It would be difficult to find
more than a few folks who would confess that they have never
sinned or committed transgressions either against God or their fellow
man. Yet it is equally as difficult
to find any who understand the depths of the depravity of every
human being by nature and choice. Usually when most Bible teachers
and scholars look at the condition of men in the days preceding
the flood, they immediately consider that these whom the Lord determined
to destroy in the flood were great sinners above what men
are today. Yet the reality is that the wickedness
of men is not any different in those men than in every son of
Adam in every age. God sees all men in the same
condition in all ages, and none are more acceptable in His sight
by the deeds or non-deeds of their flesh than any of those
who perished when those waters covered the earth. The scripture
knows of no relative righteousness when it says, as it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. The man who imagines
that this scripture is not speaking of himself is indeed blind and
full of self-righteousness. The truth is that every man born
of woman is worthy of destruction. There is not one shred of righteousness
in any one of us, and apart from the grace and mercy of God, we
should every one be utterly destroyed. Many will try to tell us that
the Lord saw Noah as righteous because of his righteous deeds
which he performed. The reality is that the righteousness
which the Lord saw when he looked at Noah or Lot was not theirs
at all, but rather the righteousness of the one who is accepted in
his sight, even Jesus Christ, the righteous. For we read of
the source of Noah's righteousness in Genesis 6, 8, but Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. The only difference between Noah
and the other men of his generation was God's sovereign grace. The
Lord would demonstrate His love for His elect bride in the salvation
of Noah while the world perished to demonstrate His judgment upon
all flesh. Unfortunately, many who claim
to believe in salvation by grace nonetheless try to compare the
deeds of sinful flesh in a relative fashion in order to make a case
for receiving blessings from the hand of God. In this error,
they judge some to be relatively good compared to others. and
thereby form a basis upon which they believe the mercies of God
are visited upon sinful men. This sinful flesh will never
change nor improve in this present world, but shall continually
prove the necessity of grace for the blessings of salvation.
For who maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? The men of this world will continually
seek to judge their own righteousness relative to others. and take
comfort that they have not committed mass murder, robbed banks, cut
off people's heads, or molested children. Yet relative to the
only standard of righteousness which is accepted in the courts
of heaven, even the very best and most moral individual is
false and full of corruption. God does not judge men according
to some relative comparison with the supposed merits or obvious
faults of other men. Neither is a man considered a
law keeper because he has been faithful to adhere to a portion
of it. God judgeth righteous judgment,
and no one can be said to be righteous who is not found righteous
by the only standard which is accepted in the heavens and demonstrated
in the earth. This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the salvation of God. And anyone not found hidden
in him by the grace of a sovereign God shall indeed be swept away,
regardless of their supposed safety in their refuge of lies,
which would cause them to think more highly of themselves compared
to others. The self-righteous man assumes
that his faith or good deeds, relative to the dregs of society,
will benefit him in some fashion in the day of judgment. and he
fully expects to plead his case before God, while the man who
is convinced of his own sinful state puts his hand upon his
mouth and recognizes that he has no hope apart from the grace
of God which imputes the righteousness of Christ to his account. Do
you stand in the righteousness of Christ alone? If you would
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