What Righteousness have we?
Analogy of the Sun, Moon, & Stars
Most people want to think of themselves as good people. They even may seem very good compared to certain other people or even most people, but the Bible states:
Romans 3:10
as it is written, “There is none righteous , not even one ;
Obviously, we do not have a proper view of ourselves when we think we are good or righteous in ourselves. Any goodness or righteousness in us comes from the holiness and perfection of Christ.
In Phillipians, Paul says
Philippians 3:8
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ
We get our value and our goodness from Jesus. We only think we are good when we use the wrong measure.
I was reading John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion” and he used an analogy of a righteous man being like a star in heaven:
“For if the stars, which seem so very bright at night, lose their brilliance in the sight of the sun, what do we think will happen even to the rarest innocence of man when it is compared with God’s purity?”1
He also said,
“all human works, if judged according to their own worth, are nothing but filth and defilement. And what is commonly reckoned righteousness is before God sheer iniquity; what is adjudged uprightness, pollution; what is accounted glory, ignominy.”2
These two quotes got me thinking and expanding Calvin’s analogy.
A man, who is righteous in himself is like a star in the night sky. Compared to the darkness, he seems bright, but when the sun comes out, his brightness is so overwhelmed he is so like that same darkness that he can no longer be seen. In the same way we, even when we live what seems to be a godly life, only look good when compared to the evil in this world. When we are compared to the rightful measure of righteous, the perfect life lived by Jesus and the holiness of God, our righteousness looks like evil.
There is however another light in the night sky, the moon. The moon produces no light of its own, but is the 2nd brightest object in the sky and the brightest at night. The moon is not bright in itself, but gets it light from the sun. The moon’s light is a reflection of the light of the sun. In the same way, we Christians get our righteous from Jesus. We are covered by His righteousness. We should reflect His righteousness. We will never be as bright or righteous as He is, but we get our brightness/righteousness from what He has done. Our job as Christians is to reflect His light on the world during the dark days before His return.
Be the moon. Don’t be a star. Shine the light of the Lord Jesus Christ on the world. Don’t try to be your own light.
Trust Jesus.
your sister in Christ,
Christy
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from John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, Book III, Chapter XII, Section 4.
from John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”, Book III, Chapter XII, Section 4.