A Righteous Life

As believers, we all want to live a life pleasing to God...a life that reflects Christ's ongoing work in our hearts and minds. Yet every day, we still battle with sin. It's the unfortunate and devastating consequence of the Fall.

So how do we live righteously when so many times we fail to "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"? (Matthew 5:48)

The Amplified Version gives a more in-depth perspective of Matthew 5:48: "You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect." It is obvious that none of us is truly "perfect" (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23); but we are to "be imitators of God, as beloved children" (Ephesians 5:1).

To imitate, according to the first definition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means "to follow as a pattern, model, or example." We are made in His image (Genesis 1:27), so we are to represent God by the way we live and act and show love toward others. And the only way to know how to imitate God is to look to His Word and rightly understand His attributes and what He requires (namely, obedience).

We must also look at the life of Jesus, God’s one and only Son (John 3:16) who lived a perfect life as both man and God (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 5:7-9; 1 Peter 2:21-24). The Lord sent Jesus Christ on our behalf: "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30); therefore, we also look to Christ for how to live!

We are only righteous because of Christ (Romans 3:10, 22-26). Apart from Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5)! We can only come to the Father through Jesus (John 14:6), for it is only by His death and resurrection we have salvation (Romans 10:9-13), by grace through faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). When the Lord looks at our lives, He sees Christ. That is the only reason we can become righteous, and we will not be truly perfected until He calls us home (Philippians 3:12-14, 20-21; 1 Peter 5:10).

As we become imitators of God, we can also look to others who live godly lives and follow their examples of faith as they too reflect Christ (1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 3:6-9; Hebrews 6:11-12; Hebrews 13:7; 3 John 1:11). And we can rest assured with confidence that the Lord will continue to work in our lives as we seek Him, put our hope and trust in Jesus, and follow godly examples. "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6).