“I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. “
What does it mean to be a Christian? You might get a wide range of answers depending on who you ask. Perhaps even more difficult, what does it mean to be connected to God? For Paul, connection with God was understood as strict obedience. He did everything right according to the Jewish Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament that were consider God’s law). He was so devout that he killed early Christians because Jesus was seen as a threat to the Jewish law.
Paul had a change of heart. (You can read more about it in Acts 9). He was righteous before, and Jesus had befriend a whole bunch of sinners. Jesus challenged religious leaders who were so strict about the law that they didn’t truly understand it. Ultimately, if you are all about following strict rules, then you are all about yourself. Your own effort matters and that’s it. (And you have a great excuse for judging everybody else who isn’t keeping up…)
God gave the Jewish people his perfect standards as a way to show them they couldn’t make it to him on their own. They needed a rescuer, which the Old Testament describes as the “Messiah.” This savior was going to make everything right. Some people like Paul (when he was named Saul) believed that following the law was the way to salvation. Jesus came along and said, “I am the way.” Now we have a choice: try to save ourselves or believe that Jesus is the way to God. When we have faith, it’s not about trying to be perfect in order to get God’s approval. It’s about sitting with my own brokenness. If I cry out for a savior in faith that Jesus is willing to save me, then that’s all the “righteousness” I can muster. Beyond that, I’m simply just desperate.