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Brethren, I'm going to begin
this morning by going down a rabbit trail that I hope I can find
my way back from. I took a few steps down that
trail yesterday afternoon, and now I'm going to take a few more.
A few weeks ago, I recall it being, I believe two weeks ago
today, maybe three weeks ago, There was broadcast in the mainstream
media a remarkable video. It was broadcast on the same
day that two young enlisted Marines, one from Virginia, one from New
York, were awarded posthumously the Navy Cross, and the video showed why. These two young Marines were serving as sentinels beside a gate. Inside the gate was a Marine
unit of some fifty or more of our fellow citizens. The video, obviously from a surveillance
camera, included an explosive-laden truck zigzagging down a roadway, a
driveway, zigzagging around barriers and headed for that gate through which there would be
entry into the area where this Marine unit was stationed. You see with your own eyes, in
the video, these two young Marines, upon realizing what is about
to happen, coming out of their Sentinel box, and moving toward
the target. The video depicts them getting
on or getting at the top of a retaining wall and lethally engaging the enemy. At one and the same time, as these two young Marines are
moving toward the target, the bomb-laden truck, you see a uniformed Iraqi running in the opposite direction. He, too, was there near that
gate. Now, I want to pause and say
I am not condemning that uniformed Iraqi. I don't know its circumstances,
and I do not know what I would have done in that situation.
That is not my point, but my point is this. In contrast to
one running and who survived, you plainly see, and you can
see it today, I understand, on the Internet, These two Marines
moving towards the target, engaging the enemy, and the video concludes
when that bomb-laden truck detonates, and these two young men lose
their lives. The Marine General interviewed
that day said that their actions, that spanned about a six-second
interval of time, probably saved the lives of some 50 Marines inside that gate. What those two young enlisted
Marines did reflects a statement that is used to describe something
of the ethos of the United States Marine Corps. It's the words,
run to the fight. Not away from it. Run to it. And literally, you
see with your own eyes these two young men doing that very
thing at the cost of their mortal lives. I desire the brethren of my church to do what the Marines do, to
run to the fight, not away from it. To run to the fight with a bold, clear, compassionate
witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ
to our fellow mortals. Some years ago, in an extended
exposition of the Colossian letter, as we made our way into chapter
four I gave some time to verse 4 of that chapter, or excuse
me, verse 5. As the Authorized renders it,
walk in wisdom toward them that are without. The sense of the
language is to conduct yourselves wisely towards those who are
outside of Christ unto the end of seizing the moment, seizing
the opportunity that Providence presents to speak to them the
gospel of the Savior. Now, as sometimes I am inclined
to do, I expanded upon Colossians 4.5 and in this way, in that
case, I sought to survey the Scriptures to try to identify
what is revealed either in narrative or perceptive form relative to
wise modes of conduct that are presented to us in the
Scripture and presented to us in connection with speaking the
gospel. wise modes of conduct that seem,
under the blessing of God, to precipitate an opportunity to
speak clearly and boldly and compassionately the Gospel. That survey included an episode, and I'm
several steps down this rabbit trail now, in Acts chapter 16, the account of Paul and Silas
in the Philippian jail cell. And I want to begin to read at
verse 25, And at midnight Paul and Silas
prayed, and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard
them. And suddenly There was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and
immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bands were
loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open,
he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice,
saying, Do thyself no harm, for we are all here. Then he called
for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, and brought them out and said, Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? And you know the rest of the
story. here's my point in that case there was a literal earthquake that sent men into a panic to such an extreme that the jailer
is threatening to commit suicide. But there were two other men
of a different mind, Paul and Silas, who manifested what I would describe
as spirit-wrought poise, a spirit-wrought composure, a manifest trust,
and in the midst of the hysteria and panic, it is the observation
of such by the jailer that leads to the question, sirs, what must
I do to be saved? And upon that question, the poised
and the composed and the confident missionary pair answer that question. unto the salvation of the jailer
and his household. Brethren, it appears that we
too are living amidst times that are analogous to earthquake-like
events. Times, perhaps, when our very
way of life Our constitutional system and our economy are being
transformed before our eyes. We are living in times where people are preoccupied with the collapse of an unsustainable,
debt-driven economy. And even for those who have not
taken part in such extravagance, and have been prudent, and perhaps
sought to live below their means, and to provide for the future
for their dependents. They're suffering significant
losses. The estimation now, as I mentioned
yesterday, is somewhere between a third to a half in equities. And we ought not be cavalier
about that. Granted, it is the treasure of
this earth. God willing, it doesn't have a heart. But yet we ought
not be indifferent and cavalier about what some of our people
are going through. I mentioned yesterday the preacher included.
Perhaps I should have added clarity based on yeary inequity statement,
what's going on, the present trend, and what I think I'll
see at the beginning of April. I'm probably somewhere in there
between that third and half. I don't know exactly, but it's
probably in that ballpark. For one thing, that can help
me to empathize with generous men in our congregation who give
liberally of their tithes and offerings, who do live below
their means, who are generous to the brethren, and yet are
suffering to an extent. The unemployment numbers have
come home to our little church. My point is this, brethren. Amidst what may be earthquake-like events in our
own society, let us not take part in the hand-wringing, in
the panic-mongering, in the fear-mongering. Let us remember Paul and Silas
and where their poise and where their composure led to. Let us
run to the fight. To the fight of a confused and
perhaps collapsing culture. But run to the fight with a manifest
confidence in the God, not only of providence, but of special
providence. And let us go with the gospel
of Christ, the content of which is epitomized in the very text
of our concern. and let us manifest a spirit-wrought
poise, a spirit-wrought composure, trusting that as we interact
with our fellow mortals, there may be those amongst them, like
under that Philippian jailer, who ask questions that throw
open the doors, not of a prison house, but the doors of providence,
to speak clearly, boldly, and compassionately the gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the rabbit trail. Now
let's back up a few steps and get back to the point of departure
or assignment. I left you yesterday afternoon
with an illustration that no doubt I picked up from somebody
else and modified it a bit An illustration regarding two young
boys accused of stealing a bicycle. Their day in court comes. One
who was innocent is acquitted as he should have been. The other
who was guilty was also acquitted. And I ask the question, how can
someone who really did break the law, in this case steal the
bike, be told by the judge that he is a law keeper, how can he
be acquitted? How can he be treated as a righteous
person? How can that be? The very question
could direct our minds to what we read in Romans 4 at verse
5, Him who justifies the ungodly. All of us are like that guilty
bicycle thief. We have really and actually committed
crimes against God and His law. We are really natively lawbreakers
and God fully, plainly, clearly knows this. And yet, He justifies the ungodly. I left you with the question,
what did God do? so that it is right, it is consistent
with his moral government, for him to say to sinners, you are not guilty, you are righteous,
law keepers, obedient, and further, you are free to enjoy all the
liberties and privileges of my kingdom. The answer to such opposed questions
is bound up in that portion of 1 Corinthians 1.30 that will
be our concern this morning. What did God do? In Christ Jesus, He became to us
righteousness. That's what He did in a word. God sent forth His Son, fully
God, born of a woman, fully man, born under the law that is subject
to its authority, obligated to obey it perfectly as every man
is. But unlike every man from Adam,
He was obedient and obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross. That is, he was a perfect law
keeper in his life, and consummately, in his cruel death, in his doing
and in his dying, he obeyed all the demands of the holy law of
God. He accomplished what no one ever
had, a full, flawless righteousness, but there's more. he did this as the representative
of his people he did this as the representative of guilty
lawbreakers who believe upon him he took their place doing
for them what they had not done but should have done he stood
in their place in his perfect life as a law keeper and was
punished for them, obeying in His death all the just demands
of His Father's law that they had broken. In His life, in His
death, He obeyed the law for those He represented, and God
the Judge will let Jesus' perfect obedience, His perfect and accomplished
righteousness, count for them. When God justifies the one who
has faith in Jesus, He does it because of Jesus. Jesus becomes his or her righteousness. Jesus is that one's obedience
to all the do's and don'ts of the law. And Jesus is that one's
obedience to all the penalties justly imposed upon lawbreakers. Because of the infinite value
of His law-keeping and blood-shedding, and because that value is credited
to those He represented who trust Him, who are united to Him, God
justifies the ungodly while remaining righteous and just and gracious upon the grounds of the imputed
righteousness of Jesus Christ. Now, again, a question. What is at issue in a criminal court? i've been in a criminal court
recently it is a sobering scene that if
you have sanity can strike the fear of god in
you as it ought what's the issue with a criminal court the issue
is the relationship of the accused to the law. The question under consideration
is, is the accused innocent or guilty of law-breaking, and thus
liable to just punishment in monarchies? That question also
includes the issue of an accused person's relationship to the
authority of the monarch, and thus a trial may be designated
the queen versus the accused. When the court pronounces its
verdict, it declares how the accused stands in relation to
the monarch's law. Parenthetically, I add, in a
democratic republic wherein law is made by the representatives
of the people, a trial is designated the people of a given jurisdiction
versus the accused, and when the court pronounces its verdict,
it declares how the accused stands in relation to the people's law. Now, God is a monarch. God is
a sovereign. and God has authoritatively set
forth His law. All the subjects of His domain
are accountable to obey, if every directive and prohibition yet
all had transgressed the King's law, and all stand before the
monarch of heaven, guilty, justly accused, convicted, and duly
condemned. This solitary, royal, holy lawgiver
and judge pronounces that the status of some before his law
is one of innocence. He freely, sovereignly, and on
grounds which uphold his character in ways as righteous and just,
acquits some of the charges against them, he absorbs them of all
liability for the law that they have really violated, he declares
them righteous before that law, and further, he grants them all
the prerogatives of law-abiding citizens. In a word, again, he
justifies the ungodly. He declares judicially that moral
criminals are righteous. This, in an economy of language,
this is the doctrine of justification to which that portion of 1 Corinthians
1.30 to which we have arrived at this morning points us. Christ Jesus who became to us
righteousness. This is the doctrine by which
Luther said the church stands or falls. And you might know
something of the heart agony that Luther himself wrote of
as he described his wrestlings trying to understand what this
righteousness is. With regard to Romans 1.17, where
it is the subject and set out as the content of the gospel,
Luther says, and I quote, I hated that word, the righteousness
of God. He understood it primarily as
retributive righteousness that punishes the unrighteous sinner.
He goes on to write, at last, by the mercy of God, meditating
day and night, I came to understand its sense. I began to understand
that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous
lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. He says, Here I felt
I was altogether born again, and had entered paradise itself
through open gates. I extol my sweetest word with
a love as great as the hatred with which I had hated that word
righteousness before. Thus the place in Paul, that
is where he speaks of the righteousness of God, was to me truly the gate
to paradise. And brethren, it's the equivalent
to anyone who understands who they are, who God is, and what
God in Christ has done on behalf of His people. It is that same
righteousness of which Luther writes that is our concern this
morning, the righteousness of God accomplished in and by the
life and death of Christ, offered freely to sinners in the message
of the gospel, received with self-abandoning, self-forsaking,
self-disowning, Christ-embracing faith, such righteousness is
a primary benefit provided by the wisely designed and accomplished
salvation in Christ. And it answers to one of the
most pressing needs wrought by sin. That is, it answers to our
guilty law-breaking. Well, brethren, now I would ask
you to take out Your outline, if you have it, the outline consisting
of five headings. And as you do, I want to direct
your attention now for a few minutes in 1 Corinthians 1.30
to that term that is rendered, righteousness. And I want to
do a bit of word study before making our way into the headings
that I trust will unfold theologically the doctrine of justification. The term righteousness, I should
add, translates a Hebrew term in the Old Testament that means
etymologically being straight, consistent with, parallel with,
a standard, being straight. The etymology of the Greek term
and its broad family of terms speaks essentially of being equal. That is, equal with reference
to a standard, in most cases that standard being the demands
of the law. Righteousness signifies the condition,
thus, of being as one ought to be. A condition of conformity
to God's law, righteousness signifies the keeping of the commands of
God and, upon consequence, being acceptable to God, the law giver. Now, in the New Testament, Righteousness
and its derivatives are used first with reference to God Himself
as an attribute of God, John 17, 35. Our Lord says, O righteous
Father. This family of words is used
to describe the law. It is used to set out an attribute
of His law. Paul said in Romans 7, the commandment
is holy and righteous and good. This family of words is used
to depict an attribute of the judgments of God, 2 Thess 1 5,
God's righteous judgment, we read. Further, This term is also
used with reference to men. Romans 3 at verse 10, there is
none righteous, none straight, to refer to the Hebrew roots,
None equal, that is to the commands of the law reflecting the Greek
etymology, there is none righteous, no, not one. Paul wrote to Titus, he saved
us. Not on the basis of deeds which
we have done in righteousness, that is an impossibility for
us to do deeds in righteousness that prevail meritoriously in
the sight of a righteous God. He saved us not on the basis
of deeds we've done in righteousness, but according to His mercy. But finally, with regard to this
compacted little word study arising from righteousness in 1 Corinthians
1.30, The term righteousness is used with reference to the
Lord Jesus Christ. It is used with regard to His
character and His person. The Apostle John said in 1 John
2 verse 1, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And further it is
used with reference to His accomplished perfect work of righteousness
wrought by His life and by His death. A specimen of text that
warrants such an assertion. We read in Romans 3.22 of the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all
who believe. In Romans 5.17, the gift of righteousness
will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. We read in
that same paragraph of the obedience of the One, that is, that wrought
this perfect righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him. Paul wrote to the Philippians
that he might be found in Him, not having a righteousness of
my own derived from the law, but that which is through faith
in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis
of faith. This family of words represented
by the noun in 1 Corinthians 1.30, righteousness, it has reference
to the righteousness of Christ in terms of what He accomplished
by His doing and His dying. And that is the precise sense,
as I understand it, of righteousness here in the text of our concern. Christ Jesus became to us wisdom
from God and righteousness. Christ Jesus in His righteous
person, tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin, wholly
innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners. Christ Jesus in
His righteous person, and in His work of active and passive
obedience, performed, brought into existence a perfect, complete,
infinitely meritorious righteousness wrought by His obedience, which
is revealed in the gospel, received by self-disowning faith, and
credited to believing sinners. Now again, with reference to
the text of our concern, one last word before beginning under
the headings. Christ Jesus became to us righteousness. I do not understand how this
construction doesn't put to rest some of the present controversies
surrounding justification and whose righteousness is the grounds
of it. Christ Jesus became to us. The
verb again, as noted last night, signifies something coming into
existence where before it wasn't there. The verb means to come into existence
and the voice signifies we receive the action of this righteousness
coming into existence. Does that not speak exactly to
the controversies of our time over this central matter of the
gospel? The verb infers And really, that's
a mild statement. There was none of this in existence. It's external to the sinner.
There was none in existence with respect to us. We had no righteousness
of our own. The testimony of the Scripture
is we were all unrighteous, guilty, moral criminals, insolvent debtors,
morally homeless people, destitute, bankrupt with regard to righteousness. And by the grace of God the Son, there was brought into existence
and received by us something that did not exist. External
to me, credited to me, where before I was immoral and destitute. bankrupt. Baptism or no. That leads us then to the outline. Five headings. The fifth, as
you can see, will be expanded upon most extensively. And it's possible, Pastor Pollard
and Frakes, that that may take a little bit of tomorrow that
fifth heading. We come now to the first heading,
the background for this righteousness. That is, the conditions which
form the setting for the circumstances which were antecedent to bringing
about broadcasting becoming and benefiting from this righteousness. Our first heading is addressing
that which forms the context from which this righteousness
arose. The background for this righteousness,
the righteousness of God in Christ, involves, in summary, the character
and law of God and the condition of man and the necessity that
man possess a righteousness lest he perish eternally under the
just wrath of God. Now, concerning God and His character,
one relevant epitomizing text comes from the Psalter. Psalm
89 verse 14. Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of thy throne. In the interest of time, I will
move beyond other supporting texts. But I offer to you Psalm
89-14 as an epitomizing text relative to God's person and
character. Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of thy throne. Throughout the Bible, God is
revealed as perfectly righteous in His person and His ways, that
is, the perfection of all moral rectitude, the full and flawless
personification and manifestation of what is absolutely right The
sum of moral excellency and purity is found in Him. The Apostle
John says it this way, God is light and in Him there is no
darkness at all. Now, arising from the perfect righteousness
or holiness of God is what? arising from it is the law of
God. The law of God being the unified
expression of His righteousness to men summarily revealed in
the Ten Commandments. The law of God is the timeless,
changeless expression of the inherent perfect righteousness
of God. And thus Paul writes, in language
that could have been directed to God Himself, he says, the
law is holy The commandment is holy, righteous, and good. Why? Because it arises from the
holy, righteous, and good character of the lawgiver who revealed
it. The Bible teaches, as we've seen
in our recent consecutive exposition in Galatians, that the only demand that this
unified expression of the character of God can make upon men in a
moral order created by a righteous God, the only demand it can make
upon us is perfect obedience. That is the only thing consistent
with the lawgiver. Obedience in all things at all
times. Cursed, Galatians 3.10. is everyone
who does not abide by all things. In those four words, abide by
all things, you have the demands of the law. Obedience all the
time in everything. Now, with regard to men, the distilled essence of the
law. Obedience to divine authority,
that's how I would describe the distilled essence of the law. Obedience to divine authority
was expressed to Adam in Genesis 2.17. standing as our representative,
Adam rebelled, Adam defied, Adam fell from his innocency, and
Paul succinctly interprets the consequences of such. Through
the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners by means
of Adam's representative transgression. All men fell. The guilt of sin
was imputed and Adam's corrupted nature conveyed. And since Adam,
all men have manifested both their guilt and their depravity
by their own sinning against God and His law. All have joined
Adam. in proudly turning aside and
going their own way, those ways depicted by our Lord's statement
in Mark 7, 21-23. Further, God is just. That is, as the morally righteous,
lawgiver, and governor of the world. He distributes rewards
and punishments as each is due. There is exact recompense. He rewards righteousness and
punishes wickedness. Again, Psalm 97 to and equivalent
to the 89th. Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of His throne. He will by no means leave the
guilty unpunished. Paul writes, the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men. Through one transgression, chapter
5 of Romans, there resulted condemnation to all men. The wages of sin
is death! It must be! In view of the sanctity of God's
law, arising from His righteous character and authority, the
transgression of the law of God must carry with it, it can only
carry with it, in a created order, architectured and brought into
being by the God with whom we have to do, it can only carry
with it just penalty. The demands of a violated law
must be satisfied. When the law is broken, justice
demands retribution and requital. God would deny Himself if the
law's just penalty went unpaid, if a violated law went unanswered. The necessary just vindication
of the law, the just execution of the law's curse upon lawbreakers
means eternal perdition. because the lawgiver and his
law are eternal. And we must measure the magnitude
of our affrontery against God by who He is. All men are now under the just
curse of the law. Guilty, depraved, destitute of
righteousness, And yet, these things being the case, as evidence of men's moral insanity, they try to obtain a righteousness
of their own, derived from the law. In view of the truth that righteousness is required
to stand in the presence of God, Jesus said, I say to you that
unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Righteousness is required
stand in the presence of the righteous one. In view of that,
much of what men speak of and rest upon is exposed as a lethal
fiction. They presume, upon God's mercy
and forgiveness, as if somehow he will deny his righteousness. They profess to be less than perfect. Yes, I've made a few mistakes. In the morally anemic language
of our culture, I did something inappropriate. poor judgment,
that's about all that can be produced from the moral anemia
of our culture. And with that, sinners profess
some kind of vague hope in a nebulous, vague, loose pardon, as if somehow
God is going to repeal his law, and take a plea bargain. Brethren, that, if you understand
the background of righteousness as it's presented in the Bible,
that is a delusion. Yes, God is merciful and gracious,
but the whole law must be obeyed and satisfied, either in your
person or in the person of another authorized to act for you. It's one or it's the other. The demands of the law must be paid in full. My moral debt must be discharged
either by myself or someone else with sufficient moral capital
to pay for me! And who and what that is, is represented here in 1 Corinthians
1.30. Christ became to us Righteousness. Brethren, that's the background
for this righteousness that God in Christ brought into existence. The background includes God's
righteousness expressed to man in His law. It includes accountable,
fallen, guilty, depraved men who have defied and continue
to defy His law. It includes the justice of God
whereby retributive punishment must be imposed and supremely. And here's the good news of the
Gospel. It includes grace, abounding grace whereby A righteousness
has been procured, has been provided, and in the gospel is freely offered
to believing sinners. That is the background for the
righteousness of God in Christ. Now we come secondly, and with
seven minutes left, we're at one of those points, do I move
into the second heading and chop it off? Or do we just dismiss now? I could roll this
over on my brother to make the call. Brethren, we come then for the
last six minutes. I've just wasted one. We come,
secondly, to bringing about this righteousness. Now, what I mean
by the second heading is this. The affecting, the causing to
be, the causing to take place, the accomplishment of, the occasion
of this righteousness which is the ground of a righteous and
just God, justifying the godly, so as not to violate His character
or mock His law. This righteousness was brought
about by Christ's work of obedience in His life and death, in His
perfect whole soul conformity to all the demands of the law
in its letter, in its spirit, in its vast extent, and in his
undergoing vicariously in the place of those he represented,
the penalty which the violated law demanded. That is how this
righteousness was brought about. Christ's perfect compliance with
His Father's law brought about a righteousness
on the grounds of which those united to Him by faith are declared
righteous. Or as Paul writes in Romans 5.19,
through the obedience of the One, the many were made righteous. You, I trust, are aware that
obedience is the most comprehensive perspective by which we view
and understand the incarnate life and vicarious, curse-bearing
death of Jesus Christ. He did all that He did as the
obedient servant of Jehovah, who became flesh and dwelt among
us to do the will of the Father who sent Him. In the major messianic
prophecies of Isaiah, the Savior is designated repeatedly, My
Servant. My Servant. will justify the
many as He will bear their iniquities. The Messianic prophecy of Psalm
40, verses 7 and 8, applied expressly to the Lord Jesus in Hebrews
10, sets forth the obedience of Christ. Behold, I come. In the scroll of the book it
is written to me, I delight to do thy will, O my God. Thy law
is within my heart. At Jesus' baptism, He responded
to John's protest in this way. permitted at this time, for in
this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."
Those words, brethren, express his self-consciousness. He was not some kind of robot. No, his self-consciousness of
the fact that his mission demanded the fulfillment of righteousness
in all of its dimensions, head and heart, motive and deed. And this resolution to fulfill
all righteousness is reflected especially throughout John's
Gospel. With the two minutes left, I'll
not cite the text, but you probably know them anyway. Recurrently
through John's Gospel, there are statements from our Lord
that express His self-consciousness that He had become incarnate
and dwelt among us to do the will of the Father. in Gethsemane. This reaches its crescendo. Matthew 26, My Father, if it
is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but
as Thou wilt. My Father, if this cannot pass
away from Me, unless I drink it, Thy will be done. and his father's will was done in his life and in his death. Christ as the representative
of his people lived a life of perfect obedience to God. He
obeyed the perceptive requirements of the law. That included, as
I like to remind, honor my father and mother. He continued in subjection
to them, Luke 2.51. It included, remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy. It included, you shall not murder,
commit adultery, bear false witness, covet. Tempted to do all of this
in the language of Peter, he committed no sin. He fulfilled
all righteousness. Unlike all of those whose human
nature He shared, it was not necessary for Him to receive
the wages of sin. As wholly righteous, He was free
from the penal demands of the law. Yet those He represented were
not. And thus, as their substitute,
He stood in their place As a guilty criminal lawbreaker, as a moral
debtor incurring the full penalty as though he had personally breached
the law. He came under the curse and the
condemnation of the law. His people had broken. and bore
the full and just judgment of God they deserved. In the language
to the Philippians, he was obedient to the point of death, even death
on a cross. And thus in his passive obedience,
he satisfied all the penal demands of his father's broken law. And
the Bible teaches he did both. He accomplished his work of active
obedience. his work of passive obedience
as the representative and substitute of his people. He stood in the
place of his people, bringing about a righteousness in his
doing and dying, in his life and his death, in his law-keeping
and blood-shedding, that that righteousness of infinite merit
might stand for them. Christ Jesus becomes to believing sinners righteousness. He brings into
existence for this believing sinner that which he had none
of. He puts to my morally insolvent
account a righteousness external to me that is infinitely meritorious
because it arises from His own infinite person as the God-man. Our confessors write, God freely
justifies by imputing God's active obedience
into the whole law, Christ's active obedience into the whole
law, and passive obedience in His death for their whole and sole righteousness. In uninspired language, That's
the sense of the inspired language of Him. You are in Christ Jesus,
who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, because I'm a moral criminal,
as we'll see perhaps tomorrow, because I'm a moral leper, and
sanctification. Brethren, this is the heart of
the Gospel. When we come to the next heading,
the broadcasting of this righteousness, we're going to Romans 1, 16 and
17. And by express language, we are
connected to the truths of 1 Corinthians 1. This is Gospel truth that
our fellow mortals need to hear. And in the fight of our generation,
let's run to the fight with it. To declare it clearly, boldly,
and compassionately. Let us pray. Father, we can only bow in gratitude for Your gracious condescension to the likes of us. And by God the Son taking upon
Himself a true and full humanity, accomplishing that, bringing
into existence that which no man had. Lord, I pray this morning that
whatever our moral failures, whatever our struggles with remaining
sin, that our hearts would be strengthened as we are reminded that there
is a prevailing righteousness, a prevailing merit. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ put to our accounts, standing
for us, graciously rendering us acceptable in Thy holy sight. Lord, may
the accusing work of the evil one be silenced as we consider
who and what Christ is to us. We pray in His blessed name and
in confidence that as we assemble here our living exalted Savior
is at your right hand awaiting the command of you, His Father,
to return. Amen.
Justifying Righteousness, Pt. 2
Series Foundational Doctrines 2009
| Sermon ID | 329092252326 |
| Duration | 1:07:20 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Language | English |
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