Over thirty years have passed since God saved me from eternal condemnation. Over three decades, and yet I am no more righteous today than I was then.
“But Rob, don’t you sin less now?” Yes, I do.
“But Rob, hasn’t the Holy Spirit radically changed your life?” Yes, He has.
“But Rob, hasn’t your relationship with God grown much deeper?” Yes. Much deeper.
“But Rob, don’t you desire to live for Christ much more than when you were first saved?” Yes, I do.
“So what do you mean, that you are “no more righteous than when you were first saved”?
Well … I mean … this.
10 As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God. – Romans 3:10-11
In terms of my righteousness before God, nothing has changed.
Yet, in terms of the righteousness which has been given to me, that is an entirely different matter:
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[b] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. – Romans 3:21-25
So, you can wrap up all of my church attendance, the Sunday school classes that I have taught, messages I have preached, church leadership positions I have held, charitable acts, kind words, my offerings, and anything else you think I should throw in, wrap them all up in a ball and have me present them to Christ as an argument for my righteousness, and guess what? He would still damn me to hell this very day … if not for the grace He has extended to me – the forgiveness of all of my sins because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross.
There is nothing about us that makes us any more deserving of Heaven than the worst of sinners. Nothing. If it comes down to our righteousness, we are both utterly lost and without hope. The only difference between us and that “horrible sinner”, is that one of us has had our sins forgiven and the other has not.
I think it is important for believers to think about this regularly. I believe that meditating on this truth will make us more humble, praise-filled, thankful, joyful, awe-struck, and gracious.
Just not more righteous.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. – Philippians 3:7-9
For Jesus,
Rob