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 Righteousness
not only involves a "right or just standing before
God," but also refers to "whatever has been approved
by God to be acknowledged and obeyed by man" (Vine). Man is
righteous only to the extent that he is striving to conform to
the will of God. The scribes and Pharisees, in
Rom. 10:3, were neither just nor justified in God's sight
because "being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking
to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the
righteousness of God." It would be profitable to ask
ourselves if we are truly "right-wise" (knowledgeable
of God's standard of what is right or just). It
may be that we seek to measure our righteousness by our own
standard, as did the scribes and Pharisees.
For
example, many of them conceived of a righteousness attained
through external works. The self-righteous Pharisee of Luke 18
exemplifies this false notion. Fasting twice a week and giving
tithes of all he got no more justified him than our
attending services three times a week and partaking of the
Lord's Supper would justify us. If we simply "go through
the motions," we forget the very essence of obedience —
faith in God. Yet the fact that we are justified by faith does
not negate the importance of expressing that faith in
acts of obedience. Unless our obedience (external works) is
accompanied and produced by true heart submission,
it will not be acceptable to God. (1 Sam. 15:22; Amos 5:21-24).
We
may also deceive ourselves by assuming righteousness is
determined by self-approval or by comparing self with others.
The Judaizing teachers "knew of only
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one standard of measurement and comparison
great and exalted enough to apply to themselves, and that was themselves"
(Lenski- II Cor. 10:12). We dare not measure ourselves by
ourselves, for as Prov. 21:2 states, "Every way of man is
right in his own eyes" (emph. mine).
Equally deceiving is the reasoning that we are righteous because
we are "not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers" (1k.18:11). Many will be surprised in judgment
when they learn that God's righteousness is determined by
comparing each man's obedience, or lack of obedience, to God's
word (John 12:48).
Finally,
we may deem ourselves righteous because we are affiliated with a
certain group or party. As the scribes and Pharisees based their
righteousness on being a descendant of Abraham — many today
feel justified because they are of a certain religious body.
Their group's conclusions become the equivalent of truth — and
a fatal switch has been made from God's standard to man's
standard. We must remember that the church (those righteous in
God's eyes) is composed of individuals who have responded
to God’s will. We should note that these righteous individuals
will be drawn together, but by something deeper than the
name on the building or "party" acceptance.
Righteousness
involves more than external works, self-approval, or church
affiliation — it is attainable only as man submits his
will to God's will in all things. Kevan O'Banion
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