1Brothers, the pleasure of my heart and the prayer toward God of them are into salvation, 2for I testify to them that they have zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, 3for, being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they were not submitted to the righteousness of God, 4for Christ [is the] end of law into righteousness to everyone believing.
Righteousness. That’s not a word that people use today, except in jest, yet the truth is still everyone wants to be “right.” No one likes to be told or even think they’re “wrong.” Being right in the eyes of other people is one thing. Being right in the eyes of God is obviously something entirely different. People’s aversion to being considered “wrong” is reflected today in the very fact that they don’t want to hear about sin. If there even is such a thing as “sin,” they want to be the ones to say what it is – and isn’t.
Yet, for us born-again people, righteousness is still an important concept. For those of us who are older, we grew up in a world where the Bible was still respected and the Ten Commandments were a big deal. We simply knew there was right and wrong. I’m not so sure people were any more moral back then, but at least, when they did wrong, they knew it and it bothered them. For many, many people, it was that relentless, nagging conscience that drove them to Christ.
Regardless of what brought us to Him, as believers, we now think a lot about these issues of “right and wrong,” and that is precisely this matter of righteousness. The question then is, how can we be “righteous?” Before we jump to an answer, look again at our text. Somebody got it wrong! The people of Israel “did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own" and so “they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” Back in chapter 9, Paul had said “That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not obtained it. And why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works” (v30-32).
Notice there are clearly two kinds of righteousness. There is a righteousness “that is by faith,” and a righteousness “by works.” Anyone who’s been around church for any length of time is probably saying, “Well, of course. Everyone knows that.” However, we should all stop and notice, when it comes to Israel, we’re talking about people who had the Scriptures and who were even “zealous for God.” As those people thought about righteousness, what made sense to them? Well…if you want to be right, you have to do right. Basically, you need to keep the Ten Commandments. Right?
Somehow that makes perfect sense to our human minds. Yet what is that? It is the very righteousness the Israelites pursued and our text is telling us they got it wrong. Before we dismiss their failure, we need to pause and remember we’re no different than them. What made sense to them actually makes sense to us. You want to be right, you have to do right. Right? How can that not be right?
I would suggest even born-again people need to do some serious thinking about this whole business. The next verse in our text tells us “Christ is the end of the law,” and we all cheer and say, “Yes, He is my righteousness!” If that is your testimony, good for you. However, have you ever realized you still find yourself thinking about this matter of righteousness? Even counting on Christ for your salvation, are you not still having to address this issue of righteousness? Are you not still thinking a lot about right and wrong? And is it not still making sense to you, if you want to be right, you have to do right? Yes? So, how is your thinking any different than Israel’s?
If you are following me, I hope you are realizing we’ve got ourselves in a conundrum. We’re counting on Christ for our salvation, then promptly reverting right back to the very “righteousness” that made sense to the Israelites, and we’re being told they got it wrong!
Even if you are already born-again – saved by faith in Christ – we all still need to realize there are two kinds of righteousness. According to our text, there is “God’s righteousness,” which is a righteousness “of faith,’ and then there is a “law of righteousness,” a kind that is “by works,” a kind that we “seek to establish on our own.”
Which is yours? Even as you would trust Christ for your eternal salvation, as you go about your day, what sort of righteousness are you living? Is it “do right” and “be right?” If that is true, why did Paul assert in Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace”? Why didn’t he say, “Sin shall not be your master. You must do right”? Why did suddenly grace take front stage?
Here is what is going on and how it makes sense to me: I call the two “ways” Legal righteousness and Grace righteousness. Legal righteousness is, it would seem, very simple. It’s “do right – be right.” The Ten Commandments say. “You shall not commit murder.” Cool. I haven’t murdered anyone (yet), so by that standard, I am righteous. They say, “You shall not steal.” I haven’t stolen anything (lately), so that makes me righteous. It says, “You shall not lie.” I haven’t lied (at least since yesterday – it’s currently 4:53 AM), so I’m righteous, right? Of course, the more we dig, the more we have to admit that, well, of course I have failed before, but I’m trying not to. As long as I’m successful, I’m righteous, right?
That’s all Legal righteousness. That’s the one that makes perfect sense to us, but it’s Israel’s righteousness and our text is telling us, they got it wrong! Then there is Grace righteousness. It is the “righteousness of faith.” It is “God’s righteousness.” It is the one “the Gentiles pursued,” and they got it right. Rather than “do right/be right,” Grace righteousness says “Be right and you will do right.” The Law says, “Do this and live.” Grace says, “Live! And do this.” The Law whips a dead horse and can’t get it to pull the wagon. Under grace, it is the Spirit that gives us life, and so we live. Instead of whipping the poor dead horse, grace brings him back from the dead, then offers him the chance to be and do exactly what he was created for – to pull the wagon.
Let’s be frank up front – Grace righteousness doesn’t make sense. That’s because it is spiritually discerned. It is simply beyond our fallen minds. Only those who have come to Christ for salvation to begin with – those who do understand what it means to be saved by faith – can understand how that same faith, that same grace, is actually the righteousness I live. This is exactly what Paul is talking about in I Cor. 2:9-16, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard…” We’re talking about something that is “spiritually discerned.”
Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” He said we must “abide in the vine.” Grace starts with Him. For me, all day every day, Grace righteousness is all about Him, not me. As I sincerely seek to know Him, to constantly know Him better, to let His Spirit by my spirit, to humbly acknowledge it’s true – without Him, I can do nothing – and prayerfully beg Him to help me live, then I find myself actually doing right. However, even if I do, I’m keenly aware it was Him, not me, that did it. It wasn’t my “trying” that gave me the wisdom or strength, it was Him. That’s Grace righteousness.
Grace first gives us life, then helps us to live. It is be right/do right. Then the wonderful thing about grace is that, when we fail (which is most of the time), it doesn’t reach for the whip, it stretches out its hand and says, “Hey, you who are highly favored, let me help you up. Let’s try this again (and again, and again, and again…). God’s grace in Christ means we are loved, so we can live loved. The same grace that saved us in Christ is the same grace that daily gives us life.
One more thought on this – the difference is that grace means we live a love relationship with God. The more I know Him, the more I keep before my mind His wonderful grace, the more I love Him – precisely because I realize how much He first loved me, the more I want to love Him. If I’m sitting in His big loving lap, wrapped in His big loving arms, how can I do and say and think things I know displease Him? In spite of my awful sin nature, I actually don’t want to sin. I don’t want to think those awful thoughts. I don’t want to be coarse. I don’t want to be unkind. I can actually honestly tell Him, I want to be confirmed in holiness, like the good angels. I want to be a person who doesn’t even want to sin.
When grace gets us there, can we all see we are but one step from heaven itself?
May grace help us all to “abide in the Vine.” May our righteousness be His, until the day He takes us home and truly makes us righteous!
Whether anything I’ve said makes any sense to you or not, I hope this text in Romans 10 has at least made you stop and ponder your own understanding of righteousness. Some people got it wrong. Some people got it right. I’m quite sure I know which you want to be!
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