What God Requires - Righteousness — Zac Poonen

God’s Requirements: Justice, Mercy, and Humility

We're going to take a bible study on three different things titled what does God require from you. And that is based on you probably know a verse in the old testament in micah chapter 6. In micah chapter 6.

How can i stand up before god. Micah 6 verse 6. How can i show proper respect to the most high god. Shall i bring him an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves. And will god be impressed with thousands of rams.

You know those are the things god asked people to bring as sacrifices. Rams and calves. And with buckets and barrels of olive oil. Would god be moved if i sacrificed my firstborn child my precious baby to cancel my sin.

But no he has told you oh man what is good. He's already made it plain to you what god is looking for in men and women. What god requires of us. It's quite simple to do justice to love mercy and kindness and to walk humbly with your god.

It's very simple to do righteousness to do what is righteous all the time to be merciful to other people and to walk humbly with your god in ourselves. Righteousness towards others mercy and towards god humility.

So those are the three things that god expects of us. And even though that is written in the old testament there were little things like this written in the old testament which are god's requirements for all time.

What does god expect from you and me today. Today we don't bring armloads of offerings and calves and rams. We bring to god multitudes of meetings and songs and hymns and maybe some type of activity. And those are the sacrifices we offer today.

Righteousness Above Religious Activity

What is god requiring from you. He wants from you and me first of all righteousness. So we'll consider that first of all. Now you know there are a lot of non-christians who like this verse. I might as well tell you that they say doesn't your bible say that god wants us to be righteous and merciful and walk humility.

That's all. It's almost as though our salvation is by works. If you do all that then god will accept you. That's true. But if you really try to be righteous the way god wants you to be you'll discover it is impossible.

Every man is righteous in his own eyes. And very often i have found among believers the way we judge people is like this. If someone lives at a much higher stand i'm talking about financially. Now if someone lives at a much higher standard than us we say ah that guy's just a waster of money living luxuriously buying a whole lot of things he doesn't need.

And if we buy if we look at someone who's living in desperate poverty much lower than us we say well if he sought the kingdom of god like me he wouldn't be in that condition. We may not say it but that's what we think.

Because we have this fantastic conceit. And there's no other way i can describe it that makes us feel i am the standard. I am the standard. Anybody beneath me is not seeking god's kingdom first. That's why he's so poor.

Anyone who has much more than me ah he's a lover of money. I want to say to you if that is how you are and i think most even christians are like that. That is one of the fundamental reasons why you don't grow spiritually.

I want to tell you the bad news. You are not the standard. I want to tell you the truth. Jesus is the standard. By the way not you are me. But ask yourself whether you have not inwardly judged people who have very much more than you say why does he need two cars when you only have a scooter.

I don't know it doesn't interest me. He didn't take my money to buy it. Why should it bother you. What if he has 50 cars. I mean if he took money from you like some preachers and buys a jet plane or something.

You can ask him why. But somebody who is not doing that why are you bothered. And then how can you say that that person is struggling financially because he didn't seek the kingdom of god like you. Maybe your father gave you a good education and you could get a job.

Don't forget that it's good to walk in humility the same way with righteousness. I was really using that as an example towards righteousness. Very often when we talk about victory over sin and righteousness again you think you're the standard.

If anyone doesn't do the things you do he's a sinner. He needs to be preached against that. But if anyone is speaking of a higher standard than you oh he's a legalist. You see how you get out of it. Someone who's got a higher standard than you is a legalist.

And someone who's got a lower standard than you he's worldly. Why. Because you are the standard of righteousness. Again i want to disappoint you. You are not the standard. Jesus is the standard. So when it says god requires from us righteousness first of all we need to understand to do justly.

To do justly means to be absolutely righteous in everything. Jesus said your yes must be yes and your no must be no. Do you know that in the 10 commandments there was no commandment saying you shall not tell lies.

Now it's a very serious thing to tell a lie. But god knew human nature that without the power of holy spirit it is impossible for people to be free from telling lies. If you still have the habit of telling lies you know what you need.

You need to be filled with the holy spirit because in the old testament they told lies. The commandment was you shall not bear false witness. Not you must not tell lies. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

And that is a court word. That means don't go to court and put your hand on some holy book and say i swear i saw this man hurting that person or killing that person. Don't swear to a lie. Don't ever swear and tell a lie.

And jesus took that up and said you don't need to swear. You must always speak the truth. Your yes must always be yes and your no must always be no. That's the standard of jesus righteousness in the old testament they couldn't live up to that standard.

The Tenth Commandment and the Exposure of Inner Sin

What was the righteousness god required from man. The righteousness of the law had 10 commandments. Nine of them were external. The last one was inward. You know commandments like don't take the name of the lord in vain i am the lord your god.

And don't make any idols. Don't bow down to them. Keep it keep the sabbath day holy honor your father and mother. Don't kill don't commit adultery and don't steal. And don't bear false witness. All these things were external and you could keep it.

But when it came to the 10th commandment you should not desire. You should not lust. You should not covet. It's the same word in romans 7. If you read you shall not covet. In the margin it says lust. You shall not lust in your heart for your neighbor's wife or your neighbor's daughter.

And by the way neighbor's wife and neighbor's daughter covers every woman in the whole world. That means you shouldn't ever lust after a woman either in a photograph or on the internet or when you look at someone.

You shouldn't desire you go to somebody's house and you shouldn't desire what he has. You see somebody wearing a particular type of dress. You shouldn't desire it. You see a sister wearing a sari. You shouldn't desire that.

It's not talking about grabbing it and stealing. Stealing is another commandment earlier on this is just desire. You want it. You shall not covet it. You shall not eagerly desire what belongs to somebody else.

It was impossible to keep that commandment in the old testament. And that's why when the rich young ruler came to jesus and jesus asked. He asked jesus what shall i do to inherit eternal life. He said well keep the commandments.

He said which ones. And jesus did not list the first four commandments related to god because that everybody kept in israel. He spoke about the next. Out of the next six commandments you know there were two tablets of stone.

One contained four commandments man's relationship with god and the other six commandments man's relationship to his neighbor. To sum up. The first tablet of stone was you shall love the lord your god with all your heart soul strength and mind.

And the second tablet was basically you shall love your neighbor as yourself broken up into six commandments. And out of those six commandments jesus took only five. When he spoke to the rich young ruler i don't have time to show it to you.

But you read it in mark chapter 10. And he said these are the things you need to do honor your father and mother. Don't tell lies. Don't steal. Don't bear false witness. Don't commit adultery. And he said i kept all of them.

If jesus had said added the tenth one also. And you shall not desire. He could not have said i've kept all of them. And jesus knew he couldn't be able to say it. And that's why he stopped at number nine.

You know if you read the scripture carefully you'll see these things. Why. Because jesus knew it's no use asking somebody. Have you ever desired after somebody or something that's not yours. Nobody could keep it.

Does that mean that was not god's standard. Why did god put that 10th commandment there the apostle paul let me show you what he talks about righteousness. Righteousness is what god requires from us to do justly.

Paul’s Law-Righteousness and the Conviction of Coveting

What does it mean. God requires us to be righteous in philippians. And chapter 3 paul says let me tell you about my past life. He says verse 6 the last part as to the righteousness which is in the law.

Found blameless. Found blameless according to the righteousness in the law. Does that mean that paul never coveted or lusted after anybody as a young man. Hang on. We got to read the whole of scripture.

See what he says in acts chapter 23 and verse 1 paul was looking at the jewish council before whom he was arrested and brought on trial. And the high priest was standing sitting there to judge him. And he looks up to all these people many of whom who must have known him.

And he said brethren i want to tell you something acts 23 1 all my life i have lived with a perfectly good conscience before god. Not before you fellows before god until this day. That means from the time he came to an age of understanding as a little child he lived with an absolutely good conscience before god until this day anybody here who can say that this was paul's standard of righteousness.

But what did he mean. You mean he never lusted. No he did. But that never convicted his conscience because he was under the law. You see he knew that nobody could keep that tenth commandment. But when he became a christian when he was born again the conscience began to stir within him.

And he says in romans chapter 7 verse 7. Romans 7 verse 7. What shall we say then is the law sin. Oh may it never be on the contrary. I would not have come to know sin except through the law. Because i would not have known about coveting.

And the margin says lusting. If the law had not said you shall not lust. That is the 10th commandment you shall not lust. When jesus said to lust with your eyes is equal to adultery. He was just quoting the 10th commandment.

That's all. It wasn't really a new one. It was a new commandment for people who didn't stick the 10 commandments seriously. And most people in the jewish nation did not take commandment number 10 seriously.

They kept nine commandments and they said my conscience is clear. They kept nine commandments and said according to the righteousness of the law i am blameless. Now don't be too quick to judge them because many of you who preach victory over sin are doing the same thing.

You have a certain standard where you have eliminated certain things and say victory over sin. What about these other things. Oh that's not. I slip up in paul sometime. That's exactly how the jewish were.

They excused certain things in the life particularly in the 10th commandment. They said according to the righteousness in the law. Blameless. But what does he say here. Because when i read this commandment say the 10th commandment you shall not lust.

Sin took opportunity through the commandment and produced in me lusting of every kind. Lusting after women lusting after money lusting after honor lusting after position. Every kind of lusting. Paul was absolutely honest.

He says i got rid of this jewish idea of righteousness and i began to see what the what god wanted from me he says. But you see before the law came he says sin was dead. Verse 9 and i was alive apart from the law means i thought hey i'm a holy man.

Let me paraphrase it. And i thought i'm a pretty holy man. Till i heard this commandment saying you shall not lust. There are people who come to our church who thought themselves pretty holy till they discovered that anger was a sin enough to take you to hell.

That lusting after women was a sin enough to take you to hell. All of a sudden it's like they begin to see that they're not as holy as they thought. I asked myself you know why does god. Why did god put that little 10th commandment right at the bottom.

You know it's like that little tree in the garden of eden. Let's see what adam does about that only one tree about 10 000 trees. This is one tree. Don't touch. Let's see what adam does. In the same way i felt god gave all these nine commandments and added the 10th to see.

Let's see how many people are honest and will acknowledge before me. Oh lord i find all types of lusting in my heart. Lord i know i'm not what you want me to be. And god says those are the ones i'm looking for.

I will lead them to a godly life. But there were very few. Paul was one of them. It's the same today in our midst. Here's a church that's preaching victory over sin. Victory over sin. Every church we're preaching victory over sin victory over sin.

And the lord says let me see what these people mean by victory over sin. Let me see whether they take the small thing which i see in their life as sin. And many people don't they justify it by some reason or the other getting a little upset at home or doing a little unrighteousness.

Debt, the Fear of God, and Genuine Righteousness

And money matters. For example how many believers do you think believe that if you don't pay back your debts it's a sin. Vast majority of christians that i know around the world don't even believe that even though it says in romans 13 verse 8.

Oh no man anything. Is that a commandment. The question is not whether it's a big or a small commandment. The question is who gave the commandment. It's a great almighty god who gave that commandment.

Don't owe anybody anything. See. He didn't say don't borrow. There may be some situations where you suddenly you're in a fix and you need to borrow but paid back. Oh no man anything. That means if you borrow paid back as soon as possible.

But brother we see people say it's difficult to pay it back. I don't think it is i'll give you. You know many years ago when i was an elder in the bangalore church i said i said if anybody in this church has borrowed more than 1000 rupees from you and not repaid it over a reasonable amount of time not even making an effort to repay it.

Please come and tell me who that is that day some people paid back their debts before the news came to my ears. Does it mean they couldn't pay it back. No. The fear of zack punan was more than the fear of god.

Do you think such people are saved. They are a million miles from salvation. But they sit in cfc breaking bread. Many years later i said the same thing again. Years later again deaths were quickly repaid.

Maybe i should say it again today. And some people who need their money back will get it back tonight. The fear of man produces a holiness which is not genuine. There is only one way to be righteous and that is the fear of god.

And when paul because lusting particularly is in the heart and only god knows whether you are desiring someone or something that's the particular commandment that paul spoke about. He says i found i could keep all nine commandments.

When it came to the 10th i was defeated. And he says oh wretched man that i am. Verse 24 who's ever going to set me free from this. This is a terrible body. I make so many resolutions but i always fall.

I always fall i always fall. I cannot keep what the law demands and all that the law tells me to do it cannot help me to do it. He just tells me to do that. But it doesn't help me to do it. And then we read these words.

The Law of the Spirit and Freedom from Sin’s Dominion

Now you understand romans 8 verse 3. What the law could not do. What the law could not do. What was it. It could not do. It could not deliver me from my lusting. What was it the law could do. It could make me acknowledge there was only one god.

It could make me prevent me from idol worship. It could prevent me from taking god's name in vain. It could make me keep the sabbath. It could make me honor my father and mother. It could keep me from stealing keep me from adultery keep me from bearing false witness and keep me from murder and all that.

But it couldn't keep me from lusting. What the law could not do. It could not enable paul to keep the 10th commandment. And if after the gospel came which is supposed to be good news still paul has to say boy even the gospel couldn't do it.

Then we have to say the gospel is also a failure like the law and the second new the second covenant has also got to be considered a failure. And god has to make a third covenant. I want to tell you the second new covenant is not a failure.

If it is a failure in your life it's because you haven't understood it or you're still living under the old covenant. Sin shall not have dominion over you because you're not under the old covenant but under the new covenant.

You're not under law but under grace. So that's one of the surest ways to know whether you're a legalist. Many of you call other people legalists. If you're defeated by sin you're a legalist too. Did you know that sin.

I could read romans 6 14 like this sin will rule over you if you're under law. That's a perfectly legitimate interpretation of romans 6 14. Sin will rule over you. If you're under law you will not be able to overcome sin as long as you're under law because there's something the law cannot do.

The law cannot help you to overcome lusting. And it all depends on your standard and what you call lusting. I remember hearing a story of a man who attended some church somewhere in the united states and he heard the pastor preach saying i never quarreled with my wife.

And this man was really impressed. He said that's great. I wish i could live like that. And after the service he was traveling back with the pastor in his car and he saw the pastor and his wife having a big argument in front and he said oh well his definition of quarrel is different from mine.

That's all and very often when we talk about victory over sin it's just that our definition of that particular sin is about 10 miles below god's definition. We say i got victory over sin. It's just a a play with words.

What do you mean by that. Who are you fooling. You're not fooling the devil. He sits back and laughs at you. You're not fooling god. But you are fooling yourself. Or you're probably not even fooling yourself.

You're fooling other people. The thing that delivered paul was his honesty. He recognized that god wanted him not to lust in his heart. And he found despite his best efforts he was doing it. And he found that struggle struggle good resolutions.

Nothing could accomplish it. Any number of meetings couldn't accomplish it. But he was honest oh wretched man that i am who shall set me free. And then he says what the law could not do god did. How did he do it.

The Holy Spirit as the Law of Life

Let's read verse 2 the law of the spirit. Now he's contrasting this with the law mentioned in romans 7. We mustn't read these chapters in isolation. It is one continuous letter. There were no chapters when paul wrote romans.

There's a law which is the law of moses that brought sin in my life and death spiritual death. But there's another law that's called the law of the holy spirit. So we have two laws here the law of moses that only brought me more into sin and death because i couldn't keep it and the lord didn't help me just told me don't do this do this do this.

And then there's another lock on the law of the spirit. There's a contrast between the law of moses and the law of the spirit. Moses law had 10 commandments and 603 other commandments. The law of the spirit.

How many commandments does that have. Really no commandments. Because it says here the law of the spirit. And i want to read this verse like this. For the law of the spirit verse 2 by which i mean the life of jesus christ that set me free from this other law which i could never be set free from.

There's a law in my members he says in the last part of romans 7 no matter how hard i try no matter how much i determine to be righteous to do justly. I know god requires of me to do justly. But i just can't make it because there's a law in my members that's always dragging me down.

But there is another law which i discovered. It's not a law of commandments. It's not thou shalt and thou shalt not. It is open your open your whole being to the life of jesus christ. That's the law of the spirit that when the holy spirit fills a person he's filling him with the life of jesus christ.

And that life has such a tremendous power. It lifts me up from the law of sin and death that which looks impossible. It does. You know the one of the greatest examples of the law of sin and death is the law of gravity.

It works uniformly on all people all over the world in every generation. And the law of sin and death is exactly like that. And all the children of adam no matter how hard they try they cannot lift themselves up off the ground.

If they jump they'll come down. They can determine they can do what they like. They can determine. And they come down. But today we see massive machines called aircraft which weigh many hundreds of tons going up against the law of gravity.

It's almost as though the law of gravity is pulling it down. But it can't. It just goes up. There are thousands and thousands every day of such huge heavy metal machines flying through the air. How did they overcome the law of gravity.

There is another law called the law of aerodynamics. It's a very simple law that's how they shape an aircraft's wing. It's a law which man discovered. It was a law which adam could have discovered if he wanted to which lifts.

The shape of a wing is made in such a way that the pressure becomes less on top. And it lifts the plane. It lifts tons. And the law of aerodynamics has set that plane free from the law of gravity. This is it's with birds.

It's the same thing a bird without a wing cannot fly. You know that it needs wings to fly. There's a law that gets into motion when it flaps its wings and it goes up. It defies the law of gravity. And these are all little illustrations.

Those who wait upon the lord shall mount up with wings like eagles it says in scripture. And those old testament prophets never knew what it really meant. Today we understand those who wait on the lord who depend on the lord will find themselves getting spiritual wings that lifts themselves.

That lift them up above the law of sin and death and make them righteous. So what does this life on christ jesus do. What was it. The law could not do which the life of jesus christ could do. Please read verse 4.

Now the requirement of the law can be fulfilled inside us. The most important word in that is the two-letter word in not outside us. That is the first nine commandments. What is the requirement of the law.

The requirement of the law is you shall not lust can't do it. But this life in christ jesus like the law of aerodynamics it makes me lifts me up. And now that requirement of the law the tenth commandment which said you shall not covet is fulfilled inside me.

Not automatically because if it were automatic i would be like a robot. You know god doesn't make me into a robot when i accept christ that i automatically don't lust and automatically obey god. No i have to choose.

That's why jesus said you must choose to deny yourself and take up the cross every day. But i will give you the power of the spirit. You know the law of aerodynamics is controlled by a pilot. He's the one who decides when the plane is going to take off.

It's not completely out of his control that suddenly it takes off. No he controls it. He controls when it should take off it controls how high it can fly etc. There's a control there but it's not his power.

No pilot can lift a plane. It's a pilot using the law of aerodynamics but which is under his control. And the holy spirit's power is offered to us to lift us up to make this righteous requirement of the law fulfilled inside us.

But we have to make a choice that i will not walk according to what the flesh tells me but according verse 4 to what the spirit tells me. And it all depends on where i set my mind. That's the important thing.

Renewing the Mind and Walking by the Spirit

You know the mind is one of the most important things in the christian life. The holy spirit wants to control your mind and the world wants to control your mind. Today in christendom people say worldliness is if you dress in a particular way that's worldly.

Or if you wear jewelry that's worldly. Or if men have long hair that's worldly or if women have short hair that's worldly. I wish it were so easy to make people holy. It isn't. Holiness and worldliness are both in the mind.

Initially from the mind it manifests itself in the way we dress the way we speak the way we do things the way we spend our money the way we do a thousand and one things every day. It's worldly or holy according to how we think.

Be renewed in your mind and don't be conformed to the world in your mind but be renewed so that you can be transformed in your mind into the likeness of christ romans 12 verse 2. So it says here in verse 5 those whose mind is according to the flesh they keep on thinking about the things of the flesh.

But those whose mind they've yielded to the spirit they'll be thinking about the things of the spirit. Because if a mind is set on the things of the flesh it's going to be spiritual death. But if a mind it says i'm going to be set on the things of the holy spirit it's going to be life and peace.

And the mind set on the flesh is an enemy of god because it doesn't subject itself to the law of god and it's not even able to do it. That's why he gives us the holy spirit. So what is the evidence of being filled with the holy spirit.

He begins to change my mind. He makes me begin to think like god thinks about certain things which are sinful. He makes me begin to be righteous in all my dealings in my inner life and also with other people that we have to be fair and just towards other people.

Faith, Works, and Justification

You know that's one of the things that james was very concerned about. There are two extremes as i said in the christian life we've often spoken about the two cliffs that people fall over. One is that salvation is only by faith and works don't matter.

And the other is salvation is by works. And faith is not just such an important thing. And throughout 2 000 years christians have tended to fall over one of these cliffs or the other faith without works or works without faith.

But it is the works of faith that james emphasizes. You know james probably looked around in his time when in 60 a .d and saw a lot of christians who claim to be righteous. I've accepted christ. I'm clothed with the righteousness of christ.

But nobody could see that righteousness. You know there are a lot of christians like that today it is true that justification means i'm clothed with the righteousness of christ. I mean i mustn't devalue that.

It's very important to know that initially when we come to christ the day we are born again we can we are justified. You may not know it but it is true. The blood of christ not only cleanses us. Romans 5 9 it says it justifies us.

Justifies means we are declared righteous before god. It's very important to know that i never get tired of repeating that because a lot of new believers come into our church. And you need to hear it.

This is the thing that will assure you that god accepts you when you come to christ. See when you come to christ the only thing god wants from you is honesty an honest admission of your sin and an honest desire to turn from whatever you know to be sin in your life.

You may know only one percent of the millions of sins in your life. But if you're willing to turn from that one percent which you know that shows your attitude is right. And that's what god looks at. What is your attitude towards sin.

Honesty, Repentance, and the Way to Salvation

Nor do you have light on all the 10 000 sins in your life. You'll get condemned if you think like that. What is your attitude towards sin. I want to turn from it. I'm sorry for the way i've lived. I want you lord to forgive me cleanse me.

The bible says if we walk in the light the blood of jesus cleanses us from all sin. And to walk in the light means very simple don't hide in the darkness. He who does he was honest comes into the light.

It says in john 3 if i'm honest i'll come to the light and say yeah. I got a few spots on my shirt. I don't want to hide it. I want the lord to cleanse it away. I got a few things wrong in my life. Like the thief on the cross said um i deserve this.

I'm a criminal. I don't deserve a few years in jail. I deserve to be crucified. And jesus said really how you come to paradise than with me today. Paradise is made for such people who don't blame anybody else but say i deserve that.

I'm 100 to blame. I don't blame my mother for bringing me up wrongly. I don't blame my friends for leading me astray. I don't blame that gang of robbers who put the blame on me. No i deserve this. I deserve to be crucified.

I'm a terrible sinner. Amazing grace that saves a wretch like me. Such people get saved very quickly. They can enter paradise. But adam who. When god asked him what about you. Did you eat that. You know i've you heard him say that many times.

He blames his wife. She's the one who gave me this fruit. And lord you're the one who gave me this wife. And post script. P .s i ate the fruit also. Such people are kicked out of paradise. Do you see the contrast between adam and the thief on the cross.

One refused to straight away acknowledge it's my fault blamed his wife blamed god and got kicked out. And the other one just said no. I deserve it 100. The lord said come in paradise is made for honest people.

Paradise is not made for perfect people. When you go to heaven and you meet the thief who was hanging on the cross do you believe you'll meet him there. Oh yes. I'm looking forward to meet him. He'll be one of the most excited people in heaven.

He'll be the one running around heaven saying you know i did nothing. Not one good thing did i not didn't even make restitution to the fellows i hurt. And i'm here in heaven. Maybe you guys got grace but not as much as me.

I did nothing. It was sheer grace 100 percent god's gift. How did you get here. Just honesty. The only thing i could do was open my mouth and say i'm a sinner. I don't blame anybody else but myself. That's all you need.

That's all you need to be saved. But it's so difficult for proud man to be honest. Haven't you husbands and wives discovered that in your home. How you blame each other even though you know part of the blame is for yourself.

And oh how you blame your mother-in-law for problems that you'd never blame your mother for. Right. I don't mean you holy people. I'm talking about all the unholy people elsewhere. Right. We blame people which for things which deep down in our heart.