"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. 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." (Phil. 3:8-9.)

Many of the Jews, particularly the Pharisees, misunderstood the topic of righteousness. As Paul indicated above, they thought it came by keeping the Law of Moses. Modern-day Christians are just as confused as the Jews of Paul’s day. Where does our righteousness come from? How are we really righteous? Why do we feel so insecure as Christians? What is the basis for our hope? I want to summarize a very complex topic for our message today. We need a concise statement defining the righteousness which comes by faith in Jesus Christ.

David asked, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." (Psalm 24:3-5.) David speaks of both purity and righteousness. The latter is a more complex word to explain; purity has a simplicity to it. How can I be pure in the sight of God? Once leaving the innocence of childhood, can I have purity again?

It does not require any special effort to be sinful and impure of heart. Anyone can accomplish that. It comes naturally and often. You need not go looking for it or take classes on how to accomplish sinful deeds. No special seminars or workshops are needed. Guest speakers need not come and spend a week lecturing on how to be a sinner. Have you ever wondered why sinners do not have a "Sinners ‘Gospel Meeting’?" The reason is that no one needs to be instructed in that manner of life.

But it takes understanding, a lot of encouragement, and effort to live like Jesus. (John 6:45.) We need divine power and constant training. Fathers are told to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (Eph. 6:4.) Christians are called disciples, learners, of Jesus Christ. We are apprentices in training. We shall always be; we will never be able to take the teacher’s place. We will never become "master carpenters."

To enroll in this program of training, you must first desire to be like Jesus. A song says it well:

O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer

This is my constant longing and prayer

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear

Chorus

O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!

Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fulness

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalm 42:1-2.)

To be like Jesus is not one of the greatest challenges of life; it is the greatest of all! Those who mock Christianity and reject it do so not because it is for sissies, weaklings, or for the mentally inept. They do so because they are not man enough, because it is too tough, because they desire to live a sinful life. It challenges us at the very center of our being. It requires absolute honesty, repentance, facing problems and relationships with others.

Brother Gus Nichols once said that he had difficulty getting his brethren just to commit to living righteously. They did not want to accept the challenge of righteousness. When we see it in others, we recognize the wonder and beauty of it. One woman said to brother Nichols after hearing him preach, O, brother Nichols, I would give the world to be like you. He said, Lady, that is exactly what it will cost you!

There is a beauty to holiness. "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holinesss." (Psa. 29:2, 96:9.) "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, bring an offering, and come before him, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." (1 Chron. 16:29.) In speaking of the holiness of Jesus, David wrote, "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:2-4.) We see that beauty foremost in Jesus, and we desire it. There is a great burden to bear living in the flesh where we are both tempted to sin and do so. We often groan within with pain and anguish over wrongs committed.

Would it not be wonderful if we could always be consistent in what we say and do? If we could live without ever offending another person? If we could deny the sinful passions and follow the Spirit? If we could control the tongue completely?

I think we have reached the point where we need to draw our first conclusions. First, there should be a desire to do right and be attracted by the beauty of holiness. If this desire and hunger is not there, we need not proceed. We can not go further with this discussion.

Jesus taught, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matt. 5:6.)

One of the clearest statements in the Bible is its condemnation of self-righteousness. This is different in some ways from the righteousness which comes by the Law of Moses, though they are related. Seeking justification by the Law centered on what the person was capable and willing to do. It emphasized his works, good deeds, knowledge of the Law, and good behavior. We could say that a misunderstanding of the Law’s demands led to self-righteousness.

For whatever the reasons, a dependency upon one’s knowledge, ability, and goodness cannot provide redemption or assurance of it. We know that there is something amiss with each of us. This understanding of ourselves should lead us away from depending upon ourselves for salvation. The Bible certainly condemns it. But humans are incurably self-sufficient in attitude. We had rather depend upon ourselves than anyone else, even the Lord.

"And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are: extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Luke 18:10-14.)

The attitude of the Pharisees in the New Testament is shocking. Remember that Jesus is the one criticizing them. They focused foremost on themselves. The Talmud acknowledges that there were at least seven different types of Pharisees. The traditions divided them into: 1) The "shoulder" Pharisee---because he openly paraded his religious duties on his shoulders for everyone to see. 2) The "delaying" Pharisee---asked people to wait when they came for a visit while they went to do some good deed. 3) The "bruised" Pharisee---walked into walls as he tried to avoid looking at women. 4) The "pestle" Pharisee--with a false sense of humility walked with his head bowed down like a pestle in a mortar. 5) The "what is my duty" Pharisee---asked that question to get others to extol his virtue. 6) The "from love of God" Pharisee, and 7) the "from fear of God" Pharisee---like Abraham loved God. (Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees, David Chadwell, 18.)

Now, we understand why Jesus taught us to pray in our closets and not to let the left hand know what the right hand was doing when giving alms to the poor. The Pharisees did these things in public to be seen of men. (Matt. 6:1-7.)

We must be careful that we do not laugh too loudly at the Pharisees. They were not shallow religious pretenders. They were firmly committed to Scripture and possessed a strong religious faith. It was this strong emphasis upon their knowledge, faith and truth which led them to trust in themselves. Herein, we must be careful. The church today can fall prey to the very same attitude. It is often found among us.

We should hunger and thirst after righteousness and be attracted by the beauty of holiness that we see in Jesus’ life. After having this desire above all else, we still face a real problem. I cannot be righteous or holy enough on my own to be saved. If I could, then Jesus would not be needed. Paul wrote, "I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." (Gal. 2:21.) We could add, If righteousness can come by any other means (by the Law of Moses, by the Gospel turned into a law system, or any other law, by my own goodness, by the goodness of Mary or departed saints), then Jesus died in vain! This is a powerful point.

Are there people who think that they can be saved without Jesus Christ? Yes, the majority of the religious world so believes. All the world religions outside of Christianity think so. All the cult groups who claim to be "Christian" but follow someone else think that they can be saved without the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Sadly enough, some in the church think so.

Read these words and weep.

"But what, precisely, was the thing counted to Abraham? It was not the righteousness of God, nor the righteousness of Christ. This much is certain. Indeed, the position that Christ’s righteousness, whether the attribute or the righteousness of perfect obedience, is ever imputed to human beings, is without even the semblance of countenance from the Bible. It is a matter of astonishment that is should ever have been held; and a matter of greater astonishment that anyone should now hold it." (Commentary on Romans, 1875, Moses E. Lard, 129.)

"God does not reckon something to us that is not already ours." (Gospel Advocate, May 1,1947, C. D. Crouch.)

"No Bible verse teaches the transferred righteousness of the Calvinistic system and, in fact, Christ was under obligation to live obediently in his own behalf." (Bible Light, "What About Imputed Righteousness?," 1992, Keith A. Mosher, Sr., 2.)

"The opinion that the righteousness bestowed upon the believer in his justification is the righteousness of Christ won on the cross is condemned. . . It was generally agreed that the concept of imputed righteousness was an irrelevance, on account of the renovation of man in justification. . . The righteousness which man thus receives, although originating from God, is nevertheless located within man, and can be said to be his, part of his being and intrinsic to his person." (Conclusions of the Council of Trent, 1546, Alister McGraft, Vol. 2, 73, 76, 31.)

A recent article entitled, "Reigning Grace," Glad Tidings, April 2000, discussed the righteousness of Romans 5:21. "That as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ." Under the first covenant, there are three things that belonged together---Law, sin and death. Under the new covenant, these three are joined by God---grace, righteousness and eternal life. The author of the article concluded that the righteousness discussed by Paul is ours, not Jesus Christ’s! But the contrast in Romans 5:12-21 is between what Adam did and Jesus accomplished. Adam and Jesus affected the whole human race. Adam, through his sinful conduct, brought sin and death. Jesus, through his righteousness, brought eternal life for lost man. If our righteousness can bring eternal life, then Jesus is not needed. He died in vain.

Remember that Paul said that he wanted, not the righteousness which is by the Law, but that which is of God by faith. (Phil. 3:9.) Abraham believed the Lord and his faith was imputed unto him for righteousness. (Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3, Gal. 3:6.) That is how we are righteous as well. We are counted as righteous people due to our faith in the One who really is righteous, completely and fully.

Faith in Jesus means that you are looking outside and beyond yourself for your hope. How sad when we turn back toward ourselves and commend ourselves for how well we believe, how perfectly we worship God, or how much Bible we have learned! We begin to focus the trust upon ourselves like the Pharisees did. Let faith and hope always be pointed outward and upward to heaven from whence our righteousness comes.