Reformed, Book Reading, Apple Loving, Beverage Snob, 23 Year-Old Husband, In Need of Grace.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Christianity not only leads its members to believe people of other faiths have goodness and wisdom to offer, it also leads them to expect that many will live lives morally superior to their own. Most people believe that, if there is a God, we can relate to him and go to heaven through leading a good life. Let’s call this the “moral improvement” view. Christianity teaches the very opposite. In the Christian understanding, Jesus does not tell us how to live so we can merit salvation. Rather, he comes to forgive and save us through his live and death in our place. God’s grace does not come to people who morally outperform others, but to those who admit their failure to perform and who acknowledge their need for savior.
Christians, then, should expect to find nonbelievers who are much nicer, kinder, wiser, and better than they are. Why? Christian believers are not accepted by God because of their moral performance, wisdom, or virtue, but because of Christ’s work on their behalf. Most religions and philosophies of life assume that one’s spiritual status depends on your religious attainments. This naturally leads adherents to feel superior to those who don’t believe and behave as they do. The Christian Gospel, in any case, should not have that effect.
Tim Keller, The Reason For God
The Inseparability of Godliness from Righteous Acts
Looking at the history of mankind, there has always been a desire to strive towards some conception of morality and righteousness, but it has lacked a desire for godliness. Morality has superseded it and godliness has been forgotten. For if man can be moral and righteous on his own accord, what need does he have for godliness?
If we remove godliness from righteousness, we are simply living out lives of self-righteousness, which are ultimately lives of idolatry.
“Righteousness, or morality, has been exalted to the supreme position, and little is heard of godliness. Like the Pharisees of old, there have been many amongst us who were shocked and scandalized by certain acts of unrighteousness, but who failed to realize that their own self-righteousness denoted an ungodliness which was infinitely more reprehensible in the eyes of God.” -Dr. Martyn LLoyd Jones, The Plight of Man and the Power of God
The essence of morality is concerned with the actions of man and not the man himself. Godliness is concerned with the man and thus the actions that flow out his life. By simply focusing on morality (works righteousness) we create a false image of the capacity of man and his standing in relationship with God. By placing the works of man over the power of God we (the church and culture) are creating a false illusion that man’s work can lead to righteousness. This false thinking produces false hope and a false view that denies a need for salvific grace. When godliness is sought first and foremost, righteous acts can begin to occur. If we lose this view of morality and godliness, we are fooling ourselves and becoming our own Gods.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:1-10, ESV
Simple chart of this concept…
Fallen Unregenerate Man ——> Righteous Acts As Filthy Rags
Regenerate Man ——> Righteous Acts As Outpouring of Godliness
