~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GOOD NEWS FROM THE REDEEMER
July 21, 2001 RADIO MESSAGE #381
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I. What are "our righteousnesses"? A righteousness is that which perfectly and completely satisfies the demands of God's law – the fulfillment of "the righteous requirement of the law" (Romans 8:4), "the law of righteousness" (Romans 9:31). It is that which is performed as perfectly and as sinlessly as God Himself would perform it.
II. What are the "filthy rags" to which our righteousnesses are compared? They are "menstruous cloths" associated with one of the most extreme forms of ceremonial uncleanness under the Law of Moses (Leviticus 15:19-33; 20:18). They are of such a nature as to be treated with the greatest discretion by the genteel, disposed of immediately, never reused. These "filthy rags" are in our text joined with "an unclean thing," the leper afflicted with another of the most extreme forms of ceremonial uncleanness (Leviticus 13:45f).
III. What does the truth here declared teach us? Every thing we do falls short of satisfying the demands of God's law. "There is none righteous, no, not one .... They have together become unprofitable" (Romans 3:10, 12).
1. Every deed we perform is unrighteous. "For there is not a just man on the earth who does good and does not sin" (Ecclesiastes 7:20). "There is none who does good, no, not one" (Psalm 14:3 / Romans 3:12).
2. Every word we utter is unrighteous. This is true because, with regard to our Adamic nature, "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness" (Romans 3:13f). How can a word uttered therefrom be righteous?
3. Every thought we imagine is unrighteous. "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). "[T]he imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:21).
4. Every act of worship we render to God is unrighteous. Every aspect of our worship is tainted by our Adamic nature. We never fully repent of our sins. Our faith in Christ is mixed with unbelief. There is a lack of sincerity in observing His ordinances, praying to Him, and singing His praises. We question His providence. We do not fully believe His promises nor appreciate His blessings. There is pride in all that we do publicly, even in preaching His gospel. There is sin in our holiness, and hatred in our love. There is enough sin in our performance of each aspect of worship of God to condemn us to a thousand hells!
Paul the apostle spoke for all the saints when he declared, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ... O wretched man that I am!" (Romans 7:18-24).
And John Newton spoke for all the saints when he wrote,
Furthermore, when we repent of tainting our worship through our unrighteousness, we then find it necessary to repent of even our repentances!
IV. What must be our acceptable response to this truth?1. We must forsake any hope of self-righteousness. The self-righteous lay upon the table of "free will" the menstruous cloth of their "salvation through works," and sew to it the menstruous cloths of their law observance / baptism / sabbath-keeping / church attendance / tithing / soul-winning / et.al. They then in their self-delusion dare to don their filthy garment upon their leprous bodies and boast of how holy and righteous they are, and of how gloriously they are clothed. Let us not compound our guilt before God by acting so abominably.
2. We must flee to Christ for righteousness. Having forsaken any hope of self-righteousness, we must acknowledge Christ alone as our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 1 Corinthians 1:30f) and receive the imputation of His righteousness through faith alone (Romans 3:21-4:8). We must desire to "be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9).