Be Righteous

God teaches us to be righteous in the eyes of God. And God grants salvation to the righteous.

Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.

In one parable, Jesus taught that we must be righteous in the eyes of God. The sense of righteousness we have on ourselves is not important. When God approves our righteousness, we can be blessed and receive salvation.

Luke 18:9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The self-righteousness of the Pharisee was denied and the repentance of the tax-collector was approved as righteous. All the forefathers of faith were approved by God as righteous; Noah, Abraham, Lot—all these were famous for their righteousness.

Genesis 6:9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

These verses teach us that they were considered as righteous in the eyes of God. Then among all others, why did God choose them and approve that they are the righteous ones? How can we be righteous in the eyes of God?

Deuteronomy 6:24  The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.

We can be righteous in the eyes of God when we keep and obey the laws and commands of God. Abraham was considered righteous because he believed in God and obeyed the commands and laws of God out of the faith in God. In the same way, when we have faith in God and obey the commands of God, we can be approved as righteous by God and receive blessings just like the forefathers of the faith.

For this reason, the bible teaches that the most important the characteristics of the saints in the last days are faith and obedience. Just like Noah and Abraham, we must have faith in God and obey the laws and commands of God.

Revelation 14:12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

Faith and obedience are the main features of the saints who are to be saved in the last days. To save those who do not know God and the laws of God, Christ came for the second time and restored all the laws of the new covenant that we may live by keeping them. Now God teaches us to obey the laws and commands out of faith in God. Just like Noah and Abraham let us obey the laws of God since we have faith in God. Then the laws and commands of God we have kept will become our righteousness, which lets us enter heaven.