“And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
“But that which is through faith in Christ”
“But” here is strong conjunction of contrast. In contrast to the law, there is another righteousness. There are two kinds of righteousness. First, there is a spurious righteousness, a counterfeit righteousness, a man-made righteousness, a synthetic righteousness, a righteousness of man’s endeavor. In God’s eyes, self-righteousness is spurious righteousness. This is human righteousness.
The other righteousness is righteousness whereby nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling. It is a righteousness that is a gift from God through Christ.
These two types of righteousness cannot commingle. They are mutually exclusive. It is impossible to mix them; it is an either/or situation. One is man’s righteousness, and the other is God’s. This is human righteousness versus imputed righteousness. God’s righteousness rests on revelation, on God’s provision solely.
“Through faith” means through the instrumentality of faith. The word “faith” bears the emphasis here. Parallel to this expression is the phrase “the righteousness from God.” This places the focus upon God as the object of faith. This person gives himself up and takes refuge in God’s provision.
This is self-surrender. Faith is the collapse of every effort of human capacity. We can take comfort only in God’s righteousness. God, in His righteousness, takes the sinner’s part.
To believe is to view God as the effecting subject. We give God the glory by self-surrender. If God does the doing, then God gets the glory. If we do the doing, then we get the glory. The issue is a contrast between the glory of the flesh versus the glory in Jesus Christ. These exclude each other.
PRINCIPLE:
When we view God as the effecting subject of giving us His righteousness, we give Him the glory.
APPLICATION:
When we yield to God’s gift of imputed righteousness through Christ, He is glorified by that acknowledgment. Are we humble enough to admit that we have nothing to offer God?
I am struggling with what I think is religious OCD. I have been studying and studying without finding peace. I know what God says about salvation. I am humbly convinced that there is nothing I can do to earn salvation and that salvation is of the Lord. I humbly admit that I am nothing but a sinner and that any righteousness I have lays in Christ alone and the sacrifice He made on the cross in the place of my sins. My mind keeps making me want to question my belief in the aspect of if I believe and if I’ve done the right thing to be imputed God’s righteousness. I know that my focus needs to be on Jesus and His sacrifice for my sins, but I’m fighting my feelings to want to make sure I’ve done what I have to do to obtain the Lord’s salvation. When in reality I know God’s Word tells me that Salvation is of the Lord and through faith alone and grace alone. Can you help me?
Noah, it appears to me that the issue is between faith and feeling. Feelings are always the result of our thinking, not the cause. To believe always requires an object in the Word of God; that is, do we trust, rest upon, or believe what God says in His Word. It is a matter of claiming a specific promise or passage from God. That is where we gain our assurance, not in how we feel at any given moment (1 Jn 5:13). Romans 8:16 and Galatians 4:6 say that the Holy Spirit is another source of assurance. There is a difference of the witness of our spirit and that of the Holy Spirit.