My assertions are based on God's word (Ephesians 2:1, 2 Corinthians 5:14, Jeremiah 17:9).
Again, you are only making assertions, and proving that you can quote Scriptures that do not prove what you claim they prove.
Whether the righteousness of faith produces salvation or not, I contend that the only genuine righteousness is the righteousness which is of God by faith.
Yes, you've put yourself in the absurd position of claiming that all good things that unbelievers do are not authentic righteousness. And yet I showed you how God viewed Cornelius, as a just man--a man of genuine good works. He needed Salvation, but he had indeed been a man of genuine good works. Naaman was in the same category--needing to know the true God, and yet a man of virtue and integrity.
The reason why it didn't save was because the *righteousness* that is produced by the law--genuine or not--is as filthy menstrual rags.
As I told you, that is a false interpretation of what was said. It was speaking of hypocritical external observances of the Law, which were indeed filthy and inadequate covering. There are many places in Scriptures where the righteousness of the Law is viewed as wonderful and genuine. I gave you Psalm 119, Jesus' respect for observance of the Law, Paul's respect for the purpose of the Law, etc.
Romans 7:18 shows us clearly that not even *saved* flesh has righteousness in it.
You do, in fact, ignore God's word. God told Cain he could overcome his temptation to murder his brother, and that is God's word. You nullify what is said to assert your own belief that contradicts this. You claim that despite what God said Cain could do, he actually couldn't do!
Rom 7.18 does not say that "saved flesh has no righteousness in it."
Rom 7.18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
It is saying that good does not dwell in the sinful nature. It isn't saying that good does not dwell in the person, in whom the sinful nature dwells. Not the same thing. People, who have the sin nature, can still do good. Even Christians still have the sin nature, but can do good!
I am not ignoring the topical context. God loves people period because He is love, and not because of personal merit.
If God loves you because of personal merit, well, good for you....aren't you special.
On the contrary, God loves those who keep His commandments.
John 16.27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
This is how special *we all are,* when we love Jesus and believe in him and keep his words.
But somehow, I think that it is possible that this is what you actually believe; and cannot see the pride in such a proposition.
Paul did love Israel because they were his kindred according to the flesh (Romans 9:3).
But he did not love them out of partiality, and out of racial pride, or national pride. He loved them as a common spiritual family, who shared the same spiritual values.
No, you have produced a straw man argument here. I do not subscribe to Marcion's teaching....I do not believe that the law is evil. What I am saying is that in seeking to obey the righteousness of the law, the Jewish people were seeking to establish their own righteousness and were not submitting themselves unto the righteousness of the Lord (Romans 10:3).
You've said a lot more than that, brother! You said that nobody under the Law could produce righteousness. You referred to it as the "righteousness of the Law," without qualifying this as far as I can see? That is a pretty all-encompassing statement, unless you wish to add some qualification to it?
I am saying that the law cannot impart life (Galatians 3:21); and that neither can it produce any kind of genuine righteousness on the inside...it can only produce a righteousness that is on the outside.
There you go. You're saying the Law is basically worthless, and that its adherence can only produce evil. It is tantamount to what Marcion taught, that the Law was the product of an evil motive. It only produced evil in men!
Of this righteousness, Jesus spoke clearly:
Mat 23:25, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
On the outside, the scribes and the Pharisees were the most impeccably righteous; but inwardly their righteousness was as filthy rags.
This was true in Jesus' time, but it wasn't always that way. There were times when Israel was more righteous and obedient, and other times when they strayed. Jesus lived in a time of great apostasy in Israel--one in which they internalized their sin while expressing feigned righteousness on the outside. The fact it happened generally in Jesus' day did not mean it was always that way! That is the errant assumption you're making, and not what the Scriptures taught.
In fact, the Scriptures taught quite the opposite, that the Law was good and provided righteous standards that the people could indeed keep. The fact they could not obtain eternal life from it in no way prevented them from being obedient and from thereby keeping their relationship with God intact.
Mat 5:20, For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
That is a most absurd passage to quote, since in it Jesus is declaring that observance of the whole Law is what God expected and respected the most!
And Paul wrote,
Gal 2:21, I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Again, you have to understand Paul's shorthand way of describing "righteousness." In context he is referring to the righteousness that leads to eternal life. Most certainly righteousness came through obedience to the Law. To say otherwise is to basically discard the entire NT Law, much as the heretic Marcion did!
The only righteousness therefore that is genuine is the righteousness which is of God by faith (see Philippians 3:9).
This again is Paul's shorthand for "faith," referring to faith that leads to eternal life through Jesus. The righteousness that leads to eternal life comes by faith in Jesus. It is *not* saying that there is no righteousness under the Law or in non-Christians. And it is *not* saying there is no faith in God among pagans or among Christian cultists. It is only saying that faith in Christ alone produces the righteousness that merits eternal life. And it is because this righteousness is in partnership with the righteousness of Christ himself, who has given his Spirit to us.
Because the righteousness of law-keeping cannot save anyone and it is highly impeccable.
The Law had high standards, but there was mercy all through the Law! Sacrifices of mercy were offered under the Law to cover and to forgive sin, to keep God's covenant with Israel alive. It was highly useful, and did produce genuine righteousness. You fail to acknowledge this. You even quote a passage from Jesus in Matthew 5 that affirms that in the strongest possible way. Anybody who had been under the Law, who depreciated the Law in any way, would be considered less in the Kingdom of God!
I personally believe that if anyone has genuine righteousness, it is because they are saved...they have the righteousness of faith, and they are saved by grace through faith. The gift of God to them is the righteousness of God (Romans 5:17). It is an inward righteousness and not an outward impeccability. It is a heart regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. It is a cleansing on the inside that the law cannot ever bring about.
We can be righteous without being a Christian, and Israel could be righteous under the Law. I've proven this, and it is clear from personal experience. What God wanted was for us to live in a constant relationship with Him and with His righteousness. We do that by allowing God to change not just our behavior, but our whole nature, so that we want to practice His righteousness all the time. We have to want Him to change our ungodly heart.
I've made the many mistakes you're making in your theology. But I've spent years trying to iron them out so I can better communicate with the pagan world. If we don't say things right, we will drive them away. We have to acknowledge there is some good in them. Otherwise, God would never have saved them to start with!
It was God Himself who put some good in all men. We can draw upon that to draw them further to a constant relationship with God, in which there is eternal salvation.