Philippians 3:9 KJV
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
There are two sorts of righteousnesses presented and contrasted within this verse:
Mine own righteousness
Which is of the law
For the Jew this is the Old Testament law. There was a sort of righteousness that the Jew mistook for saving, which was obedience to the Old Testament. It is self righteousness based upon ones own ability to conform to a prescribed standard. And it come far short of the glory of God.
The righteousness of God
Which is by faith
This righteousness is not based in what we do, but in what we believe, more specifically in Whom we trust. The righteousness of God comes to us by trusting not in ourselves but in the glorious work of Christ.
Of course we are to obey the Word of God. But the difference is that we do not obey in order to be righteous but because we are righteous in Christ.
A child born to royalty is trained to live according to a fairly strict order. The Prince of Wales, for instance, served in the military because it was expected of him. His standing demanded he act a particular way, not in order to gain his royal position but because he already had it. Even so a Christian is disciplined to walk as becometh the sons of God exactly because he is a son of God and not in order to either earn that position or to keep it.
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
There are two sorts of righteousnesses presented and contrasted within this verse:
Mine own righteousness
Which is of the law
For the Jew this is the Old Testament law. There was a sort of righteousness that the Jew mistook for saving, which was obedience to the Old Testament. It is self righteousness based upon ones own ability to conform to a prescribed standard. And it come far short of the glory of God.
The righteousness of God
Which is by faith
This righteousness is not based in what we do, but in what we believe, more specifically in Whom we trust. The righteousness of God comes to us by trusting not in ourselves but in the glorious work of Christ.
Of course we are to obey the Word of God. But the difference is that we do not obey in order to be righteous but because we are righteous in Christ.
A child born to royalty is trained to live according to a fairly strict order. The Prince of Wales, for instance, served in the military because it was expected of him. His standing demanded he act a particular way, not in order to gain his royal position but because he already had it. Even so a Christian is disciplined to walk as becometh the sons of God exactly because he is a son of God and not in order to either earn that position or to keep it.
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