In the midst of a world busy with achievements and self-proving, this question becomes very important: What actually makes someone righteous before God? Is it because of our good deeds? Regular worship? Or because we do not commit major sins?
This question arises not only from theological curiosity but from a longing to truly please God. Many people feel they must be “good enough” to be accepted by God. They live under pressure to be perfect, without fault, and fear failure. But the Bible gives a comforting answer.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). This verse overturns the logic of the world. We are justified not because of our efforts, but because of grace. We do not work to be accepted by God, but because we are already accepted, we work with joy.
Jesus affirms the same in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee felt righteous because of his religious deeds. But the tax collector came with humility and said, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” And Jesus said, “This man went home justified before God.”
What makes us righteous before God is not performance, but repentance. Not perfection, but surrender. Faith in Christ is the foundation of our justification. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This does not mean good deeds are unimportant. But good deeds are the fruit of faith, not the root of justification. A heart that has been saved will naturally want to live rightly, not to be saved, but because it has been saved.
Let us stop competing to earn God’s love, because that love is already available in Christ. What He seeks is a humble heart willing to believe. “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2).
So, when we ask, “What makes me righteous before God?”, the answer does not lie in ourselves, but in what Christ has done for us. That is the amazing grace.
