Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are the materials used in the construction of the freeway in our Christian life. Have you ever realized that wisdom is our way, our freeway, and that righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are the materials used in making this freeway? This is very true to our Christian experience. When we enjoy Christ, the first aspect of the divine virtue, the divine goodness, we shall experience is God as our righteousness. Whenever we enjoy Christ and experience Him, we first have God as our righteousness. This means that when we exercise our spirit and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we become righteous. The more we call, the more righteous we become.
Let us again refer to an illustration from married life. It certainly is wrong for a husband to come home late at night. Nevertheless, a wife may be wrong and unrighteous in the way she deals with her husband concerning this matter. She may be altogether unfair, condemning him and putting all the blame on him. She never condemns herself or blames herself. Her attitude is also wrong, and she is unrighteous in arguing with her husband. Even though the husband may be just ten percent wrong, the wife condemns him as if he were completely wrong. Therefore, her attitude and behavior toward her husband are ninety percent unrighteous.
Whenever a husband and wife exchange words, both parties are unrighteous. The husband will declare that he is right and that his wife is completely wrong. The wife will insist that the husband is wholly wrong and that only she is right. As a result, both the husband and the wife become unrighteous. Should the wife begin to exercise her spirit and call on the name of the Lord Jesus, she will realize that she has been unfair and unrighteous in relation to her husband. Then she will say to herself, “Yes, my husband is wrong to a certain extent. But I put too much blame upon him. Furthermore, I am wrong to argue with him and to condemn him. Now I see that he is wrong only to a small degree, but that I am much more wrong than he is. I am at least twice as unrighteous as my husband is.” When the sister realizes her situation by calling on the name of the Lord, she spontaneously becomes righteous, for Christ becomes righteousness to her.
Whenever there is strife or argument between people, none of the parties involved is righteous. For example, suppose an elder and a brother in the church have an argument. Instead of exercising his spirit to call on the name of the Lord, the elder stands up for himself. In such a case, he is not righteous. Furthermore, he may say to the other elders, “That particular brother always brings death into the meetings.” Later, when this elder exercises his spirit and calls on the name of the Lord, he realizes that he was unrighteous. He may also realize that the brother in question rarely spreads death in the meetings. The elder, however, has told others that this brother always brings death into the meetings of the church. Therefore, this elder, realizing that he was not righteous, will need to confess to the other elders and say, “Brothers, I ask you to forgive me for what I said about this brother. I have made confession to the Lord, and He has forgiven me. Now I also make confession to you. According to my memory, only on one occasion has this brother brought death into the meetings. But I said that he always does this. I was not fair, neither was I righteous.”
When we call on the Lord’s name with the exercise of our spirit, we become righteous. As we gradually become righteous in this way, we shall eventually become righteous in the way we speak to our husband or wife. Suppose a sister is very righteous with respect to her husband. Eventually, her righteousness will convince him and subdue him. He may say to himself, “Formerly my wife was not like this. Whenever I was wrong, she would condemn me very much. I admit that I was wrong, but she was even more wrong in the way she condemned me.” Because of her condemnation of her husband, she offended him and caused him to react negatively. But now she is righteous toward him because she exercises her spirit to call on the name of the Lord. In this way, the Lord becomes righteousness to her.
Whenever we become righteous by calling on the Lord, we become calm. Righteousness calms us down. The reason a husband and wife argue and exchange words is that neither party is righteous. But if one party becomes righteous, this righteousness will cause the other party to calm down. Suppose it is the wife who turns to the Lord, calls on Him, and becomes righteous in dealing with her husband. Immediately he will realize that she has changed and that she is now fair and righteous in relation to him.
What I have been describing of righteousness I have learned through experience, not from books. From our experience we know that to be righteous is to be wise. To have Christ as our righteousness is to have Him as our wisdom. In this way Christ becomes wisdom to us from God.