The Righteousness of Faith
- External righteousness is an unreliable predictor of true righteousness
- Pride often masquerades as righteousness
- True righteousness is received in humble repentance
You can’t judge a book by its cover, as the saying goes. The same is similarly true in regards to righteousness. External righteousness is an unreliable predictor of true righteousness. This is evidently true throughout the scriptures. We see Cain and Abel; both hard working men, both offer the fruit of their labors to the Lord, with Abel the Lord is pleased, and with Cain the Lord is not. We see Saul and David. Saul is a man’s man, tall, handsome, muscular, the kind of man you’d expect to be king. David is ruddy and youthful, you might say he’s a pretty boy. Yet David was a man after God’s own heart, and Saul displeased the Lord. We see a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee is a good solid church goer, lives an upright life, very pious and religious, generous with his money, he’d help pay off the boiler. The tax collector is just kinda your standard scum bag, his life is a mess and he’s everything the Pharisee is not. Yet, the tax collector returns home justified, and the Pharisee remains condemned for his sins. External righteousness is not a reliable predictor of true righteousness.
Similarly, external success and happiness are also not reliable predictors of true righteousness. Being wealthy, having a nice home, being in good health, popularity, physical attractiveness, and other such things do not necessarily mean that you are a righteous person more loved by God. Conversely, being poor, sick, lonely, and ugly doesn’t necessarily mean that you are an unrighteous person cursed by God. All of these things may be gifts from God, but their presence or absence doesn’t necessarily infer God’s favor or disfavor. Afterall, there were none like Job on earth, blameless and upright, believed in the Lord and turned away from evil, and yet the Lord giveth and He taketh.
It is true what Jesus says: “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit… The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” A faithful Christian will bear good fruits. These good fruits bear witness to their faith. But what are the good fruits?
Jesus also says about good fruits, when He’s speaking to the Pharisees, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The good fruits which a faithful Christian bears ought to be good works, but those good works are the visible manifestation of the faith of the heart, and as such it is faith which is the good fruit. The faithful Christian has faith. The faithful Christian trusts and clings to the Word of God. The faithful Christian confesses that saving Word of God. The faithful Christian abides in that confession and lives that confession out in a life of good works. But those good works are only fruits of the Spirit and marks of the Christian so long as those good works are carried out in faith.
Jesus warns the Pharisees, saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Jesus warns them because outwardly they had all of the trappings of faithfulness, but inwardly they did not have faith. The real fruit they needed to be producing was one of the heart: faith; but they were only putting on a show and inside they were dead. Like a white-washed tomb their external lives appeared lovely, but inside they were rotten and dead; they were prideful.
Pride often masquerades as righteousness, and pride is at the heart of this. Classically, pride has been considered the chief sin of the seven deadly sins or even the beginning of all sin; it is the queen of the vices. Now pride is an excessive and disordered love of oneself, an exaggeration of one’s talents and skills, it is self-exultation making you think you are innately better than others. Deep down, pride is making yourself your own god, because in your excessive love of self you refuse to submit even to your Maker.
Such is the sin Christ confronts today, when He told this parable to those “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.” This pride of the self-righteous Pharisee resulted in his condemnation, and why shouldn’t it! The scriptures warn us: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” And again: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Or again: “One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”
Pride is utter foolishness! Pride makes us stupid. Instead of seeing the reality of our situation, we are blind to it and behave as if we are our own savior. But such is an impossibility for us. We have been conceived in sin and are by birth enemies of God, hostile to Him. Sin makes us powerless to pull ourselves out of this situation. Additionally, no amount of good works could possibly pay for our sins. Only the blood of God Himself can atone for us, and so our salvation hangs upon the mercies of the Lord. How foolish is a prideful man then who believes he is just the bee’s knees and looks only to himself!
True righteousness, therefore, isn’t found in the prideful boasting of a self-righteous man, but in humble repentance. The tax collector beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Indeed, this man approached the Lord’s house and emptied himself of all self-aggrandizing thoughts, and pleaded only for the Lord’s mercy as he is himself merely a beggar. Thus the tax collector returned to his house justified. He didn’t earn righteousness by his own life, but God’s righteousness was declared to him. The tax collector was a scum bag, no question about it, and yet the Lord declared him righteous, because his salvation is by grace through faith not of works so that no one may boast.
This is the central core of Christianity. Mankind is by nature children of wrath through the fall into sin. God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were His enemies by taking on human flesh in the person of Jesus, fulfilling the law’s demands in our stead, and being the atoning sacrifice for us upon the cross. The Lord is immeasurably rich in grace! Jesus shed pints of blood for us, when a single drop may have sufficed, because He loves us wholly and completely and His atoning sacrifice cleanses all of our sins from us. By the free gift of God the Lord has saved you by grace through faith. Through Him you return not only to your earthly home, but an eternal home has been prepared for you.
The challenging thing here may be the next practical steps, though. While the Pharisee was wrong about his works saving him, and the tax collector was right about turning to the Lord in repentance, the Pharisee was right to do good works and the tax collector was wrong to live in sin. When the tax collector returned home his life had to change and he had to deal with the consequences of his sin. He was a scum bag so his life probably was a mess, although he may have had some money. Like Zaccheus he would’ve had to restore anyone’s money that he stole, and he would have to look for a new line of work, so now his financial situation would have to change. His family life was probably in ruins and whatever was left would probably take years to salvage. His tax collector scum bag friend group wouldn’t welcome him any longer, since he’d have to give up his sinful ways and call them to repentance. The tax collector’s change of life was undoubtedly difficult and only began when he begged for the Lord’s mercy.
But his change of life was also very good. Like the Pharisee he was certainly generous with his money and very pious, but not out of a sense of obligation but out of joy and thankfulness in response to the Lord’s mercy. In humble repentance he would in time rebuild the bridges he had burned, and what’s more he would gain an entire family within the church. Ultimately, not only is his earthly life better, but he will have gained an everlasting kingdom in the heavens.
Dear Christians, such is the case for us as well. The Lord here offers us a most blessed gift. We gather here as poor miserable sinners with no reason to boast, and yet the Lord lifts His face upon us and forgives our sins for the sake of Christ. Upon our departure from this service we return to our homes justified. Upon our departure from this life we enter into our eternal home, justified and at peace.