Two Views of "My" Righteousness

We all understand that Christians are to pursue righteousness, just as we are to pursue salvation, sanctification, redemption, justification and holiness. All of these terms mean different things, obviously, and yet at the same time, we understand that we cannot separate one from the other. One cannot settle for "salvation" without also being justified. Sanctification (being set apart) cannot occur without redemption. And a Christian cannot be holy without also being righteous.

Righteousness is defined as "equity...justification" by Strong's. To put it simply, to be righteous is to be "made right" before God, and all of us, as we pursue salvation and fellowship with God, must simultaneously pursue righteousness.

"In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him" (Acts 10:34-35).

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness" (Rom. 6:13).

"...and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 4:24).

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

In these four verses, the point is made that we MUST become righteous. We must take the initiative and act in such a way that we go from being unrighteous to righteous. We "work" righteousness. Righteousness results from our "obedience." The Bible provides instruction on how to become righteous. In other words, righteousness is not something that is automatic, nor is it applied to you unconditionally by God.

And yet...

We do find other verses that seem to indicate that righteousness doesn't save and that we cannot "work righteousness" and expect a reward from God.

"...just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works..." (Romans 4:6).

"For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life" (Romans 5:17-18).

"...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5).

These three verses seem to contradict the first four we read before, don't they? According to the verses cited earlier, righteousness is the result of obedience and works and human effort. These three verses, however, say that righteousness is a gift imparted by God, and that we are not righteous based upon our works.

So...is this a contradiction? It appears to be at first glance, but for those of us who view the Bible as the infallible word of God, we understand that in the end, both points can be harmonized. But how?

There might be many ways to address this issue, ranging from complex word studies, to in-depth studies of the whole scope of the New Testament scriptures. But I'd like to address this apparent problem by considering TWO examples from the Old Testament.

On one hand, we find the example of Job. Job was a righteous man, and God was extremely impressed with Job's faith. As I'm sure you know, Satan told God that Job was so righteous ONLY because his faith had never been challenged. God agreed that Satan could afflict Job and while Job remained faithful to God, His faith was certainly challenged. We learn that Job developed some attitudes that weren't exactly right.

Job knew that he had faithfully served God. He knew that He had done nothing to warrant this affliction. But rather than humbly trusting God, He became prideful...

"Far be it from me that I should say you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go; my heart shall not reproach me as long as I live" (Job 27:5-6).

Job didn't always have this attitude. Throughout his life, his righteousness and holiness had impressed God because the implication is that he wasn't pridefully righteous, but humbly righteous. However, when the affliction came and the pain of the boils set in, his faith was clearly challenged. He wondered why God would do this to him. In this state of confusion and frustration, we learn that he began to use his righteousness almost as a "bargaining chip." His mindset went from, "I don't deserve this," to, "I deserve God's favor, because I'm so righteous."

Again, let me be clear: I don't think that this had always been Job's attitude. He had always been humble. Even here in Job 27, he acknowledged God's existence and might - He was still a man of faith - but his attitude toward God did change.

On the other hand, we find the following statement in Isaiah 64:6...

"But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags."

In the context, Isaiah emphasizes our sins and shortcomings. Even though we might be obedient, and even though we have "worked righteousness," we understand that, in the end, we are still undeserving of God's grace and salvation. Rather than using our righteousness as a "bargaining chip" and acting as if God owes us because of all we've "done for Him," we humbly serve and obey God simply because...He is God and it's the least we can do.

I am reminded of the following statement in Luke 17:10...

"So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

You see, it's about ATTITUDE.

If you think that you can just engage in so many "works of righteousness" (Titus 3:5) that God will OWE you salvation, then you are sorely mistaken. God doesn't owe you anything, and there's nothing that you can do that will change that. In reality, our works don't earn us righteousness. God is the one who imparts righteousness, just as He imparts salvation and redemption and holiness.

Having said that, righteousness is conditional. Yes, God is the one who imparts righteousness, but He only imparts it to those who are humbly and sincerely obedient to His will.

It's a difficult balance to maintain.

We can become so heavily focused on how righteousness is a gift imparted by God that we lose sight of the necessity of obedience, but we can also become prideful in our obedience and think that because we have "made ourselves righteous" that God owes me a spot in heaven.

Obey God and you will be righteous in His sight, not because you have made yourself righteous, but because He has made you righteous. Make sense?