FILTHY RAGS: GOD VALUES RIGHTEOUS DEEDS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Filthy Rags
a) The statement, "All our righteousness is like filthy rags", is found in the middle of a Biblical poem in Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4-9). The saying has caused a deep struggle in many hearts. Does the statement mean that it's pointless to do righteous deeds and they have no value in God's eyes? No, it doesn’t.
b) We put the "filthy rags" statement into context, looking at other statements in Isaiah to see that true righteousness is not "filthy rags".
2. God Values Righteous Deeds
a) God names some of the deeds he delights in: "...to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked to clothe him..." (Isaiah 58:7). That's doing what God values, not what God despises as filthy rags.
b) In the book of Revelation, the bride of Christ was "given fine linen in which to clothe herself, linen bright and clean." What a contrast to filthy rags! And what does this fine linen represent? "The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Revelation 19:7-9).
c) So the Lord’s response is positive to a humble and upright person, zealous for the way of the Lord. God has covenanted through Christ that "sin shall be taken away" (Isaiah 27:9, Romans 11:26). When God by his grace, and by the virtue of Christ and his sacrifice, bestows his gift of forgiveness on those who obey him, then God has made them righteous. They should not then say, "All our righteousness is like filthy rags" but rather "I am honored in the sight of the Lord and God is my strength" (Isaiah 49:5).
The End ...
1. Filthy Rags a) The statement, "All our righteousness is like filthy rags", is found in the middle of a Biblical poem in Isaiah (Isaiah 64:4-9). The saying has caused a deep struggle in many hearts. Does the statement mean that it's pointless to do righteous deeds and they have no value in God's eyes? No, it doesn’t.
b) We put the "filthy rags" statement into context, looking at other statements in Isaiah to see that true righteousness is not "filthy rags".
2. God Values Righteous Deeds
a) God names some of the deeds he delights in: "...to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked to clothe him..." (Isaiah 58:7). That's doing what God values, not what God despises as filthy rags.
b) In the book of Revelation, the bride of Christ was "given fine linen in which to clothe herself, linen bright and clean." What a contrast to filthy rags! And what does this fine linen represent? "The fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints" (Revelation 19:7-9).
c) So the Lord’s response is positive to a humble and upright person, zealous for the way of the Lord. God has covenanted through Christ that "sin shall be taken away" (Isaiah 27:9, Romans 11:26). When God by his grace, and by the virtue of Christ and his sacrifice, bestows his gift of forgiveness on those who obey him, then God has made them righteous. They should not then say, "All our righteousness is like filthy rags" but rather "I am honored in the sight of the Lord and God is my strength" (Isaiah 49:5).
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