GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

ROMANS 10:1-10

     Paul, here having come into a better understanding of God's plan for saving mankind wishes that all of his fellow brethren, the Israelites, would also accept God's plan and thus be saved. He knows that his brethren are for the most part good people who follow after God zealously, but in ignorance. He says that because they do not understand God's righteousness, they set about trying to establish their own righteous and in trying to establish their own righteousness they refuse to submit to the righteousness of God. Paul had this problem with is Israelite brothers back in 60 AD and that we still have that problem present with us in 2000 AD. In over 1900 years mankind, for the most part, has still not come to understand that God has established the one an only mechanism by which man can be deemed righteous in His sight.
     The problem with Israel was that they wanted to continue to follow the Law of Moses, believing that they were made righteous by doing so. Israel misunderstood the purpose of the Law. The Law did set down the Divine standard of righteousness, and in that the Law was righteous. The law gave a clear definition of sin (Rom 5:13 - for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.).

ROMANS 3:19-20

     Because the law gave definition to sin, it exposed to all men their guilt before God. But Romans 8:3 says the Law had a weakness. Though the law showed man his sin, the Law was powerless to change man. The Law did not have the power to cause one to live righteously. It only told man when he was not doing so. Not only was the Law powerless to change man, but also man was unable to carry out the whole law (James 2:10- For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all).
Having come to understand that no man is deemed righteous through keeping the law, Paul reminds his Israelite brothers in Romans 3: 10 that there is none who are righteous, not even one.

MATT. 5:17-20

     Jesus did not come to do away with the standard of righteousness that the Law demanded, but rather to fulfill that standard. He tells the people here that they must go beyond what has been taught by the scribes and Pharisees in order to enter heaven. They must have righteousness based on something other than being taught the right standard, and offering the proper sacrifices for their failure to keep the standard.

LUKE 18:9-14

     This Pharisee felt that he was righteous because of all the good things he had done. He was so self-righteous that in his prayer he could only think of the good he had done. No doubt, for every good act he could have found at least one sin he had committed. Yet he saw no need to address those. The publican realized that what good he had done was not the issue between he and God. The issue is what is to be done about my sin. Many, who will not get saved today, believe themselves to be okay with God. They come to church on occasion and try to do most things right. In fact they consider themselves to be good people and indeed we might even say they are good people. But there is a problem with that.

ISAIAH 64:6

     The problem with wanting to base our relationship with God on our good works is determining how good is good enough. There must be a standard and God set the standard at Jesus. Who among mankind can stand before God, compare himself with Jesus and declare that in his own righteousness he is worthy of heaven. Jesus was perfect. Not only did he not sin, his motives were perfectly pure; he was not self-seeking in any way, and he always did right in the sight of God. Standing in comparison to him, our righteousness looks to God like a filthy rag.

ROMANS 10:4

     So Paul explains that man can no longer come to God based on the righteousness of the law which is based on man's works. But God has set forth a new standard of righteousness in Jesus. On first glance it would seem like God raised the bar and made it even more impossible for man. The Law allowed for imperfections in that it gave them repentance rituals. But Jesus was and is perfect. But Paul recognized something else.

PHIL 3:7-9

     Paul knew that his own righteousness had about as much value as manure and there for he would gladly give it up to know Christ. Paul recognized that there was his own righteousness and there was a righteousness provided by God and the two were not the same. He would gladly give up is soiled righteousness to have the righteousness of God which come by faith.

What is this righteousness that Paul speaks of here?

2 COR. 5:21

     On the cross, Jesus paid for the sins of all mankind. This opened the door for God to declare man right and just in His sight. Thus any person who will accept Jesus as savior can be seen as righteous in God's sight. Titus 3:5 says Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. There is no work that we could have done that would have made us righteous enough to merit eternal life with God. Therefore having mercy on us God sacrificed His perfect son as a sin offering for us.

ROMANS 10:9-10

     All who will accept God's sacrifice can then be deem to be righteous. It is through faith in the death burial and resurrection of Christ in my heart that I am saved and deemed righteous. This is God's free gift to man. Eph. 2:8-9 says For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, least any man should boast. Because God has offered man the free gift of salvation no person who stands before God without Christ as savior will be justified. God took my sins and put them on Jesus and took Jesus' righteousness and put it on me. Imagine this scenario (Court of Heaven).
     To you a saved person might look like any other person, with his faults, hang-ups and occasional sins. But God sees differently. When God looks at the saint he sees beyond the muck and mire of sin and sees the righteousness of Christ. (I Cor. 1:30 says that Jesus is my righteousness.)
     Now because God has already deemed the born again believer to be righteous, does that mean he or she can behave anyway they choose? Of course not.

PHIL. 2:12-13

     God works in us that which is His will and good pleasure. It is our responsibility to work out or perform that which God has put in us. He deems us righteous, we must then behave in a righteous manner.

I JOHN 3:7-10

     Those who practice a lifestyle of righteous living are the righteous one and belong to God. Those who practice a lifestyle of sin and rebellion against God are unrighteous and children of the devil.
Does God expect me to live this righteous life all by myself and without any help? Of course not. He knows what is in man, our shortcomings and our inability's.

To help us live righteously God has given us

1. His Holy Spirit (John 14:26 says that the Holy Spirit would teach us all things and bring back to remembrance      God's instructions to us.
2. 2 TIM. 3:16-17 God has given us His word for instruction in righteous living.
3. I PETER 3:12 - God has given us Himself. The righteous have God's attention.

Knowing that after the fall of man, mankind could never, on its own merit, meet the standard of righteousness, God sacrificed His own son and offered mankind the required standard as a free gift.

I PETER 4:18

     In the Book of Hebrews we are asked to consider, if those who broke the Law given to Moses were found guilty and received just payment for their sins, how will those who neglect God's plan of salvation escape the wrath of God. The price of redeeming man and declaring him righteous was not the blood of mere goats and bulls, but the blood of God's only son.
     If those who accept God's son as savior barely make it in because of their struggles to live out the imputed righteousness of God, how can the sinner who is rebelling against God, expect to sneak in.
God has a standard of righteous. That standard is called Jesus and no matter how good one is by earthly standards, he will never in his own merit measure up to Jesus. Being saved is not about doing all the right things, for we can not work to be saved. Being saved is about making the right choice. This is the message we as Christians must carry to the world.