Matthew 6:25-34
Seek God's Righteousness First in Life
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
How can we seek a righteousness that we can never achieve on our own, when the only righteousness that matters is the Perfect One given to us by God?...This is a hard teaching and also very diffiuclt for me to understand...
God's Righteousness and Earthly Righteousness is also difficult to exxplain me...The understanding gets talked about in Matthew 6:33...When Jesus tells us to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness," He is not demanding that we run after a righteousness we have no hope of catching...Instead, He is establishing the priority of focus for a follower who has already received this Divine Gift...The power of Matthew 6:25-34 is that it confronts anxiety with priority...Jesus is essentially saying: Do not worry about physical needs (food, clothing, life—the worries of the world, v. 25-32), because your heavenly Father knows that you need them...The reason you don't worry about the temporary things is because your eternal status (Positional Righteousness) is already settled through faith in Him...Since your standing with God is secure and unshakable, focus your daily energy (your pursuit) on the only thing that truly matters: living out the Kingdom's values (Practical Righteousness)...If we had to earn Level 1 (our salvation and right standing) by constantly pursuing Level 2 (holiness), the anxiety Jesus prohibits would be a permanent, necessary state! But because God's Righteousness (Level 1) is a gift received by faith, we are free from that crippling worry and empowered to joyfully pursue the life of holiness (Level 2), knowing our success or failure in the pursuit does not cost us our salvation...The statement that "God's Righteousness Level 1 is the fuel, not the finish line, for your seeking of earthly righteousness (the Level 2)" helps in understanding these different perfect summary of this dynamic...
The best way to understand this is to recognize that the Bible speaks of two distinct, yet interconnected, types of righteousness: Positional Righteousness (The Gift of God) and Practical Righteousness (The Pursuit of Righteousness)...This gives us two different levels of righteousness...There is a Spiritual Righteousness and an earthly righteousness...God's Righteousness is a gift that He gives us...This is the ultimate, highest level of righteousness, the only one that satisfies God’s Perfect Standard and grants entry into heaven...We can never attain this level ourselves—it is the righteousness of Christ Himself...Spiritual Righteousness is a judicial declaration by God...It means that when you place your faith in Jesus, God removes your sin and instantly attributes (imputes) Christ's Perfect Life and obedience to your account...There is a reference in the Bible for this...This is what 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains: "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might be made the righteousness of God."...You don’t do anything for this; you receive it by faith as a Divine Gift...This is the starting point—God makes us righteous on the level He requires before we can even begin to follow Him effectively...This status is unshakable and unearned...
Then there is our daily pursuit of righteousness on earth...This is the lower, human level that Jesus refers to in Matthew 6:33: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness."...Once God has declared you righteous (Level 1), He expects you to begin living righteously...Practical righteousness, or sanctification, is the lifelong process of becoming more and more like the Spiritual Righteousness you already hold. It is the visible evidence, the fruit, and the action that flows out of your secure relationship with God...It involves seeking to obey His commands, growing in holiness, and turning away from sin...It is the practical, daily submission to the Holy Spirit's guidance...
It is necessary to understand that this second level of seeking righteousness does not earn the first level of salvation...You don't seek practical righteousness to become saved; you seek it because you are saved and believe in Jesus and want to be more like Him...God's Righteousness Level 1 is the fuel, not the finish line, for your seeking of righteousness (the Level 2)...
The difficulty is resolved by understanding the relationship between the two levels of righteousness...The righteousness of God (Level 1) is the non-negotiable passport to His Kingdom...The seeking of His righteousness (Level 2) is the journey we take within the Kingdom trying to seek and make our way towards Heaven...Jesus is telling us to constantly prioritize the Kingdom’s way of life—obedience, holiness, integrity, and love—over the transient concerns of the earthly world...Since we have been made perfectly righteous in Christ, our efforts in practical righteousness are not about self-justification, but about gratitude and demonstrating the reality of the transformation God has already performed...
We can never be perfectly righteous like Jesus, but the good news is you don't have to be...Our perfection is already in Him, because He died for our sins and our righteousness with God...Our calling is to seek His character and live out the holiness that you have already received by faith, allowing the Holy Spirit to produce the practical righteousness that proves the Spiritual Level of God's Righteousness is real...
Ultimately, Jesus's command to “seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness” clarifies a fundamental truth: our righteousness operates in two dimensions...First, we receive the one Divine Righteousness—often called Positional Righteousness—which is the spiritual reality and legal standing that God grants instantly through faith in Christ...This is the Perfect Gift that secures our salvation...Second, we are called to pursue earthly-type righteousness, or Practical Righteousness, which is the growing, daily holiness worked out in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit...Because we have already received Christ’s Perfect Divine standing, we are freed from the anxiety of trying to earn our salvation...Instead, we are fully empowered and motivated by gratitude to joyfully live out the righteous values of the Kingdom, knowing that our occasional failures in the daily pursuit do not undo the perfect gift already received...
And maybe because I cannot perfectly follow this teaching 24/7 is because Practical Righteousness (Level 2) is that I have flaws and are imperfect, and I have remained imperfect throughout my entire life on earth...If the "seeking" in Matthew 6:33 were about earning my Positional Righteousness (Level 1), my inability to be perfect would mean I'd lose my salvation each and every day...The fact that my focus falters only confirms my need for the completed, Perfect Work of the Holy Spirit in me...Because Level 1 is a gift received by faith, I believe the my temporary failures in Level 2 (the struggle to focus 24/7/365) do not cost us our standing with God...The security of the gift (Level 1) is what gives His followers the Grace and patience and forgiveness to get back up and start seeking again tomorrow (Level 2)...