The Crock Pot Theology. The practice of Righteousness. Become like Jesus. We are in a season where we are concentrating on becoming more like Jesus. Here is our cornerstone verse for this series. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. The work of the world is to conform you into its mold. God is doing a wonderful work called transformation. TODAY…We put into practice righteousness. We are going to take a look at righteousness as a two-pronged approach. What is it mean to be righteous and what is it mean to do righteous things. What does it mean to be a righteous person, and what does it mean to do righteous acts. Being right and doing right. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Right off the bat Jesus put a high priority on this thing called righteousness. We are to hunger for it. We are to thirst for it. We are to want more of it. We are to seek it out. We are to make it a first thing. The first prong is that righteous people are in right standing with God. Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. There was a man named Adam who chose to sin. He chose to go his own way. He chose against God. He didn’t do what God told him not to do because he didn’t believe God and he thought he knew better. His choice of sin introduced evil onto this planet. And now we all live with the consequences. One man. Adam. He failed us all. One man. Adam. Verse 18 says he brought condemnation. One man. Adam. Introduced all of this and now it’s in our DNA. We suffer with the same malady of sin and all of its consequences. We all sin. We all die. We all share in what Adam has done. But…2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The one who never knew sin. Took on himself my filthy disgusting sin. Every sin I committed. Every sin of humanity. The sinful nature that I was born with. And then the Scripture says in return for my sin, he gave me his righteousness. Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. 18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. In Adam we got sin. In Jesus we get the free gift of righteousness. In Adam we got death. In Jesus we got life. In Adam we got condemnation. In Jesus we are treated as if we have never sinned. Just as sure as you receive the sinful nature from Adam, the moment you give your heart to Jesus Christ you get the free gift of righteousness from Jesus. You get to stand rightly and rightfully before God – this is what righteousness means – you get to stand before God without any more guilt. Without any more shame. Without any more inferiority. Without any more condemnation. Without any more fear. Nothing more needs to be done. Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Proverbs 24:16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again… But there is a second prong to this plug. The first prong is being right with God. The second prong is being right with others. What God expects is for the righteous to act righteously. The righteous that only hunger to be right with God but also hunger and thirst for things to be done the way God wants them to be done on this earth. This is the other side of righteousness. The Bible has a lot to say about the practice, the doing of righteousness… 1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 1 John 2:29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. Righteousness is not only standing right with God but standing right with others. 1 John 3:17 But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. Righteousness is taking action to make things right when we see something that is wrong. Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Zechariah 7:9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another… Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Amos 5:24 But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Justice is on the heart of God. When the Bible talks about living righteously with others and pursuing justice in this world, 9/10 times it is talking about doing this for the poor, the vulnerable, the victimized, the marginalized, widows, orphans, foreigners. Because these people are on the heart of God, they should be in our heart too. Jesus came to make things right. In this passage we are being told to get personally involved in fighting for people with the system isn’t working for and for those people who have been taken advantage of. We can use whatever advantages we have on behalf of them. Jeremiah 9:23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” 25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh… Ezekiel 18:5 (MSG) “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— doesn’t eat at the pagan shrines, doesn’t worship the idols so popular in Israel, doesn’t seduce a neighbor’s spouse, doesn’t indulge in casual sex, doesn’t bully anyone, doesn’t pile up bad debts, doesn’t steal, doesn’t refuse food to the hungry, doesn’t refuse clothing to the ill-clad, doesn’t exploit the poor, doesn’t live by impulse and greed, doesn’t treat one person better than another, But lives by my statues and faithfully honors and obeys my laws. This person who lives upright and well shall live a full and true life. Let’s see what GOD can do! Pastor Brian Harrell