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Latest revision as of 13:38, 4 May 2022
Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . .
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20)
We are in a time of tremendous moral confusion because we Christians do not understand the new covenant.
Something is off balance in Christian thinking. All people, Christians and non-Christians alike, know that God is righteous and whoever would walk with God must be righteous. Alas! The Christian salvation has become a mental concept, the idea being that a Christian is one who has knowledge of and has assented to the atonement and the lordship of the Lord Jesus. Righteous behavior is held in high regard but is not always viewed as being essential to our salvation.
Numerous Christians of our day are expecting to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" when they die and face the Lord. But their goodness and their faithfulness are all in the legal state of imputed (ascribed) righteousness. They have not lived as the bondslaves of the Lord Jesus.
The modern theory of salvation maintains that if the believer will profess belief in Christ he is lifted to a legal state of righteousness that can never be affected by his behavior. He is to praise God forever for accepting him as he is.
One edition of the Bible we have read portrays the Christians standing before the throne of God for ten thousand years and praising Him for His grace. This means evidently that each individual gives praise to God for forgiving him even though his personality never was transformed into Christ's image. This is not really a scriptural teaching.
God, the Farmer, is expecting the righteous behavior of Christ to spring forth in the Church. When Christ has been formed and is dwelling in a believer his personality will reveal the righteousness of the Lord.
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. (James 5:7)
God wants children who tell the truth, who show kindness toward other people, who assist the needy, who shun unclean behavior, who show humility and compassion in their conduct, who can be trusted to keep their commitments.
Contemporary "grace" is certainly not what most passages of the Bible mean by righteousness! The idea of "undeserved favor" is not confined to New Testament "grace." Everything God has done from the creation of the world is an undeserved favor. So the concept of "undeserved favor" must not be carried too far. In fact, several verses of the Bible teach we must be found worthy of the Kingdom of God.
Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: (II Thessalonians 1:5)
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)
There is no "enduring to the end" in much current preaching. There is little thought of working out our salvation. The fact that "the righteous are saved with difficulty" is not always emphasized. Undefiled, pure religion, spoken of by Pastor James, is not considered essential to salvation.
To be continued. Except Your Righteousness Shall Exceed . . . 2