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Having spent over a year now blogging on righteousness, I came upon an interesting sight the other day, and it was just as I was starting 2 Peter 3… the very last chapter in the bible containing the word “righteousness”.  The sight was a group of Christians witnessing on a street corner with signs telling people to repent.  I was struck to core by the one that read:

Romans 3:10
There is no one righteous
I immediately pulled over.  I wanted to tell this person that this isn’t true, because people can be accounted righteousness through belief and obedience of God.  Something about that sign, I cannot remember what it was, told me that this person was sending the wrong message.  The …

13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
Here it is, the last verse in the bible with the word righteousness in it, and the where the first message in the Bible on righteousness tells us that credits us with righteousness when we believe, the second tells us our obedience is our righteousness, the last verse tells us where that we can only have true righteousness when we are in Heaven.

This explains a lot. It helps explain why Genesis 15:6 says that we can only be accounted righteousness… because the home of righteousness is not of this world.

It explains why Deuteronomy 6:25 says our obedience is our …

 3First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
To my Young Earth Creationist friends, verse 5 is clear evidence that the earth is young.  Why?  Because Evolutionists do not believe that the earth was formed out of water and by water.  On the other hand, Genesis 1:2 says this about …

Wow.  I have been doing this word study on righteousness for nearly a year and a half, feeling at least in part like it is too much a distraction from Geocreationism to be posted on this blog… yet, perhaps out of laziness (I didn’t want to create another blog), I posted my entire venture through the verses on righteousness on this blog.  Now, I come to the last chapter in the bible that contains the word Righteousness, and I am simply floored.  What floored me?  Here is the last verse on righteousness, 2 Peter 3:13:
13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
It has been so easy …

So, here are. The last book in the bible on Righteousness!  I always found it interesting that the very first verse in the bible on righteousness tells us how to get it… believe God, and the 2nd tells us how to use it… obey God.  From there, scripture simply uses the terms, only occasionally referencing back to these two verses.  It’s like God did not assume we knew what righteousness was, and so made sure those first verses would tell us.  This set the stage for the rest of our word study this last year.  Well, now we come to the last book on righteousness, 2 Peter, and wouldn’t you know… God assumes we know what righteousness is by now!

In …

The actual righteousness verse is 1 Peter 2:24, which reads as follows:
24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
It’s a simple verse, but there’s a lot to it.  Primarily, what does Peter mean by living for righteousness?  Is he referring to believing, or to obeying?  In short, to obeying, because he speaking to a crowd that already believes, as he opens in his letter (emphasis mine):
 1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
      To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2who have been chosen according to the …

 13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

 17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers …

 1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
In other words, faith is believing God.  So, when we someone in scripture commended for great faith, they are being commended for believing God, who then credits them with righteousness so they can be counted among the rightous.  Their righteousness then manifests as obedience, and there obedience is what everyone saw, and what we read of in scripture.  What I find interesting is that the Old Testament does not often bare witness to these great people’s beliefs, but much more so to their actions.  The manifestation of their righteousnes is what we …

Love and hate. Righteousness and wickedness.  In God is the ability to love righteousness and to hate wickedness, and His Son has inherited this flawless trait…
8But about the Son he says,
   ”Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever,
      and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom.
 9You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
      therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
      by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
With righteousness as his sceptor, Jesus rules in justice.  What is justice?  It is blessing the wicked who turned good; cursing the good who turned wicked.  We tend to value human compassion over God’s justice, when justice is the higher value.

One problem man has is the flaw …

Warning: The following is a bit of a downer, but it is the next passage on righteousness.  I cannot help what the scripture says, but I cannot skip it just because it makes me uncomfortable…
 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

6For …