FAITH IN THE SON ENABLES YOU TO BE ACCEPTABLE IN THE EYES OF THE FATHER - Philippians 3:9-10
Philippians 3:9-10 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
The word righteousness means the state in which we are approved by God. Righteousness is our integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling and acting. Paul tells us in this passage that we are not righteous because we have followed the law but that we are righteous and thus acceptable to God because of our faith. By following the law, our outward actions are the things that are judged. However, it is our faith in Christ that dictates to us that we are accountable to God for our thoughts and feelings.
Christ taught us that to be angry with your brother is the same as murder. Christ calls us to a higher standard. He requires that we be pure not only on the outside but also on the inside. The law cannot judge the thoughts of man. The Mosaic law spent a lot of time making sure the outward body was clean. During the time of Jesus and Paul, the religious leaders prided themselves on how clean they were, but inside, they were as filthy rags.
Following the law may make you a good person, but it does not give you the virtue or purity of life that you need in order to be acceptable to God. Jesus was the pure Lamb of God who had no sin, either by outward manifestation or by inward thought or feeling. You could never live up to the perfect standard set by Jesus Christ and thus be righteous of your own accord. However, because of your faith in Christ, you understand that HE washed all your sins away so that you can stand before God at the judgment seat and all God will see is the righteousness of HIS’ Son.
It is by your faith in Christ that you really learn who HE is. The world does not understand what Jesus was all about because they only see HIM as a teacher who attracted millions of followers. Because they do not have faith, they do not know HIM and because they do not know HIM, they cannot understand HIM or what HE was about. You on the other hand know who Christ is because by faith you have accepted HIS righteousness. You have a personal relationship with HIM and thus HE is like your best friend with whom you share all your deepest feelings and needs.
Christ desires that you know HIM better. HE desires to speak to you and show you the perfect way. Your relationship with HIM can only grow the longer you spend with HIM. It does not make sense to the world why you spend time going to Church or why you spend time praying or reading the word of God. To them, you could be doing more productive things. However, it is your relationship with Christ through your faith that gives you your acceptability to God. It is your close relationship with Christ that enables you to be pure and virtuous.
While you do need to obey the law, the law will not save you. The law simply points out that you are a law-breaker and that you have fallen short of the glory of God. You need a closer relationship with the Son in order to be acceptable by the Father. While you may have accepted the Son the question that you have to ask yourself today is whether you truly know the Son and the power that results from a close relationship with the HIM.