Full faith and trust make a person pleasing in the sight of God.
Human righteousness compared with God's righteousness
Human beings cannot by themselves achieve righteousness in the sight of God
Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 64:6; Matthew 5:20 See also Proverbs 21:2; Daniel 9:18; Matthew 23:28; Luke 16:15, Luke 18:9; Romans 3:10, Romans 3:20; Philippians 3:6–7
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
True righteousness is the result of the action of God
Romans 8:3–4; Ephesians 4:24; 1 John 2:29 See also Romans 6:13, Romans 6:16–20, Romans 8:10, Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:5; Ephesians 5:9; Philippians 1:11; Hebrews 12:11; James 3:18; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 3:10
For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
Faith pleases God
Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:6 See also 1 Samuel 26:23; Psalm 32:10, Psalm 40:4, Psalm 84:12, Psalm 106:30–31; Jeremiah 17:7; Habakkuk 2:4; Hebrews 10:38, Hebrews 11:4, Hebrews 11:7
Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
And without faith it is impossible to please God. For anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
Righteousness and faith in Jesus Christ
It is God-given and not the result of human effort
Romans 1:17; Philippians 3:8–9 Paul is contrasting this righteousness with his own previous efforts. See also Acts 13:39; Romans 3:21, Romans 3:27–28 It is apparent that faith is not regarded as another kind of “work” which earns salvation; Romans 4:1–8, Romans 5:17, Romans 9:30–31; Galatians 3:11–12
For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
Faith is centred on Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished
Romans 5:1–2 “justified” means “declared righteous” in a legal sense. See also Romans 3:21–26, Romans 4:18–25, Romans 10:6–10; Galatians 3:6–9
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Saving faith is not mere belief, but acting on the basis of that belief
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.