Photo by Luis Quintero
What is considered unrighteous and ungodly? How do we live a righteous and godly life when we are all sinners subjected to God’s wrath since the beginning?
Ungodliness and unrighteousness have this same difference that can sometimes be defined or contextualized separately. We are all under sin due to eternal damnation because of humanity’s disobedience against God. No matter how many virtues we attempt to practice every week and not acknowledge our flaws as human beings, we continue to incur the wrath of God.
God’s righteousness is revealed by faith.
What we all have in Romans 1:18 and chapter 3:20 shows our sin and guilt, regardless if we’re Jew or Gentile. Apart from being aware of God’s laws, acknowledging both sin and wrath will benefit us in a way that gives importance to the Gospel.
If anyone finds the idea of being under God’s wrath oppressive, they need to wake up to the fact that it is our reality. God has given us free will, and we chose to break it once despite Him giving everything we ever needed, including His omnipresence.
The seriousness of not living a righteous life
We need to have a perpetual understanding of sin and God’s wrath. This helps us become wiser and more cautious in the way we live. The more we know and comprehend human nature, we won’t be living with blinders on anymore.
According to an inspired and introspective book by Julius Mosley titled ‘Living Life With Blinders On,’ we cannot expect God to acknowledge our righteousness and not see our faults. Living such a precarious life is intolerable in the eyes of God. However, a righteous life will make us a blessing to other people.
The actual condition of the heart
Superficial diagnosis leads to a false cure. That has always been the case, even in the spiritual aspect. Our hearts are the root of all evil, and we must know their actual condition so that the magnitude of God’s judgment will not fall upon us.
The mighty hand of the Gospel should be loved, cherished, and feasted on for us to be spiritually healthy and, in turn, influence others to do the same. But if we refuse to know and live according to the Gospel intentionally, then expect that we will be among the recipients of divine judgment.
The essence of faith in the righteousness
Living by faith is the prerequisite of righteousness that we receive from God. A person is considered righteous according to God’s standards – our relationship with Him and the forgiveness we obtained through His Son’s death on the cross. Additionally, the moment we acknowledge and work hard in confessing our sins before God.
Being on our toes when walking along the lines between God’s righteousness and sin teaches us to exalt the Gospel, gives us hope, and enables us to give love. We begin to know God deeper and escape the tendency to have a god complex. After all, living in righteousness humbles us and doesn’t let us blindly rely on our measure of purity.
The essence of the Gospel
Because we are due for God’s wrath, our unrighteousness and ungodliness are revealed by heaven in one way or another. The Scripture repeatedly calls out our sinful nature and, at the same time, teaches us that we have a shot at redemption.
We tend to reject the truth and resist the reality of our unrighteousness. We need God because He’s the only one who can reveal His righteousness to us so that we are spared eternal damnation. We never had purity, to begin with. Yet, we still get an opportunity to live a holy and pleasing life before God if we receive His righteous salvation and do not allow ourselves to be blinded by our greed and sinful desires.
How God reveals His wrath
After Adam and Eve were sentenced to eternal ruin, death came into existence and has become a permanent part of our being. God uses death as judgment for our unrighteousness. We have been condemned because we broke God’s commandments. Death was primarily seen as a punishment for our sinful ways, and that’s just one part of the wholeness of His wrath.
Endless misery is another manifestation of God’s wrath. The sufferings endured by many worldwide are due to God’s wrath poured out to the world. Universal degradation of one’s humanity is an additional consequence of man’s unrighteousness before the Lord. Giving in to impurities that destroy our relationship with Him can make us recipients of God’s righteous anger.
