Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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God is a righteous God (Ex. 9:7), and because God is eternal, righteousness is eternal (Isa. 51:6, 8). There is no such thing as "death" for a righteous life (Prov. 12:10). Every act God performs is a righteous act (1Sam. 12:7), and the Law that came from Him to Israel was a righteous Law (Dt. 4:8). The righteousness of God is fully revealed in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:17). The measure of true righteousness is Jesus himself; he is the standard by which all claims of righteousness are to be measured. Those who are truly righteous live the kind of life that Jesus lived (1Jn. 3:7).
As there are degrees of wickedness, so there are degrees of righteousness (Ezek. 16:52). In other words, some people are more like God than others. The young shepherd David was more righteous than Israel's King Saul (1Sam. 24:17); Tamar was more righteous than Judah (Gen. 38:26); King Ish-bosheth was more righteous than the two soldiers who assassinated him (1Sam. 4:11); and Abner and Amasa were more righteous than Joab (1Kgs. 2:32. Unlike unrighteousness, which harms people, righteousness helps and blesses them (Job 35:8).
Those who are godly ("like God") are righteous, as He is, and God loves them (Ps. 146:8; 11:7; 33:5; 45:7). Among the many Biblical characters whom the Creator loved because they were righteous are: Abel (Mt. 23:35), Noah (Gen. 7:1), John the Baptist's parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth (Lk. 1:6), Daniel and Job (Ezek. 14:14), and of course, Jesus, God's beloved Son (1Jn. 2:1). If all people had been righteous, as these people were, God would never have given a Law to Moses (1Tim. 1:9), nor would He have sent Jesus to suffer for sins (Lk. 5:32). Both the Law and Jesus were sent to men because of their wickedness.
God's righteousness, once attained to, results in quietness and eternal assurance (Isa. 32:17). It gives great peace (Ps. 85:10) and creates within a man such godly qualities as mercifulness and generosity (Ps. 37:21; Prov. 21:26; 29:7), which a man will then receive from God for himself (Hos. 10:12). It fills a man with compassion for the poor (Dt. 24:13), gives him zeal and saves him from laziness (Prov. 15:19), and makes him bold as a lion for what is right in the sight of God (Prov. 28:1). He is willing and able to judge people and events when it is needed (Ezek. 23:45).
When wicked men are in control, wrong judgments are made, and the wisdom of the righteous is ignored (Hab. 1:4). Before Jesus returns to take up his bride to meet the Father, he will purge the body of such ungodly leaders, and the judgments of the righteous will be made known to God's family (Mt. 23:40-43). Then, every situation and person in the body will be seen and judged through holy eyes. Righteous judgment is judgment that is without any respect of persons (Lev. 19:15). Righteousness within a man makes him despise any lie (Prov. 13:5). It makes all his thoughts right (Prov. 12:5), and since he has right thoughts, his words are guided by sound wisdom (Ps. 37:30; Prov. 10:11-21). This is the way Jesus commanded his followers to judge all matters (Jn. 7:24), but Christianity got in the way.
Righteousness can be hidden by those who have received it (Ps. 40:10), but it is important that the righteous continue in righteousness and not hide it because of fear of man. Righteousness can be spoken, by both God (Isa. 45:19) or by people who are like God (Ps. 52:3; 71:15). When God anoints a man to declare His gospel and that man does so faithfully, righteousness is what he will preach (Ps. 40:9). Noah, for one, was a "preacher of righteousness" (2Pet 2:5). Whenever the truth of God is spoken, righteousness is revealed (Prov. 12:17) and it must be declared by those who have it; no one else can do it.
God tries the righteous (Ps. 11:5) and He may lead them into very difficult circumstances, as He did Jesus (Mt. 4:1), but He will always hear their prayers (Ps. 34:17; Prov. 15:8) because they are determined to obey His commandments, no matter what (Dt. 6:25). The prayers of righteous men and women accomplish much (Jas. 5:16). God will uphold them (Ps 37:17), and deliver them out of all trouble (Ps. 34:19). God will provide for them constantly (Prov. 10:3). Every painful experience the righteous suffer will only serve to make them more blessed (Ps. 141:5), and God will never forsake them or their children (Ps. 37:25).
Here in this life, God gives understanding to the righteous (Ps. 97:11); He reveals to them His secrets (Prov. 2:20), and they believe whatever God tells them (e. g. Gen. 15:6). This holy wisdom is a real treasure; righteousness makes a man rich in eternal things (Prov. 15:6). Righteousness delivers from death those who follow after it (Prov. 10:2). So, the righteous have hope when they die, even though they, like the wicked, must pass through death (Prov. 14:32). Afterward, however, they will inherit the earth (Ps. 37:29) and live, blessed, forever (Prov. 10:25; Mt. 25:46). It is no wonder that righteous people are happy people (Ps. 64:10), and very thankful (Ps. 140:13).
If you are unrighteous, it is encouraging to know that righteousness can be sought for (Zeph. 2:3; Mt. 5:6); in fact, Jesus said that the righteousness of God's kingdom should be the first of all things that anyone should seek (Mt. 6:33). In order to seek righteousness, one must stop sinning (Dan. 4:27). Rather than do this, some people choose to hire and listen to men tell them they are righteous when they are not. They convince themselves that they are righteous because they perform religious acts (Isa. 58:1-2). Those ministers fooled by Satan and used by him to deceive others consider themselves to be ministers of righteousness (2Cor. 11:15). This is the condition of many ministers in the religion of Christianity; they and their ceremonies appear to be good, but that kind of righteousness is as "filthy rags"(Isa. 64:6). You can tell when someone is pursuing God's righteousness when that person has no attraction for nor fellowship with unrighteousness (2Cor. 6:14). And the one who thus fears God, ceases from sin, and does righteousness, will be accepted by God and will receive God's witness of his faith, the baptism of the holy Ghost (Acts 10:35; 1Jn. 2:29). Psalm 112 gives a wonderful summation of a righteous life, as well as its hope. Read it sometime and consider both its description of righteousness the promises God has made to the person who lives uprightly.