What the Bible says about Righteousness, Hungering for
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Proverbs 3:27-28 Cotton Mather, a Puritan preacher, once said, "The opportunity to do good imposes the obligation to do it." He is implying that we have been favored when an opportunity to serve in this manner arises. We are not to do it only when it is convenient or when it will contribute to our fame, but we should do it when we have opportunity, no matter how often it occurs or how much self-denial it takes. John W. Ritenbaugh The Beatitudes, Part Four: Hungering and Thirsting After Righteousness Related Topics: Doing Good | Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness | Hungering for Righteousness | Obligation | Obligation, Sense of | Righteousness, Hungering for | Righteousness, Seeking God's | Self Denial | Thirsting for Righteousness

Matthew 5:20 The Pharisees' righteousness was all outward. The Pharisees would stand and pray in the open, give their alms in the open, and do all kinds of things so that people could see them. Jesus asserts that our righteousness has to be more than what they did. He is thinking along the lines of actual, practical righteousness. We must go beyond the Pharisees' acts of righteousness, and mostly, He speaks about doing acts of righteousness in secret, not in public but in private. But they are still acts of righteousness, personal conduct that reflects what God does. So, the righteousness He speaks of here is righteousness of behavior, of conduct. Jesus wants the conduct of His disciples to be far better than that of the Pharisees. Richard T. Ritenbaugh Those Who Hunger and Thirst Related Topics: Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness | Hungering for Righteousness | Righteousness, Hungering for

Matthew 21:32 John the Baptist came in the way of righteousness. He is not talking about just the instruction of righteousness. When the Bible speaks about a way, it is speaking about a walk, specifically the walk toward the Kingdom of God, that is, a set of behaviors that show progression toward the Kingdom of God. Jesus is saying that when John came, he did all these righteous acts that people could see. The Pharisees did not believe that the things John did was the way of righteousness, but He says here that the tax collectors and harlots did see them in Jesus, and they followed Him. They believed and began doing the things He was teaching and doing as an example of behavior. Richard T. Ritenbaugh Those Who Hunger and Thirst Related Topics: Example, Teaching by | Hunger and Thirst Metaphor | Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness | Hungering for Righteousness | Righteousness, Hungering for | Teaching by Example | Walking Metaphor

 

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