“The Righteousness of Christ”

Christ’s righteousness is our only righteousness. We have no righteousness apart from Him. He is our only hope of salvation. Our works cannot justify us with God. And, as sinners, we cannot become sinless until Christ comes and removes our sinful flesh. As long as we are in this body, we will have to fight with our sinful, carnal nature. Only when we receive our glorified bodies can we claim any type of sinless perfection. All of our righteousness comes from Jesus Christ alone. He alone is worthy to be praised. He alone is perfect. He alone is sinless. He alone is perfection personified. He alone – period. No comma – period! He alone.

Do you agree with that?

Not one person; not one, except for Jesus Christ, is perfect. Not one person apart from Jesus is good. Not one person is holy. All have sinned and are sinful but Jesus Christ – Every single one except him..

We are sinners and we will be until Jesus comes. All our sins, whether they are conscious sins or unconscious sins are punishable by death. There is no free pass on unconscious sin. Some minimize any sin but conscious, deliberate sin, in an effort to justify some form of relative perfection. Any such perfection is worthless and vile in God’s sight.

Christ’s perfection is the only perfection acceptable to God. That’s why Jesus said, “Except you exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.” They were the most meticulous, careful sinners on earth that ever lived, and I believe more meticulous than any who will ever live after them. But Jesus said their righteousness wasn’t good enough – and neither is ours.

H. M. S. Richards put it this way when I asked him a question. I said, “Elder Richards, I’ve got a question about righteousness by faith.” He said, “Good, Tom, because that’s the only kind there is: by faith. There is no other kind.”

He was a pretty smart guy.

That’s the literal Hebrew translation. “…all…” What does the little word “all” mean? “…all our righteousness’s…” (Plural) That’s just in case somebody thinks, “Well, that kind of righteousness isn’t okay, but mine is!” “…all our righteousnesses are filthy menstrual rags.”

How graphic. Do you begin to understand why the translators simply left one of those words out? But that is the meaning in the Hebrew and it’s foul. And the reason the prophet used that term is because he wanted us to understand how foul our own works are.

In Ecclesiastes 7:20 it says all have not only sinned but there is not one person on the earth who does good and does not sin.

In Isaiah 55:8 and 9 it says higher than the highest thought human beings can reach is God’s ideal for His child.

So higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children. News flash: That means you can’t reach it. If it’s higher than the highest human thought can reach, that’s His ideal; and only the ideal is acceptable for salvation we can’t reach it, I would think that’s obvious but some people miss it. And they say, Oh, I’ve gotta work really hard to develop a perfect character or I won’t be saved. Well, you work all you want. And the harder you work, the less saved you are. You need to accept the free gift of Christ’s perfect character. In the book, Steps to Christ, on page 62 she says when we accept Him as our Savior we receive His perfect character credited to our account. That’s how you get His character.

Oh, it gets worse as we read these verses! The whole Psalm 14 is about how human beings are lost and unrighteous; that not one of them is sinless. The entire psalm is about that.

Psalm 143:2—“Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous.”

Romans 6:23—“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 3:10-12—“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; 11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’”

Mark 10:18—“ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”

Luke 18:19—“ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.”

Revelation 5, the whole glorious chapter, especially verse 9 where it says that only the Lamb of God is holy. You alone are holy.

Now, is that true? Does that leave us out? You know it’s so hard for human beings to admit that they’re sinful and that nothing they can do will save them. That is the hardest thing for us to admit because we’re so proud. Even if we accept Christ, we want to say, can’t I add a little bit? Can’t I work really hard and maybe develop a really good character that I can be proud of and maybe get a little self-worth out of the deal here?

Well, I’m going to just preach this sermon to you and when we’re all done, you tell me how much self-worth we should get out of working our way to heaven. You’re going to find some of these quotes and statements I’m going to make interesting.

Now, for any of you who have not heard me preach on this subject before, please do get a copy of this message or even better a copy of my sermon entitled Perfection Only In Christ (July 21, 2004). Make sure you get that. You can get it on the web site– all my sermons are on that web site thanks to a real cyber-warrior named Michael Riebel. It’s nine, single-spaced pages of quotations from the Bible, the 28 Fundamentals of our faith, and the Spirit of Prophecy.

“We cannot say, ‘I am sinless’ till this vile body is fashioned like unto his glorious body.” {E.G. White, ST March 23, 1888} We cannot say, “I am sinless” until Christ comes.

Very interesting quote: “Those who would be true to God. . .Their only hope is in the mercy of God. . . They are fully conscious of the sinfulness of their lives. They see their weaknesses and unworthiness.” {E.G. White, PK, pg. 588}

(Do) You know who she’s talking about there in Prophets and Kings: those who are alive just before Jesus comes.

“…The followers of Christ have sinned…He who has been most abused by their ingratitude who knows their sin, they may have imperfections of character, they may have failed in their endeavors, but they have repented and I have forgiven and accepted them.” {E. G. White, PK, pg 589}.

Notice how she says, “they may have imperfections of character but they have repented, and I have forgiven them.” But they still have the imperfections, don’t they?

It gets more interesting.

“Christians realize that their character is imperfect, their life [is] faulty . . . Even if the enemy overcomes us; we are not cast off, not forsaken, not rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us . . . The closer you come to Jesus the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your [own] vision will be clearer and your imperfections will be seen in broad distinct contrast to His perfect nature . . . No deep seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness . . .”

The people who are claiming perfection and claiming that they are getting closer and closer to God and feeling better and better about how perfect they’re becoming are going to straight to hell. They’re on the devil’s highway, and they’ve believed a lie! Because the Bible teaches that the closer you come to Christ the more you see your own sinfulness; the more obvious your sinfulness becomes! So these self-righteous, sanctimonious Pharisees go around telling people they’ve got to become perfect and holy, and they’ve got to stop eating this and wearing that, and doing this and doing that, and they’ve got their endless list for you to win their approval by.

And in the truth of it, the bottom line is, the reality is that the closer you get to Jesus, the worse you look in your own eyes; the more sinful you feel. And so these poor people who have heard this sanctimonious, self-righteous gospel – where we have to develop our perfect character and get perfect before Jesus comes, will surely get discouraged and give up.

And we’ll be so good, why, when we get to heaven, Jesus will say, “My! You’re almost too good to come in here! Wow! Are we lucky to let you in the door, O, great one, who has developed such a character! Why, you’ve even surpassed the Son of God!”

What blasphemy to even suggest such ridiculousness! Anybody who gets to heaven is going to fall down on their knees and say, I’m unworthy! It’s a miracle you’re letting me in! The closer you get to Christ the more you see your own faults; the more you see your own imperfections!

And so, dear saint, as you read your Bible more and pray more, and it feels like you’re just getting worse…you’re not. You’ve always been that bad! God in His mercy just hid it from you. In His mercy, He hid it from you. He didn’t want to break your heart. But now that you’re reading the Bible and praying and getting close to Him and the Holy Spirit is in you, He’s figuring maybe you can handle it and He gives you a good look at yourself! And then you go, Eeeewww! I’m getting even worse here! I pray, I’m reading my Bible, I thought I was getting closer to You, and look at me! And Jesus probably just thinks to Himself: Yeah, how do you think I feel? It’s even worse than you think, but, in mercy, I won’t give you more than you can bear.

The followers of Christ have sinned. He who has been most abused; who knows their sin, He says, they’ve repented and I forgive them.

“If we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ. {Steps To Christ, pg. 65.1}; and when the soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to Him and to the word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His character, and the more fully we shall reflect His image.” {SC 65.2}

Do you feel helpless? Do you feel unworthy? Do you feel like a sinner? Do you feel like you can’t control your life? Do you feel like you can’t control the sinful emotion inside of you? Do you look at yourself and feel like you’re a wretch? You sound like the apostle Paul in Romans 7: “O wretched man that I am.” He didn’t say “…that I used to be.” Paul knew exactly what he was. He was a sinner and a pretty hardcore one at that. He grabbed people like you by the throat and murdered I don’t know how many Christian people that were worshiping. And he said he was doing God’s will when he did it. (He’d) Take ‘em outside and he’d have some of them stoned to death, and he’d hold the people’s coats while they were killing them.

Romans 7:24—“O wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from this body of death?”

And then in Romans 8:1 he says—“There is therefore no condemnation unto those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Yes, I’m a wretch. I admit it. But I’m a saved wretch. I’m a born-again wretch. I’m a Christian wretch. Romans 7 is the carnal nature; Romans 8 is the spiritual nature. They exist simultaneously in all of us that are Christians. The Carnal nature remains but doesn’t reign as Wesley said.

I’d like to share with you just a few things here.

“The sinner may err but he is not cast off without mercy.” {E. G. White, MS 21, 1891}

Even our…”

Now this is a hard quote for me. It says (that) even when I’m in church in my nice suit…you know…I got my suit on and I’m lookin’ spiffy…you know…when you’ve got your tie on and your shirt, and your nice Sabbath dress; and you’re in church, praying - wouldn’t you think you were kind of at your holiest in that moment? You know if you were going to bet on a time when, if a big boulder fell on you, (that) you’d go straight to heaven…wouldn’t that probably be the time you’d bet on? You know, when you’re in church, and you’re praying, and you’re, you know, feeling very pious and holy and everything.

Listen to this quote from 1 Selected Messages, pg. 344:

“Even our religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers . . . passing through the corrupt channels of humanity they are so defiled that unless purified by the blood of Jesus, they can never be of value to God. They ascend, not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor who is at God’s right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness it is not acceptable to God. . . He gathers into His censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness.” {E. G. White, 1 SM p. 344}

And that’s what makes them acceptable. So even our prayers are an abomination to God apart from Christ’s righteousness.

Now that is kind of shocking isn’t it?

I’ve always thought when I was praying, you know, that maybe that was kind of profound and the things I was saying were kind of profound.

And the Bible says the Holy Spirit has to take those things and clean them up and make them what they should be because they’re going to the king. And isn’t it great how God sent the Holy Spirit and He takes our prayers and He reinterprets them, and He mixes in His righteousness, and hands them to God, and it’s just as if Jesus said them to His Father; and He’s pleased, and He blesses us just as if we had prayed the prayer that way! Isn’t God good to us! When we pray and praise Him, even though we’re foul, corrupt human beings, our praise ascends, it’s mixed with righteousness of Christ, interpreted by the Holy Spirit, and presented to God as a beautiful thing. A sinful thing transformed into a beautiful thing because God loves us so much that He gave us Jesus and the Holy Spirit!

“We are saved by grace alone through faith…” Did you hear that? “We are saved by grace alone through faith to work.” That’s what our Bible text said. Only the finished work of Christ completed 2,000 years ago on Calvary is sufficient to save us. We cannot add to it in any way. Jesus does not make up the difference. I’ve heard people say that. I’ve heard people say, we do the best we can, and then Jesus makes up the difference. Oh, no! We have nothing to contribute. If it’s we do the best we can, and then Jesus makes up the difference, then we get holier and holier, and then finally in the end there’s no Jesus at all in there? No! It’s all Jesus! He doesn’t “make up the difference” in that sense. It’s all Jesus. It’s a gift from Christ.

What we do is an offering to God. Based on our forgiveness and our acceptance, we show Him love by being obedient, but it earns nothing. There is no merit in it! The only thing our works can do possibly is get us a greater reward in heaven. Now, I don’t know what that means, but we will be rewarded according to our works. And God does take notice, and He does command that we render unto Him sanctification and works of righteousness – but not for salvation.

Galatians 2:16—“A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Christ.”

Ephesians 2:8—“For by grace you have been saved.”

Romans 3:20-31—“ Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Philippians 3:8-9—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 ^{9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness...”}