Righteous in the Spirit
By
Gary Primo
Acting righteous is one thing but being righteous is quite another. To act righteous, all one must do is dress like the nines, puff out one’s chest, stick a Bible under one’s arm and spout off a few quaint biblical sayings and the “image” is complete. We have succeeded in fooling everybody. But wait. There is always that one being, who sees everything, knows everything, who knows if we are complete frauds.
I am beginning to think that the best way to pray is naked. Not while in the congregation, of course, but when alone, just you and Yahuwah facing each other. Being naked makes it hard to hide anything. We are completely exposed. No secrets. Why did Adam and Eve don clothes in the first place? Was it not to cover their nakedness/sin?
When we become truly righteous in the spirit, our physical journey will be complete. Then our spiritual journey will begin. However, it remains possible to be living in the spirit while existing in the physical world. This is where our imaginations can come into play. Imagine being in the spirit every single minute of every day? All your thoughts are ‘in the spirit’. Every word we speak is “in the spirit”. Every action we do is “in the spirit”. When and if we can accomplish all these things, we will be living in the spirit, while being present in the physical.
Righteous in the spirit, requires 3 things.
1 – All thoughts are righteous.
2 – All words spoken are righteous.
3 – All actions are righteous.
Righteous – adjective
-characterized by uprightness or morality:a righteous observance of the law.
- morally right or justifiable: righteous indignation.
- acting in an upright, moral way; virtuous: a righteous and godly person.
- Slang. absolutely genuine or wonderful: some righteous playing by a jazz great.
It is the two highlighted portions that we will be dealing with. The path to salvation and eternal life depends solely on the righteousness of a person. And righteousness is measured by the thought, word and action of a person. All three must be in perfect harmony before one can be righteous in the spirit. We know that because the scriptures tell us that unrighteousness cannot inherit the Kingdom. Anything unrighteous that tries to approach the Kingdom will be burnt and destroyed by the flames of righteousness that surrounds it.
Eccles 7:27 - “Behold,” says the Teacher, “I have discovered this by adding one thing to another to find an explanation.
28 - While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.
29 - Only this have I found: I have discovered that Elohim made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
The first thing this passage reveals is that things are learned by adding one piece (of information) to another to find an explanation. Verse 28 declares that Yahuwah only found one man in a thousand who was upright. How sad is that? And verse 29 declares that man/Adam was made ‘upright”. He was made righteous. Therefore, merely being in that state does not guarantee that one will always be righteous. It is possible to fall out of righteousness.
Isaiah captured the essence of this topic perfectly.
Isa. 28:9 - Whom is He trying to teach?
To whom is He explaining His message?
To infants just weaned from milk?
To babies removed from the breast?
10 - For they hear:
“Order on order, order on order,
line on line, line on line;
a little here, a little there.”
11 - Indeed, with mocking lips and foreign tongues,
He will speak to this people
12 - to whom He has said:
“This is the place of rest, let the weary rest;
this is the place of repose.”
But they would not listen.
Isaiah was, of course, talking about Israel but Israel was supposed to be the example for the whole world. Man’s greatest stumbling block to salvation is his own nature. Originally man was created righteous. Via disobedience, that nature was changed to unrighteous. Therefore, the path to being righteous once more is through obedience to the Law and indeed, every word that proceeds from the mouth of Yahuwah. .
Another problem blocking our progress is that we do not LISTEN! We are spiritually deaf, dumb and blind. And unless we develop these traits into the required spiritual traits, we will not see salvation. Righteousness is perfection. Yahuwah desires that we become perfect in righteousness. We can only do that by following Yahuwah’s instructions.
Righteousness in the Old Testament.
Enoch
Hebr. 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because Elohim had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased Elohim.
At the time when Enoch lived (before the flood), it was a very difficult time for anyone to be found righteous. The Books of Enoch are a very interesting read if you have not read them already. At that time, the fallen angels ruled the earth. I believe them and/or their children (giants) are the basis for many of the pagan gods worshipped over the years, and even today through children’s entertainment (portrayed as heroes).
These fallen angels also taught that the law was done away, and for that reason – the state of total lawlessness – Yahuwah had to destroy the earth. Enoch was 365 years old when he was translated. For centuries people have been trying to figure out what that means. The most common understanding is that he escaped death and went directly to heaven (without passing go or collecting $200). I have several issues with that explanation, the first being that if true, Enoch, not Yahushua would be the “Firstborn” (to eternal life). Also, it is recorded in other books that he merely escaped to some other place on earth and lived out the rest of his life there. That is the explanation I lean towards.
Regardless, Enoch was a righteous man, and gifted with great knowledge and understanding. I highly recommend reading his books and following his example.
Abraham
Ja. 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
We all know the story of how Yahuwah asked the unthinkable of Abraham, to sacrifice his own son, Isaac. It is one thing to say one has faith, but the proof is in the works. In this case, Abraham was fully prepared to carry out what Yahuwah had asked of him. Similarly, our actions/works prove our faith. Put up or shut up! Unfortunately, most people are more talk than action.
Lot
Gen. 18:23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked 24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
The atmosphere of Sodom was indeed wicked and very unrighteous. That there was even one righteous man to be found was quite remarkable. Lot was Abraham’s nephew and had grown up under Abraham. So, he had an excellent teacher.
Job
Job 1:8 And Yahuwah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect (Strong’s 8535) and an upright (Strong’s 3477) man, one that feareth Elohim, and escheweth evil?
Job. 32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.—Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.
Most times when it feels like Yahuwah is punishing us, it is meant to be a learning experience. One is expected to search the Scriptures for the reason. Finding the reason and doing something about it (repenting), makes one stronger, spiritually.
What was Job guilty of - Search (bing.com)
Job’s friends are not able to endure the mystery of his suffering, so they jump to conclusions about its source. The first of the three, Eliphaz, acknowledges that Job has been a source of strength to others (Job 4:3-4).
Some sources actually agree with Job’s three accusers.
Job 1:1 - There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing Elohim and shunning evil.
We are told at the very beginning of the book that Job fulfilled the criteria for a righteous individual.
8 - Then Yahuwah said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears Elohim and shuns evil.”
These words were spoken by the Father to HaSatan. The Father was rendering His judgement on Job – that he was righteous. Therefore, this trial was never about there being anything wrong with Job. It was about Satan thinking that he could turn Job away from righteousness (yes, it was entirely possible). Job had nothing to prove to Yahuwah. Yahuwah was so sure of Job’s righteousness that He accepted Satan’s challenge. And He won.
Moses and all of Israel were told to be perfect (which means they could)
Deut.18:13 Thou shalt be perfect (Strong’s 8549) with Yahuwah your Elohim.
“Be perfect” means the same thing as “be righteous”. Righteousness is identified and determined by the Law. Moses and all the Israelites were supposed to become perfect in righteousness. Mostly all but Moshe failed. Why is it so difficult for man to achieve righteousness? DISSOBEDIENCE! He cannot obey the simplest of commands. Yahuwah would not ask this of us, send His Son to be sacrificed or anything else if it were not possible to achieve righteousness. So we need to stop thinking we are perfect in the spirit and start asking ourselves, “Are we really perfect in the spirit. The time to search out and eliminate all of our flaws is NOW.
King David
Ps. 7:10 My defence is of Elohim, which saveth the upright in heart.11 Elohim judgeth the righteous, and Elohim is angry with the wicked every day.12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
David is often described as a man after Yahuwah’s heart. And Yahuwah indeed loved David and honored him by having Yahushua come from his loins. By Yahuwah’s own declaration, David was righteous.
Satan
Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect (Strong’s 8549) in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Hold on! How did this guy get in the mix? Ezekiel is declaring here that HaSatan was originally perfect (created righteous just like Adam). The iniquity that was found in him was disobedience. He was given his assignment and was expected to carry it out to the letter. HaSatan not only disobeyed, himself, but convinced Eve to disobey also, who then convinced Adam. But he was perfect up until this point; so, it is possible to fall from righteousness to unrighteousness, if one is not careful. And once one reaches that state, there is no going back.
Righteousness in the New Testament
Before I get into these verses, allow me to present the Christian definition of righteousness.
Righteousness Definition and Meaning - Bible Dictionary (biblestudytools.com)
God the Father is righteous (just); Jesus Christ his Son is the Righteous (Just) One; the Father through the Son and in the Spirit gives the gift of righteousness (justice) to repentant sinners for salvation; such believing sinners are declared righteous (just) by the Father through the Son, are made righteous (just) by the Holy Spirit working in them, and will be wholly righteous (just) in the age to come.
(My comments will follow the order of the highlighted portions.)
Right off the bat, the (Christian) author gives the glory that belongs to the Hebrew “Father” alone, to the pagan deity that he worships – God (Baal-gad/gaud). The author also (falsely) attaches righteousness or justness to this false deity.
Next, he does the same thing with the Son. The name of the Son (Yahushua) gives glory to His Father, which is Yahuwah. It is very easy to see the connection. So why does he use the pagan name, “Jesus”, also, as if the two name are interchangeable? Is this not serving two masters? One is the name of the true Hebrew Messiah. The other is a fictitious character made into a Roman “savior” named Iesous/Jesus. And this is the illusion that Christianity worships.
0.
Luke 16:13 - No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
What is Mammon?
The term mammon stems from the Greek word mammonas and related root words appear in Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic.
In short, mammon can be defined as "earthly goods; property; riches." Mammon is the things of this world that can divert our attention and love from God to the pleasures and comforts of earthly desires. Although mammon can provide fleeting happiness, ultimately it is a deadly distraction from the salvation of our souls.
In like manor, the Greek translator identifies the connection of Iesous/Jesus to his father Ie–sous/Zeus. No Israelite family would have ever branded their child with such an abominable name. Their entire family would have likely been stoned to death.
Did Yahuwah give us the “gift of Righteousness”? No, he did not! Not exactly. What he did for us through baptism and repentance, was return us to Adam’s original state; and he remained in that state until unrighteousness was found in him. And in what form did that unrighteousness manifest itself? DISOBEDIENCE. All traces of unrighteousness must be eliminated. Therefore, how can one simply be declared righteous by the Father, who did not earn it through obedience, like everyone else. They simple answer, they cannot!
Obviously, Adam’s righteous state did not prevent him from committing disobedience, which led him into a state of unrighteousness, from which he could not return. Yet, Christianity teaches that we are made righteous at baptism (true) and remain righteous for eternity (not potentially true). The only out Yahuwah offered was to the third or fourth generation from Adam; but by then, mankind loved unrighteousness/disobedience, and were totally devoted to worshipping their unrighteous deity (HaSatan) – all in the name of disobedience. In teaching the Law is “done away”, the Christian faith is promoting lawlessness and doing the work of HaSatan.
LAWLESSNESS = DISOBEDIENCE = UNRIGHTEOUSNESS = THE LAKE FIRE!
Other Christian concepts, such as, “Come as you are”, “Once saved always saved” (or once righteous always righteous), “the law is done away”, “you don’t have to change a thing”, are also totally bogus claims. They lead one away from salvation instead of towards it. Christianity is no different than any of the other religions on Earth – false. And it is clearly HaSatan’s favorite. After all, Satan’s champion, Emperor Constantine invented it. Therefore, the Christian faith in general can be called “the Church of the Antichrist.”
Occasionally, we need to do a little self-assessment of our spiritual condition to determine if we are still obedient and righteous, or has some form of unrighteousness snuck back in? If it has, it is imperative to get it back out. A little leaven spoils the whole lump, and a little disobedience will lead to a state of complete disobedience/unrighteousness.
Rom. 3:10 - As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one.
11 - There is no one who understands,
no one who seeks Elohim.
12 - All have turned away,
they have together become worthless.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.”
22 - And this righteousness from Elohim comes through faith in Yahushua HaMashiyack to all who believe. There is no distinction,
23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of Elohim,
24 - and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in HaMashiyack Yahushua.
No one is righteous, no one seeks Elohim, we have become worthless, and no one does good. When in self-examination, these are the types of questions we must ask ourselves. And yet, Elohim, in His mercy, allowed us a second chance, to get it all right. It starts with belief, and with baptism we enter the same state we were in when first born. We certainly had no sinful thoughts. We did not speak sinful words or perform sinful actions. We were perfectly righteous. Then some sinful thought, word or action changed everything. We were no longer perfectly righteous. This state is called unrighteousness. Those found in this state are in need of redemption. However, many just give up and walk away; or find a “church” that agrees with them. However, I am not sure if one can be saved again, once they commit sin again and quit following Yahuwah. (lets see if we can answer that question be the end of the study). Can they again make themselves a perfect vessel? No! Yahuwah is the only one who can do that.
So, what can one do if they again fall into sin? I wish I knew. When I found out about the true names, I felt the need to be rebaptized into the true names. Frankly I felt no difference afterward but then, neither did I fell any different after my first baptism. However, thinking back, I do not think I fully realized what is was that was supposed to happen. Perhaps I was expecting a scene like the first day the spirit manifested itself.
Actually, it was not until the writing of this article that I truly understood what was to happen at baptism (after 42 years). What is supposed to happen is that we receive a new body that is 100% righteous (the same as Adam’s originally). Unfortunately, free will yet plays a part. And it is entirely possible to go back to unrighteous from righteous. Having a righteous mind should mean that every thought we think, every word we say and every action we take is righteous. So, how could we possibly return to such a corruptible state?
Well, let us remember that righteousness entails purity of thought, word and deed. This exorcise requires us to be honest. Have we been guilty of violating any of these since being baptized? Have we repented of the thought, word or deed, and returned to serving righteousness? Have we ever repeated the offence? Sometimes we sin without even realizing we are doing so. A sin is a sin, is a sin. Murder is do different that gossip. It is all about obedience. Obedience = righteousness/eternal life. Disobedience = unrighteousness/eternal death. It is really that simple.
I do not believe that I am any better or worse than anyone else in this regard. The thoughts enter my mind before I am aware of them. The words spill from my mouth before I can stop them. By the time it passes through the mind and mouth, there is little hope of a righteous action. We cannot change whatever was thought, said or done; therefore, all I can imagine is that we repent and never repeat it.
Phil. 3:7 - But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of HaMashiyack.
8 - More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing HaMashiyack Yahushua my master, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain HaMashiyack
9 - and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in HaMashiyack, the righteousness from Elohim on the basis of faith.
We live in a world that is driven by materialism. We would never have found our own righteousness from the law. Yahuwah had to return us to that state (through baptism). Sadly, the world values riches over Elohim. That is just the way the unrighteous mind of man works. And it just does not seem fair that the rich enjoy lavish lifestyles and anything they can buy while the poor can barely eke out a living. Ours is a spiritual reward, not a physical. However, we will have to achieve that state before we will appreciate all that it entails.
And really, what can be compared to the excellence of knowing Yahushua. We have to know Yahushua before we begin the journey. It was He who did the creating and presented Himself to the world in the image of the Father. Yet, we needed his unjustified death to save ourselves. We have to make up our minds, are we going to honour Yahushua’s death and sacrifice by avoiding sin, or are we going to dishonour it by returning to sin?
If righteousness came by the physical keeping of the Law, we would have had no need of a New Testament. Plus, it is not physical righteousness we seek but spiritual. Spiritual righteousness involves the heart. We must first love Yahuwah. Then we must love His Law. We then must commit His Law to our hearts so that it become our nature to obey. That is what obeying from the heart means. But it all begins with a simple thought. It is like your mind and heart are at war with each other.
Romans 10:10 - for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
The heart is where our emotions come from. The brain is where our thoughts come from. Sometimes the two become out of sync and we end up feeling guilty. That is how Yahuwah brings us back to reality.
Eph. 4:20 - But this is not the way you came to know HaMashiyack.
21 - Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him—in keeping with the truth that is in Yahushua—
22 - to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
23 - to be renewed in the spirit of your minds;
24 - and to put on the new self, created to be like Elohim in true righteousness and holiness.
I sometime wonder if I have fully put off the old self. Sometimes, especially in my dreams, I find myself reminiscing about my “glory’ days, when I thought myself wild and free to do whatever I wanted. However, Johnny Law had other ideas and that wasn’t much fun. And I certainly like my new life much better. Instead of physical freedom, I now seek spiritual freedom – free from HaSatan, free from sin and free from the sentence of death. I want to be “like” Elohim in every possible way. So why do I seem to be my own worst enemy?
Titus 3:4 - But when the kindness of Elohim our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
5 - He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
6 - This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Yahushua HaMashiyack our Savior,
7 - so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
Naturally, we cannot be saved by the good deeds we’ve done, because most of our deeds are evil. And the smallest, most seemingly insignificant sins can disqualify us from the Kingdom. It is all about obedience or disobedience. BE OBEDIENT!.
Most are confused by the term grace. It does not mean that the Law has been done away. It merely means that by Yahuwah’s grace, we have been given a second chance to get it right. We have been restored to the state of righteousness we had as infants and have the opportunity to start over and hopefully get it right this time. We still have to learn righteousness and we do that by learning the law and applying it in our lives until it is our nature to do so.
Romans 7:19 - For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.
Paul asked himself the very same questions we are asking ourselves today. So, we should not be too hard on ourselves; but at the same time, we must pursue righteousness with all our strength. This is the single, most important part of the equation that will lead us to eternal life. WE MUST BE RIGHTEOUS!
My answer to this dilemma is to keep trying. Never give up! It is only the one’s who give up who commit the unpardonable sin and lose out eternally. Everyone else still has a chance.
Conclusion
Well, I guess I went into overtime here, but it was well worth it for me. As I have mentioned in the past, my studies are generally for my own spiritual growth and any dispersions I throw out there are aimed primarily at myself. And If I rehash certain subjects that are common knowledge, it is because I do not know the audiences I am reaching. Some may be new to the faith
As for attaining “righteousness in the spirit” we have learned that there are 3 requirements to attaining it.
1 – Righteous thought
2 – Righteous talk
3 – Righteous walk
When we have perfected righteousness in all 3 areas, we have attained righteousness of the spirit. And we will carry that with us into the Kingdom.
When we were baptized, we became fully righteous, in the same manor that Adam was born righteous. In any scenario we can think of, we had free choice – to chose righteously or unrighteously. If we always chose the righteous way, it will, over time, be stamped into our very nature. Once we are righteous by nature, we will be like Yahushua and graduate into the Kingdom.
In case anyone thinks that Old Testament believers did not know Yahushua, let me remind you that it WAS Yahushua who interacted with the creation from the beginning. It is a scriptural fact that Yahuwah (the Father) cannot approach the creation because it is corruptible, and corruption cannot inherit the Kingdom. Anything corruptible will burn up as it approaches. And Yahuwah will not be able to retore His Kingdom on Earth if anything corruptible or unrighteous remains.
My best possible advice is to seek righteousness above all else. And remember the three areas to work on – thought, talk and walk.
Yahuwah Bless
G.P.