Self-righteousness is not a good trait. Insofar as the Bible speaks, self-righteousness, which is inherently related to legalism, is the belief that we can somehow generate within our self a righteousness that will be wholly acceptable to God. This is simply the opposite of what Jesus expects of us and cautions us against.
The Apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans: "As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10, NIV). This simply means that there is nothing we can do in the way of works or actions that please God apart from faith in Christ Jesus. Our righteousness is found in Jesus alone.
Let Jesus speak
A half dozen times in the book of Matthew Jesus spoke to the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees and condemned their behaviors and beliefs.
The scribes and Pharisees were rigid adherents to their legalistic traditions which demonstrated their self-righteousness, and they held to these traditions for the purpose of making themselves appear to be better than others. Do we do the same thing? What traditions do you cling to in order to maintain your righteousness? Your answer should be none!
See, even we as Christians have to be careful, because our sin nature prods us into making attempts to do something to earn our salvation. This we must recognize that we simply cannot and must not do, because our salvation is a free gift to all who believe on Jesus and His finished work on the cross.
Hunger and thirst
On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke the Beatitudes, or as many scholars like to call them, the "be attitudes." Jesus said: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6, NIV).
What does this entail, you ask? Let's have a look.
Blaise Pascal said that all of us possess a “God-shaped void” in our lives. This is to say that all women and men are hungry and thirsty; but the problem is that we make foolish attempts to fill the emptiness and hence our hunger and thirst with things other than the righteousness of God.
We goof around and try to fill that void with sex, drugs, booze, play, food, money and our other ambitions in life that never satisfy nor fill that void. We are then like a person wandering aimlessly in the void of space and going absolutely nowhere, as if the spaceman has been freed from his or her lifeline to the craft.
This then leads us to try even more things that we believe will fill the void. and yet none of those will ever work, either. Haven't you noticed this yet?
Even going to church doesn't make us righteous! We may think it does, but it certainly does not. Do you sit on the front pew to be noticed?
Do you ensure others see the amount you tithe when the offering plate is passed around? Do we act holy at church each Sunday and then like a heathen during the week?
What, then, is my goal to shame you? Heaven forbid!
My goal is to allow you to recognize that actions like these are just like those of the scribes and Pharisees! They too wanted to be noticed by others. We should refrain from such actions and instead be humble. This doesn't mean we have to sit in the back of church, either. Instead, we need to put off our self-righteous, outward actions that serve to lift us up and rather lift up Jesus Christ, the source of our righteousness.
Notice in the above verse that Christ never said, "Blessed are those who seek food and water." He already knew we did this to stay alive. Even the beasts and fowl of the earth do this!
Therefore, in the same way that we satiate our desire to eat and drink, we must also pursue the spiritual in the same way, perhaps even more so.
Remember, when Satan was tempting Jesus in the wilderness, "Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God: (Matthew 4:4, NIV).
Unfortunately
The sin nature that we are all born with makes it impossible for all of humanity to meet the standards of God which are much too lofty to achieve on our own. Even when we are saved by God's grace by faith we retain our sin nature. What then shall we do?
The good news
The good news is that true righteousness is possible for all of us, but it is only available to us by the purifying and cleansing of sin by Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
We do not possess the capability to achieve any form of righteousness on our own. However, Christians, that is, those who have placed their faith in Christ alone apart from works, do have the righteousness of Christ, simply because “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Gill's exposition of the Bible puts it this way: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst,.... Not after the riches, honours, and pleasures of this world, but after righteousness; by which is meant not justice and equity, as persons oppressed and injured; nor a moral, legal righteousness, which the generality of the Jewish nation were eagerly pursuing; but the justifying righteousness of Christ."
Hallelujah!
Application
The more we desire to hunger and thirst after righteousness and be more like Jesus the more we will hunger and thirst because it fills the void we have sought all our lives.
As Gill says, we will be "so satisfied with it, that [we] shall never seek for any other righteousness, as a justifying one, in the sight of God; this being full, perfect, sufficient, and entirely complete."
What more then can we ask for to fill that empty void in our lives that keeps us searching for something in this world to satisfy our hunger and thirst? Continuing to chase after those things in the world that are the opposite of righteousness will make us more thirsty and hungry for something to fill our void.
Therefore, cling to Jesus!
Images free at https://pixabay.com/
Repentance is the first thing I can say we all need , I remember when you write let spread the word , you encourage us about righteousness , God bless you so much , your word and articles are interceding In my life 💯