Scripture Trains Us in Righteousness

TRAINING  IN  RIGHTEOUSNESS

Thursday, February 23, 2017

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”  2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

What is righteousness? 

Acting in accord with divine or moral law; free from guilt or sin; morally right or justifiable.

How can you “train” in righteousness? Seems like either you are righteous or you are not.

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20

Keep in mind that the Ecclesiastes passage was written before Jesus Christ walked on the earth. HE was sinless. There is no way for any of us on our own to achieve perfection or righteousness. It is only by the grace of our Lord that we are made right in God's eyes.

So...how do we "train" in righteousness?

Well, how does anybody train in a sporting event or in a vocation or in anything else?

• Study
• Practice
• Learn from mistakes
• Push through painful "workouts"
• Perform / practice
• Talk to others in the field
• Evaluate criticism
• Find a mentor 
• Perform / practice
• Teach others 
• Hard work
• Perform / practice

I think training in righteousnes is a lot like this. We read Scripture, study it, and practice what we find in it. We work with spiritual mentors. We learn from our mistakes. We teach others as we mature. We yield to the Holy Spirit's correction. 

Sometimes it isn't easy. But the ultimate reward is our final resting place in the presence of our Lord. 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 NIV

Lord, help us to learn from you. Help us to grow closer to you every day. Thank you that Jesus secured our perfection for us. Otherwise we would be hopeless. Because of Him, we will one day worship you face to face.