Epi your ignorance is showing once again, here. I bet you never read my post for understanding when I spoke of the act of repentance that is the right thing to do under discipline and maybe duress, with humility and love, that leads us back or returns us back into a state of righteousness once more.
The fact that we have to or are compelled to repent means we are out of bounds in righteousness with God at that time. Through faith and love and adoration and 'fear' of God we repent. The Spirit revealed this to us. If we do not repent, then our works are not considered righteous at all no matter how we continue to love our neighbor until we do repent of err. Repentance restored us back in the walk of righteousness. So it is ridiculous to believe that repentance, the necessary act that causes faithful restoration is a righteous work in itself.
Jesus calls the Laodiceans to repent...or else... The Ninevites were also called to repentance...and by a lesser one than Jesus. They indeed repented.
You need to do a study on righteousness, my friend. Get yourself a Septuagint bible....and see how early believers saw righteousness.
Believers of today are mainly indoctrinated, brainwashed...into a scheme that denies BOTH levels of righteousness..or ALL righteousness as Jesus says.
Repentance is a gift....into the higher walk. But repentance is also
a responsibility that brings life out of death.
There is a righteousness that is OUR responsibility. Even a child is known by his ways.
You need a lot of instruction on this ....take your time.
Its like saying to the teacher who has just disciplined a student and is now saying apologize and all will be forgiven. And this student then stands up and publicly apologizes and maybe afraid of repercussions otherwise, and then also say in the same breath, see I did a good deed and the right thing by apologizing so I'm all good with you now. So you believe that this discipled student was righteous by having to apologize under duress and of potential negative repercussions? I think not at all. This just restores their faith and relationship with the teacher, and then from that point on their work and attitude can be considers again to be pleasing to the teacher - righteous if you will.
I cannot really make it clearer for you.
You are characterizing what righteousness is and isn't. Because you only know your own situation doesn't mean that others are just like you...or what you've experienced.
So you understand
a false righteousness. That makes you think you know what righteousness is???
To the pure, all is pure. But to the filthy all is filthy.