Righteousness From God

One night, after some heavy praying, I lay down, determined to get a couple hours of sleep. Once in a deep slumber I felt as if someone was nudging me awake. Slowly I opened my eyes to find myself in an odd room with big square candles in the ceiling tiles. I was sitting at a table with a man who calls himself Christian Smith. It seemed as if I was a wraith-like figure and Mr. Smith could not see me. He started talking about a subject that interested me highly; it was on a study he was doing on the teenage population in America. He began by saying that many of them were inflicted with a lifestyle ruled by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. The main doctrinal values of MTD are to lead a happy life, and to call on God when he is needed. God puts the world into motion, and then backs off to let us do what we want with our lives. I believe this is total perversion and misapplication of the meaning to be a Christian. You do not focus on yourself, how you feel about your actions, and how your actions are perceived by others. And so a man who has not the love of God in his heart may do moral actions. but if you depend on morality, if you make a Christ of it, and go about it to establish a righteousness of your own, and think your morality will recommend you to God, my dear friends, you are building upon a rotten foundation, you will find yourselves mistaken, and that the kingdom of God is not in your hearts. (CH) If one does all that he does for his own satisfaction and for the adoration of others, then it is all in vain because we have no righteousness of our own (CH), we get it wholly from God who gives of it to those who put their trust and faith in him. Mr. Smith had some fascinating things to say on the subject of American teenagers; if all of these values were held by the majority of American teenagers, I am not sure of how well off our future generations will be.