SO Anyway...
I was thinking about the steps of a righteous man being ordered of God.
I mean, what is a righteous man?
What does it mean that he has his steps ordered by God?
er.... God is pretty HUGE... if He orders your steps, they are certainly on a path to somewhere awesome!
So... HOW do you get your steps ordered by God?
Lets see if there is a 'to do' list for the righteous thing!
I headed over to the amazing wikipedia and found this cool bit of info:
Etymology
The English word righteous was coined by William Tyndale, who remodelled the word after an earlier word rihtwis, which would have yielded Modern English *rightwise or *rightways. He used it to translate the Hebrew root צדקים (TzDYQ), tzedek, which appears more than five hundred times in the Hebrew Bible, and the Greek word δικαιος (dikaios), which appears more than two hundred times in the New Testament.
Righteousness in the Hebrew Bible
Righteousness is one of the chief attributes of God. Its chief meaning concerns ethical conduct. (E.g., Leviticus 19:36; Deuteronomy 25:1; Psalm 1:6; Proverbs 8:20) It is used in a legal sense; while the guilty are judged, the guiltless are deemed righteous. God's faithfulness to His covenant is also a large part of His righteousness. (Nehemiah 9:7-8)
Righteousness also relates to God's role as saviour; God is a "righteous saviour"; (Isaiah 61) and a deliverer. (Isaiah 46:12-13) The righteous are those who trust that they will be vindicated by the Lord God. (Psalm 37:12-13).
Hebrew Definition of Righteousness
Righteousness:
The Hebrew word for righteousness is tseh'-dek, tzedek, Gesenius's Strong's Concordance:6664—righteous, integrity, equity, justice, straightness. The root of tseh'-dek is tsaw-dak', Gesenius's Strong:6663—upright, just, straight, innocent, true, sincere. It is best understood as the product of upright, moral action in accordance with some form of divine plan.
In the Book of Job the title character is introduced to us as a person who is "perfect" in righteousness. This does not mean that he is sinless."Perfect" in this sense means that his righteousness permeates every relationship of his life as his working principle. After all, righteousness is a matter of relationships - with God, with things, and with other people. The biblical definition of righteousness involves the inherent quality of God. God is right because He is righteous, therefore God can only act righteously. In one instance the word means being right; in another it is used to mean doing right; in still another case it means putting right. Job qualifies as a righteous person on each of these counts, so much so that he is commended by God as "wholly righteous" or, translated into our terms, "perfect."
Righteousness as it is understood in the Old Testament is a thoroughly Hebraic concept at variance with the common understanding of the term. The failure to comprehend its meaning is perhaps the most responsible for the view of the Old Testament religion as legalistic and as far removed from the graciousness of the New Testament.
So...
integrity, equity, justice, straightness, upright, moral action...
We know that we are justified freely by Christ. This is not about wether or not we are justified by grace or not, this is about having our steps ordered by God..
My understanding of righteousness and having your steps ordered of God is as follows:
Please be aware that this is what I apply in my own life, it works for me but many scholars would disagree with this view as they would think I am encouraging works based Christianity.
I am actually encouraging principle based christianity which is obedience to God, the Holy Spirit and your conscience!
A Righteous man:
DOES NOT KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT ABOUT INJUSTICE!
Calling yourself a christian, hanging out in your click and standing by while people are treated unfairly, slandered or misrepresented is cowardice!
Take a stand for what is right! Leaders, friends, family, whatever and whoever they are, no law or bibe verse gives anyone the right to hurt others!
You be the light in the darkness and the rescuer of the weak, no matter what it costs you!
Trust God to keep you safe and if for some reason He does not show up in your desired time, be willing to sacrifice for what is right!
DOES WHAT IS RIGHT, NO MATTER THE COST!
