Most believers tend to mix grace and works. Most of the teaching you get from some of our churches put much emphasis on works if one is to have a relationship with God. “You have to fast so many times a month and then you will be holy”. Indeed there is nothing wrong with fasting but it is the motive one has to be very careful about.
“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation old things have passed away, behold all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
What is this new creature like? What is this brand-new, born-again spirit like? Righteous! “He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
God’s righteousness has been imputed unto you. It’s not just a little bit of righteousness either. Your new man is truly righteous. “Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). You don’t become righteous through your own actions, you are created righteous. When you were born again, God gave you a righteous nature. But the sad thing is that most Christians are ignorant of this.
They don’t know their born again spirit is righteous. They aren’t aware of the truth that righteousness comes as a gift from God. So they try to maintain a righteousness based on actions, which can never be the basis of our relationship with God.
There are two types of righteousness, God’s righteousness and our own righteousness (Romans 10:3). They are mutually exclusive. You can’t be trusting in righteousness as a gift through the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting in self-righteousness at the same time. You can’t be self-dependent and God-dependent simultaneously. You’re either relying on God’s grace or yourself, but not a combination of both.
If by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work (Romans 11:6). You’re either trusting grace or works for salvation, but not a combination of the two. This verse debunks the perversion of the Gospel that says, “Yes, you need a Savior. Yes, Jesus died for you. But you can’t be right with God through Jesus only. You need to maintain a minimum standard of holiness and then God makes up the difference.”
No! Either you’re saved by grace or works, but not by a combination of the two. They simply do not mix. Therefore, if you aren’t submitted to God’s righteousness, if you’re trying to establish your own righteousness as the foundation of your relationship with God, then you aren’t submitted unto the righteousness of God. You must be one way or the other.
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Is it okay then to just live in sin? Of course not. You do benefit from maintaining a self-righteousness - your own actions of holiness. God doesn’t receive and relate to you based on your self-righteousness. Your actions have nothing to do with His grace, His mercy, and His opinion toward you. It’s totally unmerited and completely unearned. But you do need to maintain a righteousness in your own personal actions when it comes to relationship with other people.
God may treat you by grace, but people relate to you based on performance. Your employer doesn’t hire you by grace. They don’t say, “Hey, I understand God loves you no matter what you do. I’m a grace employer and I love you too. So whether you show up for work or not, I want you to know that you have a guaranteed position, cost-of-living raises, and retirement. There’s nothing you can do that would make me fire you. You don’t have to perform. It doesn’t matter if you ever do anything. I just love you by grace!” No, that’s not the way it is.
As far as your life experience here on earth goes, it’s important that you perform well. If you have a boss, you need to serve them well. They will relate to and reward you based on your performance. Although it shouldn’t be, marriage will likely be the same. We ought to be giving each other God’s unconditional love, but the truth is that you aren’t living with Mr. or Mrs. Perfect yet. Until they are perfect, they’re probably going to judge you based on your performance. If you perform badly, then you’ll suffer the consequences of it.
As a student, if you don’t do the work or perform well on the test, you’re going to suffer for it. If you don’t perform well driving a car, you could kill yourself or someone else. Your actions do cost you something in relationship with other people—and Satan is always looking to take advantage of your actions in any way he can.
Therefore, it’s important to maintain good actions, but it’s vital that you never misunderstand the reason for holiness and the actions that go along with it. Holiness helps you in your relationship with people. It shuts the door on the devil and keeps him out of your life. But it is not the way God views you. He looks on your heart — your spirit man —not your outward appearance. He doesn’t deal with you based on your external actions of righteousness.
God relates to you based on the inner qualities of who you are in Christ. He deals with you totally by grace. There is a purpose for godly actions, but it’s not so you can put your faith in them for relationship with God. That’s the whole issue. No one is saying that a Christian shouldn’t be living holy. It’s just a matter of where your faith is. Is your faith in your actions or in the Savior? If your faith is in the Savior, does that mean you won’t have godly actions? No, if you truly understand and receive the Gospel, you’ll live holier accidentally than you ever have on purpose. It’ll just flow out of you.
The Gospel will produce power in you to overcome sin and live a holy life. But it will be a fruit of salvation, not the root. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes” (Romans 10:4). End basically means “termination” here. For believers, the law has fulfilled its purpose. It’s no longer a way we pursue in order to try to obtain righteousness. In truth, the law was never given to produce right standing with God. It was given to show us how completely separated from Him we were.
It was given to make the old sin nature rise up on the inside of us and overcome us. It was given to reveal to us our need for a Savior. When we turn from self to place our faith in Christ for salvation and to receive God’s free gift of grace, the law then has accomplished what it was given to do. Anyone who truly understands the Gospel and what Jesus came to do will recognize that the law is now over for producing righteousness to everyone who will believe and receive righteousness as a gift. “Well then, was there ever anyone who was made righteous through the law?” Yes, there was one person — the Lord Jesus Christ.
He came and fulfilled every precept of the law. Through doing that, He literally deserved right standing with God. He had it by His very nature. He obtained it through His actions. Therefore, Jesus had it by inheritance and by conquest. He obtained right standing with God through every means available. To Jesus, the law was a way to bring salvation not only to Him, but to everyone who would put faith in Him. But He is the only One who has ever kept the law.
Once you start trusting in your own holiness, it puts you under this burden and pressure to perform, and regardless of how much you do, you always could have performed better. This causes frustration and it’s the reason Christians get exhausted. Burnout is nothing more than trying to produce the fruit of salvation through your own effort. It’s legalism. But when you trust in God and His grace instead, you’ll experience His strength, joy, and peace.
