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Calling All Contenders - Mike Muzzerall

Ignorant of God's Righteousness

Rom. 10:3-4 - “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”

We have no problems seeing the wickedness of the world. Most have no desire to seek God’s righteousness. We sometimes see those we deemed as “unrighteous” unsuccessfully seeking to establish their own righteousness. However, many are shocked when we say that most who call themselves Christians are in fact ignorant of God’s righteousness. Lets’ look at four different types of righteousness.

UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

The first one is unrighteousness. Simply put, this is the absence of God’s holiness. This person lives his or her life in a manner clearly unacceptable to God. Paul addressed the universal state of mankind in Romans 3:10: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.”

RELATIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS

This person evaluates his righteousness based upon how he stands relative to the behaviors of others and not whether or not it lines up to God’s Holy Word. This is the person who says, “I may not be perfect, but I’m definitely not as bad as that failure over there.” Even blood-bought saints fall into this type of righteousness once in a while. Beware, this type of “-relative righteousness” justifies sin.

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS

Self-righteousness is confidence in one’s own righteousness. He is his own source of righteousness. In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, the Pharisee felt that strict adherence to the law made him superior to all others. Jesus was not moved by the Pharisee fasting twice a week or giving tithes of all that he possessed. Instead the publican, who wouldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven, was declared justified as he prayed, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Paul would continue to come against self-righteousness.

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A CONSTANT TEMPTATION

True Christians rightfully proclaim that they are saved by grace. Yet most will then go on to attempt to establish their own righteousness. You can’t be saved by grace and then sanctified by works, saved by God and then sanctified by self, saved by relationship and then sanctified by religion. The means by which we are saved is the means by which we are sanctified. We need to continually guard ourselves against Satan’s subtle attack on the righteousness that is ours through Jesus Christ.

SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NO RIGHTEOUSNESS AT ALL

Ever since Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves in an attempt to hide their nakedness, man has endeavored to earn his own righteousness. Cain sought to please God through the labor of his own hands only to find that God could not accept an offering tainted by man’s fingerprints. Isaiah summed up God’s view on self-generated righteousness: “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Is. 64:6).

IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

The only righteousness acceptable to God is imputed righteousness. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom 4:3). The means by which Abraham was declared righteous was solely on the basis that he believed God. When we asked Christ to be our Lord and Saviour, He took away our sins and gave us His righteousness. That was imputed righteousness.

“And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9).

We didn’t earn it. We couldn’t earn it. Are you going about establishing your own righteousness, or have you submitted to the righteousness of God?


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