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Originally Posted by UntoHim
I think this matter of "the righteousness of God" is very applicable to our discussions here on this thread.
In general, I think that Asian people are looked upon as more moral and/or "righteous" than us westerners. Whether this is actually true or not may not be as relevant as we might think. "Perception is reality" is more of a truism than we Christians may want to admit.
Now when it comes to Witness Lee, perception was most certainly reality, at least when it come to how he was viewed, admired and followed by his flock. The perception of who and what Lee was to us equaled reality. So when others from within or without told us otherwise, we simply blew them off as "opposers".
Anyway, one point I would make is that the righteousness of God is JUST THAT - THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. It's HIS righteousness and not ours. The apostle Paul made it very clear: "Not having a righteousness of my own" (Phil 3:9). And how more clearer could have our Lord been when he exclaimed:"unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."?(Matt 5:30) These were pretty righteous dudes, those scribes and Pharisees. So it cannot necessarily be an outward, visible righteousness that was talking about. God is after MUCH more than the outward man, but moreso after the "hidden man of the heart".
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I agree. And since I make mistakes everyday, that is, I do things wrong and I have never witnessed anyone who did not make mistakes, I don't even know what a human being exhibiting the righteousness of God would look like. Reading the Gospels, I can only try to imagine what Jesus might have like. With the possible exception of him, it seems like arrogance to claim that one is exhibiting the righteousness of God. Saying that we are called to God's righteousness, seems like setting ourselves up for failure. If someone thinks that is the way to go, I can't disprove it. But, if God is injecting us with his righteousness, he must be doing it is some hidden mysterious way that it takes wisdom to see.