We speak often of righteousness, but too many imagine it as a matter of ticking off commandments—avoiding idols, theft, murder, adultery, or coveting. This is the righteousness the Law describes: a set of prohibitions that outline love for God and neighbor. But the Law, for all its clarity, is only a shadow. The Law sketches the outline of righteousness, but it cannot deliver the substance. The Law’s boundaries are good, but they are not the summit.
The Righteousness of God Revealed in Christ
The Gospel does not merely call us to keep the Law; it reveals a righteousness that utterly surpasses it. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, did not simply avoid evil—He loved to the uttermost. He loved even His enemies, enduring the spitting, the mocking, and the agony of the cross to reconcile those who hated Him. This is not a righteousness that can be reduced to rules. It is a Person. It is the living, breathing righteousness of God embodied in Christ.
The Law commands, “Do not steal. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not covet.” These are necessary, but they are not enough. Christ’s love went infinitely further. He bore the cost Himself, loving those who despised Him, refusing to leave us in our sins. He made the ultimate saving gesture—laying down His own life. This is the righteousness of God, and it stands infinitely higher than anything the Law can prescribe.
The Futility of Human Effort
Here is the unavoidable truth: No amount of law-keeping can ever attain to the righteousness of God. The Law may describe the standard, but it cannot produce it in you. Human effort, no matter how sincere, always falls short. Man’s sin is not merely that he broke a rule, but that he fell short of the glory of God Himself. The standard is not a list—it is God’s own character. And you, as a creature, cannot reach it by striving.
To imagine that you could please God by your own righteousness is to fundamentally misunderstand both the Law and the Gospel. Paul himself declared that, as to the Law, he was blameless—yet he counted all of it as loss, as refuse, compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. If you cling to your own righteousness, you will never possess the righteousness of God. You will fall short, and you will not please Him.
The Gospel: Righteousness Apart from the Law
But God, in His mercy, has revealed a righteousness apart from the Law—a righteousness that is not achieved, but received. The Gospel unveils this: The righteousness of God is manifested in Jesus Christ, and it is given to all who believe. “The just shall live by faith.” Faith in what? Not in your own performance, but in the finished work of Christ, who fulfilled all righteousness—not by merely keeping the Law, but by loving to the uttermost, even unto death.
When Christ died and rose again, He did not simply satisfy a legal requirement. He displayed the full measure of God’s righteousness—both justice and love—by reconciling sinners at infinite cost to Himself. The cross answers the great questions: How can a righteous God forgive sinners? How can a loving God judge? In Christ, God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
What Is Lost If You Miss This
If you reject this truth—if you persist in seeking righteousness by your own effort, or imagine that the Law is the path to pleasing God—you lose everything. You forfeit the only righteousness that counts: Christ Himself. You remain under the shadow, never possessing the substance. You trade the inheritance of sons for the wages of slaves. You set aside the finished work of Christ and return to the futility of self-righteousness—a path that cannot cleanse the conscience, cannot grant sonship, and cannot secure your standing before God.
Lay Hold of Christ—Let Go of Your Own Righteousness
The call is clear and uncompromising: Repudiate your own righteousness. Abandon every attempt to justify yourself by the Law. Run to Christ and lay hold of Him by faith. Only in Him do you possess the righteousness that pleases the Father. Only in Him do you stand justified, reconciled, and accepted. This is not a secondary matter—it is the heart of the Gospel, the difference between death and life, slavery and sonship, condemnation and inheritance.
This is the standard by which all will be judged: not how well you kept the rules, but whether you have received the Son. The righteousness of God is not a prize for the diligent, but a gift for the believing. Do not settle for the shadow. Possess the reality—Christ Himself, our righteousness.
