RIGHTEOUSNESS

“I…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, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Philippians 3:8-9 NKJV). “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14 NKJV). I usually think of righteousness as faith expressing itself through love (see Galatians 5:6). And it’s discouraging to think how small my faith is and how poorly I love. But there is error in this thinking, because righteousness is a gift from our Savior, purchased by His death on the cross. The wording of Philippians 3:8 seems to indicate that when we stop grading ourselves on our good works and simply receive the gift of righteousness in Christ, this is how we get to know Him. So if you, like me, ever feel bad about your lack of faith and love, you need only to remember that Jesus, not your performance, is your righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6, 1 Corinthians 1:30), and then you can begin to see Him as such.