When the general Church, as a Body, is not fulfilling what God intends to do, God finds those within the general Church who will fulfill what He wants to do. God has always reached out to the many through the few.

"It is because of him [the Father] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV

Righteousness is closely tied to seeing things as they really are. It is closely tied to listening to God's voice rather than other voices.

Righteousness is closely tied to truth. Sin is closely tied to believing lies. Reality is truth. That which is unreal is a lie. Lies bind us. Truth sets us free.

Human attempts at righteousness, obedience, or following God's ways are futile unless the obedience is the result of Christ in us and us in Christ.

He who does righteousness is righteous. (1John 3:7)

Real righteousness is by grace through faith.

God's process for righteousness is by grace, and grace is through faith. (Eph 2:8-10)

God works His righteousness through seemingly small things.

If you are walking in the Spirit, you will have relationships as described in Ephesians 5 & 6.

There was a time when I thought that grace was somehow in conflict with works. Now, I have realized that the word, grace, means free gift. And righteousness is a free gift to us. (Rom 5:16, Rom 5:18-21) God does the work in us. (Rom 10:3)

God speaks and a spiritual substance of things hoped for comes, to which we can respond by yielding, making faith alive, or resisting, making faith dead. When we yield, the power of grace is able to do the works of God in us. Anything that doesn't happen in this way falls short of the glory of God. (some caveats about hearing God's Voice)

With our minds, we can follow the spirit or the flesh. To follow the flesh is death. To follow the spirit is life.

The Holy Spirit ministers to us through our spirits, and the battle is for the mind.

Here are two facts about love.  God is Love.  Love is Righteousness.

The 10 Commandments can be summed up in one word: LOVE.  Real love never violates any of the 10 Commandments or any other patterns or ordinances of God.

No one can love without God loving through them.  That is, no one can be righteous without God doing His works through them. Anything else is merely self-rightousness.

God's righteousness works this way: God leads and gives the vision of hope, we hear and receive God's faith, which gives us access to God's grace.  God's grace does God's work through us as we yield ourselves to Him.  Nothing else is righteousness ever.

1 Corinthians 13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Written to Christians

The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Romans 13:9-14
Written to Christians

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.

1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

And everyone who has this divinely inspired expectation in them purifies themselves, even as He is pure. Whoever wanders from the path that leads to the absolute, genuine Life also does lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:3-4

And you know that He is made visible to remove our tendency to wander from the path, and in Him is no tendency to wander from the path. Whoever abides in Him does NOT wander from the path; whoever wanders from the path has neither seen Him nor known Him. 1 John 3:5-6

Little children, let no one or nothing deceive you; whoever does righteousness is righteous just as He is righteous. Whoever acts to wander from the path is of the devil; for the devil wanders from the path from the beginning. For this purpose the Mature Son of God was made visible: in order to demolish the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God does not wander from the path that leads to the absolute, genuine Life, for His seed remains in that person, and that person cannot wander from the path, being born of God. In this the children of God are plainly known, and the children of the devil: whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who does NOT love his or her fellow believer.  1 John 3:7-10

John 18:37 Whoever is on the side of truth listens to Me [Jesus].