OceanSide church of Christ

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MAN’S RIGHTEOUSNESS VERSUS GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    Jesus teaches us that the righteous will have eternal life (Matt. 25:46).

 

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:  but the righteous into life eternal.

 

B.      The problem is that no human being is righteous (Rom. 3:10).

 

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.

 

C.     Thus, man must be made righteous.  The question is:  “How is this done?”

 

D.    According to I John 3:7, one is righteous when he does righteousness.

 

Little children, let no man deceive you:  he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

 

1.      Doing righteousness involves action on man’s part.

2.      Doing righteousness is simply doing the “right” things that will bring righteousness to man, or, the actions that will make one right with God.

 

E.      There are two avenues men can use in an attempt to obtain righteousness:  man’s way or God’s way.  In this lesson, we want to look at these two avenues.  Our lesson is entitled:  “Man’s Righteousness versus God’s Righteousness.”

 

I.                   FILTHY RAGS

 

A.     This point comes from Isaiah 64:6.

 

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…

 

B.      Example:  In my father’s shop, he had many filthy rags:  dirt, grease, oil, and other filth were on the rags.  They were brown, black, and had a very bad smell.  It was almost impossible to clean these rags.

 

C.     Man’s righteousness is like unto those rags.  The avenues devised by men are dirty, ugly and stink.

 

D.    This should be a warning to man.  If we are going to seek righteousness, we must never do so through a man-made means.

 

II.                GOD’S WORD

 

A.    The means whereby man can become righteous is found in one place, the precious Word of God.

 

B.      Romans 1:16-17

 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:  as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

 

1.      Notice the word “therein” in verse 17.  Therein the gospel is the righteousness of God found.

2.      The plan whereby God makes man righteous is contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ.  God revealed His Word to man in order to make this plan known.

3.      NOTE:  There is no other place where the plan can be found.

 

III.             MAN’S IMAGINATION

 

A.    For some reason, man does not want to dig deeply into God’s Word to find the divine plan to make man righteous.

 

B.      Man wants to develop his own plans that he hopes will make him righteous before God.

 

C.     Paul plainly tells us that the Jews were attempting to do this (Rom. 10:1-3).

 

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.  For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

 

1.      The Jews were not saved. 

2.      The Jews were not saved even though they had a zeal of God.

3.      The Jews were not saved because they lacked the knowledge of God’s righteousness.

4.      The Jews were trying to be saved by establishing their own righteousness.

a.      The genealogy of Abraham, Abraham’s seed

b.      Circumcision

c.       Observing days, months, times, and seasons

d.      Practicing the laws regarding clean and unclean things

e.       Observing the Ten Commandments

5.      The Jews were not saved because they had not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

6.      NOTE:  This could describe many individuals in the world today.  They are attempting to save themselves by establishing their own righteousness.

a.      Faith only

b.      Praying through

c.       Infant baptism

d.      Direct operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart of man

e.       Being attached to a man-made religion

f.        Reading one’s Bible and praying

g.      Being good

h.      Doing good works

 

D.    Naaman (II Kings 5:1-14)

1.      Naaman’s Plight (II Kings 5:1)    “…but he was a leper.”

2.      A Little Maid’s Prophet (II Kings 5:2-4) “…Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria!...”

3.      The King of Syria’s Permission (II Kings 5:5)     “…Go to, go, and I will send a letter…”

4.      The King of Israel’s Panic (II Kings 5:6-8)          “…see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.”

5.      The Prophet’s Plan (II Kings 5:9-10)       “…Go and wash in the Jordan seven times…”

6.      The Captain’s Proposals (II Kings 5:11-12)

a.      Verse 11 begins with these words:  “But Naaman was wroth…”  He did not like the prophet’s plan.

b.      He proposed two different plans.

1)      Plan #1 (v. 11)

 

Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

 

2)      Plan #2 (v. 12)

 

Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?  may I not wash in them, and be clean?

 

3)      These plans stood in opposition to the plan of God.  They were nothing more than the imaginations of the mind of Naaman.  In fact, he says:  “Behold, I thought.”

c.       Verse 12 concludes with these words:  “So he turned and went away in a rage.”  It could have just as easily read:  “So he turned and went away in his leprosy.”

d.      LESSON:  The plans of men will not cleanse one of leprosy.  And, the plans of men will not cleanse one of sin.

7.      The Servant’s Pleadings (II Kings 5:13)  “…how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”

8.      Naaman’s Purification (II Kings 5:14)

 

Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God:  and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

 

a.      The key words of this verse are:  “…according to the saying of the man of God.”

b.      Naaman would never have been cured “according to the saying of the man named Naaman.” 

c.       LESSON:  It is by God’s plan, or, there is no plan.

 

IV.             GOD’S PLAN

 

A.    Remember, Paul tells us in Romans 1:16-17 that God’s plan is found in the gospel.

 

B.      God’s plan could be discussed in a lot of detail. 

1.      All three members of the Godhead are involved in the plan.

2.      Grace, love, mercy, blood, the cross, and the resurrection are involved in the plan.

3.      Preaching and the gospel are part of the plan of God.

4.      Man, faith, and obedience are involved in the plan.

5.      Even hope is part of the plan of God.

 

C.     For the lost, however, the plan involves the answer to a single question:  “What must I do to be saved?”  In the gospels, in the book of Acts, and in the epistles, the answer to the question involves the same five steps.

 

 

THE STEPS                            THE GOSPELS                     ACTS                          THE EPISTLES

 

Hear                                        Luke 8:18                                Acts 2:22                     James 1:19

Believe                                                John 8:24                                Acts 16:31                   Romans 5:1

Repent                                                Luke 13:3                                Acts 17:30-31             II Peter 3:9

Confess                                   Matthew 10:32                                   Acts 8:36-37               Romans 10:9-10

Be baptized                             Mark 16:16                             Acts 22:16                   I Peter 3:21

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    Dear friends, we have set before you God’s plan of righteousness.

 

B.      It is either that plan, or, there is no plan.

 

C.     You are free to develop your own plan if you desire, but remember two things.

1.      All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

2.      Naaman’s plan did not cleanse him of leprosy.  Do we honestly think the plans we devise will cleans us of sin?

 

D.    It took some pleading on the part of Naaman’s servants to convince him to dip in the muddy Jordan.  What will it take to convince you do submit to the righteousness of God?