How can pure love for another manifest itself when I think that righteousness is something I produce by my power and effort?
As long as I believe that I am responsible for producing any good thing through my wisdom and strength, it will be impossible for me to not look down my nose at those who do put forth the same effort.
This is not God's will for me. It is not his will that I live inside the misery of despising others as I judge them as less diligent towards God than I am. This kind of judgement does not bring life to my soul. Rather, it only brings death.
This is why God must destroy all pride. This is why God must destroy all confidence in my flesh. I will only be able to love and rejoice in all men when I recognize that my righteousness is of him. As long as I believe that I do the will of God because I CHOOSE to do the will of God, it will be impossible to not despise those I perceive to not be doing the will of God as well as I.
This is why righteousness MUST be of God and only God. Righteousness can NEVER be something that I DO, rather, it can only be something that I am provided with from above. God must leave no room for me to boast over another, because you can't boast over another and love that other at the same time. And you can't have eternal life without loving others because ETERNAL LIFE and LOVING OTHERS is actually the same thing (it really is).
God must establish that righteousness is something that he alone provides for me. He must also establish that my confidence in his righteousness is also the product of his effort and wisdom. For if I CHOOSE to believe in the righteousness of God because he told me to, then even my belief in his righteousness will become a source of boasting. If the righteousness of God is something that I CHOSE to rely upon in obedience to a command from God, then I will still look down on those who do not trust in the righteousness of God as I do. And if this were to happen, the whole purpose of God providing me righteousness in the first place would be destroyed. God provides his children with righteousness to ensure that they have no room to judge one another (or boast over one another). But, if he does not also supply the faith in his righteousness that is needed, the one who trust in the righteousness of God can still boast in his TRUSTING. [Example: Look at me, I trust in the righteousness of God - but yuck, look at that person, they continue to try to please God through their own effort.] So, while it might be true that I trust in the righteousness of God, God's reason for providing me with that righteousness is nullified by MY decision to trust in it.
This is why God does not only provide righteousness, but for those who are to be saved, he also provides the "faith" to trust in the righteousness. Even though I am now very aware of God's provision of righteousness, the truth of the matter is, it is Jesus who trust in it on my behalf. As one who is married to Christ, I simply reap the rewards that are imparted to him through his own trust that he has in the righteousness of God. I trust in Christ, but Christ trust in God. As a result, I cannot boast in my TRUST in God's righteousness because he also provided me the means of trusting in that righteousness.
But wait... Can't I boast that I believe in Jesus? Nope - definitely not. My faith in Jesus is completely the work of God. By the power of God's spirit he has taught me of Christ. If it was not for the spirit of God working in me, I would know nothing of the righteousness of God and I would know nothing of Jesus believing of my behalf. It was God who placed in me a DESIRE to read the scripture (a book I honestly saw as quite dull), and it was God who (by his spirit in me) opened up my eyes to understand the scripture. So, because I know that I could not understand the role that Jesus plays in my salvation without God's help, I also have no place to boast in my faith towards Christ. My faith towards Christ is without doubt the result of God's faithfulness towards me. It is not of myself.
Because God is kind, he is faithfully destroying every area of pride. Because God is faithful, he is destroying my ability to boast over others. This is a most wonderful thing because it is allowing me to actually LIKE the others I share this world with instead of despising them as I look down on them from my mountain of pride. Though the work is not finished just yet, each and every day a new area of pride is revealed and destroyed. Eventually the work will be complete and nothing but LOVE towards others will remain. The death that comes with hate will be removed, and the LIFE the comes with LOVE will forever abound.
This is ALL the work of God! Do you hear that Mr.Pride? This is ALL the work of God! You Mr.Pride have no hope. The God who started this work in me will bring it to completion.
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Not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:9
For it is God which worketh in you both to WILL and to DO of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13
Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Philippians 1:6