Message: As for everything I write here - any text about Scripture is to be tested and evaluated with Scripture because the Truth is the Bible itself. That is up to you. God wants you to check it out.

Addressing: People who say they are Christians or believe in God - but don't see the need to repent, study the Bible, and seek fellowship in Christ

Reason: They are living a lie, they need to be saved.

I am not sure if cutting some theological things here if we talk about Man's righteousness. But for starters I can only reveal what I have learned. For sure, if you want to know about God's righteousness, then one should read the Bible.

The Righteousness of God is steady and fast. It has no loopholes. For man however that is different. We tend to justify what we do even though we know that we should not. And it is different from time to time. That is normal sinner behavior. Actually we then become hypocrites because we do teach others not to do certain things while we are already guilty of doing the same. 

Also many sinners have a way of justifying themselves into heaven, even when they profess not to believe in God. This with the basic understanding of themselves that they are good. And they base that on what they do, their works. From another perspective there are people who say: "God is love", and that is all you need to know. With this statement one again justify one's self by not having to know God and by assuming that God will forgive anyway because God is love.

So we have few basic forms of self-justification or self-righteousness:

1. Man perceives himself as good and thinks that gets him into heaven.
2. God is love - forgiveness is for sure.
3. A combination of the two points above.

I would not be making a point of this if this wasn't wrong, but it is utterly wrong. Why? The Bible contradicts these points very heavily.

First of all, if man is inherently good and God is love, then why would God ask all people to repent? That for starters does not make any sense at all. So something is wrong here. Why would God let man write a thousand page book about Himself if we could get away with a one liner?

Isaiah 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf,

Isaiah tells us the we are wretched to the core and before God's Holiness our good deeds are as filthy rags. I'll give some light on that later on.

Romans 3:9-19

⁹ What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹  there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. ¹² All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” ¹³ “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” ¹⁴  “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ ruin and misery mark their ways,¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.” ¹⁸  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” ¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. ²⁰ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

In this part the apostle Paul gives the state of the standard human heart.

If we put just these two together you can't say the God views us as inherently good people. The Holiness of God stretches far beyond our goodness. And this is because our hearts are deceptive by nature. And therefore you need to repent. But does that all go away when you repent?

To repent means to declare to God from the heart (faking it - does not help), that you accept Jesus Christ as Savior and that you acknowledge your sins and that faith in Jesus and to accept His offering on the cross can only set you free. You want to get rid of sin and Jesus is the only way.

If God decides to save you - then you probably were very sincere - then you'll have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the Holy Spirit guides you to Holiness - to be in the likeness of God. Throughout your life you'll be more aware about what is good and bad because the Holy Spirit warns you. But there is more. You are compelled to know and to read the Word of God to get to know God. Because that how you learn good from evil, what pleases God and what does not.

How important it is to be indwelled by the Holy Spirit is probably made very clear in the following passage of John 8:31-42:

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered. 

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Christ says here, if you are NOT indwelled with the Holy Spirit (like in here with the Pharisees) you are unable to hear the Word of God. It will not be clear to you because you mind will be clouded with the thoughts the devil puts in there. The Pharisees are hearts were of stone, they know all the scriptures, but they were arrogant, they were out for money, misguiding the flock. There is also a difference between knowing the scriptures and understanding the scriptures. The Pharisees were protecting their legacy, their empire, Jesus stood in the way attracting many people to believe Him.

But simply put - when you are born - you are of your father the devil. That is why need to be reborn - the rebirth is the indwelling of the Holy Spirt because you have received the Grace of God at some point when you repented.

How does it look like being saved? See below...

The filthy rags. I'd promised to get back to that. When people do "good" there is always an agenda. Do good for who's glory? For the glory of God who made you, made everything? Or for themselves? Mostly it is for themselves, because nobody gives God the glory. It is that agenda that is in the way for the un-repented, and that is already one reason why man's good deeds are as filthy rags to God.

So what is all wrong about the self-righteous statements?

1. Man is not inherently good, man is inherently bad, because we start off with your father the devil. So that never gets you into heaven. 
2. God's Love is conditional - repent through Jesus Christ. Christ suffered for you on the Cross a horrible pains and was humiliated. A lamb brought to the slaughter. He who created us. He became sin for all, who Himself had no sin to His name. So it would please God the Father - that a wretched man can be forgiven by faith alone in the Son of Man - because faith in God's Son is greater than your sins. Now thát is love. God gave His only begotten Son for the slaughter so you can be saved. Christ has payed the price for your salvation. 
3. Your works mean nothing to God as they are as filthy rags. Until you repent and have received the Grace of God, when you are counted righteous by faith, and you start to learn who God is, then your works might do something for you in forms of heavenly rewards. But first you find out through prayer and Bible studies to listen to God to what good works are.

A lot of people see how unrighteous the world is and do not want to believe in the existence of God because of all the suffering. Well, there is news for those people. No matter how much you suffer - Christ has suffered already for you. For the love of God - so that everyone has a chance of eternal life with God. For those who rather love the darkness, there is another destination.