1 Timothy 1:8-11

1 Timothy 1:8-11  We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.  We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers — and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. 

Philippians 3:7-11  If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found IN HIM, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 

Whenever the Bible lists a number of sins, I always determine whether I have committed them or not.  Most of the time I consider myself quite good.  I surely haven't murdered anyone; I am not a perjurer, not a slave trader, not an adulterer (I had to slip that one in for my wife's sake), and definitely I did not kill my mother or father; so in general, I'm not too bad.  However, if I could really go down the line and find myself faultless to all the sins enumerated above, I would still not be like God.  The entanglement of sin would still be on my life.  My right living and holy thoughts would still not be completely acceptable to a holy God.  I think this fact escapes most Christians, for they are still fettered with the task of trying to be holy.  They remain under the burden of trying to please a perfect God by living their lives as perfectly as they can.  Is God pleased by right living?  Yes.  Is the law good?  Yes.  Can man obtain eternity with God by following the law?  No.  We do not enter heaven by the righteousness obtained by man or through man's best efforts.  You might as well give up trying to gain heaven through your own efforts.  You will always fall short of God's holiness: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)  If you fall short of the glory of God, if you don't have his robe of righteousness on when you enter into his presence, you will be judged harshly.  Sin does not enter God's presence without judgment.  God is righteous.  He is a just God; He always does what is right.  Therefore, He cannot allow sin to exist without eternal, peremptory judgment.  

Therefore, stop determining what sins you have committed and what sins you have not committed.  Any unrighteousness, any oblique thought that is  not Godlike, will be judged by a righteous, holy God.  Let us say you have committed sins of omission--sins that you were not even aware of.  Let us say that you failed to help someone that God wanted you to help or you really didn't treat a person like you would want to be treated by buying a valuable possession from him or her for pennies when you knew the item was worth much more.  These acts of omission are acts of unrighteousness, much like the religious men in Jesus' parable who passed by an injured man who had been robbed.  Any unrighteousness or imperfection will not enter into the kingdom of God.  

Then what hope do we have?  Paul says, he doesn't want his own righteousness, which was considered by the law to be FAULTLESS.  No, Paul wanted the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ.  He knew that being IN CHRIST, he would wear the ROBE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, that which is acceptable to God.  He then could place himself at the banqueting table of God and enter into an intimate relationship with God without fear.  Righteousness, Jesus Christ himself, came to us from God.  God sent him to earth for our salvation.  Paul says because of righteousness through faith in Christ, I obtain the resurrection from the dead.  Paul's faultless legalistic righteousness could not enter heaven's doors.  His righteousness would never purchase eternal life with God.  His righteousness would always fall short.  But IN CHRIST through faith, we are made perfect and PLEASING to our HEAVENLY FATHER.  Therefore brothers and sisters, stop counting your sins or your righteous acts; instead, live IN CHRIST and you will have the holiness you desire through faith in his finished work at the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life.