Two Types of Righteousness

Two Types of Righteousness

The Bible speaks of two types of righteousness. There is a righteousness of the law and there is a righteousness of faith.

Php 3:6-9  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.  (7)  But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  (8)  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,  (9)  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Paul clearly points to his own righteousness, which is of the law and by man’s works, but then he mentions another righteousness which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

This is the righteousness that we, as grace believers, are offered today. This gift of God is clarified in two little letters. “OF”. Did you notice that!? Verse nine above says, “which is through the faith of Christ”. If you have never noticed this before, it might be that you are reading one of the corrupt modern translations. Over 90% of these Satanically inspired translations today have changed these two important letters into another two letters, “IN”, which completely changes the context of the statement.

Let’s take a closer look at two example scriptures in this respect. The Authorized King James Version is compared with two of the most popular versions today, the English Standard Version and the New International Version.

Galatians 2:16  

[KJV] Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

[ESV] …yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

[NIV] …know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

Faith IN Christ focuses on our trust and reliance on Jesus, which places the emphasis on our efforts to produce that faith, in order to receive the righteousness and justification that is of God. On the other hand, trusting in the faith OF Christ has got nothing to do with our own faith and efforts, but rather, it relies on Christ’s faith and obedience for justification and the righteousness that He already received from God.

Philippians 3:9  

[KJV] And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

[ESV] …and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

[NIV] … and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.

As the passage afore, Philippians also speaks of the faith of Christ which has been corrupted in the other translations. When one uses “of Christ” it is clear to see that there are two types of righteousness. However, when it is changed to “in Christ”, the topic of righteousness is not distinguished as two types of righteousness, but rather, righteousness comes from the same source, our righteousness, and is placed either in our works or in Christ. 

God will not share His glory. That glory, the glory of salvation, and reconciliation with God, is in Christ, and is Christ’s alone. Paul rightly says,

Eph 2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  (9)  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

For man's own righteousness, established by works under the law, God will render to that man according to his works, but the righteousness which is of God by faith is something completely different. It's not through what man does, but through what he believes, Rom 3:20; it's through what he trusts in, a work which somebody else has already done, before he was ever born.

Let me wind down

Let me end this post by also referring to the apostle James. When he says a man's faith is dead without works, he's talking about man’s faith and the righteousness that comes through it. This is the faith that the Jewish believers had to prove for their justification in the Kingdom gospel. But this is not our gospel and it’s not the faith and righteousness that we are associated with. We are not justified by our faith but by the faith of Christ. Notice what Habakkuk says in verse 4 of chapter 2. “The just shall live by his faith”, but Paul says,

Rom 1:17  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 

Did you see the difference? Habakkuk says, “by his faith”, but Paul says, “by faith”. Whose faith is Paul referring to? Well, just read a little further in Galatians chapter 2 to find out. In verse 20 Paul says, “the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith OF the Son of God”. Consider also Ephesians 2:8, that I quoted earlier, “for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”. People often miss the part that says, “that not of yourselves”? It’s not your faith! The faith that saves you by the grace of God is a gift of God and it’s the faith OF Christ, resulting in a very different righteousness than what we can ever conjure up by ourselves.

The righteousness that we as grace believers have, is not dependent on us. This is why our justification is sealed and secure. I’ll end with this beautiful confirmation that Paul provides us in Romans, when he says that we, HAVING justification (a sure thing that is settled in God), we ALREADY have peace with God through Christ. 

WOW!!! Thank God for this second type of righteousness that is not dependent on my petty performance.

Rom 5:1-2  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  (2)  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.