The doctrine of the church (originating with Paul) is that any kind of righteous works of our own are repulsive to God, and they also don’t count for salvation. If you don’t believe the correct way like the Christians do, no amount of righteous works count in God’s eyes. If you don’t believe all the right things, confess all the right things and belong to the Christian religion, there is not enough good works that you could do to “get to heaven”. In fact, you could even be a good person all of your life and go to hell and be in anguishing constant unrelenting agony for an eternity! You’ve heard the old expression,
- “The path to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
The original idea is probably more like “good works” rather than “good intentions”, since you always hear that good works won’t get you into heaven. In fact, Paul is the one who says this in the New Testament. They use this verse in Isaiah, out of context as usual, to back up their horrendous doctrine:
- “…all our rigorousness are as filthy rags…” (Isa 64:6)
Your Righteousness is Filthy (Menstruous) Rags?
However, most people don’t take the time to read all the text around this verse to get it into it’s proper context. We’ll look at that later. But they use this one phrase to back up their Pauline doctrines and all the many other passages that have to do with righteousness: they just ignore it! The whole point, they say, is that “you can never do enough good works”, or be good enough to “be saved” and “get to heaven”.
If you don’t belong to Christianity or believe the way they do, then all your righteousness is like “filthy menstruous rags” and are worth nothing to God. You can sin all you want and you’ll still get to Heaven — if you believe. Of course, all this is based on the belief that Jesus is God, who only had one existence in which he was perfect and made the universal sacrifice for all men of all time which was an atonement for the sins of all men and only the blood of Jesus can take away sins and you can only be justified by the faith in Jesus Christ — never your own righteous works.
Therefore, if you believe in Jesus as God, then no matter how many sins you have, or how bad you are, it’s not a problem. All your sins are “under the blood” of Jesus. You can just sin all you want and have a great time, you’re saved and going to heaven no matter what you do.
Of course, you won’t get much reward, but what does it matter? You can have your cake and eat it too! All the blood Christ shed at Calvary covers all the bad you do and your sins are all forgiven.
But is all this really true?? First of all, Jesus was not God. Second, he was not perfect. Third, his sacrifice was not for the redemption of the world, but also to put an end to the “bloody sacrifices and feasts of the past” (Gospel of the Nazarenes 87:9).
Jesus did not do away with God’s law, but only repealed the parts of the law that were not of God, created by man. He did not come to destroy the law, but to revive an old one — the law of love. This law not only for man but all God’s creation, including the animals. That may sound ridiculous to you, but it’s really true. It is not a question of what is clean or unclean, but what is righteous or unrighteous, right or wrong, done in love or out of cruelty.
Putting Isaiah 64:6 into its correct context to get the right meaning
Back to Isaiah and the “filthy rags“. At the time the prophet was writing this Israel, Isaiah says was unrighteous and full of iniquity and God was punishing Israel for this. It says:
“Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.” (Isa 64:10)
When Isaiah said, “our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” he was referring to God’s anger against their sins. Even Israel’s former righteousnesses God would not honor since they had become sinful and “unclean”. The truth is that Israel was NOT righteous, and all their righteous works he likened to “filthy rags”, since they would not repent and make amends. Their righteous works were like filthy rags to God at that time. He was referring to their going through the motions without their heart being right towards God. Just like Jesus quoted Isaiah:
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Mk 7:6)
The prophet was not referring to our righteous works as filthy rags (unless hearts are not right with God, which is the case with many Christians). In fact, “white” is the color of the “righteousness of the saints” (Rev 19.8). It doesn’t say that the saints have the righteousness of Jesus, as Paul says:
“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Php 3:9)
This is where Christians get this idea that their own “righteousness” is like “filthy rags”. It’s because Paul preached against keeping the law, and against righteous works and against the Early Church and their leadership. He literally created a new and different religion based on doctrines that were completely contradictory to Jesus and his disciples’ teachings and frequently spoke against the leadership of Jesus’ church. For this reason Paul was rejected by the churches in Asia and at Jerusalem and was forced to flee with the protection of Roman soldiers to Italy where he lived out the rest of his days. So it’s not only about believing in Jesus, but also living a righteous life of righteous works that we do and our righteousness is not as “filthy rags” in the eyes of God when hearts are right with God.
It is all about living a righteous life and having one’s heart right with God
“Not by shedding innocent blood (of Jesus), therefore, but by living a righteous life, shall you find the peace of God. You call me the Messiah of God and you say well, for I am the way, the truth and the life.” (just the opposite of Paul’s teaching) (Gospel of the Nazirenes 75.11)
“Keep the commandments (of love). Love your God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the law and the prophets. And the sum of the law is this – Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you. Do you to others, what you want others to do to you.” (Gospel of the Nazirenes 75:13)
“Blessed are they who keep this law (of love), for God is manifested in all creatures. All creatures live in God, and God is hidden in them.” (Gospel of the Nazirenes 75:14)
But God does in no way consider our righteous works as “filthy rags“. This is a travesty of the truth. When you read the whole bible, you find it is just full of the promises that God has to those who are just and righteous. Our righteousness is not like filthy rags to God Here are a few verses, just from the book of Isaiah itself to show all the promises to the righteous:
“Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings” (Isa 3:10).
From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. (Isa 24:16)
“Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. (Isa 26:2)
“Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.” (Isa 41:2)
“…the righteous is taken away from the evil to come”.(Isa 57:1)
“Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” (Isa 60:21)
In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death. (Pro 12:28)