"Righteous Deeds Or Not?"

"Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference".  Romans 3:22

A friend of mine posted a question on her face book in the form of a riddle.  It was this:  Is a man righteous because he does righteous deeds or does he do righteous deeds because he is righteous?  Sadly, not everyone knows the answer.  To some this is a riddle.  For others it is a question that confuses them.  Then others will guess at what they think is the answer.  Some will say that doing righteous/good deeds makes them right.  There will be others who will give the correct answer.

The correct answer is not:  a man is righteous because he does righteous deeds.  Doing righteous acts and good deeds has never, and will never, make anyone righteous.  Just ask the rich young ruler who came to Jesus—he discovered the answer.  All the good things he did did not save him; they did not make him righteous.  You can also ask the Pharisees, they discovered also that no matter how much of the law they kept it was not enough to become righteous.

The correct answer is:  he does righteous deeds because he is righteous.  It is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.  (Titus 3:5,6)  We are made righteous through the shed blood of Jesus at the cross.  Our faith in His atoning work is what saves us and makes us righteous.  Our own righteousness is like filthy rags.  We have none.  We have to come to Christ in faith and repentance and are then made righteous by Him and His work.  We do righteous works and deeds because of the righteousness of Christ that has been applied to our lives.  Our righteous works come out of a heart that has been regenerated and made righteous—not vice versa.

Have a great day.  We are righteous, not because we do righteous deeds, but because of faith in Jesus.   

For further reading:
Galatians 3:11
1 John 2:29; 3:7
Isaiah 64:6

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
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