Righteousness a Choice?
There is the engrafted righteousness of Christ through His atonement on our behalf.
Then there is the act of righteous living which is a daily choice; yet, a choice we would not desire to make or be able to make without the grace of God in our lives.
This is a hard topic that most people get confused over.
To answer a question here…
“Pride is what makes them think it is their choice and their will, right?”
I believe more than dealing with pride we are dealing with peoples misunderstanding and confusion over how to communicate what they are sensing and feeling on this issue. As I said it is not easy. Most people don’t deny it takes the grace of God to live a godly life, they also know they need to make a choice to be obedient to God and God’s Word in order to allow that godly life to manifest, hence, their reason for referring to it as a choice. I think they do understand that God is behind the choice and the desire but they don’t communicate that well. Then there is that much smaller percentage with whom it is pride and living righteously is more an act of the flesh brought about by self-will instead of an act of obedience brought about by love for God and through His grace.