Inward RightnessInward rightness . . . is the decision and the settled intention, carried into practice, to become good, "righteous," on the inside—in the hidden dimensions of the self that make up human character—not just in action or outward behavior. This is what Jesus called going beyond the "goodness" characteristic of the "scribes (scholars) and the Pharisees." He said that "unless your goodness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of the heavens" (Matt. 5:20, paraphrase). "Entering the kingdom of the heavens," as here spoken of, is clearly not a matter of "making it into heaven" after death—though it takes care of that at the appropriate time. It is precisely a matter of being interactively engaged with the kingdom in your life now. That interaction is God's gift of himself to human beings elsewhere referred to as "the birth from above" (John 3:3, 5). You cannot earn this, but you do have to actively receive it. You do that by welcoming God into every dimension of your character and life, holding nothing back. It is to be total surrender. God is actually looking for people who will do this. He is seeking those who will worship him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23–24). It will take some time to overcome the habits of deceit and manipulation that are rooted in the inward person, heart, mind, body. But to know Christ in the kingdom of God we must abandon ourselves to a total transformation of who we are on the inside, to taking on the character of Christ through living with him day by day and hour by hour. Only that is trust in Christ. From Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge. Copyright © 2009 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers. |
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