"Salvation is of the LORD." -Jonah 2:9

"The salvation of the righteous is of the LORD, He is their strength in the time of trouble."   -Psalm 37:39 [KJV] We may say of righteousness, as Job says of wisdom, “Where shall righteousness be found? And where is the place of perfect righteousness? Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it to be found in the land of the living,”   (Job 28:12-13.) The patriarch says, It is not in me. The prophet says,  It is not in me. The apostle says,  It is not in me. The Lord saith, “All flesh hath corrupted his way , ”   (Genesis 6:12.) “There is none righteous, no not one , ”   (Psalm 14:3.)   Why then do the Scriptures speak so much of the righteous, if there be no such persons upon earth? Indeed there are. This is a point of great importance. The Lord settle it well in your heart and mine. We are guilty sinners in ourselves. We have no righteousness of our own. Yet, saith the Lord Jesus, the righteous one, “Their righteousness is of Me ,...

"And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men."   -Micah 5:7 [KJV] Observe, my soul, the character given of Jacob's seed, and bless the Lord for being included in the number.—For so saith the apostle, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."  Mark then their characters. They are a remnant. But they are God's remnant, being in covenant with God in Christ, and as such, distinguished and separated from the world. They are a people that dwell alone, and not reckoned among the nations.   They are in the midst of many people, but belong to none of them. For though living in the world, they are not of the world, but chosen out of the world . They are, moreover, as a dew from the Lord. Beautiful resemblance! For as the dew is from heaven, so believers in Christ are born f...

" 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 ."  -Matthew 5:20 [KJV] There are three kinds of righteousness, or at least three kinds of righteousness which bear that name. There is inherent righteousness, of which we have none. There is imputed righteousness, which is all our justification. And there is imparted righteousness, when God the Spirit makes us new creatures, and raises up in the heart that "new man, which after God"   (that is, "after the image of God" ) "is created in righteousness and true holiness."   When the Lord, therefore, said, "Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven , "  He did not mean only an external righteousness wrought out by His obedience to the law for them, but an internal...