Of Fulfillment
and Righteousness
“But
what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless,
and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I may win Christ, 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” (Philippians
3:7-9).
To
speak of fulfillment in Christ is all well and good, but how do we humans
really accomplish that? How can we ever live up to God’s standards? But if, on
the other hand, we have Christ in us, why are we not more Christ-like in our
behavior? Why the struggle to perform more adequately? Can this really be
fulfillment?
In
his letter to the Philippians, Paul deals with this subject very thoroughly.
Introducing the subject, Paul says, “For
we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh”
(Philippians 3:3). And so at the outset, Paul establishes something of
the “ground rules.” The flesh, which is the natural human mind, cannot be
depended on to satisfy the righteous requirements of God. It is well to
remember that we are merely ionized particles in the vastness of space. As well
might an ant be expected to satisfy the requirements of humans. If we could
only convey to ants better social habits—“Stay away from our picnics and stay
out of the butter and honey.” That is of course, not to excuse us from moral
responsibility, but rather to say if God is going to lift us “ants” out of the
human into the Divine, it will have to be by more than our own human morality.
The Pharisees are the prime example of those who tried to “save themselves” by
their own righteousness. Even Paul said that when he was in the camp of the
Pharisees, he was “blameless” as far as the law was concerned. Even if ants, to
carry the analogy, were to somehow sense that humans did not appreciate their
intrusion, and decide to stay on their own ant hills, that would never make
humans of them. Nor could any human, were he able to communicate with ants,
ever promise to make humans of them if they would behave themselves. If the
analogy is somewhat over simplistic, it does convey a fundamental
point—behavior, however perfect, cannot change one’s human nature into Divine
nature. On the other hand, our only hope of salvation is to possess the Spirit
of God within and thus change the very essence of our being to allow us to
identify with God forever.
So
whence then is our righteousness? It is Christ within our spirits. He is our
righteousness. Paul declares plainly to the Corinthians that Christ has “become wisdom to us from God, both righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. . .”
(I Corinthians 1:30). In fact, the word “sanctification” is the same
word used in (Hebrews
Why then do we not act righteously
as a part of our nature?
The
answer really lies in the definition of “righteousness.” We are inclined to
think of righteousness as something like “piety” or “good behavior.” Although
that definition is common and probably valid in terms of the English language,
it is not the meaning of the Greek word that is so translated. The Greek word—dikaiosuné is from the basic word dikaios, which means “right” in the
sense of “straight.” Our English word “righteous” comes from two Anglo-Saxon
words—riht and weis—which meant “the right way.” The verb form of dikaios is translated by “justify” which
really meant to the English translators—“to set straight.” The best example of
the usage in modern English is in the printers trade. A printer uses the word
in connection with lining up columns of type. Thus, to the printer a “justified
right” means that the right-hand margin is lined up evenly. A “ragged right”
means that the right-hand margin is uneven, as in a type-written letter.
Thus,
in its proper usage, “righteousness” means “being on the right way.” When we
are justified by Christ, or made righteous, we are simply being put on the right
way, or “lined up” figuratively speaking. We do not automatically become
“pious.” We do automatically become lined up on the right side or made a part
of God’s Kingdom. Good behavior is an outgrowth of our place in the
The
reason for the above discussion, of course, is the mistaken assumption that if
one becomes a Christian, one must de
facto pursue perfection, in order to be fulfilled. The truth of the matter
is that our fulfillment is in the spirit, as a result of the indwelling
presence of Christ and not in flawless behavior in the flesh. On the other
hand, however, that is not to say that behavior in the flesh is unimportant. On
the contrary, the very presence of Christ within us gives us a motivating
factor to give attention to our conduct and to seek to please Him. The need for
the clear understanding of the meaning of righteousness is that the fleshly
conduct does not always comport with the aspirations of the spirit. Paul made
this abundantly clear in his oft repeated frustrations with his own flesh. In
the text that we are considering, he states emphatically that he has “no
confidence in the flesh.”
In
this season of the year when peace is such a prevailing hope and prayer, it
also evokes the penetrating query—“If the angels proclaimed that the coming of
Christ was bringing peace on earth, where is the peace?” This question seems to
plague Christian and non-Christian alike. It is easy to understand why the
non-Christian does not have peace. But why the Christian? The answer lies in
the understanding of the difference between the flesh and the spirit. “The
fruit of the Spirit is peace.” But there is no guarantee of peace in the flesh.
While we are promised help and strength in our problems, it is certainly a
misapplication of the truth to assume that every problem will get solved. There
are problems we have that are the result of human failure which have their
consequences to be lived out. These problems occur in a great many areas of life—marriage,
family, business, social relationships—and may not be resolved as long as we
are on the earth. However, the great expectation which we have is that in the
process of dealing with our problems, we do have peace with Christ in our
spirits. He has promised to give us strength and grace in the midst of our
human odyssey. The problem may not be readily resolved, but the presence of
Christ in our spirits assures us of the transient nature of these problems that
one day will disappear in the ultimate glorification.
Most
of the mistakes we make are made long before we have an understanding of the
implications of the decision. This is true of marriages and business ventures
and social entanglements. How many young people have the slightest idea of what
life is all about when they get married? Nor is divorce a ready answer. The
consequences of divorce can follow one for the rest of one’s life. But God
understands human frailty and, while He does not always eliminate the
consequences, He does nevertheless “help
us in our weaknesses” (Romans
We
have used the analogy of the “junk box.” And who does not have such a
place—drawer or closet—where all manner of items—usable, reusable and
unusable—are tossed. By the same token we may consider that we have such a
“junk box” in the flesh. As life continues, we collect a large assortment of
events and episodes and decisions, positive and negative; of mistakes and
missteps and mishaps; of ideas and attitudes and experiences, positive and
negative. All of these things go to make up the substance of our lives. Out of
this human miscellany, God picks out the things that He can use and somehow
brings us through to glory in spite of all.
Christ
comes to dwell within us when we ask Him, not on the basis of any kind of human
trust or confidence of our own, but through His faith with which He energizes
us and establishes our oneness with God. He brings with Him His own
righteousness and sanctification and peace, which pervades our spirits in spite
of the foibles and follies of the human flesh, with which, unfortunately, we
will struggle as long as we are on the earth.
David
Morsey
December
1991