Rev. 16:1-7; 19:1-5, The Fruit of the Spirit: Love (2)

To be “righteous” is simply to be in the sate of being right.  This world cannot stand that: a highest authority Who is always right, who never admits to being wrong.  This righteous God created a physical universe, but also created moral distinctions.  The prime example of this is in Genesis with “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  There was nothing significant about the tree itself.  It did not make Eve sick.  The rightness and the wrongness were purely a matter of divine legislation.  That’s what we mean: God is righteous!

Here are some additional attestations of the righteousness of God.

·       Deut. 32:4: He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth without injustice; righteous and upright is He.

·       Job 34:10-12: Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding; far be it from God to do wickedness, and from the Almighty to commit iniquity.  For He repays mam according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way.  Surely God will never do wickedly, nor will the Almighty pervert justice.  These words were spoken by Elihu, the young man who tried to correct Job after the three friends had failed.  Elihu has a true picture of God, even though he also fails to apply this correctly to Job’s situation. To be righteous in character means you do nothing wicked, ever!

·       Psalm 119:137-138: Righteous are you O Lord, and your laws are right.  The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully trustworthy.  Note: God’s law is right, not because it works but because it is the law of a God who is righteous.

·       Rev. 16:5,7; 19:1-2: This is today’s passage.  The context is God’s judgment on the earth in the last days, when men are persistently rebellious.  The words are spoken by angels and saints in heaven.

We must, in our study of God’s love, not only declare His righteousness; we must declare the state of mankind.  Man is NOT in a state of being right.  Rather, he is in a state of being wrong.

·       Ecclesiastes 7:20: There is not a just man upon earth that does good and does not sin. 

·       Rom. 3:10-18: This is the great passage that declares man’s depravity.  The bottom line is at the beginning: There is none righteous, no, not one.

·       Ezekiel 18:25-27: God is righteous; man is unrighteous.  Yet, man sits around and accuses God of being unrighteous.  Do we not see this?  During tragedies, people question God’s love and righteousness.  Men debate creation (how absurd).  Men debate the truth of God’s word, the Bible.  Men question God’s timing, especially the “delay” in Jesus’ return.  Men continually debate God’s laws.  It is as if man sees himself as God’s judge.  Instead … (in the next post).