Why Having a Proper Understanding of Righteousness Matters Just as Much Today as in 1517
Righteousness
Throughout the Bible, God talks about “righteousness” and what it means to be and do righteousness. Over the years, as sinful man has read and taught the Bible, what Martin Luther called the opinio legis, or the opinion of the law, rose in humanity to say, “Doing good and being righteous is all about what humanity must do to make itself right with God. We can do what God requires with God’s help and enough effort.”
False teachers, past and present, turn God’s grace into an enabling power that allows humans to work their way through righteous acts and obedience to commandments toward a perfect and holy God.
Today, we will look at what God’s word properly has to say about two distinct kinds of righteousness. As we learn about why understanding the two kinds of righteousness matters, we will examine the following:
- What the false teachers in Luther’s Day taught about righteousness
- What the false teachers in Mormonism teach about righteousness
- What the Bible teaches about the two kinds of righteousness
- How to talk about the two kinds of righteousness in our witness to Mormons
This conversation on righteousness is a bonus episode for the webinar series, The 4 Key Biblical Concepts and Law & Gospel in Witnessing.