“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT).
This is the problem with the idea that we can live a good enough life to please God and earn entrance into heaven–– our righteous acts are like “filthy rags.” We make the mistake of comparing ourselves to those around us and concluding that we are as good as the next person, maybe better. We look at ourselves and feel that our good deeds outweigh the bad, but we miss the fact that even our good works are polluted by sinful attitudes and motivations. We know that we have sin areas, but we also dare to believe that we have good areas too. Yet from God’s perspective, our very best deeds and thoughts are like “filthy rags” (Literally, “menstrual pads” or “leper’s bandages”).
We have chosen the wrong standard of righteousness for comparison. Only when we consider the righteousness of God as revealed in His Word, both written and incarnate, do we realize the vast chasm separating us. For the written Word revealed the holy standard of God and the Living Word revealed even more. For it was not only that Christ was without sin, but that His every word and deed shone as bright and pure as sunlight. It is this Light that reveals how we have truly lived in darkness.
Yet, God did not send His Son to condemn us, but that through faith in Him, we might be saved (John 3:17-21). When we place our faith in Christ, we receive that which we could never earn, we receive His righteousness, a righteousness that fully pleases God. Therefore in Christ, we are enabled to put off our old polluted clothes and to put on new righteous clothes (See Col. 3:5-17). We can put off our filthy rags and exchange them for His righteousness.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we put off our old life and put on our new life in Christ today. We put off earning and put on believing. For it’s by believing in Christ that we have received His righteousness. Clothe us afresh by Your Spirit with Your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. In Jesus’ name, amen.