Faith & Righteousness (2)

Behold, as for the proud one, His soul is not right within him; But the righteous will live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4

Every person lives by some kind of scorecard. We measure ourselves with grades, job performance, reputation, morality, or the approval of others. Whether we name it or not, we all carry an inner question: What makes me right? What is the true standard for being in the right—before people, and most importantly, before God? The Bible tells one story that answers this question. Today we will follow that story, and along the way we will discover that righteousness is not a human achievement but a gift received by faith.

God sets the standard

From the very first pages of Genesis, Scripture presents God as the sole definer of what is good and true. Humanity’s opening scene shows the first man and woman living in perfect relationship with God, with each other, and with the creation entrusted to their care.

Yet they reached for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, choosing to define good and evil on their own terms. That act of moral autonomy was the first rebellion against God’s standard, and it unleashed the bitter fruits of death, chaos, and broken relationships that still mark the world today.

The Law as the Standard

Further along the biblical story, God renews His covenant promises through Abraham’s descendants, forming the nation of Israel. After God frees them from slavery, Moses reminds them that their election, acceptance, deliverance and future conquest are generous gift from Him, based on His covenant with their fathers — not a product of their rightness (or qualifications like population). It was based on God’s benevolence and covenant.

Too long, please open your Bible Deuteronomy 7: 6-11

Too long, please open your Bible Deuteronomy 9: 4-6

It is on the basis of this that God gave Israel the Law. The Law was a gift to shape a righteous nation.

Too long, please open your Bible Deuteronomy 4: 3-8

Because of this, Israel believed that the Law of Moses provided the standard. God graciously gave His Torah to shape a people who would reflect His character.

And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, just as He commanded us. Deuteronomy 6:25

The Law was a gift designed to guide Israel into covenant faithfulness. But over time, many came to treat the Law as a ladder to climb to God rather than a light to lead them to Him. They sought, as Paul says in Romans 10, to “establish their own righteousness” by meticulous rule-keeping, thinking that outward performance could secure God’s approval. The Law exposed sin, but it could never create the heart it required.

Greater Righteousness

“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20

In a society where the Pharisees would have been seen as the most righteous, Jesus says that those who must enter the kingdom of God must have a greater righteousness.

Jesus made that statement to mean that righteousness before God requires a lot more than diligent rule-keeping, and He expounds on the idea in the following verses. He shows what He means: anger is the seed of murder, lust the seed of adultery, love of neighbor must extend even to enemies. Jesus is not lowering the bar; He is revealing that true righteousness is deeper than external compliance. It is only possible when love for God and love for neighbor flow from a transformed heart.

Too long, please open your Bible Matthew 22: 34-40

The Law pointed to this all along—summed up in the commands to love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus unmasks the human problem: we do not merely break rules; we have disordered hearts.

Faith & Love

Too long, please open your Bible Luke 18: 9-14

The tax collector brings nothing but a plea for mercy: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” He trusts God’s character instead of his own performance, and he is justified — declared righteous — as a result.

It might seem that faith and love are two paths to righteousness but in reality, they only describe the same path from different perspectives. Love is the visible evidence of a heart that has believed God. The tax collector is justified because his humble faith opens the door for God’s love to transform him—and the life that follows will naturally fulfill the Law through love.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6 (NIV)

In Galatians Paul is dismantling the idea that circumcision or any external work makes a person right with God. What counts, he says, is faith—but not a mere mental assent. It is faith that expresses itself through love.

Too long, please open your Bible Romans 3

Therefore, righteousness comes only by faith—and this has always been God’s way. In Romans 3, Apostle Paul announces a righteousness “apart from the Law” that God has now revealed in Jesus Christ, a righteousness that is received through faith. To prove that this is no new invention, Paul reaches back before Sinai to Noah and Abraham. Noah is called “a righteous man” because he trusted God’s warning and acted on it. Abraham “believed the LORD, and it was counted to him as righteousness” long before the Law was given. Their stories show that righteousness has never been earned by performance; it has always been credited to those who trust God’s promise. Faith unites us to Christ, and genuine faith inevitably bears fruit in love and obedience.

Conclusion

This is the true standard of righteousness. It is not climbing a moral ladder or mastering a checklist. It is trusting the God who justifies the ungodly and letting His Spirit transform the heart. The call of this passage is both simple and searching. First, receive the gift. Stop measuring yourself by human scorecards and rest in Christ’s finished work. Second, reflect the gift. Because righteousness is received by faith, it now produces a life of love—love for God that delights to obey, and love for neighbor that seeks justice and mercy.

Reflection & Application

Examine Your Scorecard

Where are you still trying to establish your own righteousness—whether through morality, spiritual exercises, etc.?
Pray the tax collector’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, the sinner,” and entrust your worth to God’s verdict instead of human evaluation.

Receive God’s Liberating Verdict

Righteousness is a gift received by faith.
Because God Himself declares you righteous in Christ, you are free from the exhausting need to manage appearances or win the approval of others.
Let His declaration define your value more than any crowd or critic.

Live Free to Love

Faith “works through love” (Gal 5:6).
When your identity is secure in God’s righteousness, you can love neighbors without using them to validate you.
This week, look for one concrete act of love—service, reconciliation, forgiveness—that flows from faith, not from the desire to impress.

Persevere in Hope

Like Habakkuk, trust God’s character even when justice seems delayed or life feels uncertain.
Faith clings to God’s promise that His verdict over you will outlast every season of delay or disappointment.