by Rev. Dr. Robert Gordon
(Continued from Page 226)
Jeremiah 23: 5,6
Such is the plan of redemption, — the principle on which sinners are accepted and dealt with as righteous in the sight of God, as that principle is here stated, and more fully unfolded and explained in the New Testament. And I doubt not many will be ready not only to acquiesce in this statement as scriptural, but to conclude that none who are in the slightest degree acquainted even with the most elementary truths of the Gospel, the first principles of the oracles of God, and who profess to believe in Christ, can hesitate to acquiesce in it also, or can conceive of any other ground of acceptance with God than that which has now been stated.
I wish I could think that all who profess to believe in Christ for salvation did thus clearly see, and understand, and approve of the one only ground of acceptance. But I fear it is far otherwise; I fear there are many professing Christians who have very indistinct or confused notions as to the principle on which men are justified, or received as righteous in the sight of God. While, in some sense, they do take Christ’s obedience and death into account, and professedly rely on Him, there is, at the same time, mixed up with this some notion of the mercy of God, and of their own repentance and reformation, as forming part also of the reason or ground on which they are to be received into favour. And thus they cherish a double delusion. They virtually say, on the one hand, that the righteousness of Christ is not, alone and in itself, a sufficiently sure and solid ground whereon to rest; and they virtually assume, on the other, that God will in mere mercy accept of something of theirs, which in reality has nothing of righteousness in it, and which, at all events, they will themselves acknowledge to be very imperfect.
Now, I know no consideration better fitted to dispel this delusion than the truth here stated, that Jehovah is His people’s righteousness. Did they but believe and remember that no man, no intelligent and accountable creature, can approach God with acceptance, but on the ground of a perfect righteousness, they could not but feel that they have nothing to hope for from the mere mercy of God, and nothing in themselves in the strength of which they dared to look up to Him. They must have a perfect righteousness, — a righteousness which the law, in its inflexible rectitude and rigour, will recognise as perfect. Until they are clothed with this righteousness, God cannot regard them with favour, or accept them as righteous.
And if they really believed this, how anxiously would they inquire whether it was possible that they could ever become possessed of such a righteousness! And with what gratitude, and gladness, and wonder, would they receive the gracious assurance, that God in His mercy had provided such a righteousness for them, — that it has actually been wrought out and perfected in their name and their behalf, — and that the righteousness of which they may reap the benefit is the righteousness of Jehovah Himself! And if it be, to those who are earnest about their acceptance with God, a most precious and welcome truth, that such a righteousness has been provided, they will find a subject equally fitted to awaken their joy and call forth their gratitude in the manner, or the terms, if I may so express it, in which this righteousness is proposed to be made available to them, — that is, reckoned to their account, as if it were their own. It is offered to them without money and without price. It is made over to their acceptance as a free gift. It is God’s own testimony to them, that He has given them eternal life, and that this life is in His Son. And the moment that they believe this, and, with heart and soul, close with and accept the offer, the perfect righteousness which Christ has wrought out becomes theirs.
And yet it is at this point that they will often hesitate and doubt, before they cordially embrace Christ and rest upon Him. And it were not wonderful, perhaps, that when they first begin to discern the divine generosity, the unsearchable depth of divine grace, in thus making over to them the perfect righteousness of Christ to be theirs, — I say it were not, perhaps, wonderful, when they first perceive this, that they should doubt, and be ready to say, It is too great, and too glorious to be true; just as it is said of the disciples, that when they were told that their Lord was risen, they “believed not for joy”. But there are often, I fear, other grounds of doubting than this. Self-righteousness is one of the many delusions and lamentable inconsistencies which characterise man’s fallen nature; and even when sinners are convinced that they cannot work out a perfect righteousness for themselves, they will cling to the idea that they must do something to entitle or to qualify them for receiving and profiting by that which Christ has wrought out for them. But, all the while, it is offered to them, nay, pressed upon their acceptance, without money and without price, — and if they receive it, it must be as a gift; if they are justified, it must be “freely”, “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;” for “by grace” are they “saved through faith,” and that not of themselves; “it is the gift of God”.
But if it be wonderful that a perfect righteousness should have been wrought out on behalf of those who had no righteousness of their own, and must, therefore, have perished for ever, — and if it be wonderful, also, that this righteousness is freely made over to them, and becomes theirs the moment they accept it, — is it not, if possible, still more wonderful that any creature, not to say a guilty and polluted creature, should have such a righteousness imputed to him, and that he should be dealt with as if it were his own? It is not enough to say of it that it is a perfect righteousness. This is true of the righteousness of unfallen angels. They have never sinned. Their obedience, from the first hour of their existence, has been a cheerful, a uniform, an unsinning obedience. They have obeyed the commandments of the Lord, “hearkening unto the voice of His word,” and doing His pleasure. According, therefore, to their capacity, and the extent of their powers and faculties, their righteousness is perfect; and while they approach God with reverence, covering their faces with their wings, they approach Him also with confidence, knowing that as the righteous God he will award to them what He has inseparably connected with righteousness namely, the enjoyment of His own favour and fellowship. But perfect as their righteousness is in itself, and sufficient though it be for their appearing with approbation in the presence of God, and for being regarded by Him with complacency, still it is but the righteousness of mere creatures, who will themselves acknowledge that they have done only what it was their duty to do.
How glorious, how exceeding glorious in comparison is that righteousness in which redeemed sinners of mankind stand clothed in the presence of God, and are accepted in His sight! And how marvellous that any should seek to unite with this white and spotless robe the filthy rags of their own righteousness, as if they would thereby secure more of God’s approbation and complacent regard! That robe in which Christ would array them infinitely exceeds in glory and beauty any thing in which the highest and holiest of God’s intelligent creatures ever stood arrayed in His presence. It is the righteousness of a divine person, even God’s own righteousness. It has not only satisfied the divine law in a twofold manner, — that is, by bearing the punishment which the law awards to transgression, and fulfilling what it requires in the way of obedience; but it has magnified the law and made it honourable.
And what does not such a righteousness deserve at the hand of the Lawgiver and Judge in the way of reward? It is not enough to say that it is sufficient for the justification of every sinful child of Adam to whom it is imputed, and that Christ has redeemed His people from the curse of the law, having bought them with His own blood. There is no blessing which He is not entitled to claim on their behalf. We have already seen how full of consolation the promise we have been considering must have been to the suffering Church of the old time, when they were assured that the days would come when the people of God would participate in all the benefits and blessings which the promised King of David’s house would, in virtue of His righteousness, be entitled and authorised to dispense. These blessings or benefits, it is true, are set forth as temporal privileges; for the promise was, “In those days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely.” But temporal blessings did not exhaust the promise. These were employed, generally, under the old dispensation, to represent or figure forth all the blessings of the great salvation, and by the true Church they were valued not merely on their own account, but also and especially as tokens of the divine favour, — as channels through which He conveyed to them the assurance of His love. And such must have been, in a peculiar manner, their view of this promise, when they were assured that the righteous King, under whom they were to enjoy prosperity and peace, should be called, JEHOVAH THEIR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
And how fully have the largest and brightest of the anticipations of the Old Testament Church been realised in the representations which the New Testament gives of the privileges of believers, — of the grace provided for them here, and of the glory prepared for them hereafter! Not only has Jehovah their Righteousness procured for them acceptance with God, and restoration to the blessedness which they had forfeited and lost by their apostasy; He has provided for their exaltation to a state of honour and distinction, which we do not find ascribed even to principalities and powers in heavenly places. It was His prayer for them before He left this earth, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which thou hast given Me.” The import of this prayer is more fully brought out by the apostle when he says, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!” “Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” And lastly, another apostle has said of himself, and of all true believers, “Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”