Luke 18:9 (NIV) - “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:”

The parable that Jesus will go on to tell is a warning to those who are confident of their own righteousness and the other side of that coin, looked down on everyone else. We too can get caught up in the do’s and don’t’s, checklists of religious duties performed and wrongly assess we’re right with God when we’re just right with ourselves compared to those we deem as less. In the following passage, the Apostle Paul explains his own journey from self-deemed, self-won, self-approved righteousness to embracing what he describes as a robust kind of righteousness.

Philippians 3:2-9 (MSG) - “Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances-knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it-even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book. The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash-along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant-dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ-God’s righteousness.”

We may have a lot going for us in a Christian perspective - very dutiful, serving well, matured in the spiritual disciplines - but basing our righteousness on qualities that go up and down based on how our day is going is described as petty and inferior. We are to have a robust kind of righteousness, a righteousness that is given to us by God on the basis of us trusting in Christ. There’s nothing more we can add to it, but the beauty of that is there’s also nothing we can do to make it less.

Make a mental note of your list of credentials - what possible reasons do you think gave you a right to be a child of God? My list is not as impressive as Paul’s; the first would be had Christian parents, had a praying grandmother, went to church in the womb, and perhaps yours begins similarly. With each credential, cross it out, scratch a big X over it, that’s not what God tallies. God sees Christ’s work on the cross and our lives now righteous through faith in Christ. As we pray over personal and church concerns today, do so humbly and confidently because of the robust righteousness we have in Christ.

-AK