Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will in no wise enter in (Matthew 5:20).
The practical righteousness in 1 John 3:7 is greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees.
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How Does Jesus Save Us?
- Thread starter Robert Pate
- Start date
The practical righteousness in 1 John 3:7 is greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees.
Highway54
Member
Ga 6:2 Bear ye one another`s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
No matter how you slice it Robert, God's people have always had laws. Call them something else if you like; commandments; requirements; etc, but they are not an option sir. There must be some reason you are posting here correct? You must have some kind of inkling that the assignment given was not an option.
Robert Pate
Member
Where there are laws and rules there is sin, Romans 7:7-10. Christian obedience is not motivated by laws and rules, it is motivated by love. A good Son does not need laws and rules. A good Son would never do anything to disgrace his father, he knows what is required of him and lives accordingly. If you need laws and rules, it is because you are lawless and disobedient, 1 Timothy 1:9.
Robert Pate
Member
The only way that you can have a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees is to have the righteousness of Christ. Under the New Covenant righteousness is by faith, Romans 4:5. Not by works or law.
The Pharisee’s righteousness was not what we are called to practice in the New Testament.
Otherwise you are saying the the Apostle John is trying to deceive us.
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20
- unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
If you have the Spirit of God within you, to empower you live your life according to the Spirit, then you will be practicing righteousness, not practicing unrighteousness.
Again, you seem to think that practicing righteousness is somehow, evil.
Please read these instructions from scripture, and apply them to your life.
Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 1 John 3:7
- He who practices righteousness is righteous
These are the words of the Apostle John whose righteousness was imputed to him by Jesus Christ, and whom the Holy Spirit inspired to write these words.
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10
- Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.
JLB
Remember, Grace is something as well as Someone.
Grace is the Holy Spirit; the Spirit of grace.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, Titus 2:11-12
JLB
Robert Pate
Member
There are two kinds of righteousness. The righteousness of man and the righteousness of God. A lot of people have the righteousness of Man. The only one that possessed the righteousness of God was Jesus Christ, "For in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" Colossians 2:9. All the rest are sinners, Romans 3:10.
However, it would be a faulty premise to believe that the righteousness of Christ is impractical (being merely positional or imputed).
For, 1 John 3:7, Romans 5:19, and Matthew 5:6 reveal to us that Christ's righteousness is a practical righteousness.
So, Matthew 5:20 is speaking of a practical righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. And it also must be "your" righteousness. In other words: though it is Christ's righteousness, you now own it because it has been given to you.
Yes; and the righteousness of man is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6); while the righteousness of God which comes by faith (Philippians 3:9) is as fine linen, clean and white (Revelation 19:8).
So, actually, people other than Jesus Christ can have the righteousness of God.
Highway54
Member
I think you got the point Robert. You either choose to obey or not. There must be some reason you are here spreading the good news correct? Me personally I believe I will be obedient sir, as I don't want to be one of those who Jesus brings vengeance on that does not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.
Robert Pate
Member
We obey because we want to, not because we have to.
Highway54
Member
Yes sir, that is certainly the proper motive.
Robert Pate
Member
Love and gratitude for what Jesus has done for us is our motivation. Why would anyone that believes Jesus bore their sins on the cross want to sin against him? The only answer is they don't believe it or they just don't care.
Highway54
Member
I tend to agree with you Robert, but there is that element of deception as well. Many believe they are doing the right thing, and serving God the way He desires to be served. The Bible indicates it is the heart condition, the soil if you were, or that satan has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. What ever the reason it is real for sure.
Robert Pate
Member
All that Jesus was, and all that Jesus did was for us. Jesus was not only God with us, Jesus was also God for us.
When Jesus lived, we lived in him, our humanity was constituted in him. Jesus was God's new Adam and our new humanity. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation" 2 Corinthians 5:17. We became "New Creations" when Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Spiritually, God sees us as "New Creations" in Jesus Christ. Spiritually, God also sees us as perfect and complete "In Christ" Colossians 2:10.
Religion is an attempt to do in the flesh what God has ALREADY done in Jesus Christ.
In Jesus Christ we have ALREADY been justified, sanctified and redeemed, 1 Corinthians 1:30. The Gospel is a declaration by God that his Son Jesus Christ has ALREADY defeated sin, death and the devil and now sits in heaven as "The king of King and the Lord of Lords" Revelation 19:16. We cannot make ourselves any better than what we already are in Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died, we died with him. When Jesus arose from the dead, we arose with him, Romans 6:5. When Jesus ascended into heaven, we ascended with him, Colossians 3:1. This is why Paul wrote, "For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" Colossians 3:3.
When Jesus lived, we lived in him, our humanity was constituted in him. Jesus was God's new Adam and our new humanity. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation" 2 Corinthians 5:17. We became "New Creations" when Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Spiritually, God sees us as "New Creations" in Jesus Christ. Spiritually, God also sees us as perfect and complete "In Christ" Colossians 2:10.
Religion is an attempt to do in the flesh what God has ALREADY done in Jesus Christ.
In Jesus Christ we have ALREADY been justified, sanctified and redeemed, 1 Corinthians 1:30. The Gospel is a declaration by God that his Son Jesus Christ has ALREADY defeated sin, death and the devil and now sits in heaven as "The king of King and the Lord of Lords" Revelation 19:16. We cannot make ourselves any better than what we already are in Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died, we died with him. When Jesus arose from the dead, we arose with him, Romans 6:5. When Jesus ascended into heaven, we ascended with him, Colossians 3:1. This is why Paul wrote, "For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" Colossians 3:3.
Yet, so many are trying to justify themselves through works. Not realizing that works are the result of faith in Christ.
When we become a "new creation in Christ Jesus" the works are not a burden. They are the natural acts of the new creation of our own willingness to please Him. The desire is placed there by the Holy Spirit, and "behold, all things have become new."
Robert Pate
Member
"For he that has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works as God did from his" Hebrews 4:10.
What does it mean to "enter into his rest?" It means to rest in what Jesus has done to save us. We rest in his righteousness and in his atonement for our sins. When I became a Christian, I was taught that I had to do good works to maintain my salvation. I didn't know anything about what Jesus had done to save me. If someone had told me that I needed to stop doing works and rest in Christ work I would have thought that they were crazy.
Now I know that those who do not cease from their own works and enter into his rest are not Christians. To not enter into his rest is because of unbelief. "For we which have believed do enter into his rest, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" Hebrews 4:3. The works that were finished from the foundation of the world is the work that Jesus did to save us. We rest in his work and not our own.
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. When it came time for them to enter into the promised land they would not enter in. They would not enter in because of unbelief, "Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways" Hebrews 3:10. "So, I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest" Hebrews 3:11.
It's the same thing to today, they hear the Gospel, but they don't believe it. They are not able to rest in what Christ has accomplished for us in the Gospel because of unbelief. They will not enter into his rest.
What does it mean to "enter into his rest?" It means to rest in what Jesus has done to save us. We rest in his righteousness and in his atonement for our sins. When I became a Christian, I was taught that I had to do good works to maintain my salvation. I didn't know anything about what Jesus had done to save me. If someone had told me that I needed to stop doing works and rest in Christ work I would have thought that they were crazy.
Now I know that those who do not cease from their own works and enter into his rest are not Christians. To not enter into his rest is because of unbelief. "For we which have believed do enter into his rest, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" Hebrews 4:3. The works that were finished from the foundation of the world is the work that Jesus did to save us. We rest in his work and not our own.
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. When it came time for them to enter into the promised land they would not enter in. They would not enter in because of unbelief, "Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways" Hebrews 3:10. "So, I swore in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest" Hebrews 3:11.
It's the same thing to today, they hear the Gospel, but they don't believe it. They are not able to rest in what Christ has accomplished for us in the Gospel because of unbelief. They will not enter into his rest.
Tenchi
Member
Well, brother, the "rest" of which the Hebrew writer wrote is more than just our salvation. The Promised Land of Canaan is symbolic of the entire spiritual inheritance every believer has obtained by being placed "in Christ" by the Holy Spirit. As you know, it is in the context of the Israelites' refusal to enter the Promised Land that Hebrews 4:10 was written. The land of Canaan was to be the resting place for the wandering Israelites, a homeland given to them by God, overflowing with milk and honey. But the Israelites would have to go in and take the land from those who lived in it - giants (the Anak) and strong people in great cities (and many of them - Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Canaanites). The writer of Hebrews recounts though:
Hebrews 3:6-12
6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
So long as the born-again believer lives by faith in the truth of their spiritual inheritance in Christ, they may enjoy all the "milk and honey" that is theirs in him (Ephesians 2:4-10, 19; Romans 6:1-11; Romans 8:15-17; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Revelation 1:5-6, etc.) . But, if the believer doubts the promise of God concerning all that is theirs in Jesus, their heart hardening in faithless rebellion toward God and His word, like the Israelites, they will "fall away" from all that could be theirs spiritually, living instead in a spiritual wilderness full of dust and scrub brush.
Hebrews 3:14-19
14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
The born-again person is meant by God to "share in Christ," to enjoy all that is theirs spiritually as a "co-heir with Christ." But unbelief, a refusal to trust God's word over what we feel, and see, and experience, is sin (which is always, at its core, rebellion toward God) that always leaves us in the wilderness spiritually, adopted by God but not enjoying and benefiting from what that means.
In any case, "entering into rest" is not about leaving off right living, off trying to earn salvation, but about taking by faith the "land of promise" that is the believer's spiritual birthright. And as this happens, you can be sure that holiness, righteousness, is an inevitable result.
The Israelites were God's children even in the wilderness. Though they had refused to believe God's promise and were kept from the land of Canaan, God continued with them, protecting, providing for, and leading them. So, too, the believer who, being in Christ, neglects to lay hold of, by faith, their spiritual inheritance in him. Doing so does not eject them from God's family any more than the faithlessness of the Israelites at the border of the Promised Land severed their connection to God as His Chosen People. God remains faithful even when we don't.
Hebrews 13:5
5 ...be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
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Jethro Bodine
Member
Who taught you that?
Robert Pate
Member
I think you missed it.
Entering into his rest means to cease from your works and to rest in his works. The religious are not able to cease from their works. Therefore, they will not be able to enter in.
Jesus said, "Many will say to me in that day (judgment day) Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? Matthew 7:22.
These people were trusting their works to save them. They had not entered into his rest.