Righteousness

I promised a while back to write more about righteousness. As little and shallow as these thoughts are, I hope they are edifying and can help you to think and benefit from understanding God's word.

• Faith makes a person righteous. Abraham was righteous in the eyes of God and also lived righteously in real life.
• Righteousness is not a state of sinlessness, neither are the wicked incapable of good deeds. But what distinguishes these two are the object of their trust.
• There are countless ways to be wicked, you just have to trust in something other than Christ. There is only one way to be righteous, that is through faith in Christ alone.
• If a righteous person trusts in his or her righteousness, it will become wickedness. If a wicked person turns from wickedness and trusts in God, it will become righteousness. (Ezekiel 33:12-16)
• There is a lie that we can become righteous in the eyes of God through self reformation without faith, there is another lie that we can have faith without righteous deeds. Both stem from not fixing one's gaze upon Christ. (Luke 11:37-41, Ezekiel 18:5-9, Matthew 3:8, 1 John 3:7)
• We are insane in our view of ourselves. By nature we view ourselves too highly, it is true since childhood.  This pride is manifested when children refuse to share, use words to abuse, when adults fight over promotion and fame, when men say God does not exist and do not tremble/marvel/give thanks/rejoice at the name of God. It is a great obstacle towards righteousness.
• True wisdom from knowing God leads to righteousness. (Proverbs 1:7, 3:7, 8:1-8)

I'm done with theories

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. - Paul

Watching atheists argue against God online is saddening, frustrating, and encouraging at the same time. Frustrating because I cannot make them believe in the gospel, saddening because their hearts are hardened so they use intellects to deny God, encouraging because their existence makes the Bible's truthfulness more evident.

When I was a nonbeliever I did the same. Philosophizing and theorizing, the atheists are better than me in that they were honest about their unbelief, I wasn't. I pretended to believe. But now I am done with theories.

Thank God I found Christ, or that Christ found me.
In whom simplicity dwells with wisdom.
Simple because whatever he says is true, because of faith there is rest from producing theories and demanding proofs.
Wisdom because truths from the one who is unchanging teaches us to discern and adapt to all situations with righteousness.
Life because from him are all things, he is the author of life.