What does it mean to fulfill all righteousness

The speaker discusses the concept of righteousness in the Bible and its importance in relationships with God and others. Righteousness is described as having a right relationship with God and loving one's neighbor. Fulfilling righteousness means fulfilling all that God has commanded. Jesus fulfilled righteousness by doing the will of God and believers are called to do the same. Repentance is necessary for a change towards a righteous life. Without righteousness, there is no peace or joy. The message concludes with a blessing and the hope to meet again in the future. Welcome to our weekly exhortation. Thank you for joining me. My name is Guy Lamurel, servant of God, servant of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus was talking to John the Baptist saying, let it be so now, it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. What is righteousness? What does it mean to fulfill all righteousness? In one of our podcasts concerning the confession and forgiveness of sin, we explain the reason why the Lord Jesus gives power and authority to his servants to forgive or retain the sin of those who come to God through faith in him. We said that the reason why Jesus allows it is so that all righteousness be fulfilled. Today, we want to achieve a much deeper understanding of the word righteousness. What is righteousness? What does it mean to fulfill all righteousness as stated in Matthew chapter 3 verse 15? Before we answer the question, what does it mean to fulfill righteousness? We need to know first what righteousness is. In fact, righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable not just from the Bible perspective but from man's as well. You know, righteousness is a very practical word in the Bible. It has to do with life. It has to do with relationships with God and with our fellow man. Put simply, righteousness is the expression of all that God approves. I will dig more for your understanding. Righteousness in the Bible can be described in a nutshell in this way. It has to do with a right relationship with God and with our fellow man. You remember that the Lord Jesus said that all the commandments can be summed up in one sentence namely that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength and your neighbor as yourself. That sums up the whole essence of righteousness. Righteousness is a matter of right relationship and this right relationship is described in the Bible in terms of love. It is to love God with everything you've got, with your heart like I said, your soul, your mind, your strength. Praise the Lord. And it is to love your neighbor on the same basis as yourself treating your neighbor in the same way that you treat yourself. I want to continue by saying that righteousness is important so that all spiritual antagonism between man and their neighbor disappears. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul explains in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 14 when he says 4 Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when with his own body on the cross he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. Do you know that every commandment in the Bible has either to do with our relationship with God or our relationship with our neighbor? Just look at the 10 commandments. Every commandment is simply like this. It is the matter of relationship with God and with the neighbor. Look at this. You cannot disobey any word of God without affecting your relationship with God and with the neighbor. Friend, you will realize if you take a closer look at each of these 10 commandments. Just go read them and you will notice that every single commandment has to do with the relationship with God and with man. So Jesus' primary concern as he began his ministry is that we have a right relationship with God and a right relationship with our fellow man. Praise the Lord. Now we are ready to answer the question, what does it mean to fulfill our righteousness? The Lord Jesus used this expression when he and John the Baptist first met. Jesus asked John the Baptist to be baptized by him but John didn't like the idea. So what happened? Well, Jesus didn't give up. He insisted. He said in Matthew chapter 3 verse 15, Permit it to be so now, John, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Hallelujah. Basically, to fulfill all righteousness is to fulfill all that God has commanded or required of us. You know, Jesus came into this world to do the will of God. He said, Behold, I come in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I am delighted to do your will, O my God, and your law is written within my heart. Psalm chapter 40 verse 7 to 8. You know, Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by doing the will of God. And in this particular case, he fulfilled all righteousness by submitting himself to John's baptism, the greater submitting to the ministry of the lesser. Notice that Jesus is not the only one to fulfill all righteousness, but men as well, and you as well, friends. Jesus says to John the Baptist, It is fitting for us. John the Baptist representing all the believers. This means every believer on his side must do his part to fulfill all righteousness. It's only then that the kingdom of God will come. When the Lord teaches us to pray, may your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven. It is precisely because he wanted us to participate in the establishment of this righteousness. Isn't it? Furthermore, the Lord Jesus asked John the Baptist to be baptized by him for the sake of fulfilling all righteousness. Why? Well, because this was commanded by God. It was an ordinance of God. And every ordinance of God is designed to have a definite effect upon our relationship to him and our relationship with our neighbor. Hallelujah. Conclusion. You give the healing and grace our hearts always hunger for. Righteousness is a very practical word in the Bible. It has to do with life. It has to do with relationships with God and with our fellow man. To fulfill all righteousness means to fulfill all that God has required of us. Yet to fulfill all righteousness requires a complete change in our lives. And the starting point of that change is repentance. The Lord Jesus preached repentance because it is the turning point from a life of sin to a righteous life. Repentance is what brings you from an old life of sin to a new life of righteousness. It's the Lord. Friend, you are listening to this exhortation. You do well. But please come to Jesus. And I'm sure you did it already. Continually do his will. Know him and you will experience peace. You will experience love and righteousness. Where there is righteousness, there is peace. Joy, love in the Holy Spirit. For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness. Romans chapter 14 verse 17. Without peace, you don't have joy. Without righteousness, you don't have peace neither. And so without righteousness, you don't have either peace nor joy. It is not possible to get peace and joy without passing through righteousness. Unless righteousness becomes a reality in your life, peace and joy are not going to be your portion. Well, we have come to the end of today's message. May God bless your understanding. If God wills it, we will be together next week. Shabbat Shalom.