TWO SYSTEMS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

TWO SYSTEMS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Virgil Warren, PhD

                                    LAW [Moses]                                                 GRACE [Messiah] (IP)

Purpose of both: human righteousness (Gal. 3:21)

Righteousness is for fellowship

with God and other people (IP).

Law and grace are parallel¹ as to identity and kind

(Jer. 31:31-34 <Heb. 8:7-10:18; John 1:17; Rom 4:13-14; Gal. 3:21).

Principle of personal perfection (1 person)            Principle of trust in another to consider us

         Deut 27:26; Lev. 18:5 (works                                    as perfect (Gen. 15:6; Hab 2:4)

            to produce goodness); righteousness is                one repents;           the other forgives

            perfect righteousness: “continue to do all.”         one trusts;             the other gives grace

                                                                                          one commits to Christ; Christ accepts

                                                                        Regarding as righteous is possible (Ps. 32:1-

                                                                              2 < Rom. 4:6-8).

No righteousness under law                                      

            a. cannot be perfect (Ps. & Is. < Rom 3)        Regarding as righteous based on

            b. cannot become perfect (Gal. 5:1)                     aspiration counted for achievement,

            c. no transfer of perfection (Lev. 18:5)                 repentance (cp. John the Baptist),

            d. cannot rely on ancestry, race, nation,               faith in/trust Christ’s righteousness,

                circumcision                                                     commitment to him who is righteous,

            e. cannot rely on revelation/knowing                   conscience (unevangelized; Rom. 2:12ff;

                 (law only defines good: Gal. 3:19;                         Golden Rule living; Mt. 7:12)

                 Rom. 5:20)                                                 All salvation figured relative to Christ:

            f. sacrifices ineffective (Heb. 10:4)                      after him (Acts 4:12; no other name),

            g. no one to regard us as good (Rom. 4:4)           Mosaic period (Heb. 9:15),

      Gentiles and Jews unrighteous (Rom. 3:19, 23)         patriarchal period (1 Pet. 3:18-21; 4:6

      Jews only relatively good: Lk. 1:6; Phil. 3:6                    (hence, do not have to know about

                                                                                                him to be saved by him).

      no boasting (Rom. 3:27)                                       no pride

      absolute scale judgment                                       sliding-scale judgment

¹Alternative systems means that law and grace are not the same thing, do not overlap, or lie one within the other. Righteousness by Messiah does not operate within law, only during law. Judaizers were evidently taking Israel’s Messiah as fulfilling the Law so that Gentiles by identifying with him were in turn to identify with Israel by circumcision as still required to be saved (Acts 15:1). There would still be no salvation outside of national Israel; so to the Judaizers, grace amended the Law, not replaced it.

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