[30] "What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; [31] but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. [32] Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone."
Paul sums up nicely the difference between faith and religion, for religion is what Israel practiced - works based righteousness. Religion does not lead to righteousness, nor can it. It is only through faith that true righteousness is available to us. If works (religion) could achieve righteousness, Christ would not have needed to come and offer Himself and perfectly fulfill the requirements of the law. Paul says earlier, "...no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Rom 3:20) All the Law and works did was make us aware of our sin and our own inability to achieve righteousness.
If this is the case, if our own works (religion) are unable to earn for us righteousness, why would we think that they count, or earn for us anything, now that we have experienced salvation? Our sins are all forgiven in Christ, by His sacrifice, not ever by our actions. It is through faith in Him that we are considered righteous, because as we come under His blood (which purchases our forgiveness) His righteousness gets applied to us (Heb. 9:22). It is never our actions, but always His that achieves our righteousness. This is the message of grace. It is through faith in Him that His sacrifice is applied to our lives, and we become hidden in Him (Col. 3:3)
Thus, when the Father looks at us, He sees Jesus' righteousness applied to our lives, and we are righteous in His sight. This never changes. We don't become more righteous because of our works, move favored in His sight because of our sacrifices or good deeds. When the Father looks at us, He sees us for who we are in Christ, righteous. In other words, He doesn't see our sins, He sees Jesus sacrifice. That is just mind-blowing. This is the reason that God uses sinners, because He doesn't see them as sinners. He sees them for who they are in Christ, His righteous children (2 Cor 5:21)
Concerning religion and works, an analogy that just popped into my head is one of pole-vaulting (I used to do that in my younger days). It is like this - Jesus qualified us and His best is applied to our lives. It is as if He jumped 100ft. (attained righteousness) and we all get the same jump height assigned to us in the record books. Yet, somehow we believe that by doing works (religion), jumping our little 15ft. jumps, somehow we achieve something more than what Jesus already did for us. Paul writes about this thinking in his letter to the Galatians (Chap. 3-5). He even calls them foolish for trying to attain their goal (righteousness) by human effort (Gal 3:3). If we have already been awarded 100ft as our jump height, why do we keep trying to earn the right to claim that height? Or if we have already been rewarded with Jesus righteousness, why do we keep trying to earn it through our works?
Lest we get carried away, this does not negate the effects of sin in our lives, nor the call to purity in our lives. The point of all of that is that we are called to be like Him, through relationship with Him. The more we know Him and relate with Him, the more we see areas in our lives where we aren't like Him, or see that we are doing things that are apart from His will and purpose. This is through relationship, entered into through faith. Our lives should be lived in such a way to show gratitude for this incredible gift of grace and mercy, and in relationship with the one who gave these gifts. The Lord doesn't want to an anonymous donor, He wants relationship with us all. It is in the place of relationship that we are encouraged by Him to change the way we think about ourselves and the way we act, (repentance) to enable us to experience the optimal joy and life available to us. He so much desires relationship with us that He empowers us through the Holy Spirit, and makes His dwelling with us.
Let us embrace the Lord, this awesome gift (salvation) that He has purchased for us through His blood, and believe through faith that we are seen as righteous in the Father's eyes. This really is the Good News, we have been redeemed and set free all by the works of Jesus. We can cease our striving through works and instead embrace relationship with the One who loves us, and in whom we are hidden. We are God's righteous ones, and that is how He sees us.
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