I’m going to preface todays WFTD by saying that I’m completely stealing this message from John Piper.  I’m ok with this because I know that John is a better preacher/teacher than I am, and since it was helpful to me, I assume it may be helpful to you all as well.  In any case, I’ve enclosed a link where you can listen to his sermon below – it is probably the most clear and compelling sermon I’ve heard in my life about our need for Christ’s righteousness.

If you walk up to anyone on the street evangelizing, usually the conversation will go something like this.  Super Christian (SC) – “Where do you think you’re going to go when you die”.  Arbitrary Pagan (AP) – “I’m going to heaven”  SC – “That’s great!  Why do you think you’ll go there?”  AP – “Because I’m a good person, and I’ve treated people well my whole life.”  SC – “Have you ever done anything wrong, like lied to someone?”  AP – “Of course, I’ve done some things I’m not proud of”  SC – “Well, the Bible says that God is perfectly holy, and only those who are completely sinless can be in His presence in heaven”  AP – “Well no one’s perfect”  SC – “Ha ha, that’s true.  None of us are.  That’s why God came to live a perfect life, and die in our place, so that whoever believes in Him, would never perish, but have everlasting life” The conversation would likely continue from there, but that’s usually about 80-90% of how things go usually.  (Side note – It’s really interesting when you get the people who admit right off they think they’re going to hell, ironically, those people are easier to evangelize to… it does kind of catch you off guard though!)

I’m actually not going to talk about non-believers though today.  I want to discuss believers who believe they they are right with God based on their works.  There are a great many professing Christians today, that slowly mix together the idea of their being justified before God, and being continually sanctified by Him through the Holy Spirit.  Now, we all know that we are able to judge the validity of a professing believer’s claim of faith based upon their works.  That is true, and Jesus calls us to be discerning in that way, so as to protect ourselves from false teachers.  Unfortunately however, there are a great many professing Christians, that are now believing that their own works of righteousness, are co-mingled with the death of Christ on the cross, to be the foundation of their being justified (declared righteous) by God.  We can say that our works give evidence of our justification and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit/saving faith, and we can say that it personally gives us assurance of our justification, but our works must never be the grounds of our justification before God, even as an addition to Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.

The foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that on the cross, Jesus was not making people saveable, but he actually saved sinners.  He is the author and perfector of our faith.  All grace, necessary to cover our sin, was purchased by the blood of the Spotless Lamb on that cross, and we cannot add to his work with our own.  Christ fully ransomed His bride, the Church, on the cross, our sin was put on Him, and His righteous life was credited to us.  Now I’m going to fight to not make todays WFTD turn into a 12 page essay, so let me try to be concise, and then encourage you to listen to the sermon below.

Luke 18:9-14 – “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee,standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Now at first, it’s easy to dismiss the Pharisee as saying his works were his own, but that’s not actually the case.  Look at who he thanks – God.  The pharisee is thanking God for being the foundation of who he is, and producing in him righteous works.  He is trusting in his own righteousness, that he believes is wrought by God, not in himself.  This would be similar to someone today saying, “thank you God for making me a new creation in Christ, and through no merit of my own, but according to your choosing, giving me a new heart that wishes to serve the poor, and live according to your will.  I am righteous before you God, because of these things that you are working through me.”  Now at first glance, I would have to admit, I’d have a lot more in common with the Pharisee, than the tax collector.  I believe that who am I rests in God’s choosing, not my merit, and I do believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in me producing works to the glory of God.  But there is one crucial difference.  The pharisee is looking towards his own works to be the foundation of his righteousness before God, whereas the tax collector is pleading for God to be merciful (for Him to be forgiven and given a righteousness apart from his works).

Let’s look down a few verses, still in Luke 18, verses 18-22 – “And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'”And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Here was a man that was coming to Jesus, trusted in God, and had many righteous works to back up His claim to be a believer.  In the end, Jesus commands him to do 3 things – sell everything he owns, distribute to the poor, and follow Him.  Why then does Jesus say there is only “one thing” that he lacks?  The one thing, is a righteousness apart from his own works, found only in the one Good Teacher, Jesus Christ.  This man needed the perfect righteousness of Christ to be reconciled to God.  We have no hope apart from the perfect righteousness of Christ.  Any trust in anything beyond the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the one final act of reconciliation, and justification of sinners, is no gospel – it is not good news.  May we all rest our hope only in the blood of Christ, and peace wash over us that while we have nothing to offer, God in his great mercy and grace has given us His son, all that we need.  Below is a hymn that seemed relevant I wanted to share “Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me” as well as John Piper’s sermon message.

Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me