Three Vital Factors

Acts 24:25 - And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.

   Paul was a master conversationalist. God gave him an ability to speak to men in a way that kept their interest. Jesus had said to Paul that he would stand before the Gentiles and kings, and in fulfillment of that, we read that he reasoned with Felix concerning three vital spiritual realities; righteousness, temperance and judgement to come.

   Righteousness is an often misunderstood subject. What is it? I have heard several definitions such as; an ability to stand in the presence of God without any sense of condemnation; right standing with God; right living and right ways. The same underlying word is used to describe someone who is just. Righteousness and justice then are related. God is designated as the justifier of the ungodly. Whatever our definition, one thing is for sure; we do not make ourselves righteous, we cannot justify ourselves. We need God to make us righteous and we need him to make us just. That is not in our nature; we must have a new nature from God; a righteous nature. Right standing with God results in being able to be yourself before the Lord. It is the sense of being completely accepted and therefore not needing to be false in any way. We can present our true selves to the Lord because that is what he sees anyway, righteousness simply enables us to do so without fear of reprisal. We have been made right through the work of Jesus on the cross; the shedding of his blood. The scripture even speaks about receiving the gift of righteousness; so, if it is indeed a gift, then righteousness can never be earned, it simply must be received and walked in.

    Temperance is an old English word which we do not really use much today, however, it is packed full of meaning that certainly applies to us. To temper steel is to make it pliable and flexible yet stronger and less susceptible to shattering. You would have to agree that we could definitely use some tempering. How many of us have been damaged simply because we have not been able to roll with the punches, so to speak? Many people who have been hurt in car wrecks are hurt because they tried to brace themselves for the impact and the jolt of it damaged their bodies. I have been told that people who are under the influence of alcohol and who end up in a car accident are less likely to be hurt because they are relaxed and flexible. To be tempered by God is to become like a shock absorber, continually adjusting oneself to the contours of the road. Somebody has once said, ‘Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be broken’. One of the things that is evident in life is the need to be tempered by God; to go through a process that causes us to have an adjustable demeanor, adapting ourselves to different circumstances and to varied people. I am definitely not suggesting that we let go of our principles but that we adjust our practices. My pastor used to tell us that when we faced difficult things it was important to respond and not react; response has the tempered feel to it; reaction seems much more rigid and tense.

    The word judgement carries with it mostly negative connotations; a critical, nit-picky boss who loves to point out all your flaws, an angry, heavy-handed man with a gavel in his hand eagerly passing out a sentence of punishment, or a mean-spirited church-goer who looks down his nose at everyone. However, from God’s perspective, judgement is always a positive thing. Everybody wants to be rewarded but there is no reward without judgement. Any contest or competition has a panel of judges who determine whether you win or lose, and even our schools have a system of judgement through examination and grading; no promotion without passing a test. We raise our children with a view to helping them learn to exercise good judgement and wisely choose the proper path in life. Judges preside over court rooms, listening intently as each lawyer argues their case, after which the judgement must be made. Judgement is normal to God’s kingdom; he is a judge and he will adjudicate his will in the Earth. According to the New Testament writings there will be a judgement to come, there will be an account given for how we have lived our lives, and how we have stewarded our skills, our time, and our resources.

    Be encouraged, friends, because of the Blood of Jesus and His amazing grace, we can continue to walk in the gift of righteousness, remain yielded to God’s process of temperance and stand confidently in the light of his merciful judgement.