Isaiah 51:8 – “For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.”
“My righteousness shall be for ever!” And now we come to another massive subject – one upon which I cannot fully expound in a single post. Therefore, as briefly as possible, I would like to give the reader just a few simple points regarding this great doctrine of righteousness.
The Righteousness in our Text is the Lord’s Righteousness
Look closely at our text as the Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, “My righteousness shall be for ever.” My first point regarding righteousness is that the Lord, in our text, is speaking not of the righteousness of man, but of His own righteousness. “My righteousness,” He says.
To understand the Lord’s righteousness more clearly, it is helpful to contrast it with man’s righteousness. Allow me to make three points regarding man’s righteousness. In introducing my first point, let me say that there is much difficulty for me in writing the phrase “man’s righteousness” because there is no such a phenomenon. That brings me to my first point – whatever may be called “man’s righteousness” is actually something non-existent. Man has no righteousness whatsoever of his own. Listen to the words of scripture:
Psalm 14:1-3 – “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Ecclesiastes 7:20 – “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”
Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Romans 3:10-12 – “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
I John 1:8 – “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
“None righteous” – that is the condition of mankind, evaluated by God Himself.
Secondly, whatever may be called man’s righteousness is actually filthy rags in the sight of a holy and just God. In spite of the clear teaching of scripture that there is none righteous, there are those religious souls who claim that they themselves are righteous. I have heard some claim to have been completely and sinlessly perfect for many years! When a man boasts of his own righteousness, you can be sure that man does not have God’s salvation. God’s salvation, unlike man’s salvation, leaves no room whatsoever for any man to boast.
Romans 3:27 – “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.”
Man has nothing of which to boast. The works of which we boast, though they may be righteous in our own eyes, are but filthy rags in the sight of a holy and just God. To illustrate this point, allow me to use an illustration. Followers of my blog have read this illustration before. By using this illustration, I do not mean to be repetitive. However, with this analogy, the point is driven home.
Suppose I was called upon to stand before God at this very moment. Suppose that the Lord commanded me to present to Him first, my good works; then, my evil works. So I stand before God. “Tell me all the good works you have done,” the Lord says. With that order, I begin. I tell the Lord how I pray every day; how I study the Bible on a regular basis; how I accompany my dedication to Him with fasting; how I witness to people that are lost; how I attend church regularly; how I pay tithes and give offerings; how I am current on all my bills; how I am active in pastoral ministry; how I am good to my neighbors; how I keep a good, clean haircut; and on and on and on. Suppose I go on for several hours, explaining all the good deeds I have done. What do you think God would think of all those good works? We have a clear, concise, Bible answer! God would be absolutely sickened from what I would refer to as “good works” – and we have not even begun to discuss the evil works! Our good works sicken God Almighty, who is just and holy.
Isaiah 64:6 – “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Our righteousnesses – our best works – are as filthy rags in the sight of God!
Thirdly, whatever you may wish to label as “man’s righteousness” is completely insufficient for salvation. Man’s best efforts to save himself are but completely insufficient and unable. Notice what Christ said:
Matthew 5:20 – “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.”
Did you notice that? If your righteousness is not greater than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will split hell wide open.
Now, let us discuss the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees. Look at how the scribes and Pharisees are described by our Lord:
- They put burdens on their followers, but do nothing to lift those burdens (Matthew 23:4).
- They perform their religious works to be seen (Matthew 23:5).
- They love to occupy the best seats in the synagogues (Matthew 23:6).
- They love to be addressed by titles (Matthew 23:7).
- Instead of opening the way to the kingdom of heaven, they shut men out of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 23:13).
- Instead of ministering to widows, they take advantage of widows (Matthew 23:14).
- They make pretense out of their long prayers (Matthew 23:14).
- They pay tithes of the smallest of their possessions, including mint, anise, and cummin, but they omit weightier matters, including judgment, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23).
- They take care not to be defiled by little “gnats,” but they turn around and let big things choke them up (Matthew 23:24)!
- They are outwardly clothed in long, clean clothing, but inwardly are filthy to the core (Matthew 23:25).
- They killed the true prophets of God (Matthew 23:35).
Clearly, the scribes and Pharisees are strict; but they were not righteous! Here is a great principle that every reader should learn – being strict is not synonymous with being righteous! Do not confuse the two, as so many have done! Just as these Pharisees, there are hosts of others today who are very strict, but very lost! Clean on the outside, but no righteousness within!
Listen to me very carefully. As I have quoted, our Lord clearly stated that if our righteousness does not exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, then we will in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. When Christ made this statement, He was not stating, as some erroneously believe, that we must be STRICTER than the Pharisees; He was, on the other hand, stating that we must be MORE RIGHTEOUS than the Pharisees. It is sad that so many preachers have stood behind their pulpits and proclaimed that, since the Pharisees were strict, and were not righteous enough, then we must be more strict than them if we expect to make heaven our home. How ignorant and foolish! The problem with the Pharisees is not that they were not STRICT ENOUGH; it is that they were not RIGHTEOUS ENOUGH. I pity the man who cannot tell the difference. I pity the preacher who confuses being strict with being righteous. Such a preacher is a novice with a minimal understanding of scripture, and he should not teach others until he learns the first principles of the oracles of God. The fact is simple – however we may adhere to laws, whether they are God’s laws or otherwise, and however strictly we adhere to those laws – our own righteousness will be insufficient to please God and will land us in a fiery hell.
TO BE CONTINUED…
