Introduction: Constitution and Spiritual Growth
We continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount—the greatest manifesto in human history, delivered by Jesus Christ Himself. We are considering the introductory part of this sermon, commonly called the “Beatitudes.”
It is important to remember that these beatitudes are not disparate pieces of advice for different groups of people. This is a description of one and the same person—a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. Moreover, these commandments are arranged in a strict logical and spiritual sequence. This is the path along which God leads every saved soul.
It all begins with “poverty of spirit”—the recognition of one’s complete bankruptcy before God. This awareness leads to “mourning”—deep sorrow over one’s sin and its consequences. Sorrow, in turn, gives birth to “meekness”—a readiness to humble oneself under the mighty hand of God and obey Him in everything.
And so today we approach the fourth step: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6).
If the first three beatitudes spoke about what a person should realize and what to give up, the fourth speaks about a new, positive quality. When a person comes alive spiritually, an appetite appears. He begins to experience hunger and thirst. And this is not an ordinary hunger, but a passionate desire for righteousness.
What Is Righteousness?
In some translations, the word “justice” or “rightness” is used. For the modern reader, this might sound like a call to fight for social justice or a search for intellectual truth. But in the context of Scripture and the language of that time, the word almost always meant “righteousness.”
Righteousness (Greek dikaiosyne) is a legal and moral term. In a legal sense, it means a state of innocence before the court. In a moral sense, it means conformity to God’s standards of holiness. To be righteous means to be “right” before God, to have no guilt on oneself, and to live in full agreement with His will.
Why do citizens of the Kingdom thirst for precisely this? Because they have understood the most important thing: sin has produced a separation between them and the Creator. They are “poor in spirit” and “mourn” because they are deprived of the holy presence of God. They want to return to Eden, want to see God face to face again. And there is only one condition for this—perfect righteousness.
“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). This requirement runs through the entire Bible. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Therefore, the desire to be righteous is not just a desire to become a “good person”; it is a vital necessity for the one who wants to be with God.
Appetite as a Sign of Life
The famous preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in his book on the Sermon on the Mount, wrote that the fourth beatitude is the best test for checking the authenticity of one’s Christianity. “If this verse is to you the highest of all the beatitudes, then you can be sure that you are a Christian. If not, then you should return to studying the foundations of your faith.”
Why is appetite so important? In the physical world, a child’s lack of appetite is always a cause for parental alarm. It is a sign of illness. Conversely, a good appetite testifies to health and growth. The same thing happens in the spiritual world.
A person who is not born of the Holy Spirit cannot hunger for righteousness. He may want to avoid hell, may want God’s blessings, health, or success. But he does not thirst for holiness as such. Only the one in whom the Holy Spirit has taken up residence begins to be weighed down by his own impurity and passionately desire complete transformation into the image of Christ.
This hunger does not disappear after repentance. On the contrary, the closer a person is to God, the more sharply he feels his need for His righteousness. This is a constant engine of spiritual life.
The Tragedy of Unattainability
Here we face a serious problem. We hunger for righteousness, we understand that it is necessary for us to see God… but we cannot achieve it.
In the same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus raises the bar to an unreachable height: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20).
The scribes and Pharisees were professionals in religion. They fasted, prayed, paid tithes of everything, observed hundreds of rules and prescriptions. From the point of view of an ordinary person, they were models of holiness. But Jesus says: “This is not enough.” God’s standard is not just “to be better than the neighbor,” but “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).
This sounds like a death sentence. How can a sinful person, born in a fallen world, reach the perfection of God Himself? The answer is simple and harsh: on his own—in no way. We can try to “jump to the heavens,” but our efforts will always end in a fall. If we are honest with ourselves, we understand that we are spiritual bankrupts, dying of hunger before the closed door of the banquet hall.
God’s Solution: Satisfaction
But the good news is that the One who requires righteousness from us also gives it Himself. God doesn’t just look at our hunger—He sets the table. And He does this through two great processes: justification and sanctification.
1. Justification: Imputed Righteousness
Justification is a legal act of God’s grace. When a person recognizes his poverty and turns with faith to Christ, God performs the “great exchange.” Jesus Christ, the only Man who lived an absolutely perfect life and reached God’s standard, takes our sins upon Himself and dies for them on the cross. In return, He gives us His righteousness.
At the moment of justification, God declares us righteous. He looks at us through the “filter” of His Son. We are credited with (imputed) the perfection that we never achieved. This is an instantaneous act. Our hunger for legal righteousness, for reconciliation with God, is satisfied once and for all. We have access to the Father and no longer fear His wrath.
2. Sanctification: Practical Righteousness
But God does not stop at legal status. He does not want us to remain sinners who are simply “called” holy. He begins a process of real change in our character—sanctification.
Sanctification is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit that lasts a lifetime. God begins to transform our thoughts, desires, and actions. He makes us truly like Jesus. If justification is what Christ did for us, then sanctification is what the Holy Spirit does in us.
This is a joint process. Unlike justification, where we only receive the gift by faith, in sanctification we are called to active cooperation. We must “feed” on the Word of God, pray, fight against sin, perform good works. But at the same time, we remember that both the “to will and to work” are produced in us by God.
This process can be compared to climbing a high mountain. God has set before us the standard of His perfection. Jesus Christ walked this path for us and “ascended to the top,” giving us His victory (justification). But He also takes us by the hand and says: “Now let’s go together” (sanctification).
We walk along this mountain, stumble, fall, weep over our failures (returning again to the first beatitudes), but meekly stand up and continue the path. Why? Because we have this inextinguishable hunger inside us. We can no longer “eat” sin; it has become bitter to us. We hunger for holiness, hunger for purity, hunger for Christ.
The Danger of a “Cheap Gospel”
In our time, a truncated version of the Gospel is often preached: “Jesus loves you just the way you are.” This is true, but it is only half the truth. The other half is that He loves you too much to leave you just the way you are.
One cannot accept Jesus as Savior but reject Him as Lord. One cannot want to avoid hell but at the same time not want holiness. A saved person is a person with a changed appetite. If someone calls himself a Christian but continues to live quietly in sin, without experiencing hunger for righteousness—this is a reason for serious self-examination.
As Charles Spurgeon said: “God does not save people in their sins, He saves them from their sins. If a person does not desire to live a holy life, he is still in the bonds of iniquity.”
Satisfaction and New Hunger
Jesus’ promise says: “they shall be satisfied.” And it happens. We find satisfaction in God’s forgiveness. We rejoice, seeing how the Holy Spirit overcomes old habits in us and gives birth to new qualities: love, joy, peace, patience.
But in this satisfaction, there is an amazing secret. The more we “eat” God’s righteousness, the more we want. It’s like a delicious homemade pie: you’re already full, but it’s so good that you ask for another piece. Spiritual appetite grows as it is satisfied.
The Apostle Paul, at the end of his life, being the greatest of the apostles, wrote: “I do not consider that I have made it my own… I press on toward the goal” (Phil. 3:13-14). He still had this thirst. Full and final satisfaction will happen only in eternity, when we see the Lord face to face.
Conclusion
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. If today you feel this hunger—rejoice. This is a sign that you are alive. This is a sign that God is working in your heart.
Do not try to stifle this hunger with the “surrogates” of this world: success, entertainment, or religious formalism. Go straight to the Source. The Lord promised: you will be satisfied. And His promise is unchanging.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33).