Righteousness is a term that belongs to theological jargon. It is a biblical word, but is probably not used much outside of a theological context. The word "righteous," by contrast, has become part of common slang, although its meaning is somewhat altered. "That's righteous!" may now mean that something is just acceptable to the person or that it is "cool." But the word "right" is a part of everyday usage. The dictionary has over thirty definitions for the word in its adjective, adverb, verb or noun form. A popular phrase today is "Do the right thing." Most people intuitively know that the word "right" has to do with some standard. Most often it is the standard of the prevailing societal mores, the accepted traditional custom of that society. But that standard is relative to the particular society. The moral standards of ancient Greece and Rome would be unacceptable to a Christian society.

The ultimate question, however, has to do with the ultimate standard-an absolute standard. As Bible-believing Christians, we believe the ultimate standard is the revealed will of God, His Law. God's Law reflects His nature of holiness and perfection. The moral Law of God is encapsulated in the Ten Commandments and summarized by Christ as loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:21-24). Paul said, "Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Romans 13:8). So if we love God we obey Him, and if we obey God we love Him. Now how does this tie in with righteousness? Well, righteousness, doing what is right, means being conformed to that absolute standard. So, righteousness is to love God and our neighbor perfectly. This means not only outwardly but inwardly as well, not only in letter but in spirit. It encompasses all of our thoughts, words, and deeds, perpetually, consistently, and completely. The idea of love is welcomed by most people, especially after the Beatles sang, "all you need is love...love is all you need." But I'm sure the Fab Four would not agree with the Bible's definition of love as obeying God.

The Bible teaches that God is holy and righteous and that He is unchangeable. Man, who is a sinner, and has failed miserably at loving God and neighbor perfectly, cannot approach the all-holy God in his current state. In fact, man, because of the fall of his federal head, Adam, is born into a state of condemnation. He is dead in sin from the moment of conception. This state of sin and misery is the inheritance of all the children of Adam. In Adam ALL die. All therefore are justly condemned by God because they have sinned both representatively by Adam, and practically in their own lives. This is the bad news, and it is worse than we think.

But God (two of the most wonderful words in Scripture), "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:4-6). This is the Good News, and it's infinitely better than we think. God provides for us the solution which upholds and magnifies His holy Law and demonstrates His grace, mercy, and love towards undeserving, condemned sinners. Only God could do this, so that "salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). God offers, in the second Adam, His Son, Jesus Christ, the perfect, everlasting righteousness which satisfies His Law, His holiness. He offers this as a gift to any who believe this Good News and receive that gift with the empty hand of faith. God then imputes-reckons to the believing sinner-"the perfect satisfaction, holiness and righteousness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me; if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart" (Heidelberg Catechism Q/A #60). If that doesn't absolutely thrill your soul and fill you with such love for God that you want to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever, then nothing will.

Why then, would anyone want to add their attempts at keeping the Law to the perfect righteousness of the God-Man? Why would anyone want a mongrel righteousness, partly Christ's and partly theirs? It is because, as Spurgeon said, we are all Pelagian at heart. In our sinful nature, which we inherited from our federal head and father, Adam, we have the inclination to seek autonomy from God. We want to contribute something of our inherent righteousness to God's acceptance of us. We want at least some bragging rights before God that we can boast of. This distinction between an imputed and an inherent righteousness was the crux of the whole debate between Rome and the Reformers. In fact, it is the distinction between biblical Christianity and all other religions. Only Christianity, as recovered by the Reformers in the Protestant Reformation, teaches that we are accepted by God on the basis of another's life and death, upon righteousness imputed to us and not inherent within us. The substitutionary atonement of Christ is the heart and soul of the Gospel. And it is an either/or proposition, an all-or-none situation. Either you are saved by the righteousness of Christ imputed to you plus nothing of your own inherent righteousness, or you are lost. You cannot add anything to Christ's perfect work without denying it altogether. As Spurgeon said, "if you seek to add one stitch of your own to that celestial robe of Christ's righteousness, you are lost."

Isaiah declared that "all our righteousness is as filthy rags." Notice that he doesn't say "all our sins are as filthy rags," but all our righteousness is as filthy rags. Calvin said that all our best works are so tainted with sin that they alone would condemn us. Do we renounce our good works as vehemently as we do our sins? William Romaine, in his book Twelve Discourses on the Law and Gospel, wrote,

Your false righteousness will destroy you, if you venture to put your trial upon it at God's bar: for He has already decreed, that since all have sinned, therefore by the deeds of the broken Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight."

Now, there is a common objection at this point. Martin Lloyd-Jones said that if people don't raise this objection to your preaching the Gospel, then you probably haven't truly preached it. It is this: "But that will lead to antinomianism!" Paul anticipated the same objection: "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Certainly the Bible teaches that a person who believes the Gospel will bear fruit. Good works will follow as surely as a fruit tree bears fruit. Sanctification will flow out of justification. We love Him because He first loved us. But all of that fruit, all of those good works, all of that progress in sanctification contributes Nothing, absolutely Nothing (and as Luther said, nothing is "Not a little something") to our justification before God, to our being accepted by Him ("He made us accepted in the Beloved." Eph. 1:6).

Romaine writes again:

"Believers are not only righteous in Him, but righteousness, and that the righteousness of God too, against which Law and justice cannot make any exception; therefore of this righteousness, though not of their own, may they boast all the day long. The merits of it are their justification, the fruits of it are their sanctification, and when they come to heaven, this righteousness will be their everlasting robe of glory, and to sing His praises, who clothed them with it, will be their employment and happiness for ever and ever."

Do you boast of the righteousness of Christ? Do you delight in it and renounce your own for His sake? Do you love more dearly Him who gives you this robe of perfection and makes you a child of God and an inheritor of all God's blessings for the sake of Christ?

Let us echo the hymnwriter who penned:

"Upon a life I did not live;
Upon a death I did not die,
Another's death, Another's life,
I'd rest my soul eternally."

The phrase "you are what you eat", not to be confused with the cannibal's dictum, "you eat what you are", may have had its origin with Ludwig Feuerbach, a German philosopher, in his 1863 essay entitled Concerning Spiritualism and Materialism, where he wrote: "Der Mensch ist, was er isst". The English translation is ‘man is what he eats'. Feuerbach was using an alliteration between the German words ‘to be" and ‘to eat' which sound similar. Prior to Feuerbach, a French lawyer who was a gourmet, wrote a book in 1825 called The Physiology of Taste. In that book, Brillat-Savarin wrote: "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are". Now, neither of these men meant for their quotes to be taken literally. They were referring to how the food one eats can have a bearing on their minds and health. The phrase wasn't used in English until the 1920-30's when a nutritionist named Victor Lindlahr developed the idea that food controls health. He wrote a book in 1942 called You Are What You Eat; how to win and keep health with diet. I read recently about a man who had eaten 23,000 Big Mac hamburgers since 1972. He had two each day except for a few rare instances which prevented him from doing so. Now, I'm sure that this man doesn't look like a Big Mac, at least on the outside. But with my professional background in nutrition, I would be confident in saying that eating that many Big Macs has had some effect on his health.

Spiritual Food

Now, you may be thinking, "Why am I reading about nutrition in a theological publication?" Well, I want to argue that the idea of eating and nutrition can be used metaphorically to apply to spiritual matters and in fact has been done so by Jesus and others in the Bible. I want to demonstrate that the phrase "you are what you eat" can be applied to our spiritual health and growth. In John's gospel, chapter six, Jesus calls Himself the bread of life. He also says that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (6:53). In verse 55 He says, "For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." Now, Jesus is speaking metaphorically or figuratively, but that wasn't so obvious to some of his followers who thought he was teaching some kind of cannibalism. It was a "hard saying" for them and they left. Jesus had begun the discourse by saying that He was the bread of life and that all who came to Him and believed in Him had life. There's the literal meaning. Jesus is talking about believing in Him. Later He decides to use the figurative language in what someone has called Jesus' "church shrinkage program". Rome also seems somewhat confused by using these verses and other sources to promote their ritualistic cannibalism in their doctrine of transubstantiation, for that is what it is if the elements truly become the flesh and blood of Christ. The inability to discern between literal and figurative language seems to be a continual source of confusion for many throughout church history.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 says, "And, I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able." The writer to the Hebrews uses similar language in Hebrews 5:12-14, which states, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Peter also says, "...as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby". (1Peter 2:2). From these passages we see the Bible's use of figurative language using the idea of eating and nutrition to discuss spiritual life and growth.

This gastronomic idea may be connected to Proverbs 23:7; "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he." What we think will define what we are. This connects us with the verses in Romans, Colossians, Ephesians and 2 Peter that connect our minds or our thinking with our behavior and living. Paul exhorts us to not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewal of our minds. He says similar things in Ephesians and Colossians about how we grow in the faith by knowledge of the truth... "being renewed in the spirit of your mind" ... "and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him." So as we grow in our understanding and belief of God's Truth, that will have a greater effect over our lives and we will bear more fruit to God's glory.

Let's get back to the gastronomic analogy. If what we eat physically becomes us via the digestive process and effects the health and growth of our bodies, likewise what we eat spiritually will affect the health and growth of our souls. So, if we eat junk food (food which is edible but has little nutritive quality) and have little nutritious food in our diets, our health will suffer. Likewise, if we fill our minds with mental junk food, thoughts and ideas that are empty of Truth, the health of our souls will suffer. In this analogy it is important to understand how we eat, what we eat and why we eat, as well as the results of our eating.

How Do You Eat?

First, the how of what we eat. We eat spiritually by understanding and believing statements or propositions. A proposition is the meaning of a declarative sentence. A is B. Other types of sentences such as questions, exclamations or commands do not "feed" us Truth, although they may flesh out the broader narrative of what we are reading. The act and process of reading and meditating may correspond to chewing and digesting physical food. By the way, it is important to remember that all analogies, metaphors or figurative language have their limitations. We must not stretch their use to the breaking point or to an absurd end either. As we read and roll around in our minds (meditate/think about) what we are reading, those ideas are being absorbed into our thinking, into our souls like nutrients are absorbed into our blood stream through the villi of our small intestines. What we don't understand and/or believe may pass through us like indigestible matter. It won't have a long term effect on us.

What Are You Eating?

Secondly, let's consider the what of what we eat. In the physical realm our bodies need nutritious foods to promote growth, maintenance and the overall health of our bodies. If we want healthy bodies we must eat healthy foods and in their proper amounts. If we eat junk foods and very little nutritious foods we will become sick and may develop certain diseases which could affect our long term health and shorten our longevity. The science of nutrition is fairly new on the medical sciences' horizon and much greater research is needed to establish connections between our diets and our health. However, there is enough data to warrant the idea that we are what we eat and that our diets will have profound effects on our overall health. By the way, as a dietitian I am not a "puritan" when it comes to certain foods. In other words, I believe that if the majority of one's diet is sound a person can indulge in certain junk foods, in moderation, just for the sheer enjoyment of it. The problem arises when those foods crowd out the nutritious foods.

Now, spiritually speaking, these ideas apply to the health of our souls. If we want to grow spiritually and improve our spiritual health we must consume the proper diet. The best spiritual food, of course, is the Truth, the Scriptures. God's Word is all we need for faith and life as the Westminster Confession of Faith states. Of course, books about the Bible like commentaries, systematic theologies, surveys, sermons, confessions and catechisms are all very good, as well, as long as they conform to the Word of God. But a diet for long term health of our souls must include regular and consistent eating of God's Word. We must do this individually and corporately. This is a means of grace for us given by God. We should not only read the Bible but meditate upon it. This is not the Eastern or New Age version of meditation where one empties their mind in order to have an emotional, mystical experience. Rather, it is the rolling around in one's mind a passage of Scripture, a chewing the cud, ruminating on an idea. Also, as mentioned we should eat the Word corporately. We must attend the public worship of God and hear His Word preached. We should also be involved in Bible studies with other believers where we can discuss ideas and freely ask questions. Many times this will help stimulate thoughtful meditation in between meetings. With the availability of Bibles, countless books and internet sites we have a virtual banquet feast set before us. Are we taking advantage of it? By the way, I am also not advocating that we can only read the Bible and other theological books. We may need to read materials for an apologetic purpose and can therefore understand another worldview and be able to better defend the faith. We also may enjoy reading novels, science fiction or philosophical treatises for pure literary enjoyment. We just have to be discerning in our reading, and, like our diets, make sure that the majority of what we fill our minds with is spiritually nutritious.

Why Eat?

Next, let us consider the why of our spiritual eating. Some of this has been alluded to before. Physically we eat to stay alive. Of course there are those who live to eat rather than eating to live, but the point is that without food at some point we perish. Most of us don't eat just to survive physically. We enjoy the eating experience. We look forward to favorite foods or meals like Thanksgiving. God has given us taste buds and a sense of smell which adds a satisfying pleasure element to the eating process. That, of course, may also be part of the problem regarding our overeating and all the problems associated with it. Now, that idea can be applied to us spiritually. Do we have a genuine hunger and thirst for God's Word, for the Truth. Do we relish His Word with great delight? Or is it something we have to force ourselves to consume? If so, what is wrong with our appetites? In the physical realm a poor appetite is usually a symptom of underlying illness. Why have American Christians become so anorexic? It seems that American Christians have fat bodies and lean souls, when we should have lean bodies and fat souls, souls heavy with God's glory. The Hebrew word for glory, kabod, means heavy. Are we heavy with God's glory because we are consuming His Word, or are we anorexic in our souls because we feed on junk food?

Dietary Results

Finally, the results of our spiritual eating should be obvious by now. We are what we eat. We are what our minds consume and meditate upon. Our very spiritual health and well-being depends upon a biblically nutritious spiritual diet. We must not neglect the means of grace that God has given to us for this purpose. We must add to our consuming the Truth, prayer, the use of the sacraments and fellowship with other believers. Our lives depend on it. You are what you eat! May it glorify God and not dishonor Him!