Righteousness begins with identifying its basis. FAITH is the spiritual springboard from which righteousness and holiness become the pattern/standard for the one whose present life (biblical “walk”) will qualify him/her for eternal life. So says the Lord through the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:21 and 6:22. Read those verses carefully. Notice that THE END RESULT OF A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS IS ETERNAL LIFE. Faith is the end result of studying the Word of God–the Gospel (Rom. 10:17). FAITH IS TAKING GOD AT HIS WORD. As I have said repeatedly, relative to all things spiritual, EVERYTHING COMES BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD, which contains everything we know and need to know about God, Jesus, and the righteousness/holiness by which the believer qualifies for eternal life.

Note that I said nothing about church doctrine, which is an abomination in that it exists. God has given us His Holy Gospel as the path to eternal life; so why do we need man’s “improved” version of it? Spiritually, CHURCH DOCTRINE IS AN IDOL THAT BILLIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE PLACED BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THE LORD. OBEYING CHURCH DOCTRINE IS INIQUITY–IDOLATRY, as are all other man-made items of religiosity. Jesus spoke to and about those who adhere to church doctrine in Matthew 7:21-23. Read that passage carefully. Note that expecting salvation will have done many religious works IN HIS NAME, BUT HAD NOT OBEYED HIS WORDS.

Which brings us to a problem that surfaced soon after the founding of the church in 31 A.D.. The conflict arose when some believers concluded that the focus of all church ministry should be on the man Jesus Himself and not on His message. Others believed that the emphasis should be on His message. Though the Bible overwhelmingly supports the latter, the vast majority concentrate on the person of Christ until this day. Note that Christ’s and the apostle’s focus was on THE GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Read about that future earthly paradise using the key word–Kingdom. Which brings us to the focus of this series–WHAT IS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS COMMANDED BY THE NEW COVENANT? In answering that question we will determine WHAT IS REQUIRED OF BELIEVERS IN THIS LIFE IN ORDER TO LIVE WITH THE FATHER AND THE SON IN THE NEXT LIFE. Simply stated: to live WITH Christ in the next life we must live AS He lived in this life. In other words, HE MUST BE OUR LORD IN THIS LIFE, NOT OUR SAVIOR. Jesus will bring salvation with Him when He returns. Read Hope and Salvation. Key word–Hope. Note that Paul said that we are nearer to salvation now than when we first believed (Rom. 13:11).

Another controversy that has remained within professing Christendom for generations involves two, TOTALLY OPPOSITE types of righteousness. Scholars, theologians and religionists have for centuries debated as to whether Peter and the other apostles had proclaimed one form of righteousness for converted Jews, while Paul and those who ministered with him had proclaimed another form of righteousness for converted Gentiles. Paul recognized the development of this contention and asked the ultimate question: “IS CHRIST DIVIDED?” (1 Cor. 1:12,13). He waxed more specific when he stated that there was only ONE BODY OF CHRIST (THE CHURCH), ONE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT, ONE BOND OF PEACE, ONE HOPE OF OUR CALLING, ONE LORD, ONE FAITH, ONE BAPTISM, ONE GOD AND FATHER OF ALL.

However, the first church was comprised of Jews who lived in the midst of the Jewish homeland where the religious emphasis involved the Jewish Temple and the customs demanded by the law of Moses and administered through the Levitical priesthood. Being Jews in the Jewish homeland, they were continuously observing the law of Moses (book of the Law) with its animal sacrifices, cleansing rituals, circumcision, etc. The opinion of many was that, due to these factors, the early church must have embraced a Jewish form of righteousness. The fact that many of the converted Jews insisted on circumcision as a requirement in order to be justified while Paul’s converts did not, caused many in later years to assume that there Jews and Gentiles each had their own form of righteousness/holiness.

Another problem that caused future generations of church people to believe in a dual form of righteousness was the fact that, following the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. at the hands of the Roman Empire, the church disappeared from the pages of written history. For the next 100 years, which came to be known as the “Dark Ages,” nothing was written about the church. Her light had been extinguished as far as the rest of the world was concerned. When the church finally came back on the world scene she bore absolutely no resemblance to the original church. During the “Lost Century,” as it came to be known, the God-directed primitive church had become absorbed by the heathen-saturated colossus known as the Catholic Church which had become the religious arm of the mighty Roman Empire. By 170 A.D. that political and military beast had subjugated most of Europe. Those in the nations she had conquered had been forced into the Catholic Church. The first church-state empire had been born.

It is for this reason that the empire (Daniel’s fourth beast) is known today as the Holy Roman Empire. However, there was nothing holy about it. Nor was there even a spark of holiness to be found in the church that exercised a considerable amount of power over the empire. That church is symbolized Revelation 17:1-5. Notice that “mystery Babylon” (the Catholic Church) is riding (controlling) the beast (world-ruling nation). The Scriptures tell us that the great whore church (Catholicism) and her harlot daughters (Protestantism) would eventually subjugate rest of the world. The Holy Roman Empire, now known as the European Union, will rise again in the near future and will instigate World War III. She will gain dictatorial rule of the world, but only for a short time. Now back to the righteousness question concerning the righteousness of the New Covenant. The question is, can we, in the twentieth Century, know what the righteousness of the New Covenant is as dictated by the Lord?

Concerning the two-types of righteousness in question: did Jesus Christ spend 3 1/2 years teaching His original apostles one type of righteousness, then a few years later, teach Paul a different type of righteousness using the same Gospel?

As He began teaching His original apostles, and through them those who would comprise His one and only church (Mat. 5:1-16), Jesus paused long enough to assure them (and us) that He had not come to destroy God’s spiritual Law, nor to do away with the writings of the prophets (17-19). Did He later teach Paul that the Law was the basis of the New Covenant? Notice Hebrews 8:10-12. “For this is the (NEW) COVENANT that I will make with the house of Israel after those days …. I will put My LAWS into their minds and write THEM on their hearts and (then) I will be their God and they will be My people.” The same Ten Commandment Law that Israel did not obey will be written on true believer’s hearts (minds). The New Covenant and its Spirit-written Law would be available not only to Israel, but with “whosoever will” obey that Law.

In Exodus 20 we find Jesus giving the Ten Commandment Law to His chosen people. They immediately broke it, prompting Him to force them to obey what came to be known as the “law of Moses,” “the book of the law” and the “law that was added” which involved many physical rituals, including circumcision in the flesh. However the New Covenant required spiritual obedience from those who had gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost 31 A.D. During that service the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to inhabit and empower them so that they could, through the Spirit’s power, obey the Ten Commandment Law was now written in their hearts. Also, the former command to be physically circumcised was replaced by the command to be spiritually circumcised–a circumcision of the heart (mind), thereby making them spiritual Jews/Israelites. Paul writes about this Truth in Romans 2:25-29: “For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, (circumcised) in the flesh (a biological Jew). He is a (spiritual Jew–true Christian) who is one INWARDLY (heart/mind), and his circumcision is that of the heart, IN THE SPIRIT and not in the letter.” In the following posting we will examine the Biblical explanation of circumcision of the heart. L.J.