Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”
I recently heard someone comment on social media, that Christian believers who aren't faithful to serve God deserve to go to Hell, but they won't because they have eternal security. I kindly replied to her post that even faithful believers still deserve to go to Hell. All humans are bad. There is none that doeth good, no not one. Ecclesiastes 7:20, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”
One of my favorite sermons by Pastor Jack Hyles is called: "He Died For Your Righteousness Too." Dear reader, I don't care how long you have been saved, or how good of a saint you may think you are, you still deserve to burn in Hell, fire and brimstone for all eternity (and so do I). We are ALL dirty, filthy, guilty sinners.
I have often said truthfully that the ONLY difference between the most noble saint and the vilest wretched criminal upon the face of the earth, is the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Without the blood of Jesus that washes all of our sins away, we are just as ungodly and deserving of Hell in God's sight as Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy! You see dear friend, neither you or I have any righteousness to offer God. Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Yes, even our best efforts to please God in our own human righteousness is utter FILTH to God. The “filthy rags” in Isaiah 64:6 actually refers to a woman's rags as pertaining to her unpleasant time of the month. Your self-righteousness does not impress God dear reader.
That is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:20, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” What righteousness did the Scribes and Pharisees have? They had their own self-righteousness. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”
The Scribes and Pharisees had THEIR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is according to THE LAW. That is, they superficially lived a morally upright life to be seen of men. They lived above reproach, but they couldn't live above sin. NO ONE can live above sin! You may be able to hide your sins from others, but God sees everything. Hebrews 4:13, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” One's SELF righteousness is insufficient to please God. The problem is that no matter how much good we may do, it cannot undo or atone for our past sins. If you have been born-again, then God has erased your criminal record in Heaven. Psalms 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” But if you have not yet accepted Christ as your personal Savior, then your sins are all recorded against you in God's books (Revelation 20:11-15).
Romans 10:3-4, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” I love Romans 10:3-4. Some people errantly claim that Romans chapter 1o has nothing to do with the salvation of the soul; but rather, they ignorantly claim that Romans 10 is about the future salvation of the physical nation of Israel. We know that they are wrong, because as we just read in verses 3 and 4, this passage is plainly speaking about getting born-again by faith in Jesus Christ.
The Jews were “going about to establish THEIR OWN RIGHEOUSNESS” [emphasis added]. They hadn't yet “submitted themselves unto the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD” [emphasis added]. I absolutely love this precious passage of Scripture. Dear friend, no one is worthy of Heaven. I don't care how good and righteous you may think you are as a child of God, the ONLY righteousness which you will ever have is GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!
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