Romans 1:17 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith. "
What is the purpose of mans righteousness. Our good deeds cannot earn our way to heaven. Our self righteousness can get in the way of Gods work. It is Gods righteousness we need yet our own righteousness is still very important to God and his work.
I'm not being noble and humble when I acknowledge that I'm a sinner. If I am honest before God, I am ashamed and on my knees before my Lord. I am thankful that even my wife of decades is not exposed to my constant petty, selfish, lustful, mean spirited thoughts. Even I get used to my own selfishness and I minimize or overlook my sins. My Father is exposed to my every sin yet He loves me for who I am instead of what I think and do. He loves me so much that he found a way to entrust me with His righteousness. This is my ticket into His presence, into His kingdom. As undeserving as I am he calls me into his presence and with my sin stain that is impossible. This is why God became man and suffered as a sacrifice for my sins. I can not ever be good enough to earn any glory worthy of praise. I do not get halfway up the mountain and he carries me the rest of the way. My travels might gain me altitude up a mountain but it is transport into heaven itself that we all desire. I don't need to gain this altitude, God can lift me from any height. So again we come to the question, why do I need to struggle to be good? What good is man's righteousness? It is because God's righteousness is revealed out of faith and into faith.
For many decades I understood God loved me. In that last two years I have experienced God's love through the lives of close christian friends. What I knew, now I feel. This has transformed me. It was faith in God that moved my friends to carry God's glorious light and share it with the world. God's righteousness out of their faith and into my faith. Now I will carry God's light in my lantern. If I carry a light of my own, it can burn out or blow out. Carrying your own light is a chore. Carrying God's light is a joy. Being grateful of all of this blessing I can not help but draw closer to God and He makes me grow in my own righteousness. It is like my mirror gets polished to reflect His light. I may gain altitude so to shine His light from high but as I go I will seek out others with lanterns. Hug your fellow man, share the light.
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