To pursue righteousness means to actively seek to live a life that is morally upright and pleasing to God. This involves both internal motivations and outward actions. At its core, pursuing righteousness requires a heart that genuinely desires to know and obey God’s will as revealed in Scripture.
The Bible makes it clear that human righteousness is impossible to attain on our own. Isaiah 64:6 says that all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before a holy God. Romans 3:10 declares that no one is righteous, not even one. Ephesians 2:8-9 explains that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works. So pursuing righteousness requires first being made righteous before God by trusting in Jesus’ finished work on the cross.
Once we are redeemed, we must actively cooperate with the Holy Spirit to put sin to death and live in obedience to God’s commands (Romans 8:13, John 14:15). This happens as we abide in Christ, walk by the Spirit, immerse ourselves in Scripture, and pray persistently. The power to live righteously comes from Christ in us, not ourselves (Galatians 2:20).
Pursuing righteousness means we strive to exemplify the character qualities Jesus displayed – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). It means speaking truthfully, acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly before God (Micah 6:8). It means slaying pride and putting on compassion, humility, meekness, longsuffering, forgiveness, thankfulness, and charity (Colossians 3:12-14).
Concretely, pursuing righteousness includes activities like reading the Bible, prayer, fellowship, serving, giving, and sharing one’s faith. It means turning from sinful behaviors and destructive thought patterns. It means treating others with dignity regardless of race, gender, class or social position. It means defending the vulnerable and resisting injustice. It means being a good steward of time, abilities, money and resources for God’s glory.
Most importantly, pursuing righteousness is not motivated by self-effort or legalistic rule-following, but flows from a transformed heart of love for God. We obey because we adore and wish to resemble Christ. We live righteously not to earn salvation, but because we already have salvation freely by God’s grace.
Pursuing righteousness requires vigilant self-examination of our motives and attitudes. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and sanctify us daily. It means quick repentance when we fail and seeking forgiveness from God and others we have wronged. It also means extending that same grace to those who wrong us.
This lifelong process of pursuing righteousness will ebb and flow. We will struggle with sin and obedience throughout our lives. But the trajectory of spiritual growth should be evident over time as we cooperate with God’s work in us. He promises to complete the pursuit of holiness he began in every believer (Philippians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:23).
As we seek to live righteously, we must remember that only perfect righteousness merits eternal life. But through faith in Christ, God credits his perfect righteousness to us (Romans 4:22-25). Still, pursuing righteousness remains important because it brings glory to God, blessings to us, and shows the authenticity of our faith (Matthew 5:16, James 2:14-26). It’s a response to the amazing grace we’ve received in the gospel.
In summary, pursuing righteousness means devotion to know and obey God from the inside out. It requires understanding our helpless state, trusting fully in Christ’s righteousness for salvation, and relying on the Spirit’s power for daily sanctification. And it compels us to love God and others through pursuing holiness and acting justly in a broken world.
Some key Bible verses about pursuing righteousness include:
Matthew 6:33 – Seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness.
Psalm 15 – Lists character traits of the righteous.
Proverbs 21:21 – Whoever pursues righteousness will find life, righteousness and honor.
1 Timothy 6:11 – Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.
Hebrews 12:14 – Pursue peace with all people, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
2 Corinthians 7:1 – Since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
1 John 3:7 – Let no one deceive you. The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
Galatians 5:16-25 – Explains the war between flesh and Spirit and lists virtues that characterize those led by the Spirit.
Philippians 3:12-14 – Not that I have already attained all this, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have attained it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.
Titus 2:11-14 – For the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, that we might live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
1 Peter 2:24 – Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds we have been healed.
Romans 6:11-14 – Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body that you should obey its passions. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.
2 Timothy 2:22 – Flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Isaiah 1:16-17 – Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
3 John 1:11 – Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Psalm 112:1-9 – Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. They are gracious, compassionate and righteous. Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice. Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear.
Proverbs 14:34 – Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people.
Romans 14:17 – For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
1 John 2:29 – If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
Philippians 1:9-11 – And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
1 John 3:10 – By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
Isaiah 51:1 – Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.
1 Timothy 6:11-12 – But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Matthew 5:10 – Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Hebrews 1:8-9 – But about the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
Psalm 11:7 – For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face.
Proverbs 8:20 – I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice.
Romans 6:16 – Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Matthew 5:20 – For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
James 3:18 – And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Ephesians 4:24 – Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Romans 6:13 – Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
