What do you think Righteousness is… ?

by | Nov 5, 2020 | Thoughts on the Parsha

Noah and Abraham were considered righteous. So, what does it mean to be righteous? 

Rabbi Sha’ul, Rabbi Paul had a great many problems in his congregation because of the confusion caused by those who would try and hijack the simple and freeing truth that righteousness is not earned through religious activity, but bestowed on us Y’HoVaH [יְהֹוָה]. He calls us righteous when we have faith in His plan of salvation and when we dutifully follow Messiah in obedience to the Written Torah. 

There is a duel blessing for doing so, both in Heaven and on Earth. How would we ever know how to love Y’HoVaH as well as love our neighbours if we discard the Written Torah—heaven forbid.

However, it’s another thing altogether to rely on our own ability to become righteous. We are surrounded by laws, regulations and statutes which take away our freedoms. Of course, many will say that these are necessary because they keep us free, but this is not true. Freedom comes by following God’s laws and His statutes. Yeshua sums this up beautifully when He sees the harm that religious bondage has on all who would come under its spell.

We demonstrate our trust by our actions. Yet we still make mistakes. Can we ever be perfect? How is it possible that Y’HoVaH [יְהֹוָה] expects us to be perfect? God says we should strive for this expectation: it can only be because He demanded the same thing from Adam, Abraham, Moses the Israelites and Yeshua. He demanded that they love and obey Him with all their heart, soul, mind and might—and He said they that it was ‘not too difficult’.

The main reason as I see it, is that Y’HoVaH [יְהֹוָה] cannot use us if we are not loyal to Him. Faith is not loyalty—thinking good thoughts, saying right things and doing good works demonstrate loyalty. Don’t you think?

Y’HoVaH [יְהֹוָה] needs us to demonstrate our faith through our works. How well we keep the commandments does not prevent us from entering Heaven, but it does determine how effective we will be once we are in His Kingdom. Matthew 5 is very explicit on this point.