TWO TYPES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“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:” Phil3:9

Paul the apostle while sharing with the church in Philippi tells them that there are two types of righteousness. There is the righteousness that belongs to us which comes out of us adhering to certain standards and obedience to the law, and then there is the righteousness that comes through the obedience of Christ and it is God’s righteousness. 

In other words there is self-righteousness that has everything to do with us and what we do and then there is God’s righteousness (faith righteousness) that has everything to do with God and what He has done. We do well to study and understand them.

SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS

“For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Rom10:2-3

Many of us like Israel are ignorant of God’s righteousness and are going about trying to establish our own righteousness. We are seeking to be pleasing and acceptable to God by behaving well and doing good works and not doing bad works. We have great zeal and religious fervor. We are very sincere in our actions but we are sincerely wrong!

In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus teaches a parable on self-righteousness and its effects and fruits. Let us learn what He is communicating to us;

“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 every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Lk18:9-14

They trust in themselves.

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” Lk18:9

Self-righteous people trust in themselves instead of trusting in God.  They depend on their works, their abilities and their knowledge. This is not a good place to be at because as long as you are depending on yourself you are not depending on God. You are destined for a big fall. 

The prophet Jeremiah speaks about such a person;“Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.” Jer17:5-6

They despise others

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” Lk18:9

Self-righteous people despise other people. This is because by despising others they will feel good about themselves. They debase others because they are exalted in their own eyes. They despise other people and other groups as long as they are not like them or their group. As long as other people don’t talk like you, dress like you, pray like you and don’t think like you, you despise them. If you despise other people, you are self-righteous. That’s what Jesus said.

They compare themselves with other people

“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.” Lk18:10-11

Self-righteous people are always comparing themselves with other people. They constantly compare their works with somebody else’s works so that they can judge and criticize. They are always trying to find a way to be better than others and to have some moral superiority over others. This was a major issue in the Corinthian church and Paul told them it wasn’t wise;

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2Cor10:12

If you really want to compare yourself with somebody else, then compare yourself to Jesus. You will find that after the flesh you fail every time.  Without Jesus you are an absolute zero! You are nothing!

They brag and boast about their works and obedience 

“I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” Lk18:10-12

Self-righteousness produces self-centeredness. It produces pride. Self-righteous people are always talking about what they have done for God, how wonderful they are in the ministry, what great service they are doing for the kingdom. It is all about them. 

Notice the number of times this Pharisee refers to himself and what he has done. In just 2 sentences he refers to himself 5 times. Everything is I am like this, I did this, I have this, I know that…that is the language of self-righteousness. When you are self-righteous, you are the center of your world. Your whole life revolves around you. Such a person has no space for God's grace.

They exalted themselves and not God

“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 every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Lk18:11-14

Notice that Jesus said that this self-righteous Pharisee ‘prayed thus with himself’. God will not participate in a prayer that is based on our goodness and wonderful works and obedience. Such a prayer is not being prayed in the name of Jesus but in our own name. It is all about us and what we have done for God and how awesome we are. All that God says to you is ‘talk to the Hand’

Self-righteousness causes you to exalt yourself and your works over God and His work in Christ. You begin to think that God will respond to you on the basis of what you do, what clothes you wear, the language you use, your prayer, your confession, your commitment, your service and so many other things. You cannot receive anything from God by faith because you are so absorbed by your performance and obedience. This is the reason many of us struggle to receive from God. We try to earn His blessings, healing, miracles and so much more. 

Read John9:1-41 for another example of self-righteousness.

Self-righteousness is entirely natural and proceeds out of the flesh. It is entirely based on our ability to discipline ourselves, deny our lusts and do what is expected of us. 

What does God think about our self-righteousness and good behavior?

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.” Isa64:6

The word used for filthy (ayd) actually means the menstrual flux. In other words a menstrual cloth!!! Can you imagine!!!!!

“As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one." Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit"; " The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.  There is no fear of God before their eyes."” Rom3:10-18

Did you notice it is in the New Testament, and that Paul is writing to Christians in Rome? It doesn’t matter whether you are a Christian or not, if you are offering to God your righteousness that is how He views it! It is useless and filthy. 

What then does God want?

“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Gal2:21

God never asks us to perform any works or behave well or obey any laws to obtain His righteousness because He knows that it is impossible to earn it. I have heard people saying that the Christian life is hard to live, this not a true statement. Christian life is not hard to live, it is impossible! You can’t obey all of God’s commandments and live by His standards; you might as well give up! 

One of the major problems today is that we are encouraging people not to give up but to keep trying harder to live righteous and holy lives. Here is some advice, GIVE UP, YOU CANT MAKE IT! Even your best effort is not good enough. As far as God is concerned it’s all a filthy rag! 

Jesus told the Israelites the same thing;

“For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mat5:20

No religion or denomination or non-denomination denomination today can even come close to the holiness and righteousness of the Pharisees and scribes. Not the Catholics, not the Muslims, not the Anglicans, not the Pentecostals, not the Baptists, not the Methodists, not the Adventists, not the Atheists, nobody. The scribes and Pharisees were super holy.

They gave a tithe of all the vegetables growing in their compounds at home, they counted the number of steps they walked on the Sabbath and some groups didn't even go to the toilet on the Sabbath day because they considered that work. I wonder what they were eating?

The Pharisees tried as much as possible to avoid physical contact with the Gentiles whom they called pagans and heathen. They believed that touching one would make them unclean. It is why they were so upset with Jesus when He ate and drank with sinners, harlots and the publicans.

Then there is the group of Pharisees that made special hats that would cover their eyes as they walked through the streets so that they wouldn’t see a woman (who might be in her periods) or some other unclean people. Apparently this would make them unclean. These ones were always running into things and getting injured. The people nicknamed them ‘bloody Pharisees’ because they were always bleeding. Jesus called them ‘blind guides’ (Mat23:23-24).

And yet Jesus told the people that they had to exceed that. An impossible fete. These people must have said to themselves ‘does this man want us to be perfect?’ and the answer is YES. God wants you to be perfect. Look at what He told them after that;

“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Mat5:48 ESV

Jesus said you must be perfect! You might say that you are doing your best, but God doesn’t want your best, He wants perfection. He said be perfect, like God.

If you aren’t perfect, then your righteousness is useless for salvation. God doesn’t want it. You need Jesus and His righteousness. His is a perfect righteousness.

Are you perfect??