Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . . 6

Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame. (I Corinthians 15:34—NIV)

The doctrine that we are saved by faith apart from righteous behavior is unscriptural and totally destructive of all God intends for man.

Let us define righteousness as the Scriptures define the term. Imputed righteousness and righteous behavior often become confused in our mind when we say righteousness. The confusion and the bias regarding imputed righteousness and righteous behavior are so pronounced we have the Amplified Bible inserting the word "imputed" when there is no basis in the inspired text for such an alteration.

Two excerpts from The Amplified Bible follow, regarding Isaiah 62:1,2:

". . . until her imputed righteousness and vindication go forth as

brightness, . . . ."

"And the nations shall see your righteousness and vindication—your righteousness and justice [not your own, but His ascribed to you] . . . ."

(The Amplified Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1965).

Notice the original text:

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. (Isaiah 62:1,2)

No modern translation we have seen indicates that the Hebrew term for "righteousness" implies it is an imputed, ascribed righteousness.

Also, an imputed righteousness is a legal state and not something that can go forth or be seen by the nations.

If we are correct, then we have confusion and a destructive bias here. It comprises an outrageous alteration of God's Word even though the translator's intentions undoubtedly were pure!

Had the translator inserted, "His righteousness created in you," he or she would have support both from the New Testament and from logic.

The difference between imputed righteousness and righteous behavior is very great. In the one instance God sees us as righteous while we are yet sinning. In the second instance we are actually righteous in personality and behavior.

Can you imagine the Lord Jesus saying, "Let your light so shine that men may see your imputed good works, not your own but His ascribed to you, and glorify God"?

Can you imagine people seeing us act violently, lie, and fornicate, and then glorify God because He has imputed righteousness to us?

If the world will not glorify God until they see us behave in a godly manner, and we are being taught that the only good works we have are those ascribed to us by the Lord, that is, we are still behaving sinfully but God calls us righteous because of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, then the bias indeed is destructive and deadly! The world will never glorify God until we start revealing in our behavior the righteous Nature of the Lord Jesus.

It is a fact that we cannot save ourselves by attempting to live a righteous life apart from Christ. It is a fact also that when we first receive the Lord His righteousness is ascribed to us. This is so we can forget the past and get a fresh start. God is willing, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, to wink at our sins of the past. God does this so He can change us into His moral image.

To be continued. Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . . 7