Delivered to Christ

'Acceptance With God

Many people hesitate to make a start to serve the Lord, because they fear that God will not accept them, and thousands who have been professed followers of Christ for years are still doubting their acceptance with God. For the benefit of such I write, and I would not bewilder their minds with speculations, but will endeavor to give them the simple assurances of God's word.

“Will the Lord receive me?” I reply by another question: Will a man receive that which he has bought? If you go to the store and make a purchase, will you receive the goods when they are delivered? Of course you will; there is no room for any question about it. The fact that you bought the goods and paid your money for them is sufficient proof, not only that you are willing, but that you are anxious, to receive them. If you did not want them, you would not have bought them. Moreover, the more you paid for them the more anxious you are to receive them. If the price that you paid was great and you had almost given your life to earn it, then there can be no question but that you will accept the purchase when it is delivered. Your great anxiety is lest there should be some failure to deliver it.

Now let us apply this simple, natural illustration to the case of the sinner coming to Christ. In the first place, He has bought us. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.

The price that was paid for us was His own blood--His life. Paul said to the elders of Ephesus: “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. “For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation [manner of life] received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19. He “gave himself for us.” Titus 2:14. He “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” Gal. 1:4.

He bought not a certain class, but the whole world of sinners. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son.” John 3:16. Jesus said, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:6, 8.

The price paid was infinite, therefore, we know that He very much desired that which He bought. He had His heart set on obtaining it. He could not be satisfied without it. See Phil. 2:6-8; Heb 12:2; Isa. 53:11.

(((Php 2:6  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Isa 53:11  He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. ))))

“But I am not worthy.” That means that you are not worth the price paid and therefore you fear to come lest Christ will repudiate the purchase. Now you might have some fear on that score if the bargain were not sealed and the price were not already paid. If He should refuse to accept you on the ground that you are not worth the price, He would not only lose you but also the amount paid. Even though the goods for which you have paid are not worth what you gave for them, you yourself would not be so foolish as to throw them away. You would rather get some return for your money than get nothing.

But, further, you have nothing to do with the question of worth. When Christ was on earth in the interest of the purchase, He “needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what was in man.” John 2:25. He made the purchase with his eyes open, and He knew the exact value of that which He bought. He is not at all disappointed when you come to Him and He finds that you are worthless. You have not to worry over the question of worth. If He, with His perfect knowledge of the case, was satisfied to make the bargain, you should be the last one to complain.

For, most wonderful truth of all, He bought you for the very reason that you were not worthy. His practiced eye saw in you great possibilities, and He bought you, not for what you were then or are now worth, but for what He could make of you. He says, “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake.” Isa. 43:25. We have no righteousness, therefore He bought us, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Says Paul, “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” Col. 2:9, 10. Here is the whole process:

We all...were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might show us the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

We are to be “to the praise of the glory of his grace.” This we could not be if we were originally worth all He paid for us. There would in that case be no glory to Him in the transaction. He could not, in the ages to come, show in us the riches of His grace. But when He takes us, worth nothing, and at the last presents us faultless before the throne, it will be to His everlasting glory. And then there will not be any to ascribe worthiness to themselves. Throughout eternity, the sanctified hosts will unite in saying to Christ, “Thou art worthy...for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests.” “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Rev. 5:9, 10, 12.

Surely all doubt as to acceptance with God ought to be set at rest. But it is not. The evil heart of unbelief still suggests doubts. “I believe all this, but--.'” There, stop right there. If you believed you wouldn't say “but.” When people add “but” to the statement that they believe, they really mean, “I believe, but I don't believe.” But you continue, “Perhaps you are right, but hear me out. What I was going to say is, I believe the Scripture statements that you have quoted, but the Bible says that if we are children of God we shall have the witness of the Spirit and will have the witness in ourselves, and I don't feel any such witness. Therefore, I can't believe that I am Christ's. I believe His word, but I haven't the witness.” I understand your difficulty. Let me see if it cannot be removed.

As to your being Christ's, you yourself can settle that. You have seen what He gave for you. Now the question is, have you delivered yourself to Him? If you have, you may be sure that He has accepted you. If you are not His, it is solely because you have refused to deliver to Him that which He has bought. You are defrauding Him. He says, “All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Rom. 10:21. He begs you to give Him that which He has bought and paid for, yet you refuse and charge Him with not being willing to receive you. But if from the heart you have yielded yourself to Him to be His child, you may be assured that He has received you. Now as to your believing His words, yet doubting if He accepts you, because you don't feel the witness in your heart, I still insist that you don't believe. If you did, you would have the witness. Listen to His word, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself; he that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” 1 John 5:10. To believe in the Son is simply to believe His word and the record concerning Him.

And “he that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.” You can't have the witness until you believe, and as soon as you do believe, you have the witness. How is that? Because your belief in God's word is the witness. God says so.

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb 11:1.

If you should hear God say with an audible voice that you are His child, you would consider that sufficient witness. Well, when God speaks in His word, it is the same as though He spoke with an audible voice, and your faith is the evidence that you hear and believe.

This is so important a matter that it is worth careful consideration. Let us read a little more of the record. First, we read that we are “all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:26. This is a positive confirmation of what I said concerning our unbelief in the witness. Our faith makes us children of God. But how do we obtain this faith? “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17. But how can we obtain faith in God's word? Just believe that God cannot lie. You would hardly call God a liar to His face, but that is just what you do if you don't believe His word. All you have to do to believe is to believe. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed.” Rom. 10:8-11.

All this is in harmony with the record given through Paul. “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.” Rom. 8:16, 17. This Spirit which witnesses with our spirit is the Comforter that Jesus promised. John 14:16. And we know that Its witness is true, for It is the “Spirit of truth.” Now how does It bear witness? By bringing to our remembrance the Word which has been recorded. It inspired those words (1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21), and, therefore, when It brings them to our remembrance, it is the same as though It were speaking them directly to us. It presents to our mind the record, a part of which we have quoted. We know that the record is true, for God cannot lie. We bid Satan be gone with his false witness against God, and we believe that record, but if we believe the record, we know that we are children of God, and we cry, “Abba, Father.” And then the glorious truth breaks more fully upon the soul. The repetition of the words makes it a reality to us. He is our Father; we are His children. What joy the thought gives! So we see that the witness which we have in ourselves is not a simple impression or an emotion. God does not ask us to trust so unreliable a witness as our feeling. He who trusts his own heart is a fool, the Scripture says. But the witness that we are to trust is the unchangeable word of God, and this witness we may have through the Spirit, in our own hearts. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”

This assurance does not warrant us in relaxing our diligence and settling down contentedly, as though we had gained perfection. We must remember that Christ accepts us not for our sake but for His own sake, not because we are perfect but that in Him we may go on unto perfection. He blesses us not because we have been so good that we have deserved a blessing but in order that in the strength of the blessing we may turn away from our iniquities. Acts 3:26. To everyone that believes in Christ, the power--right or privilege--is given to become the sons of God. John 1:12, margin. It is by the “exceeding great and precious promises” of God through Christ that we are “made partakers of the Divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:4.

Let us consider briefly the practical application of some of these scriptures.

E.G. Waggoner - Christ Our Righteousness

(((BY the grace of God we will continue with that tomorrow… but first…))))


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My thoughts-

'As to your being Christ's, you yourself can settle that. You have seen what He gave for you. Now the question is, have you delivered yourself to Him? If you have, you may be sure that He has accepted you. If you are not His, it is solely because you have refused to deliver to Him that which He has bought. You are defrauding Him.' --

Delivering ourselves to Christ. Surrendering ourselves to Christ.

This brings to mind once more this lovely little poem-

I brought my broken toys to God
With tears for Him to mend.
I knew that I could trust Him,
Because He was my friend.
But instead of leaving Him,
In peace to work alone,
I stayed around and tried to help,
In ways that were my own.
At last I snatched them back,
And cried,"How could you be so slow?"
"My child," he said, "what could I do,
you never did let go." ----Unknown

This holds true for ourselves as well as any problems we may have. If we do NOT give Christ ourselves and let go of ourselves so He can mend us,  how can we expect Him to work in us?

If we are constantly living our lives on a day in and day out basis judging ourselves and saying- this sinful action of mine keeps me from Christ,  then in truth we are saying- if we are good enough then we would be Christ's.

It's true, sin separates us from God.  When we sin we are committing an action that will separate us from God.  If we are Christ's, if we have delivered ourselves to Christ, then we can know that we can seek forgiveness from Him and He will give it to us, He will forgive us. He knows our every weakness and promises to help us.

We will never be worthy, but we can belong to Christ.

A daily deliverance.  We are to ask God daily to deliver to us our DAILY bread, our DAILY sustenance and that's what Christ is for us, a DAILY Sustenance.  If we are to pray for God to 'give us this day our daily bread'  then we are to pray DAILY.  We receive the Daily Bread from God. When we are asking for our Daily Bread we are asking to be sustained by God, delivering ourselves into His hands to be sustained, kept spiritually alive in Him.

All our lives we are going to be constantly immersed in the spiritual battle waging on around us, it will never end until Christ's return for us, His people.

The battle rages on because there is no such thing as 'once saved, always saved.'  Satan will continually war after us knowing that there exists a possibility to stop us from receiving our Daily Bread, a possibility of stopping us from delivering ourselves to Christ and Christ's salvation, Christ's righteousness.

A constant surrendering, this is our part. A constant fearing of God- recognizing God's authority over us. A constant keeping of God's commandments- of living as Christ as revealed we are supposed to live.  A constant seeking of forgiveness for falling short of keeping God's commandments fully.  We will never reach a place where we can say we don't need to ask for Christ's forgiveness any longer, not until sin is wiped away once and for all. We will never reach a place where we can say we have lived righteousness, we've kept all the commandments, and we are good.

We will have days where we have found we've kept God's commandments as fully as we know how- just as the man in the Bible could say this-

Luk 18:18  And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Luk 18:19  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Luk 18:20  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Luk 18:21  And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.

The man said- 'All these have I kept from my youth up.' 

The man believed he kept God's commandments.  But Jesus revealed to him that he did not, not really, not fully.

Luk 18:22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
Luk 18:23  And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.
Luk 18:24  And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

The man lacked one thing-- the love of the law that tells us that we are love others before we love ourselves, the love that we are to have that says to love God first and foremost. 

The man thought he was keeping the commandments, but the truth was he was keeping it in form not in heart. His loving God and having no other gods before God- did not stop him from making money his god. The man's riches meant more to him than God.

So yes, we can say we've had a great day, we've been able to keep all God's commandments, but the truth is, are we keeping the heart of the commandments that is so much broader than the clipped formality of what is written? 

We are forever dependent upon our Savior, our Redeemer, our Creator and we have to stop believing that we can be good enough, and start asking ourselves if we have surrendered to Christ today, in all things.  Have we surrendered? Have we delivered ourselves to Christ Jesus?  Have we given Him what He bought with such a high, high price?

Here we are, Lord! We are YOURS! We are imperfect, but You knew that when You died for us. We only seek to be YOURS, please know us, accept us, take us as Yours. Forgive us when we commit any act that will separate us from You and keep us in You by Your power, Your love, Your righteousness!

Christ Alone Saves

'The Lord Our Righteousness

The question, then, is, How may the righteousness that is necessary in order that one may enter that city, be obtained?

To answer this question is the great work of the gospel. Let us first have an object lesson on justification or the imparting of righteousness. The fact may help us to a better understanding of the theory. The example is given in Luke 18:9-14 in these words:

And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others; Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

This was given to show how we may not, and how we may, attain to righteousness.

The Pharisees are not extinct; there are many in these days who expect to gain righteousness by their own good deeds. They trust in themselves that they are righteous. They do not always so openly boast of their goodness, but they show in other ways that they are trusting to their own righteousness. Perhaps the spirit of the Pharisee--the spirit which would recount to God one's own good deeds as a reason for favor--is found as frequently as anywhere else among those professed Christians who feel the most bowed down on account of their sins. They know that they have sinned, and they feel condemned. They mourn over their sinful state and deplore their weakness. Their testimonies never rise above this level. Often they refrain for very shame from speaking in the social meeting, and often they do not dare approach God in prayer. After having sinned to a greater degree than usual, they refrain from prayer for some time, until the vivid sense of their failure has passed away or until they imagine that they have made up for it by special good behavior. Of what is this a manifestation? Of that Pharisaic spirit that would flaunt its own righteousness in the face of God; that will not come before Him unless it can lean on the false prop of its own fancied goodness. They want to be able to say to the Lord, “See how good I have been for the past few days; you surely will accept me now.”

But what is the result? The man who trusted in his own righteousness had none, while the man who prayed, in heart-felt contrition, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” went down to his house a righteous man. Christ says that he went justified; that is, made righteous.

Notice that the publican did something more than bewail his sinfulness; he asked for mercy.

What is mercy? It is unmerited favor. It is the disposition to treat a man better than he deserves. Now the Word of Inspiration says of God, “as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.” Ps. 103:11. That is, the measure by which God treats us better than we deserve when we humbly come to Him, is the distance between earth and the highest heaven. And in what respect does He treat us better than we deserve? In taking our sins away from us, for the next verse says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” With this agree the words of the beloved disciple, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.

For a further statement of the mercy of God, and of how it is manifested, read Micah 7:18,19, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast their sins into the depths of the sea.” Let us now read the direct Scripture statement of how righteousness is bestowed.

The apostle Paul, having proved that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, so that by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in His sight, proceeds to say that we are “justified [made righteous] 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 that believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3:24-26.

“Being made righteous freely.” How else could it be? Since the best efforts of a sinful man have not the least effect toward producing righteousness, it is evident that the only way it can come to him is as a gift. That righteousness is a gift is plainly stated by Paul in Rom. 5:17: “For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by One, Jesus Christ.” It is because righteousness is a gift that eternal life, which is the reward of righteousness, is the gift of God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Christ has been set forth by God as the One through whom forgiveness of sins is to be obtained; and this forgiveness consists simply in the declaration of His righteousness (which is the righteousness of God) for their remission. God, “who is rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4) and who delights in it, puts His own righteousness on the sinner who believes in Jesus, as a substitute for his sins. Surely, this is a profitable exchange for the sinner, and it is no loss to God, for He is infinite in holiness and the supply can never be diminished.

The scripture that we have just been considering (Rom. 3:24- 26) is but another statement of verses 21, 22, following the declaration that by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be made righteous. The apostle adds, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnesssed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” God puts His righteousness upon the believer. He covers him with it, so that his sin no more appears. Then the forgiven one can exclaim with the prophet:

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.

Isa. 61:10. But what about “the righteousness of God without the law”? How does that accord with the statement that the law is the righteousness of God, and that outside of its requirements there is no righteousness? There is no contradiction here. The law is not ignored by this process. Note carefully: Who gave the law? Christ. How did He speak it? “As one having authority,” even as God. The law sprang from Him the same as from the Father and is simply a declaration of the righteousness of His character. Therefore the righteousness which comes by the faith of Jesus Christ is the same righteousness that is epitomized in the law, and this is further proved by the fact that it is “witnessed by the law.”

Let the reader try to picture the scene. Here stands the law as the swift witness against the sinner. It cannot change, and it will not call a sinner a righteous man. The convicted sinner tries again and again to obtain righteousness from the law, but it resists all his advances. It cannot be bribed by any amount of penance or professedly good deeds. But here stands Christ, “full of grace” as well as of truth, calling the sinner to Him. At last the sinner, weary of the vain struggle to get righteousness from the law, listens to the voice of Christ and flees to His outstretched arms. Hiding in Christ, he is covered with His righteousness, and now behold! he has obtained, through faith in Christ, that for which he has been vainly striving. He has the righteousness which the law requires, and it is the genuine article, because he obtained it from the Source of Righteousness, from the very place whence the law came. And the law witnesses to the genuineness of this righteousness. It says that so long as the man retains that, it will go into court and defend him against all accusers. It will witness to the fact that he is a righteous man. With the righteousness which is “through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9), Paul was sure that he would stand secure in the day of Christ.

There is in the transaction no ground for finding fault. God is just and at the same time the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. In Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. He is equal with the Father in every attribute. Consequently the redemption that is in Him--the ability to buy back lost man--is infinite. Man's rebellion is against the Son as much as against the Father, since both are one. Therefore, when Christ “gave Himself for our sins,” it was the King suffering for the rebellious subjects--the One injured passing by, overlooking, the offense of the offender. No skeptic will deny that any man has the right and privilege of pardoning any offense committed against himself; then why cavil when God exercises the same right? Surely if He wishes to pardon the injury done Himself, He has the right, and more because He vindicates the integrity of His law by submitting in His own Person to the penalty which was due the sinner. “But the innocent suffered for the guilty.” True, but the innocent Sufferer “gave himself” voluntarily, in order that He might in justice to His government do what His love prompted, namely, pass by the injury done to Himself as the Ruler of the universe.

Now read God's own statement of His own Name--a statement given in the face of one of the worst cases of contempt ever shown Him:

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long- suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. Ex. 34:5-7.

This is God's name. It is the character in which He reveals Himself to man, the light in which He wishes men to regard Him. But what of the declaration that He “will by no means clear the guilty”? That is perfectly in keeping with His longsuffering, abundant goodness and His passing by the transgression of His people. It is true that God will by no means clear the guilty. He could not do that and still be a just God. But He does something which is far better. He removes the guilt, so that the one formerly guilty does not need to be cleared--he is justified and counted as though he never had sinned.

Let no one cavil over the expression, “putting on righteousness,” as though such a thing were hypocrisy. Some, with a singular lack of appreciation of the value of the gift of righteousness, have said that they did not want righteousness that was “put on,” but that they wanted only that righteousness which comes from the life, thus depreciating the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe. We agree with their idea insofar as it is a protest against hypocrisy, a form of godliness without the power, but we would have the reader bear this thought in mind: It makes a vast deal of difference who puts the righteousness on. If we attempt to put it on ourselves, then we really get on nothing but a filthy garment, no matter how beautiful it may look to us, but when Christ clothes us with it, it is not to be despised nor rejected. Mark the expression in Isaiah: “He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.” The righteousness with which Christ covers us is righteousness that meets the approval of God, and if God is satisfied with it, surely men ought not to try to find anything better.

But we will carry the figure a step further and that will relieve the matter of all difficulty. Zech. 3:1-5 furnishes the solution. It reads thus:

“And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the Angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair miter upon his head. So they set a fair miter upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.”

Notice in the above account that the taking away of the filthy garments is the same as causing the iniquity to pass from the person. And so we find that when Christ covers us with the robe of His own righteousness, He does not furnish a cloak for sin but takes the sin away. And this shows that the forgiveness of sins is something more than a mere form, something more than a mere entry in the books of record in heaven, to the effect that the sin has been canceled. The forgiveness of sins is a reality; it is something tangible, something that vitally affects the individual. It actually clears him from guilt, and if he is cleared from guilt, is justified, made righteous, he has certainly undergone a radical change. He is, indeed, another person, for he obtained this righteousness for the remission of sins, in Christ. It was obtained only by putting on Christ. But “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17. And so the full and free forgiveness of sins carries with it that wonderful and miraculous change known as the new birth, for a man cannot become a new creature except by a new birth. This is the same as having a new, or a clean, heart.

The new heart is a heart that loves righteousness and hates sin. It is a heart of willingness to be led into the paths of righteousness. It is such a heart as the Lord wished Israel to have when he said, “O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!” Deut. 5:29. In short, it is a heart free from the love of sin as well as from the guilt of sin. But what makes a man sincerely desire the forgiveness of his sins? It is simply his hatred of them and his desire for righteousness, which hatred and desire have been enkindled by the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit strives with all men. It comes as a reprover. When its voice of reproof is regarded, then it at once assumes the office of comforter. The same submissive, yielding disposition that leads the person to accept the reproof of the Spirit, will also lead him to follow the teachings of the Spirit, and Paul says that “as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14.

Again, what brings justification or the forgiveness of sins? It is faith, for Paul says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 5:1. The righteousness of God is given unto and put upon everyone that believeth. Rom. 3:22. But this same exercise of faith makes the person a child of God; for, says the apostle Paul again, “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:26.

The fact that everyone whose sins are forgiven is at once a child of God is shown in Paul's letter to Titus. He first brings to view the wicked condition in which we once were and then says (Titus 3:4-7):

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward men appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Note that it is by being justified by His grace that we are made heirs. We have already learned from Rom. 3:24, 25 that this justification by His grace is through our faith in Christ, but Gal. 3:26 tells us that faith in Christ Jesus makes us children of God; therefore, we know that whoever has been justified by God's grace-- has been forgiven--is a child and an heir of God.

This shows that there is no ground for the idea that a person must go through a sort of probation and attain to a certain degree of holiness before God will accept him as His child. He receives us just as we are. It is not for our goodness that He loves us but because of our need. He receives us, not for the sake of anything that He sees in us but for His own sake and for what He knows that His Divine power can make of us. It is only when we realize the wonderful exaltation and holiness of God and the fact that He comes to us in our sinful and degraded condition to adopt us into His family that we can appreciate the force of the apostle's exclamation, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1. Everyone upon whom this honor has been bestowed will purify himself, even as He is pure.

God does not adopt us as His children because we are good but in order that He may make us good. Says Paul, “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loves us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:4-7. And then he adds, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Verses 8-10. This passage shows that God loved us while we were yet dead in sins. He gives us His Spirit to make us alive in Christ, and the same Spirit marks our adoption into the Divine family, and He thus adopts us that, as new creatures in Christ, we may do the good works which God has ordained.'

Christ and His Righteousness    E.G. Waggoner

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My thoughts-

We have before us a right way and a wrong way to live- all defined in the Ten Commandments, the Spiritual law from God the Father and God the Son. 

When man chose to disobey God they destroyed their ability to keep the Moral Law. By making a selfish choice man chose to divorce themselves from the ONLY One who could keep them righteous.  There is NO righteousness apart from God, none! 

Born with no natural ability to keep the moral law, mankind was left to make a choice.  Mankind had the ability to choose to align themselves with God or align themselves with the enemy of God, the one who introduced separation from God under the pretext that God was being hateful in His love.  God allowed that Being to separate himself from Him, He could not force the union because force is selfish.  God gives all of mankind this same choice- to join with Him or join with the champion of separation from God- Satan. 

Now, when we make the choice to join with God we have to comprehend that the choice we are making is to be at one with God- aligned with God fully- understanding that God is all in all and God is righteousness.  When we choose God, we have to comprehend first and foremost that HE ALONE is righteous and the ONLY way for us to obtain any sort of righteousness is to be GIVEN that righteousness, it isn't something we can manufacture on our own, it's impossible. And we have to comprehend that this is an UNENDING, a FOREVER realization. We can't accept God's salvation, God's righteousness one day and then believe that our own actions will make us righteous the next day. 

If we choose to align with God then we are agreeing that all God tells us is good, we are agreeing that His ways are righteous. We are given multiple examples of His ways. We are given a set in stone sum of what God's righteousness is right there in His moral Ten Commandments, His Ten Moral Laws. We are allowed to know what God is, we are told that if we LOVE God we will keep His Commandments.  Why is this, if our keeping those commandments gives us no righteousness? Do we keep the Ten Commandments to obtain righteousness, or do we keep them because we LOVE the One who gave them to us, the One who gave us His righteousness in those Ten Moral Commandments?

When we fall short of keeping those Ten Moral Laws because we have no natural inclination to keep them,  when we recognize our failure to show our love to the One who has Created us, and Saved us, the One in whom exists Love,  then there is a God given, Holy Spirit induced sorrow for our failing.  That sorrow, that comprehension, serves to remind us that we have no righteousness of our own, that only by accepting CHRIST as our righteousness and allowing HIM and HIS righteousness to take from us that which we cannot remove for ourselves, can we have any real hope.

Daily we must choose Christ. Daily our filthy garments must be removed by Christ and replaced with the white robe of His Righteousness. Daily we must realize our need of being clothed by Christ. We can't pull on a single garment of righteousness. We can't tell ourselves that we keep the ten moral laws, as if each law is another layer of righteousness.  We can only give all glory, all praise, all honor to God for allowing us to live in His righteousness.  Keeping the Ten Commandments reveals our attempt, our desire,  to SHOW our love to God and His righteousness which alone saves us.

Keeping the Ten Commandments does not save us, no law saves us, only GOD can save us through JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD and SAVIOR.   We read this…

Rev_12:17  And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev_14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Satan is angry with God's Chosen, God's church. Satan wars with the remnant of the seed of God's people.  God's people, this remnant will KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of GOD and HAVE the TESTIMONY of JESUS CHRIST.

Satan can recognize God's people because their love of God will have them desiring to keep God's moral laws. They will have Jesus Christ's testimony- Salvation is found in HIM.

The patience of the saints- those who ARE GOD'S- they that KEEP the COMMANDMENTS of GOD and the FAITH of JESUS. 

We can't help but seek to follow God's will IF we love HIM. 

Do we fail?  Often.  Do we think our inability to keep perfectly the commandments of God damns us? Only if we think our ability to keep the commandments saves us.  Christ saves us!  Christ alone saves us!

Why does God say if we love Him we will keep the commandments? Because He KNOWS our love for Him if it is REALLY REAL, by HIS GRACE, will have us desiring to live life as He has deemed RIGHTEOUS and that is found in His Commandments.

Please LORD, help us to LOVE YOU, TRUST YOU, have FAITH IN YOU TO SAVE US, AND GIVE US ALL WE NEED TO LIVE IN YOU, TO LOVE YOU.

In His love always! In him and only in Him!

The Ten Commandments encompass our entire life- either obeying or disobeying

I just reread yesterday's study and there is so much in there, so much to think about. Let's start at the beginning-

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33.

The beginning of this lesson speaks about God's righteousness. We go on to learn (BIBLICALLY) that God's righteousness is found in His ten moral laws- the Ten Commandments.  Further we discover that those Ten Commandments are interdependent upon one another, and much more spiritual than the mere reading of them at first implies. We discover that the whole of our lives- every act we commit is either in keeping with the Ten Commandments- the Righteousness of God, or not keeping the Ten Commandments, and therefore not partaking in the Righteousness of God.

If this sounds all wonky to you, please read the study from yesterday again (included at the end of my thoughts in this study) .  I see no point in simply re-writing (copying) what was already written. I'm basically summarizing and expounding on the main study.

Remember these verses- we recently studied them in some depth-

Ecc 12:13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Ecc 12:14  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Is it any wonder that the WHOLE duty of man is to Fear God, and keep his commandments? Is it any wonder that EVERY WORK, EVERY SECRET THING- good or evil will be brought into judgment?

If we are to SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS- what we are truly seeking, actively seeking- is to keep the Ten Commandments that reveal the righteousness of God.  Christ tells us more than once to 'keep his commandments', that the saints 'keep the commandments and have faith in Him'.

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

IF

YOU

LOVE JESUS

YOU WILL KEEP

HIS COMMANDMENTS.

Did He say those words lightly as something to be dismissed?  What do you mean when you say to someone- If you love me….      You really mean if you love me, don't you?  Sure you can make a joke about that, telling your loved one if they love you they'll get you that drink from the kitchen.  But you won't mean it, you know they love you even if they don't get up and go get that drink.  But would you joke like this…  If you love me you'll have no other lovers.  Would that be just a joke to you, or something you really mean?

Christ wasn't joking when He said if we love Him we will keep His commandments. 

Seek first… seek first… 

Actively seek.  When you are seeking something you are actively out there looking, right? When you seek your glasses you aren't going to sit in one place and hope they magically appear.  If you lose your car keys you don't just look for them half-heartedly, do you? If you lost a child you'd stop at nothing looking everywhere for that child.  You seek earnestly for the things that are important to you.  If our Savior tells us to SEEK something first, before all other things, shouldn't we listen?

Seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and we know His righteousness is found in His ten moral laws.

So we have to seek our SAVIOR and HIS way of life, the life that comes from following His laws- the laws of life.

In this study as mentioned above, those ten commandments truly do encompass our lives we are either living them or not living them at any given moment.

Is it true we are to love God and have no other God's before Him?

Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

People will make their own bellies their god! If this is true, and it can not be otherwise, then what other things can people make their gods?  Any earthly thing minded more than heavenly thing is in danger of being a person's god, this is truth!

So when people claim to love only God and only have Him as their God and no other- could they be deceiving themselves? The truth could be they have many gods before God, minding many earthly things.

This lesson goes on to talk about our total inability to keep the law of God perfectly.  To read such truth without going on to the hope we have in Christ, can be a bit frightening. 

It's true our righteousness is as filthy rags.  We are to seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness-  Jesus tells us to do this, just as Jesus tells us if we love Him we will keep His commandments.  We know that our Savior would NOT ask the impossible of us.  He would make it POSSIBLE for us to do as He asks of us.  Seeking first the KINGDOM; if we LOVE HIM…  we cannot keep a single law without the love of CHRIST in us!  That thing we call being good and obeying the commandments mean nothing without Christ's love.

Tomorrow we are going to delve deeper into all this, by the grace of our LORD.

We have a good foundation here, a foundation built upon God's truth and only His truth. 

May we continue to study and seek Him first and foremost!  May He be our Righteousness!

All through His love, through His grace, through His mercy!

*******

(Yesterday's study - not expounded upon)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33.

The righteousness of God, says Jesus, is the one thing to be sought in this life.

Food and clothing are minor matters in comparison with it. God will supply them, as a matter of course, so that anxious care and worriment need not be expended on them; but TO SECURE GOD'S KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS SHOULD BE THE ONLY OBJECT OF LIFE.

In 1 Cor. 1:30 we are told that Christ is made unto us righteousness as well as wisdom; and since Christ is the wisdom of God, and in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, it is evident that the righteousness which He is made to us is the righteousness of God. Let us see what this righteousness is.

(((1Co 1:30  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption))))

In Ps. 119:172 the Psalmist thus addresses the Lord: "My tongue shall speak of Thy word; for all Thy commandments are righteousness." The commandments are righteousness, not simply in the abstract, but they are the righteousness of God. For proof read the following:—

Isa 51:6  Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Isa 51:7  Hearken unto me YE THAT KNOW RIGHTEOUSNESS THE PEOPLE IN WHOSE HEART IS MY LAW fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

What do we learn from this?—That they who know the righteousness of God are those in whose heart is His law, and therefore that the law of God is the righteousness of God.

This may be proved again, as follows:

"All unrighteousness is sin." 1 John 5:17.

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.

Sin is the transgression of the law, and it is also unrighteousness; therefore sin and unrighteousness are identical. But if unrighteousness is transgression of the law, righteousness must be obedience to the law. Or, to put the proposition into mathematical form:—

Unrighteousness = sin. 1 John 5:17.

Transgression of the law = sin. 1 John 3:4.

Therefore, according to the axiom that two things that are equal to the same thing are  equal to each other, we have:—

Unrighteousness = transgression of the law which is a negative equation. The same thing, stated in positive terms, would be:—

Righteousness = obedience to the law.

Now what law is it obedience to which is righteousness and disobedience to which is sin? It is that law which says, "Thou shalt not covet;" for the apostle Paul tells us that this law convinced him of sin. Rom. 7:7.

(((Rom 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.))))

The law of ten commandments, then, is the measure of the righteousness of God. Since it is the law of God, and is righteousness, it must be the righteousness of God. There is, indeed, no other righteousness.

Since the law is the righteousness of God—a transcript of His character—it is easy to see that to fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man. Eccl. 12:13.

Let no one think that his duty will be circumscribed if confined to the ten commandments, for they are "exceeding broad."

"The law is spiritual," and comprehends a great deal more than can be discerned by an ordinary reader.

"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. 2:14.  The exceeding breadth of the law of God can be realized only by those who have prayerfully meditated upon it. A few texts of Scripture will suffice to show us something of its breadth.

In the sermon on the mount Christ said: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,  Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matt. 5:21, 22.

And again: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Verses 27, 28.

This does not mean that the commandments, "Thou shalt not kill," and, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," are imperfect, or that God now requires a greater degree of morality from Christians than He did from His people who were called Jews. He requires the same from all men in all ages. The Saviour simply explained these commandments and showed their spirituality. To the unspoken charge of the Pharisees, that He was ignoring and undermining the moral law, He replied by saying that He came for the purpose of establishing the law, and that it could not be abolished; and then He expounded the true meaning of the law in a way that convicted them of ignoring and disobeying it. He showed that even a look or a thought may be a violation of the law, and that it is indeed a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In this Christ did not reveal a new truth, but only brought to light and unfolded an old one. The law meant just as much when He proclaimed it from Sinai as when He expounded it on the mountain in Judea. When, in tones that shook the earth, He said, "Thou shalt not kill," He meant,  "Thou shalt not cherish anger in the heart; thou shalt not indulge in envy, nor strife, nor anything which is in the remotest degree akin to murder."

All this and much more is contained in the words, "Thou shalt not kill." And this was taught by the inspired words of the Old Testament; for Solomon showed that the law deals with things unseen as

well as things seen, when he wrote:—

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14.

The argument is this:

The judgment passes upon every secret thing; the law of God is the standard in the judgment,—it determines the quality of every act, whether good or evil; therefore, the law of God forbids evil in thought as well as in deed. So the conclusion of the whole matter is that the commandments of God contain the whole duty of man.

Take the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The apostle tells us of some "whose god is their belly." Phil. 3:19. But gluttony and intemperance are self-murder; and so we find that the first commandment runs through to the sixth. This is not all, however, for he also tells us that covetousness is idolatry.  Col. 3:5. The tenth commandment cannot be violated without violating the first and second. In other words, the tenth commandment coincides with the first; and we find that the Decalogue is a circle having a circumference as great as the universe, and containing within it the moral duty of every creature. In short, it is the measure of the righteousness of God, who inhabits eternity.

This being the case, the correctness of the statement that "the doers of the law shall be justified," is obvious. To justify means to make righteous, or to show one to be righteous. Now it is evident that perfect obedience to a perfectly righteous law would constitute one a righteous person. It was God's design that such obedience should be rendered to the law by all His creatures; and in this way the law was ordained unto life. Rom. 7:10.  But for one to be judged "a doer of the law" it would be necessary that he had kept the law in its fullest measure every moment of his life. If he had come short of this, he could not be said to have done the law. He could not be a doer of the law if he had done it only in part. It is a sad fact, therefore, that there are in all the human race no doers of the law, for both Jews and Gentiles are "all under sin; as it is written, 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." Rom. 3:9-12.

The law speaks to all who are within its sphere; and in all the world there is not one who can open his mouth to clear himself from the charge of sin which it brings against him. Every mouth is stopped, and all the world stands guilty before God (verse 19), "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (verse 23).

Therefore, although "the doers of the law shall be justified," it is just as evident that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Verse 20. The law, being "holy, and just, and good," cannot justify a sinner. In other words, a just law cannot declare that the one who violates it is innocent. A law that would justify a wicked man would be a wicked law. The law should not be reviled because it cannot justify sinners. On the contrary, it should be extolled on that account. The fact that the law will not declare sinners to be righteous,—that it will not say that men have kept it when they have violated it,—is in itself sufficient evidence that it is good. Men applaud an incorruptible earthly judge, one who cannot be bribed, and who will not declare a guilty man innocent. Surely, they ought to magnify the law of God, which will not bear false witness.

It is the perfection of righteousness, and therefore it is forced to declare the sad fact that not one of Adam's race has fulfilled its requirements. Moreover, the fact that to do the law is simply man's duty shows that when he has come short in single particular he can never make it up. The requirements of each precept of the law are so broad,—the whole law is so spiritual,— that an angel could render no more than simple obedience. Yea, more, the law is the righteousness of God,—a transcript of His character,—and since His character cannot be different from what it is, it follows that even God Himself cannot be better than the measure of goodness demanded by His law. He cannot be better than He is, and the law declares what He is. What hope, then, that one who has failed, in even one precept, can add enough extra goodness to make up the full measure? He who attempts to do that sets before himself the impossible task of being better than God requires, yea, even better than God Himself.

But it is not simply in one particular that men have failed. They have come short in every particular. "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Not only so, but it is impossible for fallen man, with his weakened power, to do even a single act that is up to the perfect standard. This proposition needs no further proof than a restatement of the fact that the law is the measure of God's righteousness. Surely there are none so presumptuous as to claim that any act of their lives has been or could be as good as if done by the Lord Himself. Everyone must say with the Psalmist, "My goodness extendeth not to Thee." Ps. 16:2.

This fact is contained in direct statements of Scripture. Christ, who "needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man" (John 2:25), said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within and defile the man." Mark 7:21-23.

In other words, it is easier to do wrong than it is to do right, and the things which a person naturally does are evil. Evil dwells within, and is a part of the being. Therefore, the apostle says, "The carnal [fleshly, natural] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Rom. 8:7, 8. And again: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Gal. 5:17. Since evil is a part of man's very nature, being inherited by each individual from a long line of sinful ancestors, it is very evident that whatever righteousness springs from him must be only like "filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6), compared with the spotless robe of the righteousness of God.

The impossibility of good deeds proceeding from a sinful heart is thus forcibly illustrated by the Saviour: "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble-bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Luke 6:44, 45. That is to say, a man cannot do good until he first becomes good. Therefore, deeds done by a sinful person have no effect whatever to make him righteous, but, on the contrary, coming from an evil heart, they are evil, and so add to the sum of his sinfulness. Only evil can come from an evil heart, and multiplied evil cannot make one good deed; therefore, it is useless for an evil person to think to become righteous by his own efforts. He must first be made righteous before he can do the good that is required of him, and which he wants to do.

The case, then, stands thus:

1. The law of God is perfect righteousness; and perfect conformity to it is demanded of everyone who shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

2. But the law has not a particle of righteousness to bestow upon any man, for all are sinners, and are unable to comply with its requirements. No matter how diligently nor how zealously a man works, nothing that he can do will meet the full measure of the law's demands. It is too high for him to attain to; he cannot obtain righteousness by the law. "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified [made righteous] in His sight." What a deplorable condition! We must have the righteousness of the law or we cannot enter heaven, and yet the law has no righteousness for one of us.

It will not yield to our most persistent and energetic efforts the smallest portion of that holiness without which no man can see the Lord. Who, then, can be saved? Can there, then, be such a thing as a righteous person?—Yes, for the Bible often speaks of them. It speaks of Lot as "that righteous man;" it says, "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" (Isa. 3:10), thus indicating that there will be righteous persons to receive the reward; and it plainly declares that there will be a righteous nation at the last, saying: "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." Isa. 26:1, 2. David says, "Thy law is the truth." Ps. 119:142. It is not only truth, but it is the sum of all truth; consequently, the nation that keeps the truth will be a nation that keeps the law of God. Such will be doers of His will, and they shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 7:21.--

Christ and His Righteousness - E. G. Waggoner 

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.

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Seek ... His Righteousness

Christ and His Righteousness - E. G. Waggoner

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:33.

The righteousness of God, says Jesus, is the one thing to be sought in this life. Food and clothing are minor matters in comparison with it. God will supply them, as a matter of course, so that anxious care and worriment need not be expended on them; but to secure God's kingdom and His righteousness should be the only object of life.

In 1 Cor. 1:30 we are told that Christ is made unto us righteousness as well as wisdom; and since Christ is the wisdom of God, and in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, it is evident that the righteousness which He is made to us is the righteousness of God. Let us see what this righteousness is.

In Ps. 119:172 the Psalmist thus addresses the Lord: "My tongue shall speak of Thy word; for all Thy commandments are righteousness." The commandments are righteousness, not simply in the abstract, but they are the righteousness of God. For proof read the following:—

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither b ye afraid of their revilings."
Isa. 51:6, 7.

What do we learn from this?—That they who know the righteousness of God are those in whose heart is His law, and therefore that the law of God is the righteousness of God.

This may be proved again, as follows:

"All unrighteousness is sin." 1 John 5:17.

"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.

Sin is the transgression of the law, and it is also unrighteousness; therefore sin and unrighteousness are identical. But if unrighteousness is transgression of the law, righteousness must be obedience to the law. Or, to put the proposition into mathematical form:—

Unrighteousness = sin. 1 John 5:17.
Transgression of the law = sin. 1 John 3:4.

Therefore, according to the axiom that two things that are equal to the same thing are  equal to each other, we have:—

Unrighteousness = transgression of the law which is a negative equation. The same thing, stated in positive terms, would be:—

Righteousness = obedience to the law.

Now what law is it obedience to which is righteousness and disobedience to which is sin? It is that law which says, "Thou shalt not covet;" for the apostle Paul tells us that this law convinced him of sin. Rom. 7:7.

The law of ten commandments, then, is the measure of the righteousness of God. Since it is the law of God, and is righteousness, it must be the righteousness of God. There is, indeed, no other righteousness.

Since the law is the righteousness of God—a transcript of His character—it is easy to see that to fear God and keep His commandments is the whole duty of man. Eccl. 12:13.

Let no one think that his duty will be circumscribed if confined to the ten commandments, for they are "exceeding broad."

"The law is spiritual," and comprehends a great deal more than can be discerned by an ordinary reader.

"The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. 2:14.  The exceeding breadth of the law of God can be Christ And His Righteousness, realized only by those who have prayerfully meditated upon it. A few texts of Scripture will suffice to show us something of its breadth.

In the sermon on the mount Christ said: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,  Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." Matt. 5:21, 22.

And again: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Verses 27, 28.

This does not mean that the commandments, "Thou shalt not kill," and, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," are imperfect, or that God now requires a greater degree of morality from Christians than He did from His people who were called Jews. He requires the same from all men in all ages. The Saviour simply explained these commandments and showed their spirituality. To the unspoken charge of the Pharisees, that He was ignoring and undermining the moral law, He replied by saying that He came for the purpose of establishing the law, and that it could not be abolished; and then He expounded the true meaning of the law in a way that convicted them of ignoring and disobeying it. He showed that even a look or a thought may be a violation of the law, and that it is indeed a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

In this Christ did not reveal a new truth, but only brought to light and unfolded an old one. The law meant just as much when He proclaimed it from Sinai as when He expounded it on the mountain in Judea. When, in tones that shook the earth, He said, "Thou shalt not kill," He meant,  "Thou shalt not cherish anger in the heart; thou shalt not indulge in envy, nor strife, nor anything which is in the remotest degree akin to murder."

All this and much more is contained in the words, "Thou shalt not kill." And this was taught by the inspired words of the Old Testament; for Solomon showed that the law deals with things unseen as
well as things seen, when he wrote:—

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14.

The argument is this:

The judgment passes upon every secret thing; the law of God is the standard in the judgment,—it determines the quality of every act, whether good or evil; therefore, the law of God forbids evil in thought as well as in deed. So the conclusion of the whole matter is that the commandments of God contain the whole duty of man.

Take the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." The apostle tells us of some "whose god is their belly." Phil. 3:19. But gluttony and intemperance are self-murder; and so we find that the first commandment runs through to the sixth. This is not all, however, for he also tells us that covetousness is idolatry.  Col. 3:5. The tenth commandment cannot be violated without violating the first and second. In other words, the tenth commandment coincides with the first; and we find that the Decalogue is a circle having a circumference as great as the universe, and containing within it the moral duty of every creature. In short, it is the measure of the righteousness of God, who inhabits eternity.

This being the case, the correctness of the statement that "the doers of the law shall be justified," is obvious. To justify means to make righteous, or to show one to be righteous. Now it is evident that perfect obedience to a perfectly righteous law would constitute one a righteous person. It was God's design that such obedience should be rendered to the law by all His creatures; and in this way the law was ordained unto life. Rom. 7:10.  But for one to be judged "a doer of the law" it would be necessary that he had kept the law in its fullest measure every moment of his life. If he had come short of this, he could not be said to have done the law. He could not be a doer of the law if he had done it only in part. It is a sad fact, therefore, that there are in all the human race no doers of the law, for both Jews and Gentiles are "all under sin; as it is written, 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." Rom. 3:9-12.

The law speaks to all who are within its sphere; and in all the world there is not one who can open his mouth to clear himself from the charge of sin which it brings against him. Every mouth is stopped, and all the world stands guilty before God (verse 19), "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (verse 23).

Therefore, although "the doers of the law shall be justified," it is just as evident that "by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Verse 20. The law, being "holy, and just, and good," cannot justify a sinner. In other words, a just law cannot declare that the one who violates it is innocent. A law that would justify a wicked man would be a wicked law. The law should not be reviled because it cannot justify sinners. On the contrary, it should be extolled on that account. The fact that the law will not declare sinners to be righteous,—that it will not say that men have kept it when they have violated it,—is in itself sufficient evidence that it is good. Men applaud an incorruptible earthly judge, one who cannot be bribed, and who will not declare a guilty man innocent. Surely, they ought to magnify the law of God, which will not bear false witness.

It is the perfection of righteousness, and therefore it is forced to declare the sad fact that not one of Adam's race has fulfilled its requirements. Moreover, the fact that to do the law is simply man's duty shows that when he has come short in single particular he can never make it up. The requirements of each precept of the law are so broad,—the whole law is so spiritual,— that an angel could render no more than simple obedience. Yea, more, the law is the righteousness of God,—a transcript of His character,—and since His character cannot be different from what it is, it follows that even God Himself cannot be better than the measure of goodness demanded by His law. He cannot be better than He is, and the law declares what He is. What hope, then, that one who has failed, in even one precept, can add enough extra goodness to make up the full measure? He who attempts to do that sets before himself the impossible task of being better than God requires, yea, even better than God Himself.

But it is not simply in one particular that men have failed. They have come short in every particular. "They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

Not only so, but it is impossible for fallen man, with his weakened power, to do even a single act that is up to the perfect standard. This proposition needs no further proof than a restatement of the fact that the law is the measure of God's righteousness. Surely there are none so presumptuous as to claim that any act of their lives has been or could be as good as if done by the Lord Himself. Everyone must say with the Psalmist, "My goodness extendeth not to Thee." Ps. 16:2.

This fact is contained in direct statements of Scripture. Christ, who "needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man" (John 2:25), said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within and defile the man." Mark 7:21-23.

In other words, it is easier to do wrong than it is to do right, and the things which a person naturally does are evil. Evil dwells within, and is a part of the being. Therefore, the apostle says, "The carnal [fleshly, natural] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Rom. 8:7, 8. And again: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Gal. 5:17. Since evil is a part of man's very nature, being inherited by each individual from a long line of sinful ancestors, it is very evident that whatever righteousness springs from him must be only like "filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6), compared with the spotless robe of the righteousness of God.

The impossibility of good deeds proceeding from a sinful heart is thus forcibly illustrated by the Saviour: "For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble-bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Luke 6:44, 45. That is to say, a man cannot do good until he first becomes good. Therefore, deeds done by a sinful person have no effect whatever to make him righteous, but, on the contrary, coming from an evil heart, they are evil, and so add to the sum of his sinfulness. Only evil can come from an evil heart, and multiplied evil cannot make one good deed; therefore, it is useless for an evil person to think to become righteous by his own efforts. He must first be made righteous before he can do the good that is required of him, and which he wants to do.

The case, then, stands thus:

1. The law of God is perfect righteousness; and perfect conformity to it is demanded of everyone who shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

2. But the law has not a particle of righteousness to bestow upon any man, for all are sinners, and are unable to comply with its requirements. No matter how diligently nor how zealously a man works, nothing that he can do will meet the full measure of the law's demands. It is too high for him to attain to; he cannot obtain righteousness by the law. "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified [made righteous] in His sight." What a deplorable condition! We must have the righteousness of the law or we cannot enter heaven, and yet the law has no righteousness for one of us.

It will not yield to our most persistent and energetic efforts the smallest portion of that holiness without which no man can see the Lord. Who, then, can be saved? Can there, then, be such a thing as a righteous person?—Yes, for the Bible often speaks of them. It speaks of Lot as "that righteous man;" it says, "Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings" (Isa. 3:10), thus indicating that there will be righteous persons to receive the reward; and it plainly declares that there will be a righteous nation at the last, saying: "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." Isa. 26:1, 2. David says, "Thy law is the truth." Ps. 119:142. It is not only truth, but it is the sum of all truth; consequently, the nation that keeps the truth will be a nation that keeps the law of God. Such will be doers of His will, and they shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 7:21.--

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By the grace of God we will discuss this tomorrow…. Please, read it more than once if you can. There is TRUTH here, truth that Satan does not want us to have. He wants as far from the Righteousness of Christ as he can get us.

Please Lord, help us! Save us! Keep us in YOU and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! We have no righteousness at all when we don't have You in us. You are Our Righteousness!

By Your LOVE.

The Law of the LORD is perfect

Yesterday we studied the truth that Christ was the GIVER of the Ten Commandments.  The Biblical proof is irrefutable.  

Christ our Savior is the  LAW GIVER.

Christ our Savior wrote the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

People shake their heads when they hear it but it's the TRUTH. 

Does it make a difference whether it was God the Father or God the Son who gave us the Ten Commandments? 

It does make a difference. Why? Because when you realize that it was Christ, God who took on flesh and became one of us- HUMAN- who wrote those Ten Commandments on the two tablets of stone with His own finger, then you have to know that He would NEVER destroy those ten moral laws, never.  They were set in stone!

Mat_5:17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

He didn't come to destroy the law, or the prophets.

So many believe that's exactly what He came to do. That He came to tear down those Ten Commandments and make them unimportant, make them take a backseat to something else.  Unfortunately people have called that something else love and therefore have taken the love out of the Ten Moral Laws.  We were given those Ten Moral Commandments out of LOVE, pure love.  That love will endure forever! 

Our Savior said this--

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Joh 13:35  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

He did NOT say He was replacing the old Ten Moral laws.  You can ADD to something when you say you have a NEW something, right? I have a new pair of shoes- that means I'm adding to my shoes not getting rid of them all but the new ones.  I can ADD to a list, that doesn't mean I'm getting rid of everything else on the list.   Christ has a new commandment- and it's NEW because He took on flesh and dwelt among us revealing His love to us PERSONALLY, with a person experience, HE was a personal EXAMPLE of that love and He wants us to LOVE as HE LOVED and when He loved HE kept every single one of the Ten Moral commandments that He gave at Mount Sinai.

We are to LOVE as He LOVED and in doing that we are automatically keepers of His commandments.

Wherever the New Testament talks about the old law and doing away with it, it is NOT referring to the Ten Moral laws, but rather the ceremonial law that was an example to the true- Chris t and His Sacrifice- no other sacrificial system, no ceremonial system of laws could ever survive once the One, the True, the Holiest of Holy Sacrifices was made- Christ our Sacrifice.

To get rid of the Ten Moral laws would mean they were somehow not perfect, but the law is perfect as the One who gave it, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Psa_19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

We have to remember this--

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

More tomorrow by the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

The commandments of God and Jesus, the Father and the Son, God the Father, God the Son, are the same, they are in one agreement. There isn't a harsh Father and lenient Son,  they agree as one.

Please Lord help us, guide us, keep us in You, in Your truth always! Let us love your commandments as You would have us love them and keep them as you would have us keep them all through YOU, all through the Holy Spirit.

In Your love!