Righteousness means being accepted, in right standing, justified, declared not guilty of any sin, and approved by God.

Self-Achieved Righteousness: This simply means that man tries to make himself sinless before God by whatever means he can. This is a self-achieved state of purity with no input from God whatsoever. God has said in His word that He cannot behold iniquity, so to achieve this type of righteousness, man has to find a way to make atonement for his/her sins without Christ.

God’s gift of Righteousness: God makes man sinless and therefore righteous before Him. This is known as God’s gift of righteousness. God considers a person righteous based on what He has done to cleanse them of all unrighteousness, with no human effort involved. It is entirely the work of God, not man, for God will not share His glory with anyone. Either God does it and takes all the glory, or you attempt to do it yourself and take all the glory—but the glory cannot be shared between God and man.

Self-achieved righteousness has several limitations. In fact, it is unattainable! The Scriptures tell us that by the deeds of the law can no man be made righteous before God because apart from the fact that no man is sinless, all our good deeds cannot atone for our sins and make us clean of all unrighteousness.

The book of James reveals how impossible it is for man to live a sinless life.

James 2:10“For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”. This is as easy as it gets to understand. The truth is that we were all born in sin because of Adam’s sin.

Rom 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” KJV

Adam’s sin made us all sinners. The conclusion is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So no man can now make himself righteous before God

Rom 3:9 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;10 As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one” KJV

So, we are left with this huge dilemma. We all are under sin for all have sinned. So how can anyone come before God who does not behold iniquity? Another question is how can man deal with the sin in him so as to be accepted, justified, deemed not guilty, and therefore righteous before God? Also, WHAT CAN WASH AWAY OUR SINS? is it our behavior?

The truth is that we cannot behave ourselves into contention with God. The sin problem cannot be solved by our behavior. Pride will make you think it can, but it cannot!

God came to our rescue because He loves us with an everlasting love and promised to make us righteous.

Isiah 56:1 Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed”. KJV

God made us righteous in Christ Jesus. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God cleansed us and made us clean. It is His blood that made us righteous, washing away all unrighteousness. Even now, as our Great High Priest, Jesus intercedes before God on our behalf with His blood.

Just as Adam’s sin brought unrighteousness to all, Christ’s obedience on the cross made us righteous.

Rom 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous”.

The Gospel offers forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus Christ, and with that comes the gift of righteousness.

Rom 3:21 “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;22 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:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God”.

All who put their faith in Jesus Christ have their sins forgiven and are counted as righteous before God. To deny this is to deny that their sins are forgiven and to reject the entire Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, along with the power of His blood to remove sin. This righteousness is a gift, not something earned, and it is available to all who believe in Jesus.

Rom 5: 16 “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”

If you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are righteous before God and can approach the throne of grace with confidence. Hold firmly to this truth (Hebrews 1:14-16)

Pastor Chinedu Emmanuel is the Senior Pastor at the Fountain of The Living Word Church, New Jersey