Who are the Righteous?

“The righteous shall be glad in the LORD and shall trust in Him;

and all the upright in heart shall glory.”

(Psalm 64:10)

In what way is a man made righteous before God? I answer, he is not made so by any good works proceeding from himself, by his prayers, duties, obedience nor by his faith and love to the LORD. God has made him righteous in His Way and He has revealed it in the Word of His Grace. There we find that He has in Sovereign Mercy and Discriminating Grace, imputed to and laid upon the Beloved Surety all the sin and transgression of His chosen inheritance and attributed to them all the obedience, righteousness and holiness of His Beloved Son, placing it to their account as their justification: here it is that they are exclusively righteous before God: “Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:30) So nothing belonging to the poor soul can be his righteousness before God. It is not his humility and prayers nor his love, faith and communion with God that makes him so. Neither can his fretfulness, peevishness, unbelief nor all the devilish workings of his heart ever shake or alter it. What a blessing is this! If you and I are among the righteous, it is because we are made so in Christ.