Counted Righteous
A Riddle for the Logical Mind
Three verses. One logical answer. Can you find it?
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Deuteronomy 6:25 (KJV) And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD [Yahuah] our God, as he hath commanded us.
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Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV) The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
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1 John 3:7 (KJV) Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
Read all three. Lay them side by side. What must be true?
Revelation says what the bride wears.
Revelation 19:8 (KJV) And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
- Doing the commandments "shall be our righteousness." — Deuteronomy 6:25
- The righteousness of the righteous is upon him. — Ezekiel 18:20
- He that does righteousness is righteous. — 1 John 3:7
Righteousness is walked, not transferred.
Why It Matters
The church teaches that Messiah's righteousness is credited to the believer's account, so that Yahuah sees His obedience instead of theirs. Moses defined righteousness as something done: "it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments" (Deuteronomy 6:25). Ezekiel forbids transfer in either direction: "the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him" (Ezekiel 18:20). John warns, "let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous" (1 John 3:7). He even says "let no man deceive you" first, as if he saw the teaching coming.
Two things must be kept distinct. Belief is counted for righteousness at entry. Abraham "believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). The blood pays the debt "for the remission of sins that are past" (Romans 3:25). That is pardon, and it is free. What Scripture does not teach is that Messiah's lifetime of obedience is then laid over the believer's life like a covering, so that his own conduct no longer counts. Forgiveness of the past is not a substitute for the walk ahead.
The covering doctrine came out of the Reformation. Reformed teachers spoke of the "active obedience" of Messiah imputed to believers. The Westminster Confession (1646) set it in writing. Its own critics have long called it a legal fiction: Yahuah declaring true what He knows is not.
This matters because it makes the believer's conduct invisible. If Yahuah sees only the Son's obedience, nothing the believer does or fails to do changes the record. Scripture says the opposite at every judgment scene. The dead are judged "according to their works" (Revelation 20:12). The returning Messiah brings His reward "to give every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation 22:12).
Revelation also shows what the bride wears. To her "was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8). The Greek is dikaiomata, righteous acts. The garment is granted by favor, and it is woven from her own deeds.