But what is it that makes us righteous in His eyes?  Is it doing all the right things? Righteous, biblically means to be acceptable and blameless according to an established legal standard. In this context it would be God’s established legal standard.

So what is it that makes us righteous in the eyes of God?  Many religious people will say that doing right things makes you righteous and doing wrong things makes you unrighteous.  That would mean that we are made righteous by our own works.

Promoting Guilt And Condemnation

Those who adopt this view have doctrines that actually promote guilt and condemnation.  They make sure you hear the long, long list of deeds that will make you unrighteous.   They preach God’s disappointment and displeasure with your actions.  And of course, none of us are perfect, and so we feel guilt and condemnation.

The solution, people are told, is to try harder and do more good works so they can be righteous in His eyes.  Pray more; read the Bible more; give more; in other words, do, do, do.  And so then people resolve to do better and try harder, and do more good works, but then, they fall short, again.

This cycle is repeated over and over with very sad results.  Some people just give up, ashamed, feeling like they can never stand before God.  Others spend their whole lives doing and doing and they never have any time to develop a personal relationship with God.  But something very critical is missing from this picture.

But What Does The Bible Say?

The scriptures plainly tell us that we, by our own works, can never be righteous in God’s eyes, so why do people keep trying and trying?  No works, no matter how many or how great, will ever grant you salvation.  Works never make you righteous in God’s eyes.

The Bible is clear that salvation is a gift from God, “…not of works lest anyone should boast.”  Eternal life and God’s spirit are gifts that cannot be earned.  And in addition, to the shock of some people, the Bible also declares that those who are born again, are righteous in God’s eyes because of Christ’s complete redemptive work.

Now, logically, if we are indeed righteous in His eyes and have eternal life, because of what Jesus Christ did for us, can we lose it by doing something wrong?  No! If we could lose it, then it would not be eternal life.  If we could lose it, then Christ’s completed work was incomplete and he would need to come again.

Jesus Christ completed his Father’s work.  Shortly before he gave his life for you and me, he said, “It is finished.”

We Just Can’t

We can not on our own make ourselves righteous, nor can we on our own obtain eternal life; he already did it for us. And now, as a result, the Bible states that nothing can separate us from God’s love.

If that is all true, then what happens when we fall short and do something that is not right?  That question usually brings out two different groups:  the legalists and, the free in Christ group.  And both groups adamantly believe that they are right.

To the legalistic, falling short means that what you did wrong is sin and that separates you from God, otherwise you would have a license to sin.  The other group, those who see themselves as free in Christ, believe that they are free to do as they please without any laws.

I will address this conflict next time.  In the meantime, know that you are righteous in God’s eyes because of the completed work of his son, Jesus Christ.  If you have a comment, go ahead and post it below.

Mike Verdicchio
2012

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