Righteousness Through Christ

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 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; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

—Philippians 3:8-11

Do we count all as loss for Christ?  All that we have, all that we are, all that we hope to be, we should give up to Christ–for without Him, we are nothing!  The other morning it struck me how the next verse reads: "that I may...be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."  A few years ago the departure of several good friends into "freedom from the law" seriously shook my heart.  I decided that if once-godly people could now do anything the world did because they were free from the "law," that I was going to forever abide under the law.  There alone I would be safe from the creeping infiltration from the world.  Was I ever wrong.  As I looked at other's lives that had once flourished and were now discouraged, disheartened, and depressed, it occurred to me that they had the same mindset that I did.  Fearful of becoming "liberal" they had fallen into the other ditch of  legalism.  Freedom in Christ is neither legalism nor liberalism.  Freedom in Christ is complete freedom to do everything that your Lord asks you to do.  He is your owner, keeper, provider, and the giver of your every breath.  “What? know ye not that ... ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20  The righteousness that the Father sees in us is not ours: for our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags in the sight of God. (Is. 64:6)  The only redeeming value that we have in the sight of God is that we accepted His Son's offer to live under the cleansing, purifying, and perfecting blood of Jesus Christ.  Through this "filter," God sees us as reedeemed creatures; men and women that have their sins forgiven by the suffering, crucifixion, curse, and death of His sinless Lamb.  May we take our position by Christ's side with the utmost care and consideration of what pleases Him!