Discovering Righteousness

If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself. He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. (John 7:17-18)

There are so many things in this short passage that I hardly know where to start or end. But what I do see is yet more universal principles that govern reality and that need to be understood if one wants to live in harmony with heaven.

One of these principles has to do with the definition of righteousness. I have been slowly learning over the years what this obscured word really means. It has been obscured partly because its original was translated into Latin and kept there instead of directly into common language hundreds of years ago. Latin became a code language used to complicate many concepts that did not need to be complex. Much of the confusion today in religion results from the deliberate obscuring of simple truths by religious leaders during the Dark Ages through this means so that common people could be controlled and kept in ignorance by a select few and the Bible was kept in an unfamiliar language.

Most of the confusing words we have inherited today in religion are a result of current translations being routed through the Latin before getting to us. Righteousness, justification, sanctification, propitiation etc., all of these words are a result of religion using Latin to create all sorts of interpretations instead of allowing the gospel to be clear and simple. As a result we find ourselves today working hard to unpack these big words and attempt to re-simplify them and make them practical for everyday people.

Jesus never used complicated words but always spoke in such simple terms that everyone could easily understand. At the same time He folded into His illustrations and teachings such profound truths and insights that the most educated were astonished at His wisdom. This was because Jesus was intimately familiar with the bigger picture, the truth about reality as heaven lives it instead of the confused and distorted ideas that we have about how life works. Thus, if we want to be shaped into harmony with the principles of heaven and be prepared to live in concert with the perfect beings who live there, we must immerse ourselves in the teachings of Jesus to learn from Him how to be molded for this future.

What I see in these verses is a clear explanation of the word righteousness. As with all true religion, it has to do with our state of mind, not a factual, external concept. Jesus came to demonstrate what righteousness looks like, but it was not through His working hard to keep from doing bad things to other people. In this passage He explains that true righteousness means that a person has the orientation of living totally selflessly, living for the glory of God. That expression too has been so over-used that it has become yet another cliché. What does it really mean to live for the glory of God?

When we begin to grasp the fundamental truth about the great war taking place in the universe between Christ and Satan, the great accuser of God, then everything else suddenly makes more sense. Lucifer, now Satan, long ago began this whole war by fabricating accusations about God's character while serving as the highest, most honored being in the universe in the role as chief covering cherub over the very throne of God. In this privileged position he was entrusted with the job of conveying to all other created beings revelations about what God is like. Because of the incredible trust placed on him by both God and everyone else, he was in a unique position to also deceive the most because of his advantage.

He exploited his position to circulate false ideas about God that created such tension that the time finally came when there was no longer any acceptable place for him to live in heaven. He had over-stayed his welcome there and now is restricted to living here on this earth where he seeks to deceive and confuse as many as possible to take them down with him in his demise. The fundamental lie that he spreads about God is that God is not totally selfless and loving or worthy of total trust. Given the circumstances, God can be forced to act in ways other than loving and selfless, that in extreme circumstances God will defend Himself and will resort to force or intimidation and violate our freedom to get His way.

The primary reason that Jesus came to this sinful planet was to refute these false charges against His Father before all the universe. He was to do this by living out the fundamental principles that make up the character of God and that shape reality as God defines it. These principles of reality are the governing guidelines that create harmony and unity for all who abide by them. To live outside these principles is to create disharmony and to disconnect from the only system that provides for our very existence. The most fundamental principle in God's way of living is totally selfless love and service for others.

God is love, and love is always completely selfless. 1 Corinthians 13 describes to a great degree what love looks and acts like. This is a description of God and is unfailing. God never acts or works outside of that description of His character. Likewise, the “10 Commandments” are simply a description of His character of love (though most of them are stated in the negative). Both Moses and Jesus declared that those commandments could be summarized in two simple statements – to love God supremely and to genuinely love those around us like we love and care for ourselves.

Here in this passage, Jesus is restating this most fundamental principle that describes the truth about God and what He is like. Jesus came to demonstrate that truth by living solely for the sake of God's reputation. When one lives selflessly for the benefit of the reputation of the God they love and want to honor ahead of looking out for themselves, that is the plainest illustration of the true meaning of righteousness that can be found. Therefore, Jesus is saying here that as we are transformed into living for the benefit of salvaging God's reputation before all who are watching us rather than living for our own selfish desires, we are considered righteous, and that process is called in religious terms, 'cleansing us from all unrighteousness' or sanctification.

Again, unrighteousness is not so much doing bad things as it is being contaminated with selfishness. Because we are born in sin we are born naturally selfish. Jesus was not born in sin and did not inherit selfishness. However, He took on the nature of humanity in such a way so as to feel all of our weaknesses and be tempted in every way just as we are tempted. The problem many have with this concept is that they don't understand the truth about what real temptations look like. Most people think that our temptations are when we face opportunities to do 'bad things'. But real temptation is not at that point in our experience but was usually already succumbed to long before.

Real temptation is not about the bad things we want to do but is encountered when we desire to live for ourselves rather than laying aside our own priorities for the good of others. Self-preservation is the fundamental driving force behind all temptations and is part of being human. Jesus, while not selfish, did have the natural desire of every human for self-preservation and this was the level of all His temptations from Satan. If you carefully analyze every place where there are indications of Jesus being tempted, you will see that they always involved trying to induce Him to defend Himself or work miracles for His own benefit, not temptations to sleep with a woman or to steal something for Himself or some other violation of the external commandments.

It is extremely helpful to clarify the true nature of temptation and to understand what living in harmony with heaven involves. As we place everything into the context of the greater picture, all of the religious ideas and the principles revealed in the Bible suddenly come into clear harmony with each other and form a perfect whole. Living for the purpose of vindicating God against the false charges of His enemies and allowing God to transform us into examples of the power of His love is what being a Christian is all about. When we begin to grasp this most important truth, we can then be used by God to be far more effective witnesses for bringing this war to a close and reuniting us with the great family of heaven from which we have been mostly estranged all of our lives.

Father, I ask You to live inside of me by Your Holy Spirit and to place within my heart a burning desire to live for Your glory and Your reputation more than for my own. You are the one that has been put on trial before all of the universe. All of us are deciding if You are really worthy of being trusted, if You always tell the truth and if You are really fair all of the time. Forgive me for so often giving false testimony about You by giving others the impression that You are sometimes selfish. By calling myself a Christian and then acting selfishly I convey the message that You are like me.

Father, I want You to so transform me, to have You live through me Your selfless life of love and passionate service for the good of others, that Your name can be better vindicated. This is what it means to live for Your glory. I understand that this can only happen as I allow You to dwell in me and to capture all the affections and attentions of my own heart. Continue the healing and molding process You have begun in me and use me to bring honor to Your reputation today and for the rest of my life. Make me willing to do Your will so that I will know the truth about what is real, what many people call 'doctrine'. Capture my heart with fresh revelations of Your incredible beauty and loveliness that will turn me into a magnet that can draw others to want to know You better for themselves.