Yep! That's me!
I always had this picture in my mind when a person was 'holy and righteous', he was 'perfect', always reverent, quiet. I would see in my mind, a priest or a nun or a person sitting cross-legged and always in prayer. Or maybe he'd be floating, not walking through life.
What is your picture of 'holy and righteous'? I always thought if you thought yourself 'holy and righteous', you were thinking you were 'holier than thou', or 'self-righteous'. Like a person up on this pedestal looking down at people with an evil eye shaking his finger saying "Shame on you!".
Guess what?!? Even though I come way short of being perfect, I found out I am 'holy and righteous'!!
You see 'holy' is belonging to; devoted to God. Hey! I'm that! I've been that since I accepted Jesus. I have been set apart for God. I have a heart for Him. Because now I belong to Him.
The 'righteous' part? That was a gift He gave me as soon as I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. You see 'righteous' or 'righteousness' is 'right standing with God'.
Even though I may need to work on my devotion to God (my holiness), I will always be righteous because that is a gift He gave to me when His son died on the cross. Romans 5:17 "For if, by the trespass of the one man,death reigned through that one man,how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ."
And just so I don't get too cocky about my 'right standing with God'(righteousness), God is always righteous. He does what is right. I don't always do what is right, but I will always be right with God, thanks to the blood of Jesus. Jesus made us right with God through the shedding of His blood. In Jesus, I am righteous. I have to be in Him.
What does it mean to be in Him? Well, in this particular case, when you accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you are automatically transplanted, grafted if you will, into Jesus Christ himself! So now through faith in Him and what He did for you, you are free from feeling like you have to be perfect. You can go before God boldly and talk to Him about anything!
