Scripture describes sin as falling short of the glory of God. The picture is that of an arrow failing to reach its intended mark. God’s own perfect holiness is the mark, and everything that falls short of His righteous character is sin.
As Paul declares:
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Romans 3:23
Sin includes the evil we commit in thought, word, and deed. It also includes every righteous duty we neglect. Theologians have traditionally described these as sins of commission and sins of omission. We sin when we do what God forbids, and we sin when we fail to do what God commands.
James writes:
“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
James 4:17
God’s standard is complete perfection. Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The holiness of God’s law reaches far beyond outward behavior. It examines the intentions of the heart, the secret movements of the mind, the words spoken under our breath, and the good we could have done but left undone.
Once we understand the height of God’s standard, we begin to see the depth of our need.
The Danger of Self-Righteousness
How we respond to this truth shapes our understanding of the Gospel. A person who believes that acceptance with God can be secured through “living right,” “toeing the line,” or improving personal conduct has misunderstood both the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.
Total depravity does not mean that every person commits every conceivable evil. It means that sin has affected every part of our humanity. Our minds, desires, affections, choices, and bodies all bear the corruption of the fall. Even our finest works are stained by mixed motives, imperfect love, wandering thoughts, and a persistent desire to receive praise for ourselves.
We may never commit robbery or murder. We may be respectable members of our communities. Yet our daily lives remain filled with countless examples of falling short of God’s holiness. We fail to love God with all our heart. We fail to love our neighbors as ourselves. We speak carelessly, think selfishly, neglect prayer, withhold mercy, and seek our own glory. Our sins may escape the notice of other people, but they remain fully known to God.
The apostle John speaks plainly:
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
1 John 1:8
He continues:
“If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
1 John 1:10
Those who claim that they “live right and do not sin” have failed to plumb the depths of their own hearts. They have also failed to reckon with the searching holiness of God. Such claims reduce righteousness to a manageable standard of human conduct. They measure holiness by visible respectability instead of the perfect character of God.
Self-righteousness also reaches for glory that belongs to Christ alone. Every sinner who stands accepted before God stands entirely upon the righteousness, obedience, sacrifice, and triumph of Jesus Christ. He alone fulfilled the law without fault. He alone satisfied divine justice. He alone deserves the glory of salvation.
The Lord has declared:
“I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another.”
Isaiah 42:8
Christ Alone Is Our Righteousness
The answer to our sin is Jesus Christ.
In the preaching of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit effectually calls sinners to faith in the Savior. He opens our eyes to the holiness of God, reveals our guilt, and causes us to behold the sufficiency of Christ. We are brought to confess that we possess no righteousness of our own that can satisfy God. Our only hope is to be found in Christ and clothed in His righteousness.
Paul expressed this longing clearly:
“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.”
Philippians 3:9
Jesus fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of His people. He obeyed the law of God perfectly. At the cross, He bore their sins in His own body and endured the judgment their guilt deserved. God’s justice was fully satisfied through His sacrifice. Christ then rose bodily from the grave, declaring His victory over sin and death.
Scripture summarizes this glorious exchange:
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
2 Corinthians 5:21
Our sins were charged to Christ, and His righteousness is imputed to us. Through faith, we rest in the finished work of another. Faith contributes no merit to our salvation. It receives Christ and all the saving benefits secured by Him.
The promise of the Gospel remains wonderfully clear:
“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.”
Romans 10:9
The believer’s confidence rests upon Christ’s completed redemption. His sacrifice lacks nothing. His righteousness is perfect. His intercession never fails. His people are eternally secure in Him.
“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:14
The Christian’s Daily Battle with Sin
The Gospel produces a life marked by confession, humility, gratitude, and dependence upon grace. As believers grow in their knowledge of God, they also become increasingly aware of the sin that remains within them. This awareness drives them continually to Christ.
The Christian life includes a real battle against sin. Because we love the Lord who redeemed us, we desire to walk in obedience. We resist temptation, confess our failures, seek reconciliation when we wrong others, and pursue holiness. The Holy Spirit works within us, forming godly desires and producing spiritual fruit.
Our sanctification is in Christ alone. Our obedience is the blessed fruit of salvation and contributes nothing to the ground of our acceptance before God. Justification is God’s once-for-all declaration that the believing sinner is righteous in Christ. Because of His completed work on Calvary’s cross, Christ Himself has become our “wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.”
This distinction between salvation by grace alone and our works performed in love protects the conscience from religious bondage. We do not obey or do acceptable works in an effort to persuade God to love us. We obey because He has freely loved us in Christ. We do not fight sin in order to preserve our justification. We fight from the security of a redemption that Christ has already accomplished. We seek to serve the Lord because we love Him.
Therefore, our confidence remains outside ourselves. With the apostle Paul, we “rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
There will be days when we see growth and days when our weakness is painfully evident. In every season, Christ remains our righteousness. Our standing before God does not rise and fall with our spiritual performance. The Savior who justified us also keeps us, intercedes for us, corrects us, and carries us safely toward glory.
The Certain Hope of Glorification
One glorious day, the battle with sin will end.
When Christ returns and makes all things new, His people will be made new as well. The presence of sin will be removed forever. Our minds will be pure, our desires holy, and our bodies glorified. We will worship God without distraction, love Him without coldness, and serve Him without failure.
Paul writes that the Lord Jesus Christ:
“Shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
Philippians 3:21
This glorification is as certain as our justification because every part of salvation rests upon the unchanging purpose and power of God:
“Whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
Romans 8:30
God will never be satisfied by our ability to sin less. His standard is perfect holiness. When Christ returns or calls us home, we must be found clothed in the righteousness of another. That righteousness belongs to Jesus Christ and is freely imputed to every sinner who rests in Him.
Fight sin. Pursue holiness. Seek to honor the Lord in every part of life. Do so with your eyes fixed firmly upon Christ. Trust completely in the Savior who bled, died, rose again, and obtained eternal redemption for His people.
The same Jesus who carried our sins to the cross will preserve us throughout this earthly pilgrimage. One day, He will raise us in glory and bring us into a renewed creation where sin, sorrow, and death are gone forever.
Until that day, our confession remains unchanged: Christ alone is our righteousness, Christ alone is our hope, and Christ alone is worthy of all the glory.
(FULL PDF AVAILABLE HERE)
Jason Boothe serves as a pastor at Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. For more information, please visit www.RedeemerPiketon.org.
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