Turn Your Righteousness Inward

            Many times in the pages of the Bible, God reminds His people that unless they have the proper attitude and spirit when practicing their religion, what they do is meaningless and vain.  In 1 Samuel 15:22 it says that He prefers obedience to sacrifice.  In Isaiah 1:16-17 He tells His people to wash themselves, do what is right, and seek justice.  In Micah 6:8 He states that what is required of us is to act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him.  Jesus said in Mark 12:28-34 that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself.  When asked what works God is pleased with, Jesus answered that the work of God is to believe (faith) in the One He has sent (John 6:28-29).  And James says that true religion is seeing to the needs of those less fortunate while getting rid of sin and selfishness (James 1:26-27).

            So, then, Christianity isn’t as much what I do, as it is who I am - or who I am becoming.  My actions and good deeds are to flow from my faith and commitment to Christ (Romans 1:5).  I am saved by the grace of God, not by what I do, or how I worship, or how many sermons I preach, but by putting on Christ (Galatians 3:26-27) and turning my righteousness inward (imitating Him).

            I believe that this is what Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus to understand in John 3.  Jesus was challenging him to think on the spiritual level - to turn his righteousness inward.  The man had been trained to think on the physical level (as the Pharisees were fanatical about outward shows of religion).  But now that Jesus had arrived, it was necessary to turn those righteous rituals inward and begin applying spiritual thinking to everyday life.  Paul says in Colossians 3:1-4 that since Jesus has died and been raised and ascended to the Father, our thoughts and actions are to flow from the heart based on our faith in Him.

            Therefore, each of us must strive to control the destructive inner desires that weaken our faith and credibility and use every opportunity God provides to spread the message of Jesus through our words and our actions (1John 3:18).  Our reasons for loving and serving others are to be motivated by our faith in Christ.  Because God is pleased when He sees His children growing in Christ and loving one another, just as His servant John writes (3 John 4).

Doug