By Tom Shanklin

Noone can get to heaven without it. If you have it, God will answer your prayers.

What is it and how do you get it?

It is “righteousness” and it must be received by faith as a gift from God.

The scripture tells us:

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17, KJV).

The Apostle Paul tells us:

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? (1 Corinthians 6:9, KJV).

We must have it to enter heaven, because Jesus said:

For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, KJV).

Now we know that the Pharisees were extremely “righteous” according to the outward appearance. By all standards of religiosity their performance was excellent. Concerning the traditions they were blameless. Their church attendance, tithing and giving were done to perfection. And yet Jesus said that their righteousness was not good enough to enter the kingdom of heaven.

So what exactly is righteousness? First and foremost, it is being right with God, or being in a condition acceptable to God. Beyond that it is “integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting.” (Thayers Greek Lexicon)

So what was it about the scribes and Pharisee’s righteousness that fell short of the mark? After all, you would think that a group of people that religious, so extremely pious, would surely qualify for a home in God’s heaven. But Jesus said that it was not enough. You must have more righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees.

Let’s look at two scriptures, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament which will begin to shed light on this question.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6, KJV).

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23, KJV).

The clear teaching of the Bible is quite simply this: no one is good enough for heaven. All the religious acts, good deeds and pious behavior in the world cannot give us access to God’s heaven. We must find it another way.

Righteousness is a Gift

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17, KJV).

Remember now that first and foremost, righteousness is “being made right with God.” So here in Romans 5:17, we see that we inherited first of all a “gift” from our great-great-great-great granddaddy Adam. . . a gift of sin, unrighteousness and death. Death passed on the human race because of Adam’s sin. This is why we are all sinners. We are born that way. Some of us may be educated sinners, or rich sinners, or well-dressed sinners, or even religious sinners, but we are, after all, sinners nonetheless. We may try and keep the golden rule. We may even memorize the Bible and fast and pray, but without a Savior, we are lost and doomed to hell.

So righteousness is not an attainment; it is a gift, which must be received by faith.

How did God give us this gift? He gave it through His Son, Jesus Christ.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, KJV).

He (Jesus) was made sin; we were made righteous. Jesus started out righteous; He was made sin. We started out sinful; we were made righteous. This is the Great Exchange. This is the purpose of the cross of Calvary.

When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29, KJV).

Jesus was that sacrificial lamb. His death, His punishment was for us.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6, KJV).

He took the punishment that we deserved. He died and was buried and rose again to procure our righteousness. That is the Good News of the Gospel. No one has any hope of salvation apart from Him. He is the only Savior and the only hope of the world.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6, KJV).

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12, KJV).

The Benefits of Righteousness

Now, notice once again Romans 5:17, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

Grace is God’s unmerited favor. Having favor with Almighty God has benefits.

For example, notice what James says:

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16, KJV).

The effectual fervant prayer of what kind of man? A righteous man. In other words, righteousness puts you on praying ground. Sin separates us from God. Righteousness unites us with God. When you live in righteousness, you live in peace with God and experience all the benefits of His kingdom.

Through righteousness, you reign in life. You can live on top, instead of the bottom. . . over, instead of under. Righteousness gives you victory over the forces of darkness and success on the battle field of faith.

Righteousness is also a spiritual force in your life which produces “integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting.” Righteousness is the foundation of all true holiness. Being “right” on the inside will cause you to live right on the outside. This is a power that all the religion in the world cannot reproduce. This is why the scribes and Pharisees fell short of God’s standard of righteousness. Righteousness is produced from the inside out, not from the outside in.

How to Receive the Gift

Now in Romans 10, we see Paul talking about natural Israel’s quest for righteousness saying:

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10:3, KJV).

They were trying to please God all right, but they were doing it the wrong way.

People today say, “Oh, there are many paths to God. One is just as good as the other. You find God your way and I’ll find Him mine.”

Well, it’s not a question of finding God “your way” or “my way.” It ‘s a question of finding God “God’s way.” After all, He is God. You have to do things “His way” or not at all.

Israel sought to please God their way, by the keeping of the law, the ceremonies, the ordinances, but they failed to submit themselves to the righteousness of God.

Let me ask you a question today. Are you ready to submit yourself to God’s righteousness? Are you ready to receive a free gift that will open the windows of heaven in your life and give you an entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ?

You can decide today to accept that free gift. In fact, the decision is yours. God has done His part. He has procured the gift. He has given it to you. Now you decide. Will you receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ?

Now, in Romans 10 again, Paul goes on to tell us exactly how to receive this free gift of salvation. Contrasting God’s method with Israel’s method, he says:

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) (Romans 10:6-7, KJV).

In other words, don’t say that I will receive Christ by my own self effort. Don’t say that I’ll climb enough steps on my knees, or give enough money to charity, or act good enough to earn my salvation. No, if it’s a gift, it must be received, not earned. And the first key is to realize that you need the gift. This is where many people miss it. “Oh I’m ok,” they say. ” I’ve never killed anyone.” “I’ve lived a good life.”

No, you’re a sinner. . . and you are desparately in need of salvation. Just read the ten commandments. God says if you have broken one of them, you have broken them all. Have you ever lied. . . or had an evil desire? Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain? Just one sin will send you into hell’s fire. . . and because of the sin nature within us, we have all sinned.

So Paul continues:

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:8-10, KJV).

So then, we are saved, not by our own good works, but by the Word of faith. That Word is near you right now. That Word is the Gospel. It is that Word that proclaims: Jesus died for your sins.

That Word in your mouth and in your hear. You can receive the free gift of rightiousness and salvation by believing in Jesus as Savior and accepting Him as the Lord of your life. Now speak it out by faith.

Pray this simple prayer.

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I believe Jesus died for me. He was buried and rose again the third day. I accept Him as the Lord of my life and as my only Savior. I receive Your gift of righteousness now, by faith, in Jesus name.

I encourage you to find a strong local church where the Bible is taught. I would also like to send you a booklet I have written entitled “Becoming a Strong Christian” to help you in your walk of faith. Write and request your free copy today or download it free here.