All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

-Parallel verses:
James‬ ‭1:22‬
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James‬ ‭3:13‬
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
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Righteousness is achieved through obedience to God’s commands. Living the spiritual life right is achieved by modeling life after The One who created life and the purpose for it.

Think of a horse training for a great race, like the Kentucky Derby. This horse has all the ability, the lineage of great racers in the past, and the right nutrition and workout plans. But the horse has a master, the jockey. What would happen if this horse decided he knew more about horse racing than the jockey? Maybe he ignored the jockey’s instruction and studied the strategies himself; and then tried to implement these strategies in the race. This will not work. If the horse does not obey the jockey’s commands and follow his lead, they will not succeed. The jockey will likely be thrown off; the horse will go one way, and the jockey the other. One will push, while the other pulls back. They must be together and in sync to win the race.

It is the same with us and our relationship with God. He is our master and in charge of the decisions. He sees life from a different perspective. Just like a jockey sits above the horse and can see further out, so God sits above our lives and this world and can see strategies we are not even aware of. We only see a little ways ahead, like the horse.

Jockeys are also smarter than horses, because humans can reason and critically think. God is smarter than us because he created us and is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere at once. He is also not bound by time or space.

Obedience to him is the only really smart and winning move. When we humbly do God’s will, we are used by him and achieve amazing victories in life — victories that are out of our reach without God.

Lord, thank you for this passage that calls out those who pretend to know you and encourages me to obey you first. Obedience leads to relational closeness to you, which makes me righteous. Thank you for this truth!