Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6)

Have you ever been so hungry or thirsty that you grabbed anything and everything you could find to quench your thirst or hunger? You have probably heard stories of people stranded somewhere without any food or water. They resorted to extreme measures to have their physical needs quenched -- perhaps eating bugs, worms, leather shoelaces, or drinking from a sea of salt water.

Jesus described our desire for righteousness as a hungering and thirsting. We should want to be righteous (“right with God”) to the point of doing whatever it takes (Scripturally) to gain that relationship. Are there things in life we need to get rid of – bad relationships, too much entertainment, bad habits, improper attitudes – that are keeping us from being close to God? Or are there things we need to add to our lives – studying the Bible more, repairing broken relationships, a commitment to meeting with our brothers and sisters in Christ as often as possible? When we do these things, we show our hunger and thirst for righteousness.

After you have had a large, cold glass of water (or milk) or a favorite meal, you feel good inside. Not only that, but your life is renewed and sustained. The same should be true when we “are filled” after hungering and thirsting for righteousness, which Jesus promises. We should have an inner peace knowing we have a relationship with our Creator and a reward in heaven. And our spiritual “life” is renewed and sustained for an eternity

Living for God in our New Life

The apostle Paul made it clear that we are either slaves of sin or slaves of righteousness. The entire sixth chapter of the book of Romans talks about the change Christians make when they chose to follow God, put off the “old man” and his sinful life in baptism, and rise to “walk in newness of life.”

Baptism represents more than just a cleansing from sins: it demonstrates that we have committed ourselves to a new way of life dedicated to God. When we put away our old life enslaved to sin, that isn’t where our new birth ends. Paul says, “And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

Not only do we put aside certain things, but we are to add certain characteristics as we grow in Christ. Paul, in Galatians 5:22-23, describes the fruit of the Spirit as “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

In addition, a servant of the Lord “must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition” (2 Timothy 2:24-25). As we grow in Christ, we are to "add" to our faith "virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love" (2 Peter 1:5-7). If we possess these characteristics in our lives, we will be fruitful for the Lord.

When we make the decision to no longer let sin rule our lives, we do so by “obeying from the heart that form of doctrine to which we were delivered” (Romans 6:17). Obedience is necessary, and it must come from the heart. God is just as concerned about our motivation for following Him as He is about what we do. It's also important that our obedience is in accordance with the doctrine the apostles delivered by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. A sobering scene is depicted by Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23: "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" These individuals thought they were doing something good for the Lord, but their acts were not recognized by Jesus because they were not in accordance to God's will.

Although we will from time to time fail and stray from following God, the grace of God does not give us a license to continue in sin. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” Returning to our former life of continual, willful, deliberate sin should be just as repulsive as a dog returning to eat his own vomit or “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire” (2 Peter 2:21-22).

As a babe in Christ, I used to worry about sins committed in ignorance. How could I be forgiven if I was unaware of my sin or forgot to ask for forgiveness?

John, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Walking in the light means we are walking with Jesus and are in fellowship with other believers. The fact that Jesus’ blood cleanses us from sin while we are walking in the light tells us that sin does not automatically kick us out of God’s grace. We can sin while in fellowship with God and be forgiven.

But beware. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). God’s grace does not tell us “go ahead and sin.” But rather, God’s grace instructs us to live righteously by picking ourselves up after we fall and keep on keeping on.

Whose Slave are You?

One of the secrets to selling is creating a need. If people believe they have a need for something, they are more likely to buy it. When it comes to the gospel of Christ and the salvation it offers, some people are not convinced they “need” to be saved; therefore, they do not “buy” the solution.

Every person sins. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Some may ask, “So what?” In Romans 6:23, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, tells us that “the wages of sin is death.” Sin “earns” us an eternal separation from God, which is what “death” refers to in this context. In the same breath, Paul tells us what the solution is: “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Imagine that. Man sins against God, and God offers him a gift! “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us […]For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:6-10). God's gift is freedom from the guilt of our sin and the penalty our sins bring.

The “good news” can be summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Mankind has done nothing to obligate God to save us. God offers his forgiveness based on His grace and not on anything that we have done to “earn” His gift. However, we have to accept the gift. When someone purchases a gift for us, we can refuse it. The same is true of God’s gift. The fact that God has prepared a gift for us does not mean the gift is automatically transferred into our possession. What does God expect? Many will tell you, “nothing.” Or “just believe.” But is that what the Bible teaches?

Obviously, we have to believe. We cannot accept a gift from an “imaginary” friend, and many believe God is a figment of man’s imagination. One of the most popular passages quoted is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Belief is necessary if we do not wish to “perish” and instead have everlasting life. Without belief, we are already condemned, so nothing further is necessary in order for us to be condemned (John 3:18).

Can we believe and continue living in sin? Repenting, or turning away from our sins, is necessary. In Luke 13:3, Jesus says, “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will likewise perish.” Peter tells a crowd, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Repentance and baptism are necessary in order to receive the forgiveness of sins.

Baptism “into Christ” is the point in which we die to sin and are raised in the newness of life as a new creation (Romans 6:4-6). The old man, who was enslaved to sin, dies with Christ and is raised by God to walk “in newness of life.” To claim we are saved prior to baptism means we are “burying” the new man. Our faith does not rest in ourselves or the “magic” of water. Rather, our faith is in “the working of God” (Colossians 2:12).

We also must be willing to confess our faith in Jesus. If we deny Christ, He will deny us before God. “Therefore, whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven,” says Jesus in Matthew 10:33. Paul also writes, “…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

I’ve never understood those who confess to be Christians yet continue to live as they wish. We are either slaves of righteousness or slaves of sin (see Romans chapter 6). Even when we do not choose, we do choose. By not choosing to serve God, we choose to serve sin. Those are the only two options. And once we become a Christian, we are released from the slavery of sin. So why do some continue to practice sin? Everyone sins (1 John 1:8). But there is a difference between committing an occasional sin and being a servant of sin. Instead of using our lives to practice unrighteousness, we should use our lives to bring glory to God. Sin should no longer “rule” or have dominion over us (Romans 6:14).

Just as death no longer has dominion or rule over Christ because He conquered death when He was raised from the dead, the Christian should not allow sin to have dominion over him since he conquered sin when he died with Christ in baptism and rose a new creation.

In the next entry, we will discuss what it means to be a slave of righteousness.