FILTHY RAGS

Over the years one passage of scripture that I have often heard misused and said to teach something that it really does not teach is found in Isaiah 64, specifically verse 6. There Isaiah wrote, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away."

This passage has been used by many to argue against the necessity of obedience to God's commands. They are falsely teaching that our obedience to the commandments of God is as 'filthy rags in the sight of God as far as the salvation of our soul is concerned. They teach that if we have to do anything at all in obedience to the Lord for the salvation of our souls that we are somehow trying to be saved by our "own righteousness"; but nothing could be further from the truth.

Let me state clearly so that there can be no misunderstanding-there is nothing a person can do to "place God in his or her debt" whereby He owes them salvation. But at the same time let me also state clearly so that there can be no misunderstanding-there is nothing in which God has greater delight than in man's obedience to His commandments.

John wrote in 3 John 4, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." That is obedience! In this tract I want to demonstrate the importance of obedience and show that obedience to God's commands is not what Isaiah was referring to when he spoke of "all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

In 1 Samuel 15:1-3, we find, "Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."

That command was pretty clear. The charge was to "utterly destroy all that they have"", and that included the people, men and women, children and infants. But it is apparent that the people thought they could do something better and more pleasing to God than the thing that He had commanded. So we find this exchange between Saul and Samuel after the battle with the Amalekites was completed. Verses 13-15 of the same chapter tell us, "And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed"

What was the response to this? What did Samuel say? Consider now verses 22 & 23. "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king" How is it that anyone can read Samuel's statement to Saul and then teach that obedience to God's word is as 'filthy rags" in the sight of God?

My friends, sometimes when the word "righteousness" is used in the Bible it means the personal attribute of being righteous, good, and just. Jesus used the word in that sense in Matthew 5:20, when He said, "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." What the Lord was saying was that His disciples must possess the personal attribute of righteousness to a greater degree than the scribes and Pharisees possessed it, or they would not enter into the kingdom that He had come to establish and that He would establish on the first Pentecost after His resurrection that we read about in Acts 2.

It is important to understand that righteousness as a quality or attribute can be obtained by you and me only by doing that which the Lord has commanded-only by doing that which is right in the eyes of the Lord. God doesn't pretend. Do you recall what John wrote in 1 John 3:7? He wrote, "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."

The statement is made concerning Zacharias and Elisabeth, the father and mother of John the Baptist, that "They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6).

Understand that their righteousness as a quality of character consisted in their "walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless."

Sometimes in the scriptures we will find "God's righteousness" being used of God's system or plan whereby men are made righteous; and we find "man's righteousness" being used of man's own system or plan whereby he ignores God's plan and God's wisdom and tries to become righteous on his own through his own methods. Let me give an example of this. In Romans 10: 1-3, we read, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God"

Think carefully about this passage. The Jews were not ignorant of God's personal righteousness, were they? They knew that God was righteous. But they were ignorant of God's plan whereby men are made righteous in the eyes of the Lord, and it is that plan that they would not submit themselves to. So what did they do? They came up with their own system-trying to be righteous in their own way-and that will not work.

Friends, David wrote in Psalm 119:172, "My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness." All the commandments of God constitute His plan for making man righteous. If we obey the commandments of the Lord-which for us today are found in the New Testament-we are subjecting ourselves to His righteousness and that is the only way we can be saved.

It is so important that we understand that when King Saul stopped the battle against the Amalekites before all were destroyed, and kept back the best of the sheep and oxen for a sacrifice, he was turning from God's righteousness and seeking to establish his own. Man's plan for righteousness in that case called for animal sacrifice that was not included in God's plan. Therefore, and understand this-that sacrifice that God had not authorized was "as filthy rags" in His sight!

On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the people asked, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter told them to obey God's commandments, but he did not tell them to present filthy rags to the Lord; because obedience to the Lord is not "filthy rags"! Peter told those sinners to "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." In no other way could they submit to God's righteousness.

When they did repent and were baptized for the remission of their sins, God was pleased and added them to the church. He had greater delight in their repentance and baptism which He had commanded them to do, than He would have had if they had "tried to pray through", or merely "asked the Lord to come into their hearts as their personal Savior", or any other thing that they had not been commanded to do.

My friends, understand this, when people today turn away from the commandments of God as stated by Peter in Acts 2:38, and do things which the Lord has not commanded folks to do to have the remission of sins, (like asking Him to come into their hearts as their personal Savior), they are not subjecting themselves to God's righteousness. They are, like the Jews of Romans 10, seeking to establish their own righteousness and I submit to you that that is as "filthy rags" in the sight of God.

At this point I think it would be good to go back to Isaiah 64, and this time look not only at verse 6, but at verse 7 as well. I believe that we will be able to see that to read this passage and come away with the idea that God compares the obedience to His commands to 'filthy rags" is quite a stretch of the imagination and is just plain wrong.

The two verses say, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities, like the wind have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."

Isn't it pretty easy to see that the people of whom Isaiah was speaking were NOT doing what God had commanded them to do? Their iniquities, like the wind, had taken them away from the things God had commanded. They were not calling on His name as they had been ordered to do; they were not stirring up themselves to take hold of God as He had commanded. The things to which they turned were of their own mind and their own making, and not the mind of God. There are the 'filthy rags", and not obedience to God's commands.

In the book of Hebrews, chapter 5: 8 & 9, we find, "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered, and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him." If obedience to the commandments of God is what Isaiah meant by the term "filthy rags'", as so many who believe that all that is necessary for salvation is belief teach, this passage could be read, "Though He were a Son, yet learned He filthy rags by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that present filthy rags."

Let us consider yet another passage. If obedience to the commands of the Gospel of Christ is "filthy rags", everyone who does not present "filthy rags" at the return of Jesus is going to be punished with everlasting destruction. In 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 7-9, Paul wrote, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." Who is going to be punished at the return of the Lord? Those who do not OBEY the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

All need to consider this point very seriously. Since the Bible teaches that we are saved by God's righteousness, and not by man's righteousness, it is very important that we all ask ourselves the following question-DO I HAVE THE AUTHORITY OF GOD'S WORD FOR ALL I DO RELIGIOUSLY, OR DOES WHAT I DO COME FROM THE DOCTRINES AND PRECEPTS OF MEN? If God has not authorized your religious practices in His word, they are of an authority no higher than that of men; they are vain, they are man's righteousness, they are as "filthy rags".

Obey the Lord Jesus Christ.