IS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS FILTHY RAGS? Article 5- April, 2013
by: Fay Boukngiht
Now, before I get started on this topic, let me say this first, many do not misunderstand the Word of God because they don’t keep it simple. They want to inject words and things where words should not be injected, and take out words to fit their purpose. This is what confuses people who are trying to understand the scriptures. The Bible actually lets us know that we are not to add nor take away from His Word. But it also tells us that we must divide, or cut the word. In other words, we must consider all the scriptures on a topic in order to get to the truth. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).
Taking scriptures out of context is running rampant in this modern society. Many want the scriptures to fit their lifestyles instead of their lifestyles fitting the scriptures. They have their own motives for twisting the truth. If you want to understand the scriptures, don’t take anyone’s word for truth, study it for yourself. Many preachers also twist the scriptures for their own purposes. Many times, they don’t understand the Bible themselves. Therefore, if you believe something just because your pastor, teacher, and/or another person said it, doesn’t necessarily make it the truth. If it is not the truth, this is false doctrine and/or teaching. The scriptures tell us to beware of these false teachers.
It seems those who teach and preach “Once Saved Always Saved” loves to misinterpret the scriptures we will be talking about in this article. In my opinion, this teaching is one of the deadliest I’ve ever heard. It can lead one to believe they are saved even though they are in a backslidden state. However, this is not my study for this article. We will do that one another time.
In studying all topics, we must consider who is quoting the scriptures, for what purpose, who do the scripture(s) pertain to, are they saved, unsaved, or in a backslidden state, and etc.
Since we are studying about righteousness, what exactly does the word mean? The Greek word for righteous is dik-ah-yos-oo-nay - a state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God, the doctrine concerning the way in which many may attain a state approved of God, integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking. The Hebrew word for righteous is tsaw-dak which means just, cleansed, clear ourselves, righteousness – to be righteous, be in the right, be justified, be just. The Webster’s Dictionary says free from guilt or sin. Now that we know what the word means, let’s continue.
The word(s) righteous and righteousness appears approximately 558 times in the Bible (158 – N.T. and 400 in O.T.). Even though this word is throughout the old and new testaments, it appears to me that this is one of the most misunderstood topics in the Bible. I hear so many ministers teach and preach on this and they are simply teaching untruths. I believe they do not understand because they are not dividing the scriptures, therefore, they become confused and don’t know what they are talking about. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Now let’s get down to the crux of the matter of this study. The prophet, Isaiah, made the following statement in the book of Isaiah. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6 ).
Now, if you take this scripture alone and read no more about what Isaiah is saying, you could assume that we are all unclean, the sinners and the Christians, and we are as filthy rags. However, your assumptions would be leading you to a lie because you failed to read the rest of the scriptures. However, this is what I hear constantly from hundreds and hundreds of ministers. This is probably one of the most quoted scriptures of all time, however, misinterpreted. That is sad.
Now, let’s read the following scripture, v. 7: “And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities” (Isaiah 64:7). Do you see how easily scriptures may be taken out of context and lead one to believe a non-truth?
The above scriptures are basically saying that all have become unclean, meaning that they were once clean, and that their righteous acts were like filthy rags. In other words, their acts of righteousness were not good at all, but evil, dirty and filthy. When the winds came they were caught up in evil, not good. No one was calling on God, and, therefore, God had hidden his face from them because of their sins.
Now to me, this is fairly simple. However there is also much more to be read in scriptures regarding Isaiah’s words. Please read all of Isaiah and get a background on Israel. Israel was once righteous, but had backslidden. They had become filthy in their sin. Therefore these scriptures pertain to a backslidden Israel, not those who were still living for God.
Isaiah was a prophet who wrote the book of Isaiah. He was the son of Amoz, a citizen of Jerusalem, and a trusted advisor of King Hesekiah. During his days, there was a long succession of ungodly kings and Israel’s faith had dwindled down to nothing, therefore, this was their downfall. Even Judah followed Israel’s example of apostasy and looked to pagans for deliverance instead of God, Jehovah. Idol worship was all over the place.
One might say, well why was Isaiah including himself in this prayer? Had he backslidden, also? The answer is, no, he had not. He was making an appeal to God on behalf of his people, a nation. (See Matthew 23 if you want to read about other groups of people who appeared to be righteous (scribes and Pharisees) but they were sinners. “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matthew 23:28).
I am just noting several scriptures below:
“How is the faithful city become an harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers” (Isaiah 1:21).
“The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves” (Isaiah 3:29).
(Please read the entire book of Isaiah so that you will understand who the filthy rags scriptures were really for.)
Now, having said all that, where does that leave you and me. If someone ever tells you, as a true Christian of God, that your righteousness is but as filthy rags, it is a lie. Good and evil cannot coincide together. You serve God or Satan. You cannot serve both at the same time.
When you are saved, you become righteous. God created a miracle in your life through the Holy Spirit by regeneration. “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11). When one becomes born again, you do not bear fruit of nastiness or evilness, but of righteousness.
Some teach and preach that we are still sinners, but that the grace of God looks over these sins. That is a lie, a false teaching and an incorrect one. The Bible clearly does not teach this. One does not remain in his filthy rags. You are a new man. The old filthy ragged creature is dead to his sins. Righteousness and sinful filthy rags cannot abide in one body together. One’s got to go. Sometimes I wonder where theologians get this stuff. They simply do not have a clear understanding of scriptures.
Satan would like for you to believe that you cannot be righteous. That you cannot have holiness, therefore, you cannot be holy. As you know, he really is the father of lies.
I will quote a few scriptures on the word righteous(ness). Time nor space will permit me to quote them all. Read for yourselves in the Old and New Testaments. They really speak for themselves:
“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).
“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:43).
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).
“And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6).
“And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked” (Genesis 18:23).
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
Now, my words to you as a fellow Christian is this, please do not be mislead into believing that you are not righteous. The Holy Spirit led John to writing about this very issue. He knew there would be those who would teach us that we could not live a righteous life, but God knew better. “Little children, let no man deceive you he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 John 3:7). We are not Christians saved in sin, we are Christians same from sin. We are not sinning Christians, but righteous Christians. I am so proud that by the obedience of Jesus Christ, in Him we are truly made righteous.
If you are reading this article and you are not saved, please consider the following scriptures:
“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:5-6).
“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11).
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the fact of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
It is not God’s desire that any should perish. God loved you so much that He gave His only son for you so that you could have a new life in Christ. Please make that decision before it’s too late. If you would like to be saved, call on the Lord and repent and believe that He will save you. Can you imagine someone loving you so much that He even sent His son to die on a cross? It’s true, the bible says it. He loves you and wants you to live a righteous life, not a sinful life. Click on the link below, “How to Be Saved”. This will help you. Also, if you should have any questions regarding any biblical issues, please send your e-mails to me via the Contact Page.
/how-to-be-saved.html
Taking scriptures out of context is running rampant in this modern society. Many want the scriptures to fit their lifestyles instead of their lifestyles fitting the scriptures. They have their own motives for twisting the truth. If you want to understand the scriptures, don’t take anyone’s word for truth, study it for yourself. Many preachers also twist the scriptures for their own purposes. Many times, they don’t understand the Bible themselves. Therefore, if you believe something just because your pastor, teacher, and/or another person said it, doesn’t necessarily make it the truth. If it is not the truth, this is false doctrine and/or teaching. The scriptures tell us to beware of these false teachers.
It seems those who teach and preach “Once Saved Always Saved” loves to misinterpret the scriptures we will be talking about in this article. In my opinion, this teaching is one of the deadliest I’ve ever heard. It can lead one to believe they are saved even though they are in a backslidden state. However, this is not my study for this article. We will do that one another time.
In studying all topics, we must consider who is quoting the scriptures, for what purpose, who do the scripture(s) pertain to, are they saved, unsaved, or in a backslidden state, and etc.
Since we are studying about righteousness, what exactly does the word mean? The Greek word for righteous is dik-ah-yos-oo-nay - a state of him who is as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God, the doctrine concerning the way in which many may attain a state approved of God, integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking. The Hebrew word for righteous is tsaw-dak which means just, cleansed, clear ourselves, righteousness – to be righteous, be in the right, be justified, be just. The Webster’s Dictionary says free from guilt or sin. Now that we know what the word means, let’s continue.
The word(s) righteous and righteousness appears approximately 558 times in the Bible (158 – N.T. and 400 in O.T.). Even though this word is throughout the old and new testaments, it appears to me that this is one of the most misunderstood topics in the Bible. I hear so many ministers teach and preach on this and they are simply teaching untruths. I believe they do not understand because they are not dividing the scriptures, therefore, they become confused and don’t know what they are talking about. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Now let’s get down to the crux of the matter of this study. The prophet, Isaiah, made the following statement in the book of Isaiah. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6 ).
Now, if you take this scripture alone and read no more about what Isaiah is saying, you could assume that we are all unclean, the sinners and the Christians, and we are as filthy rags. However, your assumptions would be leading you to a lie because you failed to read the rest of the scriptures. However, this is what I hear constantly from hundreds and hundreds of ministers. This is probably one of the most quoted scriptures of all time, however, misinterpreted. That is sad.
Now, let’s read the following scripture, v. 7: “And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities” (Isaiah 64:7). Do you see how easily scriptures may be taken out of context and lead one to believe a non-truth?
The above scriptures are basically saying that all have become unclean, meaning that they were once clean, and that their righteous acts were like filthy rags. In other words, their acts of righteousness were not good at all, but evil, dirty and filthy. When the winds came they were caught up in evil, not good. No one was calling on God, and, therefore, God had hidden his face from them because of their sins.
Now to me, this is fairly simple. However there is also much more to be read in scriptures regarding Isaiah’s words. Please read all of Isaiah and get a background on Israel. Israel was once righteous, but had backslidden. They had become filthy in their sin. Therefore these scriptures pertain to a backslidden Israel, not those who were still living for God.
Isaiah was a prophet who wrote the book of Isaiah. He was the son of Amoz, a citizen of Jerusalem, and a trusted advisor of King Hesekiah. During his days, there was a long succession of ungodly kings and Israel’s faith had dwindled down to nothing, therefore, this was their downfall. Even Judah followed Israel’s example of apostasy and looked to pagans for deliverance instead of God, Jehovah. Idol worship was all over the place.
One might say, well why was Isaiah including himself in this prayer? Had he backslidden, also? The answer is, no, he had not. He was making an appeal to God on behalf of his people, a nation. (See Matthew 23 if you want to read about other groups of people who appeared to be righteous (scribes and Pharisees) but they were sinners. “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity" (Matthew 23:28).
I am just noting several scriptures below:
“How is the faithful city become an harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers” (Isaiah 1:21).
“The show of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves” (Isaiah 3:29).
(Please read the entire book of Isaiah so that you will understand who the filthy rags scriptures were really for.)
Now, having said all that, where does that leave you and me. If someone ever tells you, as a true Christian of God, that your righteousness is but as filthy rags, it is a lie. Good and evil cannot coincide together. You serve God or Satan. You cannot serve both at the same time.
When you are saved, you become righteous. God created a miracle in your life through the Holy Spirit by regeneration. “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11). When one becomes born again, you do not bear fruit of nastiness or evilness, but of righteousness.
Some teach and preach that we are still sinners, but that the grace of God looks over these sins. That is a lie, a false teaching and an incorrect one. The Bible clearly does not teach this. One does not remain in his filthy rags. You are a new man. The old filthy ragged creature is dead to his sins. Righteousness and sinful filthy rags cannot abide in one body together. One’s got to go. Sometimes I wonder where theologians get this stuff. They simply do not have a clear understanding of scriptures.
Satan would like for you to believe that you cannot be righteous. That you cannot have holiness, therefore, you cannot be holy. As you know, he really is the father of lies.
I will quote a few scriptures on the word righteous(ness). Time nor space will permit me to quote them all. Read for yourselves in the Old and New Testaments. They really speak for themselves:
“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).
“Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:43).
“And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).
“And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6).
“And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked” (Genesis 18:23).
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
Now, my words to you as a fellow Christian is this, please do not be mislead into believing that you are not righteous. The Holy Spirit led John to writing about this very issue. He knew there would be those who would teach us that we could not live a righteous life, but God knew better. “Little children, let no man deceive you he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous” (1 John 3:7). We are not Christians saved in sin, we are Christians same from sin. We are not sinning Christians, but righteous Christians. I am so proud that by the obedience of Jesus Christ, in Him we are truly made righteous.
If you are reading this article and you are not saved, please consider the following scriptures:
“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1:5-6).
“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11).
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the fact of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:12).
It is not God’s desire that any should perish. God loved you so much that He gave His only son for you so that you could have a new life in Christ. Please make that decision before it’s too late. If you would like to be saved, call on the Lord and repent and believe that He will save you. Can you imagine someone loving you so much that He even sent His son to die on a cross? It’s true, the bible says it. He loves you and wants you to live a righteous life, not a sinful life. Click on the link below, “How to Be Saved”. This will help you. Also, if you should have any questions regarding any biblical issues, please send your e-mails to me via the Contact Page.
/how-to-be-saved.html
