The Righteousness from God

12.06.14

Philippians 3.8b-9 For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith... – St. Paul to the Church at Philippi (ESV)

Oh the draw of self-satisfaction; the allure of I did it; the pleasure of I’ve made it. We humans love to be successful – it’s the way we are wired. We want to accomplish. We want to achieve. We want to contribute. We want to be noticed. We want to be lauded. And we want to do all of this without God because we want to be found blameless.

Well gee Paul, that sure seems like a big statement. Yes, I agree, but it’s true. Mankind, whether or not he acknowledges God, isn’t without the strains of God within himself – God made him. However, we cannot discount what the result of the fall is in humanity globally and throughout all generations. The relationship was broken and only, as Paul points out here, is it restored through faith in God through Christ.

Faith is a funny thing. Faith requires belief, and belief in God sometimes defies reason. It’s not that it’s unreasonable, it just defies logic. How can I find righteousness by believing in Someone I’ve never met, and in something as intangible as belief? Short answer: I don’t know. But it also defies logic that I find myself to be somehow acceptable if I live by a certain code displayed by a certain conduct. The question is whose code and what conduct?

Right and wrong seem to be a starting place but if there are differing opinions of what is right and what is wrong then, to quote a famous politician: what difference does it make? It makes a lot of difference who is holding the bag when it comes to sorting out our definitions of right and wrong. Somebody is always going to be left holding the bag.

God simply asks that all men, regardless of race, color, gender or any of that stuff, believe in Him and what He has done for us in Christ. Then our definitions are measured by a standard beyond ourselves and everyone is judged equally accordingly. It is no longer up to me or you or anybody else to set the standard; we all find our righteousness at the same Source. Our righteousness is no longer dependent on what we can do, but in Whom who has done it all for us – without our help or input.

Sadly, for mankind that is a threshold either too high, or too low. We want to be the masters of our own destiny. That is what freewill gives us. The other sadness is it is true: we do control our destinies based upon what we believe and in Whom we believe. The righteous one will find himself in Him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on his faith.

O Father, may we believe. It is not in government or heroes or effort or cleverness – it is in the finished work of Christ that we are saved and by believing in that we are found righteous. Equip me Lord to be a herald of such belief and to be eternally grateful to be found in Him wherein my righteousness comes… Amen.