John 15:23 Commentary and Bible Study

They hated his holiness, righteousness, humility; false religion always hates grace. It is desperate to prove that if it wanted to be righteous without God, it could be. So they try to have both sides. The world rejects righteousness, but picks a selected area of good deeds to show that they could do it if they wanted. False religion does a deal with people on this basis. In fact, even nominal Christians do this. The Promise Keepers in the USA include Mormons and now Roman Catholics, and Freemasons, though it is supposed to be evangelical. They identify a narrow bandwidth of righteousness and use it to show that they do not need the grace that comes only through Christ.