It Starts Small

We have spent most of this moth focused on God’s righteousness and what His Word says about our own righteousness. Let us move to looking at those who spoken of as righteous.

Our first example comes in Genesis 6.

⁸ Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.
⁹ These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. 

Genesis 6:8-9

What an amazing thing to write about Noah.

Found Favor in the Lord:
Righteous.
Blameless.
Walked with God.

During Noah’s time we learn the people on the earth were wicked.

⁵ When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, ⁶ the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. ⁷ Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.”

Genesis 6:5-7

But… then the Lord looked upon the man named Noah and He found favor in Him. Remember one of our definitions of righteousness is Just, lawful, righteous. It means this man was in agreement with God about God’s law of moral and spiritual righteousness was the only way.

Some versions of Scripture translate verse 8 as finding “grace” in the eyes of the Lord, which is perhaps a more accurate translation. After all, the only way that people can be saved from God’s wrath is through God’s grace. This is the first time the word “grace” occurs in Scripture, and it’s in the midst of the utter sinfulness of Genesis 6.

Noah is not described as the perfect person, but one on whom God has bestowed His favor. Why did God do this? Because Noah was righteous.

Throughout Scripture, it is made clear that the only way to be righteous before God is through faith. The author of Hebrews tells:

Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Hebrews 6:11

He then immediately gives an example of such faith in the next verse:

By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Hebrews 6:7

Noah was righteous before God because he had faith in God. Yet this wasn’t merely an inward faith, because Noah is also described as blameless in his generation.

Scripture does not say that Noah was blameless. No one is blameless before God—all have sinned and fallen short of His glory. But, Noah is described as blameless compared to those around Him. The world has gotten so bad and sinful, that Noah, who would later get so drunk that he passed out, was considered blameless compared to them. Yet, despite Noah’s sin, he would be faithful to God. After all, he was willing to risk building a giant boat in the middle of dry land, in a world that had never before experienced rain—all because God said so. He certainly demonstrated faith while preaching to the people around him and having them reject his offer of salvation.

I believe in Noah we can learn a couple vital keys to pursuing righteousness:

Noah alone walked with God.

Noah communed with God.

Noah listened to God.

Today, let us examine our time once again.

How much time are we alone with God?

How much time are we spending in not just prayer, but listening to God?

I heard a preacher say that faith swims where reason cannot. How much are we trusting God these days? With a little? A lot? What can we do to make more time, meaningful and intentional time for God?

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