You may not realize it, but you’re obsessed with righteousness.
You are constantly fixated on feeling morally good in relation to the world around you. Righteousness is more than good deeds. It’s a legal right-standing, whether with God or humanity itself. And we are obsessed with ending up on “the good side.”
Look around—the world is constantly fighting over the same thing: Being morally right. Being validated in our values, beliefs, and behaviors. Even in church circles, we tack on man-made standards and expectations to explain what it means to be righteous, worthy, and saved.
The Bible rebukes this kind of moral posturing. Paul calls people who behave this way “dogs,” an ancient Hebrew insult for the unclean Gentiles (Philippians 3:2). Except Paul isn’t referring to Gentiles here, but the false Jewish teachers themselves! These teachers were guilting newer believers with the lie that Jesus’ blood was not enough to cover their sins. Instead, they needed to follow the right rules, practice proper customs, and even be born into the right family to deem their worthiness and right standing before God.
Paul takes it a step further—he lists every reason he, of all people, should claim worthiness: faithful from birth, born into the proper lineage, from the highest order of Jewish teachers, passionate obedience, spotless conduct (Philippians 3:4–6). It’s a perfect recipe for righteousness!
Yet, Paul says it’s all rubbish compared to Jesus (Philippians 3:8). All of your efforts, moral posturing, comparison, and self-validation are garbage. They’re the hard ends of bread and bones, thrown into the compost after the meal’s finished. The things Paul once saw as essential for building his reputation, worth, and righteousness, he now considers bones in the trash that the dogs of this world are growling and fighting over.
What are you fighting for? What accomplishments, beliefs, perspectives, or lifestyles are you banking your life’s worth on? Paul says that even the most impressive parts about ourselves are utterly useless when compared to the glory of Christ and the absolute fullness of His righteousness imparted to us in salvation.
Jesus didn’t save you to keep adding to your collection of good works, curated reputation, and blameless behaviors. He saved you from putting your righteousness and worth into these things that do absolutely nothing for you. He saved you so that you could confidently lay all of your striving down at His feet and claim Christ as the most precious treasure in all of eternity’s existence.
The cross of Christ is everything, because our righteousness was fulfilled entirely through it. And the worth of Christ is enough, because we cannot add anything to it. What scraps do you need to lay down?
Want to dive deeper? Check out our sermon series guide on the book of Philippians, or watch the most recent sermon from our Philippians sermon series.
