The House of the Righteous: Part 1
Established in Righteousness
Matt recently preached a message to a wonderful group of people—all different denominations and circles—in a barn in the middle of the country in the town of Sedalia, MO. The title of his message was "Believe Unto Righteousness." Do you know, I have not been able to stop thinking about how I AM the righteousness of God in Jesus? It got me stirred up about righteousness!!
You might think, "Cool, but what does righteousness have to do with marriage?" Well, a lot more than can be shared in one letter... but to begin, the environment of our home directly affects our marriage, and the state of our marriage directly affects the environment and spirit within our home. In saying this, I found out the Bible has much to say about the "house of the righteous."
In the First Covenant, many people lived in tents, and back then, the Bible would refer to it as "the tent of the righteous." Other times, the Bible says "the dwelling place of the righteous" or where they "dwell."
For all of us, it's talking about our home—where we live. And if you are God's people, you are "the righteous," and your home is "the house of the righteous," or at least it should be.
The wicked are overthrown and are no more, But the house of the righteous will stand. (Proverbs 12:7)
The Bible is full of wonderful promises for the house of the righteous! If we want our house to stand, it will need to be a “righteous” house. What should the house of the righteous look like? What should our homes look like?
This is such a fun topic for me because finding this out will give us a solid goal to reach. The Bible says that without vision—or without something to reach toward—the people perish (Prov. 29:18). And I don't know about you, but for me, if the Word of God has something to say about it, then I want to know it, I want to be it, I want to do it, and I want to live in it. That's where the best life is for us and our families!
Before I go on, I want to address something that, even now, I can sense some of you are thinking: But I don't feel righteous. My family doesn't always do things "right," and I don't always consider us "the house of the righteous." Sometimes, we mess up, and sometimes, we don't honor God as we should.
If that's you, let me give you some good news. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you belong to Him. Those who belong to Him ARE righteous because of the IN-JESUS position they now hold as a Son of God (Ephesians 1&2).
Quite a few years ago, the Lord said something to me that has stuck like glue. It's something that has stayed with me and comes back up to my heart repeatedly. He said, "My Goodness has nothing to do with how good you've been. It has everything to do with how good you [believe] I AM."
An aspect of God’s Goodness is the free gift of righteousness that He has bestowed upon every person who believes in and receives what He did for them in Jesus. God's Goodness encompasses God's righteousness. If our experiencing God's Goodness in our lives has nothing to do with our own goodness, then the same would be the case for experiencing God's righteousness in our lives—it has nothing to do with our own righteousness and everything to do with our believing we are righteous IN HIM and living like it.
Should I remind you of the well-known Scripture that most all of us got saved on? Romans 10:9-10…
…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (NKJV)
Salvation and righteousness work hand in hand! And what about this one?
…be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor. 5:20-21, KJV)
How about one more for good measure?
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption… (1 Cor. 1:30, KJV)
And to really top it off, one more:
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested… Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe… (Romans 3:21-22, KJV)
And now for the cherry on top:
For if, by the trespass of the one man (Adam), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! (Romans 5:17, NIVUK)
Okay? Are we settled? Now that we've established that we ARE righteous in HIM, we believe it by faith and walk in it. But what if something in our lives/homes/households doesn't resemble that righteousness—something that just isn't matching up?
In the Book of First John, the Bible says that we can be cleansed from ALL UNrighteousness, and he (by the Spirit of God) was talking to Christians. He was talking to the already-made-righteous ones. He said that if anybody sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1), and the Blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. It is an ongoing, ever-present cleansing and washing that we LIVE in. We are to live in the cleansing river of the Blood of Jesus every day. And then verse 9 tells us what else we are to do as we live and walk in the cleansing righteousness of Jesus:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9, KJV)
When we mess up, we immediately turn the focus off of our unrighteousness and directly onto what Jesus did for us through His Blood. I mean, the very "moment" we confess our sin, we are entirely washed clean. As soon as we confess our sins, we magnify everything Jesus did to make us right with God. At that point, we continue to believe we are the righteousness of God that we've been MADE.
Our righteousness in God has nothing to do with what we've done "right." It is a position we have been born into when we became born again. It's who we are now as Christians—we ARE righteous (Ephesians 2).
Righteousness is a free gift within salvation that we are to receive and walk in. God made us righteous, but we are the ones who need to build ourselves in this truth. If we are going to partake in the righteousness we've been MADE—if we are going to BE the house of the righteous—then we need it established on the inside of us!
Our being righteous in Jesus is a truth we must solidly establish within ourselves and our children, too! Our children should have a strong foundation of righteousness built within them. It is who they are in Christ, and as leaders of our households, it is our responsibility to foster an environment that teaches and promotes the righteousness of God in Jesus, within us and our children.
All God's children need to be taught in righteousness. Instead of teaching our children to be aware of their sins and mess-ups, we teach them how they are righteous in Jesus. We teach them to be more aware of the Blood of Jesus and the righteousness of Jesus on the inside of them than of where they are coming short! We teach them that IN HIM, they are everything; without Him, they are nothing. We teach them that righteousness is not a feeling based on what they've done, but a position in God they partake of as a way of life.
This kind of environment in our homes frees our spouses and children from shame and condemnation and allows all of us to live with the freedom and awareness that God's love and Jesus' Blood is more significant and greater than all our sin! In this kind of home, we have power over sin!
I want to share with you a Scripture passage that reveals what our children and marriages look like when we have a strong foundation of righteousness established within our households:
All your children will be taught by the Lord, and your children will have unlimited peace. You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression, so you will not be afraid. You will be far from destruction, so it won't come near you. "If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing. Whoever attacks you will be defeated by you. (Isaiah 54:13-15, GW)
I don't know about you, but just reading this passage excites me (and I don't think it's the coffee)!! Reread it if you have to!
What happens when our families and our children are established in righteousness as a household? What happens? Look back at the verse again, and I'd like to bring out five particular points:
1. Unlimited Peace
2. No Fear
3. No Destruction
4. Confidence
5. Victory Every Time!
In the next letter I’d like to expound a bit more on each of these points but today serves as a preview of good things to come!
If you can teach and establish this mindset and thinking of righteousness (being God minded instead of sin minded)—within your children, marriage, household, and yourself—all five of these points are YOURS. They belong to you, yours to have. These promises of great peace, no fear, no destruction, confidence in Him, and VICTORY in every area of your life all come to those who are established in righteousness.
Righteousness built within you will cause you to rise above every struggle, every problem, every temptation, every issue, every attack from the enemy. You will see major changes in your marriage and your children. As you establish this within you, you will surely see and experience your home becoming the "house of the righteous."
Lest you think I didn't give you enough Scripture, I have one last one for you today that will further this truth within you. Being established in righteousness has an effect. What is that effect?
The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation and in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places… (Isaiah 32:17-18, MEV)
Peace and quiet. Everyone with me, one big sigh, "Aaaaaah."
Together, as we build the righteousness of God within our hearts and minds, casting down every thought of the enemy that comes against that righteousness—and teaching our children the same—we will experience the peace and quiet, the confident assurance of faith, and the security and rest that Jesus paid so great a price for His people to experience in their homes.
Amen!
Stay tuned for Part 2!
Love you all,
Matt and Jess