which means receiving justification - to be made right, to be forgiven and justified of one's sins of his past life. Unless God's Spirit is present in a church member the righteousness of God in a member cannot be achieved. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IS ACHIEVED BY DOING WHAT IS RIGHT AND BEING MADE RIGHT through Jesus Christ and power of His working Holy Spirit in a believer's life.
So every chosen son of God must come to the point in his life to know, understand and see the need for God's Spirit and to be filled with God's Spirit in order to complete God's righteousness and total conversion in one's life. Every believer must understand that conversion means being converted from fleshly mindedness to spiritual mindedness, to become a new, born again son of our Father and God now in this life, not at the resurrection of the saints! Church people lack understanding about being born again.
A child of God in need of achieving total righteousness and to become totally converted, must be a believer that has humbled himself and sees the need to be filled with God's Holy Spirit, and not to cut short the growth of God's Spirit in his life. God does not want a member to be contented with a small portion of His Holy Spirit, but wants you to realize the need to be filled with God's Spirit to the point in your life that you are daily led by His Spirit, and not by a fleshly mind and heart. You are to crucify the leadership that wants to follow the desires of your fleshly mind and heart. God will provide for you help as His power of His Spirit is needed, if you are seeing the need and desiring and praying for His additional help.
God very plainly and clearly says in Romans 8: 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, that any church member who is fleshly minded, it will mean his death, because he will not submit to the law of God, so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die, but if you put to death the deeds, or works of the body, or flesh, you shall live. For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
This information and understanding is what every church member needs to understand in order to know what is righteousness, and how righteousness must be achieved through what Jesus Christ has commanded of His followers to inherit God's Kingdom. Some of the false evangelists and pastors will look upon this as teaching legalism by their definition of legalism, as teaching justification of sin by one's works. But that is a lie!!!!!
This information plainly teaches what God requires of a sinner in order to be justified by Christ's sacrifice in order to become righteous. If you study this information and message carefully from God's Word, you will see and understand what is righteousness, and will see, this is Christ's message given from the teaching of God's Word to you for your salvation! You then could be one of the few righteous people that Christ will find on this earth at His revealing, which will be His leading out of His righteous ones to a safe place and that He will protect and account worthy to escape all the destruction and death coming upon this earth and coming very soon if you are watching and discerning what is happening daily in our society and governments.
Paul says in II Tim. 2:19 "----Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." Iniquity means lawlessness, breaking God's commandments without shame and the understanding of love for God and our neighbor. We must become righteous if we desire to please God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ and to be accepted by them.