WEEKLY INTRODUCTION: The theme for the Beatitudes is the same as Jesus’ message throughout His ministry, namely: “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” and the King wants to reign in your heart and rule over our lives now. It is a spiritual kingdom in which we enter through the gate of REPENTANCE and walk its streets by FAITH. Each Beatitude identifies the quality of one who has entered the Kingdom, followed by a promise to those who possess this quality. Once we enter the Kingdom, or we might say, once the Kingdom enters us, we receive all its blessings.
The Fourth Beatitude: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Mt. 5:6).
I suspect that most of us have felt hungry and/or thirsty at one time or another, and I mean really hungry or really thirsty. If you have ever participated in a planned “fast,” you know what I’m talking about. Of course, we know that Jesus fasted for 40 days during His temptation in the wilderness. That would be a little extreme for most of us, but I’m certain that Jesus knew first-hand the pangs of hunger, and now He is challenging all those listening to His sermon to do a “spiritual fast,” that is, to hunger and thirst for just one thing – RIGHTEOUSNESS! What did Jesus mean by “RIGHTEOUSNESS?”
Righteousness means to be brought into a “right” standing with God, followed by a life of “right” living. Many of us have tried to attain “righteousness” by pursuing good works or being faithful in religious observances, and this is often referred to as “Attempted Righteousness.” But true righteousness before God actually comes by faith. The Apostle Paul did not want to have a “so-called” righteousness, but to be,
“…found in Christ not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith (Philippians 3:9).
Even before the Law was given on Mt. Horeb, Abraham became righteous before God simply because he believed God’s promise of a son and a subsequent nation that would come through him. Commenting on Abraham’s faith, Moses wrote,
God took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:5-6).
Did you notice that? Righteousness was “credited” to Abraham because He believed in God’s promise of a son and a nation. The Apostle Paul reminded His critics that even before Moses received the Law, Abraham was “justified by faith,” believing in the promises of God. We call this POSITIONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS, that is, a righteousness that comes by faith in God’s promises. History tells us that Jesus died on a Roman cross in about AD 30; God’s Word tells us that His death paid the penalty for our sins; and finally, we need to act in faith by confessing our sins, believing that He will forgive and cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:9). When we believe in God’s cleansing from sin through faith in God’s promise, we are placed in a “right” relationship with God. In other words, like Abraham, faith is “credited to us” as righteousness.
But then there is also PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS that follows on the heels of the POSITIONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS that we have in Christ. In Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome, he responded to those who were concerned that being saved by faith would open the door to a life of sin. And so, Paul responded to his critics with a question and then provided the answer,
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! .… But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:1-2, 17-18).
Paul talks about being “obedient” from the “heart,” and not from the letter of the Law. Furthermore, he says that having been set free from the penalty and power of sin, we can now devote our entire lives to righteousness.
And so, let me ask you a question: “Does your soul hunger and thirst for righteousness?” I believe that Jesus is talking about pursuing righteousness with a passion. Of course, His listeners first needed to express the same faith as Abraham did so that they could become POSITIONALLY RIGHTEOUS, but then they needed to pursue righteousness in their lives, working out their salvation by becoming PRACTICALLY RIGHTEOUS. The Apostle John has some great insight into the need for righteous living,
If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of Him (1 John 2:29).
As John says, the “proof” of our faith is in the life that we live.
May each of us live godly lives, lives that first acknowledge our POSITIONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS, and then live out the PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS that demonstrates the reality of our faith in Christ. And in the end, if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we shall be filled with all the goodness and blessings of God.
May the Lord bless you abundantly today.
