PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

1 John 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

We have talked recently about the imputed righteousness of Christ that justifies men before God. That it is given as a free gift to those who place their faith in the person and work of Jesus, the Son of God. This righteousness which is of God, is perfect righteousness, and the only suitable righteousness by which men can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who have real faith in Christ are in Christ, and his righteousness is reckoned as their own. And thus they have right standing as God. There is nothing a believer can do to increase or to perfect this righteousness seeing that it stands without need of anything.

Yet today I must speak about 'practical righteousness' less some may be lead astray by the error of the wicked. For there are some who think that because they have a knowledge of the Gospel of Christ that they are justified, even though they live just as the world, or even more wickedly than unbelievers. And it is this error of which the Apostle John now warns us when he says:

"Let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous... Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God".

Who has the righteousness of Christ? It is those who practice righteousness. Though their works are not perfect, and can never merit salvation; their course of life is toward righteousness and true holiness. Those who live in sin are not of God, and should never think that they have the imputed righteousness of God. Why is this so? John tells us:

1st John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

When a person places his faith in Christ he receives the Spirit of God into his heart. Without the Holy Spirit a person is not saved. And the indwelling of the Spirit works such a change in the believer, that he cannot continue to practice sin, as long as the Spirit remains in him. Consider the work of God in the life of believer.

#1. Saving faith in Christ never comes without repentance. Repentance and Faith are twins which are birthed together in the heart of them that are saved. God grants us repentance from dead works [Hebrews 6:1, 9:14]. Where there is no turning from sin there can be no true faith. Where there is true faith, there is always a true turning from sin.

#2. When the Spirit comes into a man he regenerates him and gives him a desire for righteousness and true holiness [Ephesians 4:24]. At the very core of his person the desires of man is changed. The inclination of his spirit is reworked. Now he desires that which is right more than that which is sinful.

#3. The Spirit does not only give man the desire for that which is good, but the Spirit actually empowers the person to practice righteousness. As Paul proclaimed: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." – Philippians 4:13

SAVED UNTO GOOD WORKS

Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

So we see that a Christian has right standing with God apart from his own works. He is pardoned and justified by the free gift of Grace. Yet, when we are saved, according to the above verses, we are re-created unto good works. Not just spuratic, but as a continual part of our lives. We are to walk in good works.

True faith will always produce practical righteousness in the believer, a 'faith' that does not produce righteous works in the life of a person is a dead and devilish faith according to the Apostle James, that leads to hell.

James 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

A LOOK AT THREE TREES.

Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Once Jesus healed a blind man and the man said to see Jesus, "I see men as trees" Mark 8:24. And God has often likened men to trees. And I think all men shall fall into one of three categories of trees.

#1. First you have trees that are simply and truly dead. They have no life and make no profession of life. They have neither leaves or fruit. They are dead. These are blatant sinners who make no profession of faith. Of these I will not say much today, except that if they do not repent and find life in Christ they shall be hewn down and cast into hell.

#2. TREES WITH LEAVES ONLY.

Matthew 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.

Yes there is another type of tree that is very beautiful to the eye and makes much promise about fruit, but when it is inspected there is nothing under the leaves, it is void of any true fruit. It is a picture of the hypocrite. Leaves have since the Garden of Eden pictured man's attempt to cover his nakedness before God by his own efforts. And here it represents his hypocrisy.

Christ went to this tree knowing figs were not on it, but he did so that he may teach us a parable. For he knew the tree did not have ripe figs, for it was not the time of figs. This fig tree which the Savior cursed pictures the scribes and pharisees, along with all the hypocrites who would come after them; who made a pretense of religion but was void of any real vitality.

As you may remember Jesus told us that: "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." – Matthew 5:20

To which was Christ referring to? "Imputed Righteousness"? Or "Practical Righteousness"? It is practical, for the context demands it. If your righteousness does not exceed theirs, you will be lost forever.

But let us consider their righteousness.

#1. They had the outward signs of religion, but they were without the Substance of it. For instance, they would tithe mint and cummin, but they were void of justice, love, mercy and faith [see Matthew 23:23]. What good is tithe paying or other outward acts of piety when there is no justice or mercy or faith in the heart? All outward religious forms stink in the nostrils of God if there is not the true core of religion in our hearts.

#2. They had a creed, but no real faith. You could say that they were orthodox in their faith. They sat in Moses seat. But they had not real faith. There are many men like that today. They are quite orthodox in what they believe, but they do not know God. As Jesus said, "I know you, that the love of God is not in you" – John 5:42

#3. They had the talk of religion, but not the heart of religion. As Jesus said; "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." – Matthew 15:8.

#4. There were maybe regrets but no true repentance. There are many religious men who regret some of the evil they have committed in their life. Especially the fact that they were caught in the evil. And no doubt the Pharisees were of this kind. But though they may have regretted their past sins, they were not willing to repent of them. True godly sorrow always works repentance in man, yet 'godly sorrow' was not a part of the Pharisees life.

#5. They were hearers and teachers, but not doers of the word. Jesus said they laid upon men grievous burdens, but they themselves would not lift a finger to do them. [see Matthew 23:4].

#6. Everything they did was done so that they could be seen of men. They had no true private devotion to God, just devotion for man's applause.

Now this is a picture of the Pharisees and their righteousness, the kind of righteousness that will only damn a soul. Those of this mold shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. The very curse of God is upon them, and they shall wither away and men shall gather them up and cast them into the fire, and they shall be burned.

THE FRUIT YIELDING TREE

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Here is the picture of our third tree, it is of one who is truly saved. They abide in Christ, and thus have his imputed righteousness. Christ abides in them, thus they have the indwelling Spirit. With Christ in them they bring forth much fruit. Good works abound in the lives of those who trust in Christ. And they do their good works for God's glory.

Not only this but their fruits stem from the heart as motivated by the love of God. The True religion is a heart felt religion, with supernatural workings of the Spirit bringing forth fruits unto eternal life.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

CONCLUSION.

With this we see that the free gift of salvation will always affect practical righteousness in the believer. This result of salvation is so sure that Jesus told us that we would know true believers by their "fruits". And by these fruits we can examine our own selves to see if we be in the faith or not.