THERE IS NO ONE RIGHTEOUS

"There is no one righteous, not even one;"(Romans 3:10)

No one is innocent. Every person is valuable in God's eyes because God created us in His image and He loves us. But no one is righteous, that is, no one can earn right standing with God. Humanity in general, in its present sinful condition, is unacceptable before God. Have you ever thought to yourself that 'you not too bad, that you are , in fact, a pretty good person?'

No, no one is righteous. People lie, people hurt other people with their words, even tone of voice. People are bitter against other people. People become angry with those who do not agree with them.

In thought, word and deed, you, like everyone else in the world, stand guilty before God.

But, we serve a mighty God who loves us more than we will ever know or understand.  And because He loves us, He made a way for us to be righteous in His sight, despite our shortcomings and failures; the sin that perpetually separates us from Him.

Many people believe that righteous acts, good behaviour, will make us righteous in the eyes of God. 

Still others see religious traditions and rituals as their way of pleasing God and making themselves acceptable in His sight. 

The religious leaders of Jesus' time believed this. 

They held themselves above the "common people" due to their piety, their eloquent speech, and their religious garb. They were forever looking down their noses at those around them. 

Jesus knew this. He addressed them directly for it, and they became furious with Him for it. 

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the prophet Isaiah spoke centuries before the birth of Christ, declaring that our own righteous acts were worthless before God; like filthy rags.

 Bible historians agree that the rags Isaiah was alluding to were women's menstrual cloths, indicating a state of being ritually unclean according to The Law.

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."(Isaiah 64: 6)

If we come to Him demanding acceptance on the basis of our "good works", our "good conduct", God will point out that our righteousness is nothing compared to His infinite righteous.

With all of that said, it is important for us to understand that our righteousness is found solely in Christ.

"God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21)

In the world bartering works only when two people exchange goods of relatively equal value. But God offers to trade His righteousness for our sin - something of immeasurable worth for something completely worthless.

Being a good person will not make us righteous before God. Kindness will not make us righteous before God. Abstaining from sin will not make us righteous before God.

 In short, changing our behaviour does not make us righteous. But righteousness in Christ should change our behaviour.

Let us put away the rituals and traditions that define us and our walk with God. And let us understand that it is only the blood of Christ applied to us that make us righteous in His eyes.