The word gospel comes from the Old English word godspel, which means “god-story.” The English translators of the King James Bible used the word godspel as the translation for two Greek words found in the New Testament—euangelion, which means “good news,” and euangelizomai, which means “to proclaim the good news.” So naturally a story about God will point us to His righteousness. The righteousness of God. Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally right or justifiable. The concept is rooted in religious or divine law and broadly encompasses moral correctness, justice, and virtuous living as dictated by a higher authority or set of spiritual beliefs. God is righteous and we will see this as we read our Bible.
God’s righteousness was on full display through the life of His Son, Jesus. If we want to truly know God and His righteousness we will look closely at Jesus’ time on earth. This is not to discredit the rest of the Bible, but Jesus was God in flesh. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Later in verse 14 John states, “And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Through Jesus the righteousness of God is revealed to us. This ties us to faith. Remember, “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1). It is by faith that we are able to see God in all His righteousness. Faith is the foundation for which our relationship with God deepens.
“The righteous will live by faith” We are not righteous because of anything we do for ourselves. We cannot gain righteousness in God’s eye except by faith in Jesus. It is our relationship with Jesus that makes us righteous before God. It doesn’t matter how much you give to charity, help the homeless, rescue dogs, or take up a social justice cause. What matters is your relationship with Jesus. From an eternal view, without Jesus, all this is not enough to be declared righteous before God. So, faith matters. Faith is the foundation for everything else. Faith allows us to see the righteousness of God. Everything begins with our confidence in the promised eternal life with God, and our assurance in the person of Jesus, whom we do not physically see.
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