The Pursuit of Righteousness

"He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."I Peter 2:24 (ESV)

I've been studying through the book of I Peter lately, and last week I came across the verse above.  Sometimes it seems like a verse jumps off the page and slaps you around a little bit, and this was one of those verses.  The majority of this verse is paraphrased from Isaiah 53, an incredibly beautiful chapter which is quoted on multiple occasions throughout the New Testament and which speaks of Christ's sacrifice for us.  Isaiah 53 is certainly among my favorite passages, and it usually stands out supremely in my readings, but this morning I couldn't help but pay particular attention to the rest of the verse: "that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." 

Many of us often spend time thinking fondly on how Christ has saved us from eternal condemnation, which is certainly something to be thankful for.  We consider how He has saved us from hell and freed us from the bondage of sin.  We see the beauty of Isaiah 53 in it all, and we're appropriately filled with gratitude for the many things that Christ has lovingly saved us from.  But how often do we ponder on what He has saved us to?  We glory in what's been done for us, meanwhile we skim right past the response God requires of us, which is to acknowledge His gracious gift of salvation by, in turn, dedicating ourselves to pursuing righteousness. 

Righteousness is not a hobby.  It's not a supplement that we add to our secular life in order appease our conscience by surrendering a small portion of ourselves to God.  Righteousness is not merely additive; it's indicative.  Righteousness is a life in pursuit of God's righteous character, a life which seeks to be conformed to the righteousness of Christ, a life typified by the righteous fruit which flows from being led by the Spirit.  It's a life devoid of sin.  And while we acknowledge that we will never achieve perfection in our earthly quest for righteousness, this does not excuse us from purposefully chasing after righteousness.

I'm convinced that one of the largest fallacies of the church in America is our startling ability to separate our secular life from our Christian life. True Christianity shows no such distinction. True Christianity urges us to righteousness and will ultimately seek to reconcile the secular to Christ, intending for the secular to be entirely consumed by the righteousness of Christ. 

But how do we do this?  How do we pursue righteousness?   Psalm 1 gives us two basic characteristics of a righteous man.  First, he does not associate with those who exemplify a life of sin.  He avoids such associations, recognizing the danger and subtle cunning of sin.  Secondly, he delights in the word of God.  He thinks on it day and night.  It characterizes his thoughts, and it dictates his actions. 

This second characteristic reminds me of Psalm 119.  The author of this particular psalm desired to be counted faithful and righteous by God, and thus he describes a life dominated by the word of God.  He sums it up well in the following three verses:

9   "How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.
10  I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
11  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

I picture this psalmist as one who woke up early in the morning in order to pray and meditate on God's word, one whose thoughts were saturated by what he had studied.  He sought after God with all his heart, desperately desiring to know Him, belong to Him and be obedient to Him.  He was committed to memorizing the word of God, understanding it's amazing ability to convict him, encourage him and ultimately transform his secular life into the life he desired in Christ.  I picture him as someone that I would like to be.  So here's to being faithful to not only reading God's word, but to diligently hiding it in our hearts, so that we might not sin against Him.