The Righteousness of Saints Part VII
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 Prophet Daniel gave witness to the promise that Israel’s Messiah would bring in everlasting righteousness. Jesus, was the name that was carried by the angel to Joseph at the announcement that the long awaited Christ of God, the hope of Israel was soon to arrive. Jesus is the name of the Christ of God in His humiliation. God the Son took hold of our nature our mankind when the Word was made flesh. Our Divine Savior took a temple (John 2:19) as He said: “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again”. He took a human body into union with His Godhead (Hebrews 10:5) “but a body though hast prepared me” and in that “true tabernacle” (Hebrews 8:2; 9:11) of the Most High He would bring in that glorious garment of salvation, and robe of righteousness that is to adorn the bride of Son of God in eternity to come.
The righteousnesses of the most holy of natural men are as a “menstruous cloth”, they are “filthy rags” (Isaiah 30:22; 64:6), in the judgment of God. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). Jesus Christ is the plummet, as it is written: “Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more” (Amos 7:7-8). And another of the prophets has said, “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place” (Isaiah 28:17).
Our Lord Jesus told the men of His day: “I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). The righteousness of the children of God must be perfect in the sight of God, as it is written: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). What saith the scripture concerning the righteousness of man? It is written: “ What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water” (Job 15:14-16). And again it is written: “I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?” (Job 9:2-4) And again from the book of Job: “Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?” (Job 25:2-6).
Does the New Testament give a better status of the condition of man in his standing before God according to nature? Hear the language of the apostle of the Gentiles: “There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Romans 3:10-19). Reader this is God’s description of all men by nature, it is the description of the writer by nature and it is the description of you according to the truth and Holiness of God. You cannot be saved from the wrath to come by anything that you can do, you must be saved by the grace of God in Christ Jesus alone or you must perish in the everlasting burnings without end, to all eternity.
God has provided a righteousness that equals the demands of His law for righteousness in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:6). “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4). All who believe on the Lord Jesus for and as their entire salvation, are “made the righteousness of God in Him” 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). Reader: “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). Sinners put on the Lord Jesus Christ by believing on Him through God given faith. For those who believe on Him: “..the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” (Isaiah 32:17) Because Christ Jesus is their hiding place, as it is written: “Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man (Christ Jesus: writer) shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly” (Isaiah 32:1-4).
“And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). Those who believe are justified by that righteousness of God, as it is written: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:16-17). This righteousness is absolutely perfect righteousness, because it is brought and established by Him “who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 9:5). This righteousness is the ground of salvation for the children of the election of grace who are the people of God and this righteousness bears all the perfections of the Son of God. This righteousness is the justifying righteousness of the family of God (Ephesians 2:15) and it bears the perfections of God the Son and it bears none of the imperfections of those who are dressed in that perfect righteousness. The recipients of the righteousness of God have no part in bringing in that perfect righteousness. It is brought in and established by Jesus Christ alone through His life and death as He officiated as the Mediator of the everlasting covenant of grace. As said Isaiah the prophet Isaiah: “ 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” (Isaiah 61:10). “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 54:17).
The reception of the benefits of the covenant are not by the decisions of those who are the recipients of those benefits the benefits were prepared for them in particular (I Corinthians 12:27; Matthew 25:34) before the foundation of the world. Therefore they have no ground of boasting, as it is written: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth (He that boasts: writer), let him glory in the Lord” (I Corinthians 1:30-31). Since the recipients of the benefits of the everlasting covenant had no hand in the establishment of the righteousness which is provided in that covenant that righteousness which is therein provided by the Son of God justifies all who have an interest in it. That is all those who were chosen in the covenant of God (Isaiah 59:21; II Samuel 23:5; Hebrews 13:20; Matthew 26:28) are infallibly justified by the righteousness provided therein for them. They are given knowledge of their justification by faith. The Spirit of God is given them because they are justified having been set apart in eternal covenant engagements by the three Persons of the Godhead, as it is written: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (I John 4:13). The apostle John informs us that all those who have a portion in the covenant shall be taught of God, as it is written: “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 6:45). The apostle refers to Isaiah 54, where it is written: “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (Isaiah 54:13). And it is written: “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life” (I John 5:19-20).
Let believers rest in the knowledge that Christ Jesus the eternal Son of God has come in our nature, as it is written: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). And He has established a righteousness that is equal to the demands of the law and justice of God “for us” (Hebrews 6:20). And not only has He established that righteousness that satisfies the justice of God but also He informs us of our interest in the covenant by His Spirit who is given the children of the covenant. It is by the Spirit that the children of the covenant are enabled to declare that Jesus is the Christ, as it is written: “Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (I Corinthians 12:3).
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.
