“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6 NKJV
We live in a society where most of our basic needs are readily provided.
It is not often that we are facing dire hunger or thirst. People in third world countries face these situations more than we do, but in the days when Jesus ministered on this earth, these two basic conditions of life were more prevalent.
There are two which come to mind with this verse concerning righteousness.
First, we must consider hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God given freely by God to men who seek Him. He calls us to Himself in His word and by His Spirit.
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1 NKJV
When God calls us to Christ, He gives us His Spirit which gives us a hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God which avails for our salvation.
Isaiah declares that we will be abundantly filled by Christ, and we will need no money to be fed and filled.
This righteousness from Christ brings plenary forgiveness of sin and life eternal to us.
When one is poor in spirit and mourns over his sin, he has been brought to see that his own self-righteousness is in vain. He and looks to Christ with a hungering and thirsting to receive His perfect righteousness which is the only righteousness acceptable to God.
This righteousness from Christ is imputed to us when we first believe savingly upon Christ. We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ which is the righteousness that God sees when He views us in His Son.
Christ declares in His word that all who come to Him shall never hunger or thirst. We shall lack for any spiritual needs as we abide in Christ.
“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35 NKJV
This imputed righteousness is a legal righteousness that we have as a gift from Christ even though we are still sinners in this life.
When we trust in Christ Jesus, we have already been given God’s Spirit to work in our hearts to impart the righteousness of Christ to us.
We continue to hunger and thirst after a personal righteousness having a holy hatred for our sin. We desire to be made more and more holy as we seek to mortify our sin.
The Holy Spirit works sanctification which makes us have more and more the character of Christ. This is referred to as an imparted righteousness of Christ.
The believer who is hungry and thirsty for this actual personal righteousness is changed from His old nature to a new nature which has nothing to do with murder, adultery, lies, anger, strife, covetousness, etc.
He will be filled with answers to his prayers for sanctification and will see his progress in being delivered from sin.
He will never be satisfied with his level of sanctification and will depend upon God more and more as His sin is revealed to him by the word of God.
We desire to be made complete in holiness which will only occur when we die, but we are progressively sanctified by the Spirit of God until then. Until then, we continue to hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Not only do we desire righteousness imparted to us, be we hunger for righteousness to be imparted to all the church of Jesus Christ. We desire that the church should be revived and that the church be made mature in its walk in a wicked and darkened world.
We also desire to see righteousness prevail in all of society to preserve the freedom of the church.
Are you hungering and thirsting after righteousness?
If so, then God promises that he will meet your need by filling you with the righteousness of Christ, both imputed and imparted.
“Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it”, declares the Lord in Psalm 81:10
One day, you will live in a New heaven and earth where sin will have no place. This will be the consummation of your being filled with the righteousness of Christ.
As we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness we will be filled with everything that we need in this life, and in the life to come.