THE DOCTRINE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
I will again use the comments of Dr. Lockyer for our
understanding of this subject.
".... Doctrinal and practical righteousness meet us on almost
every page. Such an important truth has been treated as if it is
most difficult. Theologians may have made it so, but the Word of
God is simple and clear in its teaching on this doctrine of
grace. Is it not tragic that a theme so beautifully and blessedly
simple has been muddled, confused, tortured, twisted and
disputed over through centuries of wrangle and strife.....
The simple idea resident within the word is that of ' doing what
is right.' While there may be shades of meaning associated with
the word, the root idea wherever it is used is a state of
RIGHTNESS whether towards God or man.......
It may make for clarity if we summarize this theme of tremendous
importance in the following ways:
1. God is righteous, and as such, demands righteousness, for
without it there can be no possible fellowship between the
Creator and His creatures.
The consistent testimony of Scripture is that two cannot walk
together except they be agreed. Righteousness cannot have
fellowship with unrighteousness (Deut.25:16; Ps.1:5,6; 2
Cor.6:14; Rom.1:18; 2:8-9).
But what do we mean by 'the righteous act of God ' ? This phrase,
peculiar to and characteristic of Paul's epistles, signifies
God's consistency (with His own nature and character) in freely
and perfectly JUSTIFYING a sinner believing on Jesus. It is the
revelation of the righteous ground on which God can and does
freely justify a guilty sinner.......
2. Man has no righteousness of his own with which he may meet the
righteous and inexorable demands of God.
It cuts clean across our fancied greatness and goodness to be
told that all our righteousness is but as filthy rags in God's
sight. All we pride ourselves upon is rejected by God. Ignorant
of divine righteousness, we try to establish our own ( Rom.10:3;
Ecc.7:20; Isa.64:6 ).
How futile is our effort to work out, even under the Law, a
character which God can approve! The human heart is corrupt,
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked ( Jer.17:9)
and cannot therefore out of rottenness produce righteousness
acceptable to God. If personal and vicarious righteousness by
Law-keeping or obedience in life could be ours, justification by
blood is a nullity....... By human righteousness no man can be
justified ( Ps.143:2; Rom.1:17; 3:20). The mind of the flesh,
even good flesh, is enmity against God( Rom.8:7)....... If the
sinner is to have a righteousness acceptable to God, it must be
divinely provided. His eyes must turn away from his own ruin and
self-righteousness to Christ..
3. The sinner, through believing, is constituted the
righteousness of God in Christ, the sinless, righteous One.
Christ, on the CROSS, was made sin for us, Now on the THRONE He
is the righteousness of God, that is, the perfect expression of
it. The phrase, ' the righteousness of Christ ' is not to
be found in Scripture. The substitution of this for ' the
righteousness of God ' has created much misunderstanding.......
The kernel of the Gospel is that Christ died for our sins and was
raised again, manifesting thereby God's work in love and
righteousness for sinners Rom.4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3,4 ).......
Our righteousness, then, is not something but SOMEONE, even Him
who possessed Lordship( Mark 12:36,37; John 13:13).
At this juncture it might be well to consider the whole matter of
IMPUTATION with which Paul deals in his epistle to the Romans. To
IMPUTE means to reckon or count to one something which he,
himself, is destitute of....... With God, imputation is His
gracious act whereby He accounts righteousness to the believer in
Christ, who has borne the believer's sins in vindication of the
Law....... ' Imputed righteousness ' is not Biblical Language,
for divine righteousness is not imputable, neither is the
law-keeping of Jesus....... righteousness imputed or reckoned is
what the Word teaches.......
As a sinner has no righteousness of his own, he must have a
righteousness without works.
Thus the only righteousness for him is the imputed one of God's
in Christ. God alone is able to justify a guilty sinner, and He
alone can impute righteousness to one who is destitute of it.
BUT this divine action is not the placing of a quantity of
righteousness IN man. It is simply holding, or regarding as
righteous or just, one who is not so either in nature or
practice, as Romans 4 clearly shows. Righteousness imputed
supposes that one is destitute of it....... Pardon accompanies
justification before God's bar.......
The sinner, however, pardoned before, and by God, is always
justified also...... Christ bore the judgment of God upon our
offenses, but was raised again for our justification (Rom.4:25 ).
In this great chapter, ' righteousness ' occurs eight times, but
the words ' of God ' are not added. ' The righteousness of God '
is nowhere said to be imputed or reckoned unto us, but
' righteousness ' that is, all Christ accomplished in our stead
and behalf is put to our account through acceptance of Him as
Saviour.
4. Divine righteousness can only become ours by faith.
.......Righteousness must be accepted as a divine gift ( Rom.4:5;
9:30-32; 10:4 ). Paul cast to the dogs the righteousness of which
he was once so proud. Those things he counted gain were
willingly reckoned loss that he might be found clothed in his
Lord's righteousness (Rom.1:16,17; Gal.2:16; Phil.3:6-9 )......
This is that which is called 'the righteousness of God by faith'
( Rom.3:26; 4:6; 2 Cor.5:21 ).
5. It is essential to exhibit practical righteousness in everyday
life.
We deceive ourselves if we deem ourselves righteous yet fail to
manifest righteousness in life. ' Doing ' righteousness is the
sure fruit and proof of 'being ' righteous, that is, of having
the only principle of true righteousness within and the only
means of justification, namely, faith(Rom.4:3-8; Eph.2:5,8-10).
Noah, the preacher of righteousness, was just or righteous
in life ( Gen.6:9 ) ....... Right with God, we shall live right
before men ....... When John urged the saints to do righteousness
( 1 John 3:7), he meant them to live that righteous life ever
resulting from salvation....... To be righteous is simply to BE
right and to DO right toward God and man .......
How can God supply us with MOTIVE and POWER to act rightly in all
things, at all times and in all relations? In these matters, as
in all others, we must turn to Scripture for satisfactory
answers....... we are always directed to Christ as the grand and
constraining MOTIVE. How righteous He was in all His ways. As to
the POWER by which practical righteousness can be effected, we
know that the Holy Spirit alone can transform position into
PRACTICE.
Satan, the enemy of the Righteous ONE and of righteousness, is
determined and wily and an everwatchful foe ( Eph.6:14 ). He
knows that if practical righteousness is lacking in a saint,
he is exposed to satanic attacks. Lack of consistency in any
realm of life leaves one weak, powerless and unfruitful in
service. PRACTICAL righteousness is the keynote of the Sermon
on the Mount ( Mat.5:6). It is ever the ground of our appeal in
prayer ( Ps. 23)....... One must have the determination to '
follow righteousness ' ( 2 Tim.2:22), in all things, in all
places, in all relationships.......
6. The manifold blessings resulting from the acceptance of a
divinely provided righteousness.
The righteous are blessed with PROSPERITY
( Isa.3:10).
The righteous are surrounded with divine FAVOR
( Ps.5:12 ).
The righteous enjoy peace,quietness and ASSURANCE
(Isa.32:17).
The righteous experience deliverance from affliction
( Ps.34:19).
The righteous have enlightened minds and glad hearts
( Ps. 97:11 ).
The righteous are NEVER FORGOTTEN
(Ps.112:6; 1 Pet.3:12)
THE ULTIMATE BLESSING OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH IS
ETERNITY WITH HIM WHO IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.................. "
(From the book "All the Doctrines of the Bible" by Dr. H. Lockyer
- emphasis ours and his).
THE CHRISTIANS DESTINY
THE HOLY SPIRIT - A PERSON ?
Growing up in a Church of England school called "The Holy
Trinity School" I was well aware of such language as " God the
Holy Ghost " - " Three in One " etc. Though subjected to such
terminology on a daily basis I also read my Bible very
frequently. Through those young years of my life I could never
understand what these adults meant by " God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit " and no one ever sat me
down to clearly explain this phrase to me. I had seen from my own
Bible reading that God the Father was described by Jesus as like
Himself - a person then with form and shape as like a man - I had
seen where the book of Revelation showed Jesus to be sitting in
heaven on the Father's right hand. I had read that there was
indeed a Holy Spirit, but it could be IN all Christians, poured
out, look like a dove, be divided up and appear as tongues of
fire as on the day of Pentecost. It never entered my young mind
that the Holy Spirit was a PERSON with body and shape as to look
like a man. I was 19 when first plainly told that the Spirit was
a bodily person - the third member of a three person Godhead. I
was somewhat shocked to hear this as my previous personal Bible
reading had never led me to this conclusion.
Since that time, over many years now, I have read numerous
writings by various Theologians (including Finis Dake and Herbert
Lockyer) giving what they consider the proofs as to why the Holy
Spirit is a person . None of them have convinced me to change my
boyhood understanding.
This is not the place to answer these men and their so-called
proofs. We have a 15 page article that does that called "The Holy
Spirit - Is it a Person?" and my sermon tape on the same subject.
They are free upon request.
TO BE A SON OF GOD - OR AN ANGEL?
A critic has written:
"This idea of BEING God strikes a responsive chord in many who
like the thought of somehow being equated with God ....... Such a
teaching is entirely contrary to the Scriptures.
It is true that in this coming Kingdom, Christ will be seated
HIGH ABOVE THE ANGELS.
The author of Hebrews was most specific on this point. He wrote:
'When he ( Christ ) had made purification for sins, he sat down
at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as MUCH
SUPERIOR TO ANGELS as the name he has obtained is more excellent
than theirs ' ( Heb. 1:3-4 RSV ).
This, then, is Christ's exalted place in the kingdom. What,
according to the Bible, will be ours? Will we....... also be
superior to the angels and have a place above them? No. Christ
Himself explained our place in His reply to the Sadducees as they
questioned Him sharply on the subject of marriage in the kingdom
age. He said, ' The sons of this age marry and are given in
marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that
age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are
given in marriage, for they can not die anymore, because they are
EQUAL TO ANGELS and are sons of God ....... ' (Lk.20:34-36
RSV)....... Christians therefore will not be HIGH ABOVE the
angels, but their EQUAL......." ( emphasis his ).
My reply is:
FIRST.
( a) What GLORY will Christians inherit, that of angels or that
of Christ? The answer is found in 1 John 3:1-3. ( b ) Will
Christians inherit equal or more AUTHORITY than angels?
Christians will inherit MORE authority because they shall JUDGE
angels (1 Cor.6:3 ). ( c ) Who will judge the world? Angels -
Angels and Christians together as equals - Jesus only ? The
answer is found in John 5:22; Acts 17:31; 1 Cor.6:2; Heb.2:5.
SECOND.
Two other gospel writers recorded the same incident as Luke,
notice how Mark wrote it, " For when they shall rise from the
dead, they neither marry, nor are they given in marriage -
but are AS the angels which are in heaven " ( chap. 12, verse 25
KJV or " but are LIKE angels in heaven " RSV). Matthew wrote,
" For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in
marriage but are LIKE angels in heaven " ( chap. 22:30 RSV).
Now what is the CONTEXT - what is being DISCUSSED - what was the
specific question Jesus was answering? Was it a question of how
much authority angels had over the saints in the Kingdom - which
class of beings would have more glory, power or authority than
the other? Were they discussing the LEVEL of existence Christians
would have when they inherited the Kingdom? NO! Jesus was
answering the Sadducees trick question on MARRIAGE in the Kingdom
( please read verses 27-38 ) and if there would BE a resurrection
(the Pharisees taught there would be - the Sadducees taught
otherwise ).
Concerning a woman who had had 7 husbands in this physical life,
the Sadducees said, " Now this is our question - Whose wife will
she be in the resurrection?For all of them were married to her ."
Jesus went on to answer THAT specific question.
The writer of the LIVING BIBLE translates Luke 20:34,35 as, "
Jesus replied, Marriage is for people here on earth,but.......
those who are counted worthy of being raised from the dead
do NOT MARRY. And they never die again - in THESE RESPECTS they
are LIKE angels " (emphasis ours).
The angels in heaven do not DIE, and they do not MARRY ! The
children of the resurrection will not MARRY or DIE - in these
areas of eternal existence they will be AS, LIKE, EQUAL, similar
to the angels. The Sadducees well understood that angels do not
die or marry. Jesus was giving them an easily understood figure
to show them that their question was invalid, as children of God,
like angels, they will not marry in the resurrection. In this
respect, not marrying, (in the human sense ) BOTH groups are
equal. Both the angelic beings and the resurrected children of
the Father DO NOT MARRY, neither do they die.
THIRD.
Luke makes it quite clear what Jesus CALLED those who would be
worthy to attain the resurrection. Christ did not call them,
"children of angels " - " beings of the angelic realm " -
"a new form of angel " or any such language. It would have been
very simple to have used such terminology IF Christians were to
become a type of angel. Jesus called the children of
the resurrection - SONS of GOD!
As I have shown in other writings of mine, there is a VAST
difference between being a type of angel and a SON(or daughter)
of God.
Oh, how slow is the heart of man to believe ALL that is written
in the Scriptures, all that the Eternal Father has prepared for
them that LOVE Him and will DO His will. How many today
call themselves a son or daughter of God, and they do not
UNDERSTAND what it MEANS .
The Pharisees well understood what it meant to call yourself a
SON of God ( John 5:18). And they accused Jesus of blasphemy and
tried to kill Him.
"But Jesus answered them, My Father works and I work. Therefore
the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he....... said also
that God was his FATHER, making himself EQUAL with God." ( John
5:18 ).
I have shown you in other articles what being "equal with God "
means.
What a shame that the phrase " I am a child of God " has become
so easy and common place for so many to use today, that very few
fully realize what those words mean or imply for those who will
indeed become a born child in the Kingdom of God.
"For in Him we live, and move, and have our being....... For we
are also His OFFSPRING. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring
of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold,
or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" ( Acts
17:28,29).
"He that overcometh shall inherit all things - and I will be his
God, and he shall be MY SON" ( Rev.21:7).
EPILOG
ARE THERE FEW THAT ARE SAVED ?
It has become popular in the last forty years, for many
fundamental preachers and churches to proclaim very vociferously
to the unconverted the scripture of Acts 16:31 " BELIEVE on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall BE SAVED." This is a very true
statement. but it would seem in many cases, because the
unconverted are shown no other verses, that too large a
group of new Christians have come to understand this as only
having to believe the fact that Jesus did become human - that He
did die for sinners and that He is alive today.
It should be obvious to anyone who has spent any time at all
reading the NT, that the apostle James showed that having a
belief on Jesus that was ONLY based upon certain facts of who
He is, what He became and what He did, CANNOT SAVE ANYONE!
"You BELIEVE that there is one God; you do well: the demons also
BELIEVE, and TREMBLE. But will you know, 0 vain man, that FAITH(
belief ) without works is dead! " (James 2:19,20).
Yes, the demons believe the FACTS that Jesus is the Christ, that
He became human, that He died to save sinners, that He arose and
lives forever - BUT they still TREMBLE - they are NOT SAVED !
The BELIEF that the NT and the whole Bible proclaims, is a belief
that leads to ACTION - a belief that leads to a CHANGE of life. A
belief that not only believes certain FACTS about Jesus, but a
believing on what Jesus SAID and TAUGHT - a LIVING, a DOING
belief.
"What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith
( belief ), and has not works ( actions ), can (this kind of
belief ) faith save him?....... For as the body without the
spirit ( breath ) is dead, so faith ( belief ) without works is
dead also " ( James 2:14, 26, amplification ours).
Factual knowledge is a PART of belief, and it must be the RIGHT
facts, as we shall see. The other part of belief is ACTING on
those facts.
"Not EVERY ONE that says to me, Lord, Lord ( calling themselves
Christians and believing Jesus is the Christ ), shall enter into
the Kingdom of heaven - but he that DOES ( action ) the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Many ( not a few ) will say to me
in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied ( spoken and
preached ) in your name( believing Christ to be the Messiah ),
and in your name have cast out demons, and in your name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I NEVER KNEW
YOU - depart from me, you that WORK (whose actions are) iniquity
( Lawlessness - practicing sin as a way of life). Therefore he
that hears these sayings of mine and DOES them, I will liken him
unto a wise man, that built his house upon a ROCK....... And
every one that hears these saying of mine, and does not DO them,
shall be like the man who foolishly built his house upon the
SAND. And the rain descended, and the floods came.... and great
was the fall of it " ( Mat.7:21-27 amplification ours).
Is Salvation - being SAVED, as easy as "falling off a log"?
Will it be the MAJORITY of those who call themselves "Christian
"that will be in the FIRST resurrection ( Rev.20:1-4) ? Or will
it be only the FEW ?
Let Jesus answer! Will you believe Him ?
"Then someone asked Him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And
He said to them, ' STRIVE( Gr.means, to agonize, to contend; to
strive as in a contest for a prize; to put forth every effort )
to enter in at the STRAIGHT( Gr. means, narrow) gate: for many, I
say to you, will SEEK to enter in, and shall not be able. When
the master of the house has risen, and has shut the door, and you
begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord,
open to us, he shall answer and say, I do not know where you are
from, I do not recognize you as one of mine. Then shall you say,
We have eaten and drunk where you were being talked about, and we
heard you being preached and read your words. But he shall say, I
know you not as one of my followers, go away from me all of you
who WORK ( practice as a way of life) INIQUITY ( Gr. means,
unrighteousness, lawlessness ) ' "
(Luke 13:23 - 27, paraphrased and amplification ours).
Here are some individuals who are seeking to enter in - they
would call themselves Christian, they have "gone to church " and
heard Jesus being taught on the Radio, T.V. or in local Revivals.
Here are people that have some TRUE facts, but obviously some
FALSE facts that they have lived by or facts they have chosen to
ignore, and in doing so were guilty of practicing things contrary
to the will of God.
Jesus says to them, "...... depart from me, all you workers of
UNrighteousness." They never fully had the BELIEF that lead
them to.... righteousness - to DO the sayings of Jesus and the
commandments of the Father.
"Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
Kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which
is in heaven " ( Mat.7:21 ).
"And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly
and the sinner appear? " (1 Peter 4:18 ).
For those who have truly come to the factual knowledge that Jesus
Christ was God in the flesh, that He is SAVIOUR, that He is alive
in heaven making intercession for the saints. For those who have
truly come to understand what SIN is, what REAL repentance is,
what GRACE is, what having the FAITH of Jesus is, and what having
and following RIGHTEOUSNESS is - those who have surrendered all
to God as a humble LIVING sacrifice - to those who have true
factual belief coupled with true action belief, making a complete
belief - SALVATION is simple and assured!
BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU SHALL BE
SAVED!
...................
This Appendix to the article SAVED BY GRACE was compiled in 1985
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