When we speak of Christ as a righteousness higher than the law, we are not offering a mere upgrade to the old system of commandments. We are declaring the arrival of the very reality the law could only foreshadow—a living, incarnate righteousness that exposes the futility of self-effort and establishes the only ground for justification, sonship, and inheritance.
The Law: A Standard That Points Beyond Itself
The law is not the problem. It is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12). It describes God’s standard of righteousness with precision and clarity. Yet, the law’s function is not to impart righteousness, but to bear witness to a greater reality. The law acts as a signpost, exposing our need and pointing us to something—someone—beyond itself.
If you imagine the law as a mirror, it reflects God’s holiness and, in the same instant, our inability to measure up. The law’s very perfection is what makes it powerless to justify sinners; it demands, but cannot supply. Its purpose is not to make us righteous by our own effort, but to drive us to the end of ourselves and direct our gaze to Christ. As Paul says, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).
Christ: The Personification and Fulfillment of Righteousness
Here is the critical transition: God’s righteousness is not an abstract code or a set of regulations. It is a person—Jesus Christ. He embodies and personifies everything the law described, but could never produce in us. In Christ, righteousness is no longer a standard outside of us, but a living reality given to us.
Christ did not merely keep the law; He transcended it. The law could command love for neighbor, but it could never command God to lay down His life for His enemies. Yet this is precisely what Christ did: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And while we were still enemies, Christ reconciled us to God by His death (Romans 5:10). This is a righteousness that surpasses the law’s demands—a righteousness that brings reconciliation, not just regulation.
The Fatal Error of Human Effort
Let us be clear: any attempt to attain righteousness through the law, or by our own works, is not merely futile—it is a denial of the gift God has provided. Human effort, no matter how sincere, cannot reach God’s standard. To insist otherwise is to reject the sufficiency of Christ and to undermine the very foundation of justification by faith. If righteousness could come by the law, then Christ died for nothing (Galatians 2:21). This is not a secondary issue; it is salvific. To trust in your own performance is to forfeit the inheritance, to abandon sonship, and to remain unreconciled.
Righteousness as a Free Gift—Received by Faith Alone
The glory of the gospel is this: the righteousness that God requires, He Himself provides. Christ’s righteousness is given freely to all who believe. This is not a reward for effort, but a gift of grace. “Those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
By faith, we are united to Christ. In this union, we receive His righteousness—fully, finally, and forever. We stand justified before God, not on the basis of our works, but on the basis of Christ’s finished work. This is not a legal fiction; it is a relational reality. Christ Himself is our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).
What Is Lost If We Miss This?
If you accept the error that righteousness can be attained through the law or by human effort, you lose everything. You lose justification, for you stand condemned by the very law you hope to keep. You lose sonship, for you remain a slave under a yoke you cannot bear. You lose inheritance, for only those in Christ receive the promise. Most tragically, you forfeit reconciliation with God, for you reject the only means by which enemies are made friends: the sacrificial love of Christ.
The Only Ground for Assurance
Rest, then, not in your striving, but in Christ alone. His righteousness is not only higher than the law—it is the only righteousness that counts before God. It is living, relational, and freely given. To trust in Him is to possess everything; to trust in yourself is to lose all.
Let this be the dividing line: justification, inheritance, and sonship are found in Christ alone, by faith alone, apart from works. Any other ground is sand.
Keywords: Christ, righteousness, law, grace, salvation, gift
