Matthew 5:6 Righteousness

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. [Matthew 5:6 NASB]

I take this as a promise. If you crave and yearn for righteousness as your body craves and yearns for food and water, God will fill you with righteousness.

It is God who will satisfy you, because you can't make yourself become righteous. We are told in Romans, "...Both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, "there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one." [Romans 3:9‭-‬12 NASB]

We cannot earn righteousness by following the Law. "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." [Romans 3:20 NASB] Some will make the argument that the Law was for the Jews, and as a Christian they are not under the Law. But, "For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus." [Romans 2:12-16 NASB]

But, that no one can actually do the works of the Law is clear, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," [Romans 3:23 NASB]

So then, even if you are not under the Law of Moses, the rules of conduct that you follow become a Law to you. These can be the rules established by your church, or rules that you have imposed upon yourself. It doesn't matter. The principle is this: you cannot become righteous by following any set of rules.

We know that salvation is by grace; "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." [Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB]

In the same way, your justification, which is to say, your righteousness is also by grace through faith; "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; ...For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." [Romans 3:21-28 NASB]

If you want to be righteous before God, you need to throw out your rule book, and live by faith that He will keep you on the right path. "Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness," [Romans 4:4-5 NASB]

Those who live by rules are under condemnation, but those who abandon the rules to live by faith have no condemnation. "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." [Romans 8:1-5 NASB]

It is the desire of every sincere Christian to overcome sin. This is possible if we walk according to the Spirit. "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law." [Galatians 5:16-18 NASB]

Any attempt to be righteous or overcome sin by following the rules is an act of the flesh. If you accept that there are no rules, but instead set your mind on the things of the Spirit of God, He will overcome sin in your life, and fill you with righteousness.