Most people think of goodness much in the way we think of light. That is, they acknowledge that it takes different forms and has varying degrees of intensity, but they believe that basically it is the same thing wherever you find it. At the bottom there is light that you cannot even see. A little higher up the scale there is the dull light that you might find in a cave somewhere that comes from decaying bacteria. There is the kind of light which men produce by incandescence. Then there is the light of the sun on a dark day, followed by the light of the sun of a bright day. And then there is the light produced on the surface of the sun itself. Men say, “Well, that is the way it is with righteousness. The light of decaying bacteria corresponds to the tiny flickers of goodness that are in the worst of men. Most of us resemble incandescent bulbs. Some are the light of the sun on a dark day. And then there is God, and he is like the sun itself.” God says that is all wrong. You can pile human goodness upon human goodness upon human goodness upon human goodness; you can refine and perfect it and polish it, but no matter how hard you try you fall short of God’s standard because human righteousness is qualitatively different from the righteousness of God. It belongs to a different realm entirely. For instance, if human goodness can be compared to light, then God’s goodness must not be compared to light, but to something like mathematics, or life, or the world of pure thoughts. For that reason, God says, he cannot work with the good deeds that come from men, however much we may think of them, and instead asks us to receive the righteousness of Christ. The Apostle Paul Many years ago there was a Pharisee who found out that these things were indeed true and who experienced a transformation of his life as a result. He is probably the best known rabbi that ever lived. At any rate, he was certainly the one most effective in changing the history of the world. His name was Paul. In his youth he had glorified in his achievements as a Pharisee. He had achieved everything from the pharisaical point of view. Yet near the end of his life he writes that when he looked back to add it all up he recognized that it came to nothing and that the only thing that counted was Christ. Here is his testimony about it: “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Phil. 3:4–9). Paul lists seven achievements in these verses, including four that were inherited and three that were earned. First, he was a Jew, for he was born of the stock of Israel. This exposed him to all the spiritual blessings—the law, the covenants, the promises—that God had given to the Jewish people. Second, he was a pure-blooded Jew, for he was born of two Jewish parents (“a Hebrew of the Hebrews”). Third, he had been circumcised on the eighth day of life, which meant that he was no proselyte or Ishmaelite, who was circumcised in the thirteenth year. Fourth, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, the one tribe that had remained with Judah in the south at the time of the civil war in Israel. This meant that he belonged to one of the two tribes which had remained faithful to the temple worship and to the law. Then, too, there were considerable advantages that Paul had won for himself. In the first place, regarding his attitude to the law, he was a Pharisee. This was the strictest sect of Judaism, and to become a Pharisee was a matter of personal choice. Moreover, Paul was a zealous Pharisee, a fact proved by his early persecution of the church of Jesus Christ. Finally, he worked so hard at his calling that he actually came to consider himself blameless as a Pharisee before the law’s standards. This was a tremendous list of assets from a man’s point of view. But the day came when Paul recognized that these things were worthless in the sight of a just and holy God. It was the day on which he met Jesus. Before this happened he thought that he had attained to righteousness by keeping his conception of God’s law. Afterward he knew that all this righteousness was as dirty in God’s sight as filthy rags. He had once said, “As touching the righteousness which is in the law I am blameless.” He now said, “I am the chief of sinners.” Paul had something like a balance sheet in his life. Under assets he had listed all the things he had achieved for himself up to this encounter with Christ on the Damascus road—his birth, his education, his achievements, even the murder of Stephen. But when he met Christ he came to know what true holiness was. He came to see what righteousness was. And, as he looked at all the things he had been accumulating in the white light of God’s righteousness, these things seemed filthy. He had no other word for them but “dung.” Thus, he moved the whole column of the things which he had considered assets over into the column of liabilities because, he said, “These things have actually kept me from God’s righteousness.” Under the column of assets he wrote, “Jesus Christ alone.” God’s Righteousness That is what salvation is all about. Is that what you believe? Or are you still among those who are spending a lifetime accumulating things that you think are going to earn heaven for you? If you are doing the latter, you need to learn that those things will take you to hell. Hell is full of human righteousness. You need to recognize the imperfection of this righteousness and accept the righteousness of God. Christians have always known this and, as a result, have written their recognition of this truth into a number of their hymns. One of the great hymns says: Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress, Helpless, look to thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die. Rock of Ages, cleft for me; Let me hide myself in thee. If you will pray that prayer, God will wash you. God will cleanse you. And he will give you the righteousness that is above anything that man can attain and will receive you on the basis of that righteousness into heaven. Boice, J. M. (2002). The Sermon on the Mount: an expositional commentary (pp. 88–90). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 18:14:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015