The Righteousness of Saints Part IV

 

The Righteousness of Saints Part IV

 

Revelation 19:8

 

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

 

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Romans 3:21). The law and the prophets give witness to the righteousness of God which is manifested and established by the doing and dying of our Lord Jesus Christ as He is the one and only Mediator between God and men, as it is written: “ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Timothy 2:5). Mary, the mother of Jesus, is no mediatrix. Dead saints, martyrs, and angels, are not mediators. Only Christ Jesus is the Great High Priest and the eternal Substitute and Surety of the people of God who stood in their room and stead as a convicted, condemned, sentenced, and executed, felon. He stood in their law place before a thrice holy God and has borne the curse of the law in their stead (Galatians 3:13). Christ Jesus was made sin for the election of grace that they might be made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, as it is written: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (II Corinthians 5:21). Witness to the righteousness of God was given in the promise of the Seed of woman in the first book of the law (Genesis 3:15). The prophets also give witness to the righteousness of God (Daniel 9:24).

 

In Part III of this title attention was given to the first of the prophesied accomplishments of Messiah through Daniel’s prophesy, which was: “to finish the transgression” (Daniel 9:24). Messiah accomplished this while He was in our midst as the Seed of woman sent from God to save the people whom God has (1.) loved from everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3; John 17:23-24), (2.) elected in a covenant of pure grace and grace alone (Ephesians 1:3-7; II Timothy 1:9; Romans 8:28-39), (3.) predestinated to the adoption of children and conformation to the image of Christ (Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:29), (4.) given to Christ Jesus the Messiah as His bride (John 17:2, 9, 11, 23-24; Revelation 21: 9-11; Ephesians 5:25-31), (5.) and whom Christ Jesus espoused without beginning in covenant union and took for His own (Hosea 2:19-20; II Corinthians 11:2). In this article other accomplishments that were promised in the witness of the prophet Daniel will be considered, such as “to make an end of sins” (Daniel 9:24).

 

Christ Jesus has finished the work of making an end of sins by justifying the entirety of the election of grace. Christ has justified the church of God by His bloody death, as it is written: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). And again: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26). The bloody death of Jesus Christ was an expiation for the sins that were charged to Him. The Holy Ghost has declared by the prophet Ezekiel “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). The law of God is satisfied, made propitious, toward the offender when the sentence of death is accomplished either in the sinner or his Surety. The apostle refers to the bloody death of Christ here “in the same light in which it is uniformly considered in this Epistle, as an expiation of sin. By enduring, in the room of His people, death as a curse, He has converted death into a blessing to them. They need no longer be afraid of it. They may look forward to it with tranquility, and even desire. They may say, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (I Corinthians 15: 55-58) (Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh).

 

By faith, the righteousness of God is apprehended, it is seen by the eye of faith and understood through faith, for “through faith we understand” (Hebrews 11:3). “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding” (I John 5:20). When the righteousness of God is seen and understood through faith it becomes evident that those who see and understand are justified through faith for faith is the gift of God and it is given to those who are justified by the blood of the Lord Jesus. Justification is by the imputation of the “righteousness of God” (Romans 1:17) to the account of elect sinners, according to the will of God. The righteousness of God is received by faith and where faith is there is first the gift of eternal life for “the dead know not any thing” (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Eternal life is the reward of perfect righteousness and perfect righteousness is by imputation of God the Father which is the righteousness of saints, and was established by Jesus Christ through His cross death.

 

Christ Jesus was sent into this world by God the Father “to make an end of sins”. Our Lord Jesus has accomplished the task which no one else between the eternities was qualified to undertake. Only one of the Three Divine Persons was made flesh, God the Son, the Word, “was made flesh” (John 1:14). And accordingly was prepared to be the Divine Substitute for sinners who are men and who are members of the election of grace. Our Lord Jesus has made an end of sins by enduring the curse of the law for the elect of God, that is, for us, (Hebrews 6:20) through bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. As it is written: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13) and it is written: “ Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). Our Lord Jesus acted “by Himself” in all that He did as the Surety of the New Testament, as it is written: “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).

 

Christ Jesus purged the sins of God’s elected, redeemed, and predestinated, children of the everlasting covenant of grace (Ephesians 1:3-7). These particular members of the body of Christ (the church of God) will infallibly be brought in the glory of God to the “marriage supper of Lamb” as it is written: “And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God” (Revelation 19:9). Reader we should notice; it is not said that Christ Jesus purged the church of God from their sins. The people of God are still sinners in their own persons while they live on the earth, even the apostle Paul said: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24). And the Prophet Isaiah said: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64;6). David lamented his condition thus: “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:1-5).

 

Our Lord Jesus Christ had sin laid on Him, as it is written: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6); but Christ Jesus had no sin in Him: “ And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin” (I John 3:5). And so it is clear that as the Divine Substitute for sinners and as the Surety of the New Testament, Christ Jesus bore our sins on Him, or “in His own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24). Christ Jesus had sin on Him at His death but never had sin in Him.  All the sons of Adam in this world have sin in them; but the elected, redeemed, and regenerated, children of God have no sin on them, as it is written: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8).  Sins are not imputed to the children of God, because all their sins have been already borne by the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world of the elect of God (John 1:29).

 

 Christ Jesus purged our sins, not us from our sins.  Some may object, saying, Christ has saved His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). This is true, Christ Jesus saved His people from their sins by purging their sins, removing the guilt of their sins, and making their sins white as the snow, as the prophet Isaiah has written: “ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). David saith: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness” (Psalm 51:14). The question becomes: how can God make sin to be without guilt?

 

God the Father imputed the guilt of the body of Christ (the church of God) to Christ (Isaiah 53:6). The Deity accounts the Head and the body to be (1.) one Christ, as it is written: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ” (I Corinthians 12:12). (2.) One “perfect  man”: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). (3.) One “new man”, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (Ephesians 2:15).

 

The Head of the body was charged with the iniquities of the body, because of the eternal union of the Head and the body. Divine Justice accounts Christ Jesus and the church which He has purchased with His own blood to be one entity, as one new man hidden in mystery in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:1-11). And because of the union of the Head and the body, the sins of the body were accounted the sins of the Head of the Body. In the Psalms, the Lord Christ (Acts 2:36) owns the sins of His body (the church of God) as His own saying: “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh” (Psalm 38:4-7). And in another of the Psalms: “ Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me” (Psalm 69:1-9). And in the twenty second Psalm we hear the voice of the Lord Christ throughout the entire Psalm, let the reader study the contents thereof.

 

The Psalms show us the heart of the Redeemer as He was cursed and endured the curse of the law for the people of God whom the Father had loved in Christ and chosen to eternal life. The guilt of the sins of the body of Christ (the church of God) was laid on Him (Isaiah 53:6) and He bore our sins in His own body of the tree (I Peter 2:24). Christ Jesus took the place of the guilty. Guilt deserves a curse, Christ Jesus endured that curse for those who are in eternal union in Him, and put away sin by the “sacrifice of Himself” as it is written: “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:24-28).

 

In the judicial economy of the word of God, sin cannot be charged to both the sinner and the Surety of sinners. Sin must be imputed to either one or the other. Sin must be imputed to the principal or the Surety, but never to both. Sin being imputed to the Surety of sinners, necessarily removes the guilt of sin from the sinner. In the judiciary of God, the Surety becomes the guilty one, and the sinner is “justified freely” as it is written: “ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Christ Jesus had sin imputed to Him of His Father, He had the sin of the church of God on Him at His death and His blood washed that sin from Him When He said “it is finished” (John 19:30). It was “through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Hebrews 13:20) that Christ Jesus was raised from the dead. Our Lord Jesus Christ called the blood of the everlasting covenant “My Blood of the New Testament” as it is written: “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Christ Jesus washed the sin of the church of God, which the LORD had laid on Him, from Himself with His own precious blood, which was God’s blood, as it is written: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). Christ Jesus was justified from the sins that were laid on Him by His Father through His death, As it is written: “He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up” (Isaiah 50:8-9). When our Lord Jesus appears again in this world it will be without sin unto salvation, as it is written: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Hebrews 9:28).

 

 

Christ Jesus is set forth in the word of God, in promise, prophesy, type, and finally in Person and He is the propitiation who makes satisfaction to the law and justice of God. Where the justice of God is made propitious there is no offense remaining, where there is no offense there is no guilt and sin has reached its end. Moreover, “sin is the transgression of the law”, as it is written: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). And as we have observed in Part III of this title the law is nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ and taken out of the way, and therefore where there is no law, there can be no transgression and  there can be no sin. Because: “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled” (Titus 1:15). “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (I Timothy 1:9-11). The saints of God are purified by faith, as it is written: “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:3). Men do not purify themselves by their own works, that is, by anything that they do: it is Christ that “justifieth the ungodly” (Romans 4:5).

 

AJ Ison  

 

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Righteousness of Saints Part III

 

The Righteousness of Saints Part III

 

Revelation 19:8

 

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

 

The righteousness of God is a Person, the name of that Person is “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6). The righteousness of God is inherent in Jesus of Nazareth who is the Mediator between God and man, the “Daysman” for whom Job longed in the days of his calamities, as it is written: “If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean; Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both (and make peace between us, Ephesians 2:14: writer). Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me: then would I speak, and not fear him; but it is not so with me” (Job 9:30-33) (that is, it was not yet so in the experience of Job: writer). Jesus of Nazareth is that Daysman being the God-Man, the Mediator of the everlasting covenant of grace. Christ Jesus is the Propitiation for the elect of God who made satisfaction to the divine law and justice of God for the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). Christ Jesus is the Substitute who endured the curse of the law in the stead of the Israel of God (Galatians 3:13). Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Surety (Hebrews 7:22) who stood in the law place (the place of a convicted and condemned malefactor) of the children of God and drank the cup of suffering and death to the infinity of its emptiness for the cup of wrath must be perfectly empty and perfectly clean at the consummation of the work of the Surety of the election of grace, who are the children of the covenant of grace (Acts 3:25).

 

The righteousness of God is firmly established as the ground of salvation through Christ’s doing and dying which is imputed to the account of the saints of God by the Father. And this righteousness is the wedding garment, the fine linen, clean and white of the church of God. As it is written by the prophet Isaiah: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, (shall be made the righteousness of God in Christ, II Corinthians 5:21: writer) and shall glory” (Isaiah 45:22 -25).

 

This righteousness of God, was witnessed by the law and the prophets, as it is written: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets” (Romans 3:21). In part II of this title, witness was borne by the promise of God to our first parents. That promise was that the Seed of woman should bruise the head of the serpent. The serpent was Satan in a serpentine form, (Genesis 3:15). In this article the promise as witnessed by Moses in the law, will be observed in the prophets, as  witness was borne in the prophecy of Daniel: as it is written: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy” (Daniel 9:24).

 

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city” Seventy weeks (Seventy sevens, or Seventy heptads of years which is 490 years) is a certain time and at the end of that set time and in the fulness of that particular time (Galatians 4:4), which is here called seventy weeks, the prophecy will have been finished. At the end of that time the Seed of woman will have accomplished the bruising of the serpent’s head, the thing that was promised according to the witness of the law by Moses is here prophesied by the prophet Daniel. That which was to be accomplished and in fact has been accomplished in the bruising of the serpent’s head is: (1.) “to finish the transgression” (2.) “to make an end of sins” (3.) “to make reconciliation for iniquity” (4.) “to bring in everlasting righteousness” (5.) “to seal up the vision and prophesy” (6.) “to anoint the most Holy”. The scriptures have recorded the accomplishment of each of these objectives in the Person of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 The bruising of the head of the serpent: was promised in the witness of the law and prophesied of in the witness in the Prophets. In this article the prophesy of Daniel will be considered. Satan was the instrumental cause of the transgression of the law which was given Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The serpent beguiled the woman and she did eat of the forbidden fruit and she gave it to her husband and he did eat of the fruit that God had forbidden. In this it may be observed that our own actions and influences are not without their consequences. We may negatively affect our own loved ones through our unbelief. For even the elect, redeemed, and regenerated, children of God have a battle with unbelief. And there are some who know the truth of the gospel but fear to share it with those they love because the gospel of God is offensive to the flesh and believers in some instances may be afraid to offend their loved one. Our Lord has said: “Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth. Ye (believers: writer) are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God” (Isaiah 43:9-12). Believer will you honor men or will you be a faithful witness to the truth of God? “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).  Let us return to the subject in hand.

 

The first goal of Messiah was “to finish the transgression” There can be no transgression of a law that has been perfectly fulfilled and acknowledged to have been fulfilled by the law giver. This was accomplished by the cross death, the resurrection, the ascension, and the session of the Savior at the right hand of the Majesty on high, for the saints of God. And He did all this “for Us” the children of the everlasting covenant, as it is written: “Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec” (Hebrews 6:20). And not only fulfilled but it is also taken out of the way, having been nailed to the cross of Him who fulfilled that law (Colossians 2:14). “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” (Daniel 9:26). Our Lord Jesus Christ was “cut off out the land of the living” as it is written: “He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isaiah 53:8). Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah was cut off but not for Himself. He was cut off for the elect of God. Not for all and every man, but for those whom the Father called “my people” having chosen them in Christ and having given them to Christ before the foundation of the world according to His everlasting love. For He loved His elect as He loved the Lord Jesus Christ (John 17:23; Jeremiah 31:3; I John 4:10, 19; Romans 8:28-39; II Timothy 1:8-10).

 

Christ died with all His members in Him, (I Corinthians 12:12, 27; Colossians 1:18; Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:23). When the True Vine died all the branches died with Him, As our Lord Jesus said: “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). The apostle Paul has written: “I am crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). To be crucified with Christ is to be put to death under the law in Christ and with Christ, for Christ was “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that are under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). To be crucified with Christ, is to be put to death in Christ. Just as the branches of a vine die with the vine. Those who die with the True Vine are dead with the True Vine, that is they are “dead with Christ” as it is written: “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Romans 6:8). The elect of God are dead with Christ, having been crucified with Christ. The elect of God are “dead to the law” as it is written: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Romans 7:4). And since the elect of God are dead to the law, they are “not under the law but under grace” as it is written: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Now “the motions of sins, which were by the law” are not invigorated and excited into action by the restraints and prohibitions of the law (Romans 7:5) “for where no law is, there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15). It is not possible that those who are no longer under the law should transgress the law. It is therefore evident that the transgression is finished, and that the transgression was finished by our Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of woman.

 

 It is impossible that the elect of God should be able to transgress the law of God (in a judicial way) as it is written: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). In a judicial way, that is, in a way that could bring themselves under the condemnation and curse of the law of God, and under the wrath of God. For God has said “their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). And it is written: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8). God will not impute sin to those for whom His Son died, whose sins His own Son has put away forever through His sufferings and death in their room and stead. The righteousness of God would be totally opposed such actions. The wrath of God, for all the sins, of all the elect of God, in all ages, was fully exhausted upon our Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.  Christ Jesus being the covenant Head of the People of God and the Surety of the everlasting covenant of grace. The Lord saith: “In that day sing ye unto her, (The church of God: writer) A vineyard of red wine. I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me: who would set the briers and thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together” (Isaiah 27:2-4).

  

Let us bear in mind, however, that God will and does correct His children with the rod of His familial discipline, as it is written: “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:5-11).

 

Now our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, has finished the transgression “through death” as it is written: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). And the church of God has “fellowship in His sufferings” as it is written: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” (Philippians 3:10). The church of God is partaker of that finished work of Christ, having no sin nor any sins imputed to them because they are “dead with Christ” (Romans 6:8) having been in covenant union in Christ “crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). As it is written: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4).

 

Add to the things that have been written that Our Lord Jesus Christ has “abolished death” it is written: “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (II Timothy 1:10). “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4) having nailed the law to His cross, as it is written: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). The law is the ministration of condemnation and death to the fallen sons of Adam, as it is written: “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory” (II Corinthians 3:6-9).

 

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). The “ministration of death” (II Corinthians 3:7) was given by Moses, but the “ministration of righteousness” was given by Jesus Christ, as it is written: “For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory” (II Corinthians 3:9). The ministration of death through the law of Moses was exceedingly glorious in itself, as it is written: “the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good” (Romans 7:12), but the glory of the ministration of death by the law of Moses had no glory when compared with the glory of the ministration of righteousness which is by Jesus Christ, as it is written: “But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth” (II Corinthians 3:7-10).

 

The saints of God are clothed with the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness that is the provision of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as it is written: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations” (Isaiah 61:10-11). All the children of the everlasting covenant “shall be taught” that Jesus of Nazareth is “both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). And all those whom God has “predestinated to the adoption of children” (Ephesians 1:5) having chosen them in Christ (Ephesians (1:4) shall be given the Spirit of truth (Ezekiel 36:27; and John 14:17; Jeremiah 32:39-40) as it is written in the prophets: “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 54:13-17). The promise as witnessed by the prophet is brought into the New Testament by the apostle John, as it is written: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:44-45).

 

Believers are made so by the Spirit of God, for God has said, “I will put my Spirit in you” (Ezekiel 36:27) not because of anything being foreseen in those in whom God will put His Spirit, for it is written: “Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel” (Ezekiel 36:32). God puts His Spirit in the hearts of those whom He has loved in Jesus Christ without beginning, as it is written: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). God has loved the partakers of His election of grace as He loved the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore calls them to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus, as it is written: “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 2:13-14). And God has promised by His holiness that the heirs of promise shall endure as the days of heaven, as it is written: “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah” (Psalm 89:34-37).

AJ Ison

See the writer’s blog at www.hebrews915.blogspot.com hear the true gospel preached at www.13thstbaptist.org webcasting live at listed service times.

 

 

 

 

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