Human beings are in constant pursuit of righteousness that is guides their behaviors and thoughts according to the biblical doctrines. Notably, righteousness refers to the human's ability to approach God and stand before him without feeling guilty or inferior according to their behaviors and thoughts. Majorly, righteousness serves as the moral compass that is applied to determine people's beliefs and behaviors according to their religious subscriptions. Majorly, the diversity of human beliefs, faith-based organizations, and practices based on their experiences and knowledge impact various forms of righteousness that guide individuals in their specific societies. Among the three kinds of righteousness embraced by individuals today include religious self-righteousness that is affected by a person according to his/her religious teachings. Besides, there is the righteousness of the ordinary person that refers to an individual's conviction to uphold morals according to societal standards. The third kind of righteousness refers to the righteousness of Christ ascribed to us according to the laws of Moses and various teachings about the Kingdom of God. The righteousness of Christ ascribed to us explores people's personality and relationship with God to achieve eternal life. Importantly, the three kinds of righteousness focus on an individual's ability to uphold morality in their thoughts, behaviors, and deeds according to their relationship with God and convictions to conform to societal standards of morality.
Three Kinds of Righteousness
Religious Self-Righteousness
Religious Self-Righteousness is a kind of righteousness that is impacted in a person according to their religious beliefs and morals that guide their activities in diverse places of existence. Specifically, Palmer (2018) explains that religious self-righteousness focuses on Biblical doctrines illustrating that righteousness is impacted through faith in Christ that influence individuals to adhere to the requirements of the scripture. Notably, religious self-righteousness is majorly promoted by various Christian religious ministries that teach about the kingdom of God and several qualities that people must meet to achieve its inheritance. Importantly, the Christian ministries perceive religious self-righteousness through individual thoughts, beliefs, and their behaviors towards others and the various situation in their settings. Religious self-righteousness advocates a person's thoughts about themselves, others, and diverse occurrences in their environments.
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Religious self-righteousness champions for righteousness by urging individuals to embrace self-respect by having thoughts and engaging in behaviors that influence individual development in all confines of life. Importantly, this type of righteousness clarifies the importance of having positive thoughts respecting one's body to avoid engaging in sin. Majorly, religious self-righteousness identifies the human mind as the origin of all sins according to what people think as far as their needs and interests in life are concerned. According to Palmer (2018), individuals with negative thoughts engage in sin because they are driven by the need to satisfy their needs rather than the moral concerns that surround the issue. For example, religious self-righteousness focuses on inculcating positive thoughts among individuals to prevent them from engaging in the sin of coveting or lust that dominates the current human generation.
The religious self-righteousness further aims to promote righteousness by examining behavior to ensure that people do not engage in practices that harm them or the people in their surroundings. Majorly, Palmer (2018) stresses that righteousness begins from an individual's ability to recognize behaviors that jeopardize their existence and those of others to promote successful existence in their settings. For instance, the scriptures that champion individuals to love themselves as they love their neighbors focus inculcating righteousness to prevent the atrocities that dominate the current generation. Cooper (2016) note that religious self-righteousness seeks to address conflicts that characterize societies by solving internal conflicts that individuals experience according to diverse occurrences in their lives. Importantly, religious self-righteousness advocate for peace among individuals to ensure their hearts are pure and free from all forms of evil. The internal peace the individual's experience is reflected in the society according to their deeds and relationship with others.
The religious self-righteousness further inculcates righteousness by denouncing various forms of evil that are practiced in religious organizations and individuals according to their life perspectives, as explained by Trinklein (2016). Among the evil actions that are religious self-righteousness seeks to address and include sexual immorality that dominates social organizations. In particular, the righteousness focus on the commandment that prohibits people against engaging in irresponsible sexual immorality with people who are not their rightful spouses. Religious self-righteousness recognizes the significance of purity of the heart and mind in desisting from sexual immorality. For instance, the form of righteousness enlightens individuals to engage in constant prayers to liberate them from the sin of coveting, which leads to irresponsible sexual activities.
Similarly, religious self-righteousness also influences holiness before God by teaching Christians against vices such as impunity that characterize the society according to individual practices. According to Palmer (2018), current religious organizations are victims of privilege that reflected in the worshiper's behaviors. For instance, the presence of false preachers who brand themselves as modern-day prophets illustrates the extent of impunity that associate today's religions. Specifically. Majorly, false prophets promote impunity in churches because they teach according to their interests and needs. For instance, the false preachers promote misinterpretation of the Bible when they align their teachings to scriptures that address their needs in life. False preachings have led to the establishment of many religious organizations that are currently considered as cults according to their beliefs and practices. In particular, religious self-righteousness prohibits false worship influenced by the impunity that is practiced in most churches by urging preachers and worshipers to use the Bible as a reference to ensure they teach the truth according to the scripture. While the preachers are mandated to complement their teachings with moral issues that guide their society's existence, Irons (2015) illustrates that the Bible should be the guiding doctrines. The Bible enables individuals to become righteous such as the Jews who practiced the laws of Moses to the latter to prevent the encroachment of impunity in their society. Majorly, religious self-righteousness requires individuals to desist from all acts of impunity, such as corruption, violence, and unfaithfulness that characterize current societies.
The righteousness of the Ordinary Person
Furthermore, the righteousness of the ordinary person is also a kind of righteousness that people exhibit according to their beliefs and perceptions about life. According to Palmer (2018), the righteousness of the ordinary person focuses on a personal understanding of life concerning practices that one considers ethical according to their beliefs. Specifically, the righteousness of the ordinary person is associated with moral traits that people deem important in their societies and relations with others in their diverse settings. Majorly, honest, and truthfulness is a concept of the righteousness of the ordinary person that guides their relations and engagements in diverse confines. In particular, honesty is considered a significant concept in the righteousness of the ordinary person because it exhibits traits that are deeply held in their hearts. Majorly, the righteousness of the ordinary person categorizes honesty as a critical moral compass because it determines an individual's commitment to perform good deeds and speak the truth in solitary or in the presence of a multitude. Notably, the righteousness of the ordinary person aims to impact honesty among individuals to enable them to embrace the truth and participate in curbing conflicts that arise from dishonesty in human society.
The righteousness of ordinary persons emerges as a significant kind of righteousness because of its focus on kindness and friendliness among people in their environments of existence. The righteousness of the ordinary person identifies kindness and friendliness as critical factors that influence coexistence in human society. According to Cooper (2016), the righteousness of the ordinary person majors on kindness that refers to an individual's ability to understand various challenges that encounter individuals in their surroundings and their willingness to help without expecting something in return. In addition to kindness, the righteousness of the ordinary person also considers friendliness as a significant practice that helps contributes to coherence and coexistence in various human societies. Specifically, friendliness is a form of righteousness among ordinary people because it determines human's abilities to form meaningful relationships to enable them to coexist according to their beliefs and goals in life. For instance, Cooper (2016) indicate that friendliness forms the basis of human relations because it leads to the formation of families, communities, and nations that people exist. However, the friendliness can only exist when individuals exercise righteousness in their dealings by maintaining purity in their hearts according to their intentions and actions as far as their relations are concerned. In particular, the righteousness of the ordinary person focuses on instilling compassion among friends to enable them to support each other according to their needs and challenges they are encountering in life.
Consequently, the righteousness of the ordinary persons also champions for righteousness by focusing on humility and mercy as crucial factors that influence coherence and understanding among individuals in their diverse areas of existence. Specifically, Irons elaborates that humility refers to a person's ability to humble him/herself before others to ensure that practices or utterances do not create conflicts in their areas of existence (2015). Notably, humility exhibits the righteousness of the ordinary person by focusing on the behaviors that people express towards other and social settings that they encounter. Majorly, humility dictates that righteous people must engage in practices that promote cohesion by being advocates of peace and acceptable behaviors in their diverse areas of engagements. In addition to humility, righteous of the ordinary person also recognize mercy as an important virtue that influences coexistence in human societies according to the Biblical doctrines. Irons (2015) explains that righteous people possess mercy that enables them to gain compassion towards their counterparts and help them according to their needs. The righteousness of ordinary persons also advocates mercy as a means of bringing people with a common good together to deliberate on issues that are affecting their societies. Notably, righteous people express mercy by engaging in various projects to liberate the less unfortunate from various challenges they encounter in life.
The Righteousness of Christ Ascribed to Us
The righteousness of Christ ascribed to us also emerges as a significant kind of righteousness that people embrace to guide their deeds and beliefs in life. The righteousness of Jesus ascribed to us is mainly embraced by Christians who are inspired by the teachings of Jesus and his miracles. Irons (2015) asserts that people who practice the righteousness of Christ are guided by the biblical doctrines that document the teachings of Jesus influence their deeds and actions. In particular, righteousness ascribed in Christ requires individuals to undergo the various process and adhere to certain law that is outlined in the Bible. For instance, the righteousness demand that individuals to confess their sins and be born again to inherit the kingdom of God. Notably, righteousness ascribed to Christ requires believers to consider their bodies as the temple of Christ to desist from practices that make them fall short of the glory of God. Trinklein (2016) explains that righteousness ascribed to Christ comes through the obedience of the spirit, as emphasized by Jesus in the Book of Romans 8:4. In particular, the obedience of the body requires individuals to exercise their righteous being saved to indicate that they are ready to adhere to the teachings of Christ.
Besides being saved, righteousness ascribed to Christ is exhibited through holiness according to various activities and behaviors that individuals express in their environments of existence. Trinklein elaborates that holiness refers to individuals' ability to accept Jesus Christ as the savior and commit to align their activities according to the Ten Commandments and biblical lessons (2016). Majorly, individuals who embrace righteousness ascribed to Christ practice holiness in their thoughts and utterances to ensure that their deeds influence happiness and coexistence in their societies. For example. The righteousness ascribed to Christ advocates for positive thoughts among believers to enable them to desist from various temptations that might lure them to engage in evil practices. The believers are required to inculcate holiness by engaging in activities and conversations that promote their spiritual growth and commitment to serve Christ in their life's endeavors.
Similarly, righteousness ascribed in Christ further views the concept of holiness according to the individual's utterances and discussion as far as morality is concerned. Palmer emphasizes the righteous individuals should not utter words that create chaos among individuals and society (2018). In particular, the righteousness ascribed in Christ emphasizes that righteous people should practice holiness by speaking the truth according to various occurrences in their surroundings. In addition to speaking the truth, the righteousness also perceives holiness based on honesty in discussions that individuals engage in to ensure that their perceptions are not cloud with bias or influences from other parties. Importantly, Cooper (2016) asserts that righteous people should always provide their honest opinions when confronted with questions without favoring any side in case of conflict to ascertain that the decision reached remedies the question efficiently.
Continually, the righteousness ascribed to us with Christ classifies faithfulness as a crucial factor that individuals must observe to streamline their relationship with Christ and humans in their societies. Cooper (2016) explains that faithfulness refers to an individual's ability to put their trust in God and believe that he is capable of solving their challenges and preventing them from potential tragedies in their lives. Majorly, Christians who embrace righteousness ascribed to Christ express their faithfulness in Christ through prayers, which is the primary means of communicating to God. When praying, the Christians are required to cleanse themselves and trust that God will answer their prayers and fulfill their needs.
Righteousness is an essential virtue that Christians and individuals practice according to ti their beliefs in God and their perception about what is right according to their society's moral standards. Majorly, righteousness refers to an individual's ability to approach God without fear or feeling inferior. Notably, there are three kinds of righteousness that people embrace to guide their activities and behaviors in their environments. Specifically, the three kinds of righteousness include religious self-righteousness that is impacted by religious beliefs that individuals subscribe to in their places of existence. Additionally, there is the righteousness of the ordinary person that refers to a person's convictions to adhere to the moral standards of the society to promote coexistence in their environments. In particular, righteousness focuses on virtues such as honesty, honesty, kindness, and mercy that clarifies an individual's commitment to practices that promote peace and sustenance in human society. Additionally, the righteousness of Christ ascribed to us refers to holiness impacted by adherence to the scripture and teachings of Jesus Christ about human relations and positive thoughts and deeds in all human endeavors.
References
Palmer, D. L. (2018). Imputed righteousness in Pauline thought and 2 Corinthians 5: 21 . Dallas Theological Seminary.
Cooper, J. (2016). Hands of faith: A historical and theological study of the two kinds of righteousness in Lutheran thought . Wipf & Stock Publishers.
Irons, C. L. (2015). The righteousness of God: a lexical examination of the covenant-faithfulness interpretation (Vol. 386). Mohr Siebeck.
Trinklein, J. (2016). Holiness Unto Whom? John Wesley’s Doctrine of Entire Sanctification in Light of The Two Kinds of Righteousness . Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation. 25. Retrieved from https://scholar.csl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=phd
