Righteousness vs. Godliness

[Faith Shield]

The Bible has a lot to say about righteousness by faith, including amongst others, Romans 3:21-22.

I'll admit that for years I struggled with sin, less so nowadays, mainly in my thought life. I was always baffled by 1 John 3:9, which stated that a believer cannot sin if he has been born again:

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
1 John 3:9

Scripture is innerant, so I must be at fault here. I got fed up with a church I was attending, as I felt the pastor was legalistic and spoke about not sinning more than righteosness by faith. So, I got into the grace movement led by ministers such as Joseph Prince. It made me feel better about myself and less guilty. But I still felt spiritually dry and it did nothing to stop me from sinning. After several years, I realised I had backslidden. Whilst I had clung to the belief that I was righteous by faith, I realised I was not living the godly life I had been called to. It's as if there's a distinction between righteousness (right standing with God) and godliness (living a life that pleases God).

After years of backsliding, I was brought to repentence through chastisement. But I'm still left wondering how to reconcile the differences between righteouness and godliness; how can our faith manifest itself in a life that pleases God? It's not always as simple as just wanting to live a godly life and following a list of rules, which is the law. This is especially the case, I believe, with thoughts and spoken words. James 3:8 says, "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."

We can be righteous by faith - can we also be godly by faith?

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Question.
What part of you is born of God? Which part has the seed of God?

Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
1 John 3:9

Jesus differentiates between the birth of the body and the birth of the spirit.

John 3:6-8 KJV
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.


When you were born again, or from above, your spirit, not your flesh or mind, was born of God. The seed of God is born into your spirit.
You still have the same body and mind you had before you were born again of the spirit. Your body and mind still want to do the things they did before you were born again of the spirit. Now, there is a war between your born-again spirit and your body/mind. You have to crucify your flesh daily and renew your mind with the word of God. This will continue for your whole life.

 

[Soyeong]

The Bible has a lot to say about righteousness by faith, including amongst others, Romans 3:21-22.

I'll admit that for years I struggled with sin, less so nowadays, mainly in my thought life. I was always baffled by 1 John 3:9, which stated that a believer cannot sin if he has been born again:



Scripture is innerant, so I must be at fault here. I got fed up with a church I was attending, as I felt the pastor was legalistic and spoke about not sinning more than righteosness by faith. So, I got into the grace movement led by ministers such as Joseph Prince. It made me feel better about myself and less guilty. But I still felt spiritually dry and it did nothing to stop me from sinning. After several years, I realised I had backslidden. Whilst I had clung to the belief that I was righteous by faith, I realised I was not living the godly life I had been called to. It's as if there's a distinction between righteousness (right standing with God) and godliness (living a life that pleases God).

After years of backsliding, I was brought to repentence through chastisement. But I'm still left wondering how to reconcile the differences between righteouness and godliness; how can our faith manifest itself in a life that pleases God? It's not always as simple as just wanting to live a godly life and following a list of rules, which is the law. This is especially the case, I believe, with thoughts and spoken words. James 3:8 says, "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."

We can be righteous by faith - can we also be godly by faith?

To be someone who has a character trait means to be someone who is a doer of that character trait, such as someone being courageous means that they are a doer of courageous works, and it would be contradictory to be someone who has a character trait while not being someone who is a doer of that trait, so it would contradictory for someone to be courageous while not being a doer of courageous works, and the same is true of what it means for someone to be righteous. The only way to become someone who has a character trait is through faith that we ought to be a doer of that trait, and what it means to believe in God is to believe what we ought to be doers of the character traits of God. So the only way to become righteous is through faith that we ought to be a doer of righteous works, which is why 1 John 3:7 says that everyone who is a doer of righteous works is righteous. In Titus 2:11-13, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so focusing on grace is not an alternative to focusing on refraining from sin.

 

[fhansen]

The Bible has a lot to say about righteousness by faith, including amongst others, Romans 3:21-22.

I'll admit that for years I struggled with sin, less so nowadays, mainly in my thought life. I was always baffled by 1 John 3:9, which stated that a believer cannot sin if he has been born again:



Scripture is innerant, so I must be at fault here. I got fed up with a church I was attending, as I felt the pastor was legalistic and spoke about not sinning more than righteosness by faith. So, I got into the grace movement led by ministers such as Joseph Prince. It made me feel better about myself and less guilty. But I still felt spiritually dry and it did nothing to stop me from sinning. After several years, I realised I had backslidden. Whilst I had clung to the belief that I was righteous by faith, I realised I was not living the godly life I had been called to. It's as if there's a distinction between righteousness (right standing with God) and godliness (living a life that pleases God).

After years of backsliding, I was brought to repentence through chastisement. But I'm still left wondering how to reconcile the differences between righteouness and godliness; how can our faith manifest itself in a life that pleases God? It's not always as simple as just wanting to live a godly life and following a list of rules, which is the law. This is especially the case, I believe, with thoughts and spoken words. James 3:8 says, "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."

We can be righteous by faith - can we also be godly by faith?

Righteousness is righteousness, as John explains in the 3rd chapter of his 1st letter. There aren’t more than one kind. God is pleased when, under grace, by the Spirt, we put to death the deeds of the flesh (Rom 8:12-14). This life of grace, Gods seed planted in us, begins with faith as we turn to Him now for righteousness, not to ourselves.