Monday, January 7, 2013
321 - Holy, Righteous, and Blessed
Spirituality Column #321
January 8, 2013
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
January 8, 2013
Current in Carmel – Westfield – Noblesville – Fishers – Zionsville
Holy,
Righteous, and Blessed
By Bob Walters
Author of (click) Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Holy, righteous, and blessed: three good things that I want to be, that I want for those I love, that I want for the entire world. Who doesn’t?
Author of (click) Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Holy, righteous, and blessed: three good things that I want to be, that I want for those I love, that I want for the entire world. Who doesn’t?
But what are we really talking
about? Do these words mean what we think
they mean? Is this really what we
want? How do we do it / get it? Let’s define and briefly examine this vital vocabulary
of faith.
Holy:
Dedicated to and/or claimed by God.
Righteous:
Doing things God’s way.
Blessed:
Noticed by God.
We too-often think that “holy”
means “without sin.” That certainly can
be the case, but the Bible tells us of many “holy” things that are neither with
nor without sin: buildings, ideas, sacrifices, actions, etc. Even people can be “holy,” i.e., dedicated to
God and claimed by God. But final
judgment on sin is going to be levied only at people, not things, and “holy”
isn’t something mankind can be if it only means “without sin.”
Righteous– such as if I refer to
myself as “being righteous” – is going to be understood by others to mean “Holier
than thou,” which connotes of course the presumption that “I have less sin than
you” so therefore “I am better” or closer to God or whatever. Not a chance.
Romans 3:10-20 is a tidy refutation of any person, on his or her own in
mere obedience, being righteous. We are
only righteous through faith in Christ; we cannot be righteous on our own. Ain’t gonna happen.
To be “blessed” is overly-expected,
even demanded, by worldly humans to connote divine favor or comfort: we are “blessed”
by health, wealth, family, circumstance, etc. … you know, “the good stuff.” Yet if blessings are all things “noticed by
God” then certainly we want to share all things with God as blessings no matter
what they are. That includes the awful stuff
– sickness, poverty, loneliness, trouble of every kind. Arrogantly and unwisely we assign blessings on
a sliding scale: blaming God for the awful stuff yet crediting ourselves with
the good. Who winds up noticing whom?
We need to look no farther than the
nearest mirror to find someone who at least on occasion hopes God won’t notice
our self-directedness, favoring man’s temporal convenience over God’s eternal
plan.
Life is best lived when dedicated
to God, conducted in God’s way, and openly shared with God. The Bible specifically tells us that faith,
hope and love are the three best things we can have (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith in Christ provides holy, righteous and
blessed, the three best things we can be.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) is drawn to people who say they are blessed
and runs from people who say they are holy or righteous.
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