Philippians 3:9 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:

Do the right thing. Be right. Righteous acts. We hear terms like this and others that always point to us.

Allow me to go far afield of normal thinking. Going back to the first use meaning of righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Abraham believed God, did nothing but believe, I say again, did nothing, and righteousness was placed in his account. This had nothing to do with Abraham’s actions, life, or even obedience of faith. All Abraham had to do was believe God.

The primitive root to the Hebrew word for righteousness means rectitude. This stems from the idea that God has the right to do as He wills. The issue of justice, just, and justification are all drawn from the issue of God’s right to declare anything according to His will and has no attachment whatsoever to the recipient of His declaration.

We attach and I mean we, not God, we attach right to action. Our need to do so does not stem from our right standing before God but a sense of judgment. My actions will be judged, I better be right. That is the law, legalism and has nothing to do with God’s righteousness.

We are declared righteous by faith by God who has the authority to do so. Nothing we can do, no matter what it is, can undo what God declares. We do not have the power or authority to undo what God has declared. Because of the insecurities laid upon us by those who would judge us, we want to be right. Our actions are based more on opinion and fear of judgment than faith. So what should your motive be?

1 Timothy 1:5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ESV

Aim to love.

Job 2:8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.

If you are familiar with the tale of Job, you will know that Satan has just inflicted Job with boils. This is Job’s response, to scrape at the painful parts of his existence with the broken pieces of his life.

Does that make any sense? When you look at Job doing it from where we sit in safety, it seems insane. Yet somehow it is reflective of the nature of man. I scratch at poison ivy and spread it. I pick at scabs. Spiritually speaking, the image here runs much deeper than the surface.

When we are in pain we want to feel better. There is a longing to return to some point in our lives when we felt good, or were having fun. Unfortunately these feelings may well be attached to sins that where part of a life that has been broken. We might pick up pieces of it to make ourselves feel better, but just like with poison ivy, it only makes things worse. It might lead to a serious infection, maybe even death.

Job 2:9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.

Now Job’s wife forsakes him. It is tough to go through painful times and when the people you trust the most, the ones you depend upon abandon you, you are left alone in your despair. Alone in the worldly sense, so we look to God.

How painful was it for God the Father to watch His only begotten Son die the horrible death He died? He stood by and watched that without lifting a finger to stop it. He did because He knew that thru this painful experience the world would be transformed. We look at things in the short term, as to the pain we are in at the moment. We do not look at the long term effect. Our world will change but while in pain, we do not see how that could be for good. Pain is all we know.

“My God why have you forsaken me?”

We are in glorious company in those moments.