The word righteousness, and the related words, righteous and righteously, as well as the negative versions, unrighteous and unrighteousness, are found over 180 times in the New Testament. I’m sure you agree that righteousness is certainly not an obscure concept in Scripture. So what does it mean to be righteous or to possess righteousness?

A number of times in his letters, Paul mentions “the mystery.” Concerning it, he says “in other generations [it] was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to [God’s] holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5). So, what was that “mystery”?

Tragically, some are teaching that it was previously hidden truth that superseded, and even nullified, the teaching of Jesus. They claim, for example, that God revealed to Paul that salvation is granted through God’s grace under the new covenant, whereas under the old covenant, it was allegedly earned through works. And since Jesus’ earthly ministry was conducted under the old covenant, they say that explains why He so often tied obedience to salvation in His teaching and preaching. Now that the new covenant has been inaugurated, and the “mystery” has been revealed, we realize that we can ignore everything Jesus said that ties salvation to holiness, as it has no application to new covenant believers who are saved by grace!

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (1 Pet. 4:18, KJV).

And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? (NASB).

Peter indicated that there are two categories of people, the righteous and the unrighteous. The latter he describes as “godless” and “sinners.”

It would be absurd to imagine that the “righteous” of whom Peter wrote are people who are just legally righteous but who are every bit as much sinners as the ungodly. Clearly, Peter was contrasting people who live righteously, that is, people who are holy and obedient to God, with people who don’t live righteously, that is, ungodly sinners.

Among the 613 laws given by God to ancient Israel, there are some real head-scratchers. I’ve been scratching my head over some of them for almost 50 years. But here’s one that is more of a chin-scratcher:

If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him, then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley…. All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; and they shall answer and say, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.” And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them. So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord (Deut. 21:1-9).

The immediate thought of most readers is, “But only the murderer is guilty,” followed by the immediate question, “So why does this law seem to impute guilt upon everyone in the nearest town?”

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:23-27).

How liberating it is to read the Bible honestly. When we do, we can just believe what it plainly says without having to twist it to fit our predetermined theology or make it mean something it doesn’t say.

Take Matthew 24:23-27, for example. It is a section of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, which He spoke, not to the multitudes, but to a small group of four of His closest disciples, namely, Peter, James, John and Andrew (see Mark 13:3). When Jesus used the word “you” in the above-quoted passage, He was referring to them. His words were relevant to them, obviously. And He was warning them against being misled during a time when many people would be misled. Just seconds earlier He said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many” (Matt. 24:4-5, emphasis added).

I suppose it should not surprise me when folks who promote a false grace—making it a license to sin (see Tit. 2:11-14; Jude 4), and a false faith—that is void of works of obedience (see Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Jas. 2:14), also practice a fake love.

According to the New Testament, the primary mark of one who is truly born again is his love for others who are born again:

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:14-15).

John stresses both the positive and negative. Love identifies the genuinely born-again person. Lack of love, or even hatred, for those who are born again identifies the false Christian. As difficult as it may be to accept, people who promote a false gospel that advocates a false grace and false faith are not genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, which explains why they are often so nasty towards those who are genuine believers. They will slander you behind your back, even as they sometimes pretend to be your friends to your face.

The phrases “trust in Christ” or “trust in Jesus” are often used in Christian circles as formulas for salvation. They are, of course, derived from the fact that Scripture says that salvation is “by grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8-9), and Scripture also contains frequent references to believing in Christ. A few times, the KJV uses the word “trust” where most modern translations use “believe.” In any case, “trust in Christ” and “believe in Christ” are both biblical phrases.

If you ask, however, some who often use the phrase “trust in Christ” regarding what they mean, they will often explain that people are either trusting in their “works” to get them into heaven, or they are “trusting Christ.” Thus, “trusting Christ” is actually equivalent to nothing more than trusting Christ to get you to heaven rather than trusting in your works.

Think! Is the statement below, by an alleged “Bible teacher” who has tens of thousands of enthusiastic followers, true?

“The Sermon on the Mount isn’t directed at people who trusted Jesus. The whole point is to take what He said literally so the hearer would repent from Law observance toward believing Him instead.”

Premise #1: “The Sermon on the Mount isn’t directed at people who trusted Jesus.”

First, it should be noted that the Bible teacher’s phrase, “people who trusted Jesus,” is a reference—albeit an inadequate one—to believers. The reason it is inadequate is because the word “in” is missing from between the words “trusted” and “Jesus.” I won’t elaborate on that subtle yet important difference now, but I do want you to see that this teacher is claiming that Jesus spoke His Sermon on the Mount to unbelievers. Is his claim true?

The only details we know about the rich man—whose story Jesus told in Luke 16—are what Jesus revealed. And Jesus revealed all that He felt was necessary to make His point.

For example, Jesus gave us no idea how the rich man gained his wealth. It is possible that he gained it legitimately, providing value to willing customers. But we don’t know, and Jesus didn’t say. Jesus did reveal, however, that the rich man was self-indulgent and self-absorbed. He dressed in very expensive clothing, “joyously living in splendor every day” (Luke 16:19).

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (1 Cor. 3:1-3, NASB).

It is from this passage that the modern doctrine of the “carnal Christian” has been derived, which promotes the idea that one can be a true Christian but be “carnal,” and thus be behaviorally indistinguishable from unbelievers. The KJV translates 3:3: “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” We are often told by advocates of this doctrine that we can’t judge those who, although they profess to be Christians, demonstrate no evidence of being born again, because some genuine Christians are “carnal Christians.”