Four Hard Truths About Righteousness

 

In our modern world, “righteousness” is often reduced to being a decent person, following a basic moral code, or simply doing more good than bad. We tend to view it as a personal checklist of virtues—kindness, honesty, generosity—that we can tick off to feel secure in our moral standing. This perspective, however, is a profoundly incomplete picture of a deep theological concept.

A closer examination of divine righteousness reveals principles that are not just challenging, but often counter-intuitive to our cultural assumptions. These truths move beyond the comfortable idea of “doing your best” and confront us with an absolute standard that is far more demanding and, ultimately, more transformative. This post distills four impactful takeaways from a theological deep-dive into the nature of God’s righteousness, truths that challenge us to re-evaluate who truly sits on the throne of our lives.

There’s No Credit for Partial Obedience

Partial Obedience Is Still Disobedience

The divine standard for righteousness is not graded on a curve. God requires personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience to His law. This is a difficult concept in a culture that prizes effort over outcome and values “doing your best” above all else. From a theological standpoint, however, there is no system of checks and balances where obedience in one area can excuse or cancel out disobedience in another. This principle dismantles the modern idea of a “moral bank account,” where good deeds in one column are thought to offset sins in another.

Being a faithful spouse doesn’t negate financial dishonesty. Tithing meticulously doesn’t provide a license for gossip. The standard is absolute, and any deviation from it is a failure to meet the whole requirement.

Our Lord demands that we obey him personally, perfectly, and perpetually. But what some people try to think is this. Well, I’m obedient in this area, and so therefore, is going to excuse my disobedience in another area. No, that does not work like that. And so partial obedience is disobedience.

Every Sin Is an Act of Idolatry

All Immorality Is Actually Idolatry

It is a common error to categorize sins, viewing some as minor infractions while others are major moral failings. However, there is an intimate and unbreakable connection between breaking any of God’s laws and violating the very first commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Every act of sin, regardless of its perceived severity, is fundamentally an act of dethroning God and enthroning oneself. When we choose our own will over God’s command, we are declaring that our desire, our convenience, or our judgment is the ultimate authority. This reframes sin from a simple mistake or a moment of weakness into a profound act of rebellion. It is the worship of the self.

Anytime you violate any of God’s law, you’ve already violated the first commandment. You’ve dethroned God and enthroned yourself and saying, “I don’t care what God says. This is the way that I’m going to do it.”

If every sin is an act of self-worship, it forces a difficult question about our service: if we could obey perfectly, what would we actually be owed?

You Don’t Earn Rewards, But God Gives Them Anyway

The Paradox of Duty and Reward

One of the most counter-intuitive truths about righteousness involves the relationship between obedience and reward. Even if a person were able to live a life of perfect, unbroken obedience, they would not have earned a reward. They would have simply done their duty. A servant has no inherent claim upon their master for performing the tasks they were commanded to do.

Yet, this is only half of the truth. While we have no inherent right to a reward, God, in His righteousness, is faithful to His own gracious promises. He chooses to bind Himself by His word to reward the faithful service of His people. This is not a transaction based on merit but a reflection of His covenant-keeping character. This truth is further humbling when we recognize that even our best obedience is disproportionately small compared to our failures and is only possible through His grace at work in us.

So likewise you, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we’re unprofitable servants. We’ve done that which was our duty to do. Do you see what he’s saying? If we were a perfect servant, if we were obedient in everything, that’s just our duty. You don’t get rewards for doing your duty.

The Unbreakable Principle: God Honors Those Who Honor Him

The previous truths culminate in a single, governing principle from which God will not depart. It is the absolute, two-sided reality that defines our relationship with Him: “them that honor me will I honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed” (1 Samuel 2:30). This is not a transaction but an unwavering reflection of God’s character and righteousness.

We often associate honoring God with gentle, agreeable actions. But the biblical account of Phineas provides a starker example. When a plague was ravaging his people due to a flagrant sin, Phineas took a hard, zealous, and decisive stand against that wickedness. For this act of honoring God’s law above all else, God honored him in return with “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.” Phineas’s story reveals that honoring God can demand an unpopular and confrontational stand against evil.

This stands in sharp contrast to our modern age, which pressures us toward “polite toleration” of all beliefs. But a true witness for God must challenge the world’s false idols. This will inevitably provoke hostility from those whose sense of security is built on those very idols. There can be no compromise with systems that stand in opposition to God’s truth.

To bring God’s salvation to the ends of the earth, Jesus’s witnesses must unmask treasured idols, encountering hostility from those whose security is shaken by God’s truth… Religious solutions apart from Christ the Savior are dangerous frauds with which there can be no compromise or polite toleration.

Conclusion: The Two Sides of the Divine Coin

God’s standard of righteousness is absolute and unwavering. The principles outlined here—the totality of obedience, the idolatry of sin, and the paradox of duty—all point to the foundational truth that governs our relationship with our Creator.

This central principle has two inseparable sides: God honors those who honor Him, and He will dishonor those who dishonor Him. There is no middle ground. As we internalize these hard truths, they force us beyond a superficial checklist of morality and demand a deeper, more honest self-examination. They leave us with a powerful question for personal reflection: In the quiet examination of your own life, who truly sits on the throne—God, or you?