Are you righteous, or are you righteous?

by Fay Barlow
(Lexington, Sc)

Philippians 3:7-9
"But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ.
…not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ."

I read through these verses a few weeks ago and was struck by this part of the verse. “Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law”.

I started to wonder what Paul might have been thinking when he wrote those words. After all, Paul said of himself in Acts 26:4-5. “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.”

I guess if anyone has ever been a rule follower, Paul was. From his youth, he learned the rules of religion. He fought hard against the believers of Christ before his conversion, believing that they were wrong and he was right. His righteousness stemmed from his ability to follow the rules.

I have lived the same way. At one time in my life, I evaluated my ability to keep and follow the rules, if only on the exterior, and deemed myself righteous.

I took a look at the programs I was involved in at church. The important people I knew and how many people knew of me. The length of my prayers, the amount of time I spent listening to those who were less fortunate. My title and the praises given to myself and those of my family, and I deemed myself righteous!

What I failed to understand is that the kind of righteousness that I had attained, like Paul, was that of the law. It had nothing to do with Christ. It was self-righteousness.

Now, I am righteous. But not because of anything I have done or said or because of the amount of rules I follow or even the amount of tithe I give. I am righteous because of my FAITH in Jesus Christ. Period!

It is nothing that I have done. It is all that Jesus did for me. My righteousness comes from my deep personal relationship with Christ.

I don’t know if Paul struggled throughout his life and ministry with his past legalism, but I certainly do. I have to remind myself quite often that I can’t work my way to God. I also have to remind myself that I am righteous. There is nothing wrong with knowing that. It is when I claim that status by my actions instead of Jesus’ action on the cross, that I miss the mark of faith.

Now, I don’t walk around introducing myself as “Hi, I’m Fay Barlow, I’m righteous”. Instead I try to live my life in such a way that people see Christ in me. That is righteousness, not from the law, but from Jesus Christ.