“Behold, the days are coming declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness’” (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

The words “righteous” and “righteousness” are some of the most common and important words in the Bible because the purpose of the Bible is to tell us how to be righteous. The word “righteous” is used in two ways in scripture: (1) As an attribute of God—right as opposed to wrong—pure as opposed to impure. (2) It is used in the sense of one being made right in God’s sight. It is the state of being declared “justified” or “innocent.” It comes to an individual by one’s faith and through God’s grace. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon defines it in these words, “The state acceptable to God which becomes a sinner’s possession through that faith by which he embraces the grace of God offered him in the expiatory death of Jesus Christ—the divine arrangement by which God leads men to a state acceptable to him.”

The one whom God raised for David as a righteous branch is Jesus Christ. About 150 years earlier, Isaiah had foretold that “a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). Jesus is from the lineage of Jesse and David (Matthew 1:5-6). Jesus Himself said, “I am the root and the descendant of David”(Revelation 22:16).

Yahweh Our Righteousness

Our text says that Yahweh is our righteousness. Jesus is Yahweh, the righteous branch of David and He gives us righteousness. How does that happen? Pure righteousness has no blemish of evil in it. It is pure and holy. Therefore, we realize the truth of Paul’s statement about human righteousness when he said, “There is none righteous, not even one”(Romans 3:10) which is a quotation from Psalm 14:1-3. Everyone may act in a righteous manner to some degree, but no one, except Christ, is perfectly pure. Yet, we can be declared “righteous.” How?

Because God is just, which means that He could not ignore sin, the debt of sin had to be paid. God demonstrated His righteousness in sending Jesus to pay that debt and declare us “righteous.” Paul explained this event when he described what God did—sending Jesus to pay for our sin. “For the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). God was just in that He did not ignore sin. He was the “justifier” in that He paid the penalty for sin. Jesus became the payment for sin so that through obedience to Christ, we could be declared “righteous.” John used the word “propitiation” to explain what happened. “Propitiation” means “a payment for sin.” John explained, “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world” (I John 2:1-2). Notice Jesus was “righteous”—pure, having no spot or blemish. He therefore could pay for our sins. Speaking of the fact that we became sinners by Adam introducing sin into the world and what Christ did in order to make us righteous, Paul wrote, “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

How to Appropriate that Righteousness

Peter explained to Cornelius how everyone is to appropriate that righteousness. He said, “In every nation, the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:35). When one does what is right, he is declared righteous and “is welcome to Him.” Peter then “ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:48). When one is baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4), he, symbolically, reaches the blood of Christ which washes away one’s sins (Acts 22:16), and the one being baptized is declared righteous. Later, the apostle John explained, “If you know that He is righteous you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him” (I John 2:19). All of God’s commands are righteousness (Psalm 119:172). Thus, as we obey the righteous commands of God, starting with baptism, we then become righteous and continue to be righteous by continuing to practice God’s commands.

The Corinthians an Example

Our sin makes us unrighteous. Since we did not have anything to pay the debt of sin, God paid it for us by sending His Son to die on the cross (Romans 3:21-26). That gift is called “grace” (Romans 3:24). That grace has been extended to all (Titus 2:11). But grace, like any gift, can be accepted or rejected. Thus, if we want to accept God’s gift of grace, we must meet the conditions He has given. Christians in Corinth are an example as to how grace is accepted. Paul reminded them “that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (I Corinthians 6:9). Although they were sinful, they were declared righteous so that they could inherit the kingdom. Here is what they did: “Many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized” (Acts 18:8). Paul later explained. “You were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:11). The Greek word for “justified” is the same word that is translated “righteous.” It is the same root word that is translated “unrighteous” in verse nine. How did Jesus become their righteousness? They accepted the message of Jesus and were immersed in water so that they were declared “righteous” or “justified.” Their sins were washed away by the blood of Christ. Christ is our righteousness!

Yahweh is our righteousness, only if we have been obedient to the righteous commands of God. Is Christ your righteousness? If not, why not? 

wayne@rockymountainchristian.com