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?
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?