The Arrogance of Self-righteousness – Romans 10:4-7

 At this time of the year, here in North Idaho, there is nothing more incongruous than a dark, full-face, sun tan. Sunburns and suntans which show a negative racoon-type face are perfectly understandable. Those people who are addicted to snow-boarding or skiing might be suntanned, but not around their eyes, because they nearly always ski with big goggles. Generally speaking for the last two months or more, we have been cutting back on our regular outdoor activities (except snow-shoveling), and when we have been outside, on many occasions the sun hasn’t been there to greet us (such as when we are shoveling snow). The water skiers have put away their skis and wake-boards. The sun bathers have put away their towels and creams. The springtime sunburns long ago pealed and faded away. And the natural exfoliation of our skin is stripping away what tans we had from the summer.

So, there is nothing more incongruous than a dark, full-face sun tan. Temporary red faces are not uncommon, especially as they come in from cold temperatures and below zero chill factors. And shoveling snow for an hour may make a person’s face red simply from the exertion. But if we should meet someone well-tanned this afternoon, it could mean one or two things. That person has been spending a lot of time in a sun-tan booth. (That means this tan is semi-artificial). It might mean that this person has been using dangerous lotions. (Again, this is an artificial sun-tan.) Or it could be that our dark-skinned Caucasian has just returned from two weeks at a resort in Mexico, Hawaii or the South Pacific. Or perhaps he has simply been eating far too many carrots, and it’s not really a tan at all. What I am trying to point out is that there are a number of kinds of sun-tans and ways to get those tans.

Similarly, the Bible tells us that there are a number of different kinds of righteousnesses. This afternoon, I intend to show you what popped up on my computer when I asked it to search through the Bible looking for the words “the righteousness of…..” There are 22 verses with those 3 words, and there are others with similar wording, as in verse 6 – “the righteousness which is of….” Since that will be more of a Bible study type of lesson, I’d like us think about the cart, rather than the horse this morning. These verses open the doorway to a consideration of the arrogance of self-righteousness. But necessity requires that we borrow one point from our subject for the afternoon.

There is a RIGHTEOUSNESS which is OF THE LAW.We need to remember that Paul, at this juncture, is writing primarily with the Jews in mind. And there were three people to whom the Jews particularly looked up – Abraham, David and Moses. Their respect for these men didn’t mean that they understood them, or understood their theology, but they loved to claim a blood relationship with them. Knowing this, Paul has already dealt with the salvation and faith of both Abraham and David. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” And how was it that David was forgiven of his iniquities? Like Abraham, he believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. In other words, neither of those men, one before Moses and one following Moses; neither of those men were learning the law, trusting the law, or obeying the law in order to obtain righteousness.

At this point in his letter Paul turns his attention to the third most respected man in Israelite history – Moses. Logically, this was a very wise thing to do, because most Jews had a great love for that man. What does Moses say, and what did God say to Moses, about this subject of righteousness? Paul quotes and slightly paraphrases Leviticus 18 – “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.” As we have recently seen in Sunday School, when God said, “I am the LORD,” He was declaring Himself to be self-existent God – the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. And ultimately that means that this is the God who delivers from sin and forgives sin – the Saviour.

Here in Leviticus and as repeated elsewhere, the covenant-keeping God describes the righteousness which is of the law. And what He says is that the man who does those things, shall live by them, or “in them.” The “those things” are said to be the statutes and judgments of God. This is not referring to the laws of Israel’s ceremonies, but the precepts of the moral law. God is not talking about the manner of killing the dove as a sacrifice, but rather about what is sin. The immediate context of Leviticus 18 is a lengthy discussion of the sins of immorality. Verse 22, for example, specifically condemns homosexuality. “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” And the next verse ranks that sin with committing the same abomination with animals. But of course these sins are just the tip of the iceberg. The next chapter condemns the sins of idolatry, sabbath-breaking, gossip, revenge, greed, theft, and so on. Ultimately there are hundreds of sins condemned in the twenty-seven chapters of Leviticus. And the crowning conclusion of the law, as stated in the context of Paul’s quote is – “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.”

The righteousness of the law lies in “doing” – keeping those statutes, not merely externally, but internally, with all the heart, and soul, and strength; The law requires that we have love to God, fear of him, and faith in him, It demands an inward disposition of the mind towards him, and a conformity of heart to his law, to go along with our outward obedience. And all this is to be done perfectly and completely in every tiny point that the law requires, otherwise no life is to be expected, nor any righteousness to be had by it.

Now, we come to a deep theological point for you to consider: Do these references in Leviticus, Romans, Ezekiel and other passages like this, talk about eternal life? Gill says that the ancient Jews believed so, and many modern commentaries suggest so. But do we find that in the text or context of these scriptures?

What sort of life did Adam expect to live, when he was first created and placed in the Garden of Eden? Did Adam think in the terms of eternity, Heaven, glorification, spiritual and divine bliss? Wasn’t he thinking on the lines: “This is the day which the Lord hath made, I will be glad and rejoice in it”? He had the prospect of living in the joy and blessing of God that day, the next and for as many as the Lord gave him – eternally. But wasn’t he thinking of a blessed earthly life spent in the only place that he knew – the Garden of Eden? Eternal life has never been anything less than a gift of God’s grace. Did Adam have a responsibility to obey the Lord? Obviously he did. But it had nothing to do with attaining or maintaining eternal life – going to Heaven – glorification. And what happened when he failed to obey the Lord? He lost what little he had.

The life promised to Israel at Sinai was the same – it was a day-to-day life of filled with the blessings of God. But by that time there was a fox in the hen-house – a virus in the human auto-immune system – ie. sin. The life which the law promised to Adam in his state of perfection – Adam, who was the only mere man that ever was capable of perfectly keeping that law – the life promised to Adam was the continuance of the blessed life which he then enjoyed. And the life promised to the Israelites, was a long and prosperous existence in the land of Canaan. As for the promise of eternal life, that was made before the world began, in the covenant of grace. It is a particular and peculiar promise – a gift of God’s grace. It was never designed to be enjoyed through men’s obedience to the law of works, but rather through the righteousness and death of Christ.

Here is the point: the righteousness of the Law contains the promise of God’s earthly blessing, provided that we perfectly, consistently and permanently obey every precept of that law, not only outwardly in the eyes of others, but in the eyes of God from the very depths of our hearts.

And that brings us to the SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS which is of the law.Paul was dealing with a nation of people who believed that they could sufficiently obey God’s law. Some believed that they were righteous enough to obey God’s law – perfectly. And others believed that through obedience they were made righteous enough to enjoy God’s blessings. Some of them, like the Sadducees, believed that those blessings were earthly and temporal. Others, like the Pharisees, believed that those blessings and righteousness extended into eternity. Both the Sadducees and Pharisees are alive and well today, living in the skins of Gentiles, as well as Jews.

But those attitudes and opinions about righteousness do not reflect the doctrine of God. That kind of human righteousness is a pseudo-righteousness – a self-righteousness. When a man says that he has can obey God’s perfect law perfectly, he is displaying self-righteousness. When a man says that he has obeyed God’s perfectly law perfectly, he is displaying ARROGANT self-righteousness. My dictionary says that “arrogance” is the state of overbearing pride. It is pride taken to the nth degree. It is an ungodly attitude of extreme self-importance which is flung right into the face of the righteous God.

And do I need to point out that God despises pride above all other sins. Pride is a form of idolatry – the worst form of idolatry – the worship of self. “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” And the first of the list is pride and even a proud look. “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD.”

In verse 6, Paul again refers back to Moses (Deuteronomy 30), but he puts those words into a slightly different context – but only slightly different. Arrogant self-righteousness pictures itself good enough to demand that God send Christ down to grant us eternal life. “Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)”

Eternal life is a result or by-product of salvation from sin. This is clearly taught in many scriptures, some as well known as the context of John 3:16 – “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Many other scriptures teach that salvation is by grace – God’s grace. This means that deliverance from sin, and the resultant eternal life, are a matter of God’s unmerited favor. No man, can arrogantly march up to the gates of Heaven and demand an audience with the Saviour. No sinful man can demand that eternal life, or some form of salvation, be given to him. As Paul taught about Abraham and David – the reward of eternal life was “reckoned of grace – not debt.” Only the arrogant think that they can ascend into heaven in order to bring Christ down from above.

Furthermore, it is arrogant self-righteousness to think that we make the resurrection of Christ a necessity. “Say not in thine heart, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)” This idea is almost too ludicrous even to consider.

Obviously, the righteousness of FAITH stands opposed to the arrogance of self-righteousness. “But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

This quotation from Deuteronomy 30 comes from a context of God’s promises. The Lord tells Israel that He will curse those who curse them, and He will bless those who obey Him. But don’t excuse your disobedience by thinking that God’s commandment is too remote. You don’t have to travel to the ends of the world to find it. “For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.” God says, “Don’t arrogantly ignore what I have commanded, seeking to replace them with your own rules, regulations and righteousness.” The Lord says, “believe Me and obey Me.”

And when it comes to the only righteousness which is acceptable to the Lord, it is not of human manufacture. No one can climb into Heaven and pull it down to himself on earth. It isn’t necessary to pull it out of the depths of the sea or to drag it in from the far side of the world. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

When we talk about faith – in a proper Biblical fashion – there is no room for pride – no room for boasting. God’s salvation from sin is a gift – there is no opportunity for arrogance in receiving a gift. From a human perspective God’s righteousness is received and enjoyed through humble faith. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

This is the faith and righteousness that we all desperately need. Is it what you possess? Repent of your sin and your attempts at obedience. Repent of your self-righteousness and what you perceive as the righteousness which is of the law. “Repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”