My Own Righteousness
By Matthew Woolley
Often when people talk about being a Christian they think of being a good person who does charitable deeds. They say, ‘God is love and we are to be like God. Therefore we should do good’. As a guide to their actions they might ask themselves, ‘what would Jesus do?’ Because He was a good person, He would do the ‘right thing’ if He found Himself in this circumstance.
This kind of thinking may sound good but, unfortunately, it misses the whole heart of the gospel. God has not called us to a life defined simply by good deeds, but rather into a loving relationship with Himself and others in which we are totally given for the sake of others. This may seem like a subtle variation but the difference is as stark as life and death.
If we try to live a life based on good deeds and ‘doing the right thing’, one of several things could happen. Firstly, we may succeed and feel we have been a good person who has earned a place in the kingdom. Secondly, we may fail and feel we have not been a good person, but we tried our best. That’s all we can do, is it not? Lastly, we may fail and feel condemned.
Such responses are the product of our internal legal system in which we justify ourselves by good deeds. Proverbs talks about the outcome of this way: ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death’. Prov 14:12
I do not know anyone who considers himself a bad person. Most people try hard to do good, and they think that, on balance, that must mean they are ok. The prospect of not being able to achieve righteousness through good deeds is offensive to many. Good deeds are an easy thing to measure. Further, we know how to do them without any help.
This way of thinking begins to sound a bit silly if we extrapolate it a little. ‘I will give bits of my money and time to charity, and God will call this “a good balance”. Accordingly, He will forgive me for murdering Christ, and give me a ticket to heaven.’
Some people reason the opposite way. They say that when He died, ‘Jesus did it all’. The implication is that we are saved no matter what. The price for salvation is paid and works don’t matter. Over the centuries, many people have felt quite strongly about this, and the debate has raged as to whether or not the book of James should be included in the Bible because it talks about works. Such thinking goes to the opposite end of the spectrum. While one mentality says, ‘I am justified or condemned by what I do’, the other says, ‘I am justified no matter what I do, because Jesus died’.
Indeed, Jesus did die! And because of His death on the Cross, we are saved. However, this is not the end of it. Jesus did not die just to carry our punishment and provide us a legal forgiveness. He willingly offered Himself in obedience and love for His Father so that we might receive His life! In His offering to the Father, He opened the door for us to participate in His life of self-giving love and obedience.
So what am I saying?
- Jesus did pay the price for all of our sin.
- This opened the pathway for us to find life and become ‘sons of God’.
- Now this pathway is open, we must walk in it.
-There is a lifestyle associated with our sonship, and there are deeds to be done. But these deeds are given to us by the Father, and do not spring from our own view of what is good.
God the Father has a plan for each person, and we will find joyous eternal life when we live in this plan. However, this plan is only accessible in Jesus and His cross. He said, ‘no-one approaches the Father except through me’. When we give our lives to God and repent of our sin, we are forgiven and called forward to walk out who He planned us to be, doing what He has determined we should do. These are the only good works acceptable to God, and they are motivated and enabled by the life that comes to us through Jesus and His offering on the cross.
