Have you ever had this experience? 你有没有过这样的经历？That you thought you were hungry就是你以为自己很饿, so you filled your stomach with lots of food于是就去吃, but you still felt hungry可吃饱了还是感到饿? Yes, I have我有过. I thought I was hungry我以为自己很饿, but after eating food, I still felt hungry可吃了东西还是饿, later, I found that my body lacked protein. 后来 才发现我的身体原来缺乏蛋白质。Sometimes, we think we are right to feed our bodies with certain food and drink that we like 有时，我们觉得我们喜欢吃什么喝什么，就喂给我们的身体， but it can be bad for our bodies却对身体反而有害.

It’s similar for our souls灵魂的事也一样, God created us神创造我们, but ever since Adam failed to listen to God但自从亚当不听神的话, humans have sinned and separated themselves from the righteous God人类犯罪与公义的神隔绝. People try to fill their souls with other things instead of God himself人们拿神以外的东西喂养灵魂, longing for more money渴望金钱, romantic love爱情, good jobs好工作, and a thirst for people’s approval渴望别人的肯定, and for pleasure找快乐, and some even long for drugs也有渴望从药物, alcohol酒精, Pornography and gambling色情和赌博中得满足, but we mess up our relationships 可是却搞砸了人际关系and leave ourselves with endless guilt and loneliness留下无尽的负疚感和孤独感. Our souls are still restless人的灵魂仍然得不到安宁! And we are never filled and content with “the lust of the flesh” “the lust of the eyes” and “the pride of life” 我们永不会因 肉体的情欲、眼目的情欲、今生的骄傲 得满足. We only can be filled and content with the Creator God Himself 唯有创造者自己 可以填满我们的心! So Jesus says 于是耶稣这样说, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled Matt 5:6 饥渴慕义的人有福了，因为他们必得饱足（太5:6）”

In the first beatitude Jesus talked about an emptiness 天国八福第一福，讲的是 倒空 – “poor in spirit 灵里贫穷”, that we are to be emptied of our pride就是要倒空我们里面的骄傲, and this week这周, we move on to the desire to be filled我们来看怎样填满, that is to hunger and thirst for righteousness就是要 饥渴慕义. In the fourth beatitude八福的第四福, Jesus reveals the truth that we can be satisfied in this life 主耶稣启示了一个真理，我们今生就可以心满意足, when we hunger and thirst for righteousness 只要 饥渴慕义! Now a question comes up 那么，问题就来了:

1, What does Righteousness mean? 什么是义？

I believe that we all were taught that we had to do things the right way我相信我们都被教导，要把事作对, so that we could earn praise from our parents这样父母就会夸我们, and our teachers, and all the people around us老师、周围的人会夸我们. So the idea of judging “who is right and who is wrong” is deeply rooted in human nature“什么是对，什么是错”的观念深深地根植在人性里, but this is based on what we’ve absorbed from the world但这是从世界里吸收的价值观, not from the truth并不从真理来.

From the east to the west不管东方西方, husbands and wives argue about who is right丈夫和妻子们争谁对 谁错, parents and children argue about who is right父母和孩子争谁对谁错, in work places在工作场所, friction occurs due to arguments about who is right between colleagues, etc争对错带来的摩擦比比皆是. However可是, although we might win the argument about who is right就算我们争赢了, we still have no peace仍得不到平安, and remain in sin and death and broken relationships 仍在罪与死中，人际关系破裂.

Because we are proud of our own “rightness”因我们以自己的“对”为骄傲, and look down on others who are wrong就看不起出错的人, we can easily forget our own sins to judge others as God我们很容易忘记自己的罪、如神一样断定他人, but our own sins do come back quickly to haunt us但我们的罪却快速来抓住我们自己, such as anger就如发怒, unforgiveness不饶恕, bitter judgement苦毒的论断, complaints抱怨, pride骄傲, and restlessness烦躁不得安息. And the relationships between people and God can also be destroyed when we do the right thing in the natural 我们若行自己以为正的事，和人和神的关系也会破裂. There is a Chinese saying, “a man who has done right isn’t forgiving.” 中国古话说，得理不饶人Sadly, whether we are right可悲的是，我们对也好 or we are wrong in the natural错也好, 在本性里, we all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory我们都犯罪亏缺了神的荣耀, we are all separated from God’s peace都与神的平安隔绝. So, it’s a waste of time to argue who is right or who is wrong因此，争对错只是浪费时间, which only leads us to fall into the temptation of being like God to judge others 只会让我们进入 如神一样断定他人的试探中.

When we look at Jesus Christ当我们仰望主耶稣, who was perfectly right他完全地对, hanging on the Cross被挂在十字架上, he didn’t say他没有说, “Father, they are all wrong父啊，他们都错! I’m right我是对的.” But he said却说, “Father, forgive them…父啊，赦免他们……” The wore (fruit) of righteousness will be peace, （in the time when Jesus was suffering当主耶稣受苦时, he still stayed in peace and forgiveness他仍然是平安和饶恕,）and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. Isaiah 32:17公义的果效必是平安，公义的效验必是平稳。（赛32:17）Jesus Christ revealed to us what a righteous life looked like借着主耶稣的人生，让我们看到 何为 公义的人生, there was no quarrelling没有争吵, and no resentment没有怨恨, but full of peace and quietness充满平安, and trusting in the Father信靠天父, though his earthly life was taken away unjustly哪怕地上的生命被不公义地剥夺. He revealed God’s righteousness to us! 他把神的义显明给我们。

In the OT旧约里, the word of “righteous” is mentioned more than 390 times超过390处提到“义”, and more than 140 times in the NT新约里有140多次. In Psa 7:11a（诗篇7:11上）说, it says, “God is a righteous judge神是公义的审判者.”  The word righteous in the Hebrew is “tsaddiy”对应的希伯来文“tsaddiy”, which means just, lawful, and correct是正直、守法、正确的意思.  The word righteous in the Greek word “dikaios” 对应的希腊文“dikaios”，which means observing divine laws or upright, faultless, innocent, and guiltless是指遵守天上的律法、正直、无可指摘、清白和无罪的意思. What is the Antonym of righteousness义的反义词是什么?  It’s Sin! 是罪！In righteousness there is no sin! 那里没有罪！In God’s kingdom在神的国度里, we should no longer argue who is right or who is wrong我们不当再争谁对谁错, but seek God’s righteousness而是寻求神的义.

2, How to obtain righteousness? 怎样得到义？

Romans 3:10, None is righteous, no, not one. Romans 9:30-33 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.  （罗3:10）没有义人，连一个也没有！（罗9:30-33）这样，我们可说什么？那本来不追求义的外邦人反得了义，就是因信而得的义；但以色列人追求律法的义，反得不着律法的义。

The truth reveals that righteousness is not ours but Gods 这真理说，义不是我们自己的，而是神的! We were Gentiles我们本是外邦人, through God’s grace who gives us Jesus Christ who died and paid the penalty for the forgiveness of our sins借着神的恩典，祂赐给我们耶稣基督，舍命还罪债使我们罪得赦免. By faith in Jesus Christ因信耶稣基督, we are counted as righteousness我们被算为义. Jewish people read the bible and keep rules犹太人读经、守条规, but they can’t attain what they are pursuing但得不着想要的.

You know why这是为什么? As God says神说, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil. Jer 13:23古实人岂能改变皮肤呢？豹岂能改变斑点呢？若能，你们习惯行恶的便能行善了。（耶13:23）” It means that it’s impossible to transform ourselves就是说，我们改变不了自己, from our sinful attributes to attain God’s divine attributes by keeping laws or rules through our fallen natures不可能靠着 在肉体里 守律法条规，属罪的性情就改变成 属天的性情. Just as the Ethiopian can’t change his skin nor the leopard his spots就象古实人不能改变肤色、豹子不能改变斑点.

But this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference Romans 3:22. 但是，神的义，因信耶稣基督加给一切相信的人，并没有分别。（罗3:22）Isn’t that good news是不是个好消息? Whoever you are不管你是谁, or whatever you have done previously不管你做过什么, has nothing to do with God’s righteousness和神的义都无关! However然而, we consider ourselves better or worse than others have nothing to do with God’s righteousness我们自觉比别人好或差都与神的义无关! Only our faith in Jesus is counted as righteousness唯有因信耶稣而称义!

A, Righteousness only has to do with faith! 义只与信有关！

2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. （林后5:21）神使那无罪的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为神的义。What does it means about “he had no sin was made to be sin offering for us? “他无罪却替我们成为罪”是什么意思？from Isa 53:5, It says  he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, 赛53:5 哪知他为我们的过犯受害，为我们的罪孽压伤 the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed,因他受刑罚 使我们得平安因他受鞭伤使我们得医治，

We know that Jesus was wronged耶稣被冤枉, and our sins was literally upon him我们的罪真实的压到他身上, though he was no sin虽然他没有罪, in order that in him we are credited as righteousness好叫我们在他里面被称为义! Salvation through this crediting of righteousness is a free gift for us因信称义的救恩是白白的礼物. That’s grace这就叫恩典! We did nothing to change ourselves from the position of sinners to be righteous从罪人的地位到被称义地位, 我们没有做过什么 but we received it freely by faith却因信就白白领受了!

Roms 4:5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. （罗4:5）惟有不做工的，只信称罪人为义的神。他的信就算为义。Our faith is credited as righteousness我们的信就算为义, not our own works不是我们自己的工作! So this is the first step of being credited as righteous被算为义, 这是第一步. How can we practice it? In faith, 在信心里, by the conviction of the Holy Spirit we turn to Him被圣灵光照使我们转向神, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9.我们若认自己的罪，神是信实的，是公义的，必要赦免我们的罪，洗净我们一切的不义（约一1:9） Turning to God转向神, confessing our sins认自己的罪, and receiving His grace of forgiveness被赦免，is the first step to practice our faith in God是我们操练信神的第一步! “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered Romans 4:7得赦免其过、遮盖其罪的，这人是有福的！（罗4:7）” God didn’t say神没有说, “blessed are those who are good行的好的是有福的, or blessed are those who are rich有钱的是有福的, or blessed are those who are successful成功的是有福的”, but He says而是说, “blessed are those whose sins are forgiven得赦免其过、遮盖其罪的，这人是有福的! So所以, coming to God来到神面前, and humbly asking for the gift of His forgiveness is a blessing to us谦卑寻求祂的赦免 使我们得福, by faith in Jesus’ blood we can be counted as righteousness before God因信耶稣的宝血，我们在神面前得称为义!  

B, Righteousness has to do with believing in God’s word, even taking risks! 义与信神的话有关，甚至为此冒险！

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. （约一3:7）小子们哪，不要被人诱惑。行义的才是义人，正如主是义的一样。This is the second step of being righteous by practicing righteousness行义而成为义，这是第二步. It means that we shouldn’t act like Adam and Eve就是说，我们不当象亚当夏娃那样行事, though we are in the position of righteousness我们虽在义的地位里, yet we still should show our faith along with our actions to be like Jesus our Lord仍当象耶稣一样，有行为来表明我们的信心! Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead James 2:17. 这样，信心若没有行为就是死的。（雅2:17）

We know that when Abraham remained childless当亚伯拉罕还没儿子时, God promised him that he would have a son神应许他会生一个儿子, Abraham believed what God said, God credited it to him as righteousness (see Gen 15:6) 亚伯拉罕信耶和华，耶和华就以此为他的义（创15:6）. But this faith is not only a one-minute action但这信不是一分钟的动作, saying a prayer不是做个祷告, “o Lord, I believe in you主啊，我相信你.” No不, in faith Abraham waited 25 years for God’s promise to come through亚伯拉罕凭信等了25年，直到神的应许成就. Can you imagine if God promised you a wife试想神应许给你一个妻子, a son一个儿子, or something或别的东西, but it would be fulfilled in 25 years但要25年后成就, how would you feel你的感觉如何?

Yet Abraham可亚伯拉罕, although his body was as good as dead虽然自己的身体如同已死, and Sarah’s womb was also dead撒拉的生育已经断绝, he didn’t waver in his faith until it came to pass他的信心还是不软弱，直到成就那日. And later on不但如此, when God called him to offer his only son as a burnt offering后来，神呼召他把独子献为燔祭, he didn’t withhold this son from God他也没有留下不给神, for he believed – the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Romans 4:17. 因亚伯拉罕所信的，是那叫死人复活、使无变有的神（罗4:17）。That’s his righteousness that God counted to him神就以此算为他的义. And Abraham was satisfied when he died亚伯拉罕满足而死, though he didn’t receive all the things that God promised虽然他还没有得着全部所应许的. I like the way Charles Spurgeon explained this 我喜欢查尔斯.司布真写的：Those who hunger: “God will fill them; and when he fills men with his fullness, they are full indeed.”  -Charles. H. Spurgeon 对那些饥渴的人，“神要充满他们，当祂用祂的丰满充满他们时，他们就实实在在的饱足了。” ---查尔斯.司布真。

3, Self-righteousness & the righteousness of God.自义和神的义

In Matt 5: 20（太5:20）主说, Jesus says, For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. 我告诉你们：你们的义若不胜于文士和法利赛人的义，断不能进天国。

That’s very serious这是非常严肃的事! It can prevent us from entering the kingdom of heaven这可以阻挡我们进天国, and prevent us from living in the fullness of Christ和阻挡我们住进基督的丰满中. So what is the righteousness of the Pharisees like那么，什么是法利赛人的义? It’s self-righteousness就是自义! We can easily judge the Pharisees, and say我们很容易论断法利赛人，说, “They belonged to the flesh他们属肉体…they were blind他们瞎眼…they desired to justify themselves他们自觉有理, and were offended by what Jesus was doing and saying耶稣所言所行冒犯了他们, because they didn’t know who Jesus was因为他们不认识耶稣是谁…they kept rules他们守条规, so they thought that they were more righteous than others因此他们觉得自己比别人有义…they were jealous of Jesus他们嫉妒耶稣, so they killed Jesus于是杀害耶稣…”

But the fact is可事实上, that self-righteousness is a common and natural inclination自义是一种普遍的、天然的倾向, which is deeply rooted in human nature深深根植在人性里! Shocking感到震惊吗? In Gen 3《创世纪》3章, we see that because of sin我们看到，因为罪, shame came to Adam and Eve羞耻感进入亚当夏娃心里, the first action they did after they had separated from God was to make coverings for themselves by sewing fig leaves离开神之后的第一件事，就是为他们自己 拿无花果树叶子编做裙子. They tried to justify themselves by their own works through their own hands他们想用人手的工作称义! “I’m good…I’m right”, 我好…我对.This is not only Adam and Eve不仅亚当夏娃, in the natural在人的天性中, we all have this inclination每个人都有这种倾向, that leads us to try to do works in our own strength使我们靠自己做, and to desire praise of men想得人的夸奖, rather than to trust in God and wait for God而不是信靠神、等候神, even to suffer persecution from men甚至遭受逼迫. Because persecution is the way God uses to purify his followers for righteousness’ sake因神会为义的缘故，用受逼迫来洁净祂的跟随者, which Jesus talked about in the eighth Beatitude就是天国八福的第八福, so that we may gain the praise of God使我们得到神的称赞.

Jesus Christ is our ultimate example耶稣基督是我们的最终榜样, but what a leader Christ Jesus was in man’s eyes在人眼里祂是怎样的领袖? Jesus didn’t choose 12,000 disciples who were social elites耶稣没有拣选12000名社会精英, though he could have尽管他做得到, but he chose only 12 disciples他却只拣选了12门徒. They were fishermen他们是渔夫, one of them was a tax collector其中一个是税吏, of lower social class属于社会低下阶层, and the other was his betrayer还有一个出卖他! How foolish Christ Jesus was in man’s eyes人眼中的耶稣基督是何等傻? Would you willingly choose a betrayer to be your friend你愿不愿意选一个出卖你的人做朋友? No绝不! we wouldn’t我们不会! If you were a leader如果你是领袖, what kind of a treasurer would you look for你会选个什么样的人做财物主管? Would you use a thief to keep your money bag你会找个贼保管你的钱囊吗? Absolutely not绝不会! But the bible clearly says但圣经清楚地说, that Judas Iscariot was a thief加略人犹大是个贼, as the keeper of the money bag带着钱囊, he used to take what was put in常取其中所存的 (see John 12:6-7，见（约）12:6-7). See看到吗? Jesus was totally not a wise leader耶稣作为领袖一点也不明智, He had no management capability in man’s eyes在人眼中实在没有管理才能, because humanly因从人的角度, we would never allow a thief to keep a money bag for us, would we我们都绝不会让贼来管我们的钱，不是吗? However, Jesus Christ did everything only for the fulfilment of God’s will, which is Christ’s righteousness! 主基督做的一切为完全神的旨意，这就是基督的义!

1 Corinthians 1: 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 林1:30）但你们得在基督耶稣里本乎神，神又使他成为我们的智慧、公义、圣洁、救赎。

Thank God for His mercy感谢神的怜悯! It is because of Christ’s “foolishness”因基督的愚拙, and his willing sacrifice for us和他愿意为我们牺牲, in His blood在祂宝血里, that we are justified我们得称为义! In Him在祂里面, he has become our righteousness, sanctification and redemption他成了我们的公义、圣洁、救赎!

But self-righteousness is just contrary to the righteousness of God但自义与神的义正相反, it starts with the desire to behave well出于想要做好的愿望, “I’ll do it better我会做得更好…You’ll see that I can do it你看吧，我能做…”, it’s not the desire to BE obedient to God’s will不是出于顺服神的旨意, and allow the work of the Holy Spirit from the inside out和让圣灵由内而外地作工, but from the outside in自义是由外而内的. So Jesus rebuked the self-righteousness of the Pharisees in the whole chapter of Matt 23《马太福音》23章整整一章，主责备法利赛人的自义, which can help us to detect our natural inclination of self-righteousness by faith and by His grace借着信和恩典，它可以帮助我们识别本性中自义的倾向! The following are some symptoms of what self-righteousness looks like下面是自义的一些症状, we may take a look可以看一看:

1,  They do not practice what they preach (Matt 23:3)能说不能行（太23:3）

As Christians作为基督徒, if we share what we’ve heard with our families如果我们和家人分享我们听到的真理, our flatmates或是室友, and people around us或是周围的人, and use this measure to measure others并用这样的量器量别人, but ourselves don’t practice what we have heard自己却不操练所听到的, such as forgiveness比如饶恕, holiness圣洁, kindness and humbleness恩慈和谦卑, self-righteousness will overtake us自义就会压倒我们! So the remedy is to “live up to what we’ve already attained Phi 3:16” 补救措施是“我们到了什么地步，就当照什么地步行（腓立比3:16）”

2, All they do is for men to see. (Matt 23:5)一切所做的事情都是要叫人看见（太23:5）

Self-righteousness hungers and thirsts for outward manifestation before men自义渴望在人前显明, rather than for an inward relationship with God而不是内里和神的关系, and rather than wait before God for His praise也不是在神面前等候祂的称赞. So we need to ask the Holy Spirit to convict us我们需要求圣灵光照, if He does so圣灵若光照, we don’t have to be ashamed我们无需羞愧, but give thanks to Him and pray而是感谢祂并祷告, let all the motives of “wearing our righteousness outwardly” be crucified将一切导致“披戴外在的义”的动机，都与主同钉十字架, let Him make us hunger and thirst abide in His righteousness inwardly让祂使我们内里渴慕住在祂的义里.

3, Self-righteousness is un-compassionate and judges others (Matt23:23-32). 自义是无怜悯，是论断他人（太23:23-32）

Self-righteousness can cause us to forget who we are自义会使我们忘记自己是谁, and to show no mercy when we judge other’s faults无怜悯地论断他人的过犯. But actually实际上, we don’t know why people are that way我们不知道人们为什么会这样, or whether we have the same problem as those we are judging或不知道自己和那些我们正论断的人是否有相同的问题. The devil can use it to destroy our relationship with people and with God恶者利用它来毁坏我们与人与神之间的关系. So因此, receiving and passing on God’s forgiveness and mercy in faith is the key to destroy the natural inclination of self-righteousness凭信心领受和传递神的赦免和怜悯，可以破除自义! We are to pray in faith我们要在信心里祷告, “we live by faith not by sight 2 Cor 5:7我们行事为人是凭着信心，不是凭着眼见（林后5:7）” God hates sins but loves sinners神恨恶罪，但是爱罪人! Let God guide us to love people让神引导我们去爱人, and to hate sins恨恶罪, including our own sins包括我们自己的罪!

4, Self-righteousness rejects correction (Matt 23:37)自义拒绝被指正（太23:37）

A couple of times the Bible mentioned圣经里几次提到， that the Pharisees were offended after they had heard Jesus’ words of correction 法利赛人因被耶稣指正感到被冒犯了(Matt 15:12)（太15:12） 。And they rejected correction他们拒绝被指正. But Proverbs 10:17 He who heeds disciples shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray但（箴言10:17）说，谨守训诲的，乃在生命的道上；违弃责备的，便失迷了路. 6:23b, and the correction of discipline are the way to life （箴言6:23下）训诲的责备是生命的道. Rejecting correction can keep us in an arrogant attitude拒绝被指正，会导致我们态度狂傲, like saying就像说, “I know everything我都知道…I’m always right我总是对的…” Truly righteous people live with a child-like attitude真正 行义的人有着小孩子的态度, willingly deny themselves乐意否定自己, to follow the will of the Father跟从天父的旨意, even taking risks甚至为此冒险.

In summary总的来说, righteousness is one of God’s divine attributes义是神属天的属性, not ours不是我们的! No one can by their own efforts obtain or achieve God’s attributes无论何人都无法靠自身努力得着或达到神的属性, as dogs can’t become men就象狗不能变成人, so fallen men can’t become righteous before God堕落的人也不能变成神! But thank God for His grace and mercy但感谢神的恩典和怜悯, through Jesus Christ’s blood we are credited as righteous借着耶稣基督的宝血，我们得称为义, and 并且“For through the Spirit, by faith we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of  righteousness我们靠着圣灵，凭着信心，等候所盼望的义.” We only can have this righteousness by God’s grace through Jesus Christ in faith. 唯有在信心里，靠神的恩典, 借着基督，才能得着义! Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness饥渴慕义的人有福了, for they will be filled因为他们必得饱足! Let’s watch a short video我们来看短片…