From the editor  . . .
 We have received so many encouraging and positive responses to our newsletters and other materials.  I thank God that He has given us many opportunities to spread the Gospel of His free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus our Lord.  The feature article in this issue is a response to a question asked by a gentleman concerning our emphasis on the imputed righteousness of Christ.  He had listened to some of our audio sermons and watched some of our video messages.  As I believe the question he raised is very important, and as I believe that many may be confused about it, I wrote and asked him for his permission to answer it in an issue of our newsletter so that others may read it.  He heartily gave me his permission to do so, so I hope and pray that this article will be of help to those who may have the same questions and concerns in this area.
                                                                                                                                                                    Bill Parker

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 Bill Parker, editor
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                                CHRIST'S BLOOD ATONEMENT AND IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
 

 I received the following question from a gentleman who has heard some of our taped messages –

 "We are very encouraged by your emphasis upon the imputed righteousness of Christ and your oft remarks regarding our character and conduct.  One aspect which we have looked for in your messages which we have not heard come through, is preaching upon the emphasis of the atoning blood of Christ.  Of course maybe we have not heard enough of your messages.  Maybe you could comment upon this aspect for us?  We would appreciate your comments about our inquiry."

 This reveals a common  misunderstanding of the imputed righteousness of Christ as revealed in the Gospel.  It fails to recognize the merit of the complete, undivided obedience of Christ, both His perfect life and atoning death, as making up the righteousness which God imputes as the ground of a sinner's salvation.  The Apostle Paul called it "the righteousness of God" which is revealed in the Gospel (Rom. 1:16-17).  In his commentary, "An Exposition of Romans," Robert Haldane wrote, "The evidence of the truth of Christianity might be rested on this one point – THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD provided for the salvation of sinners." William Romaine called it "the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel," and "the most important truth of Christianity."  To understand it, two very important and necessary truths must be understood are:

 (1) The imputed righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel, includes all that Christ did and suffered as the substitute and surety of God's elect.

 (2) This is a specific righteousness, the merit of the doing and suffering of Christ, which enables God to be both a just God and a Savior, demands and secures the complete salvation of all whom Christ represented in His obedience unto death, and gives them full right and title to the whole inheritance of grace and glory.

 One thing we need to realize at the outset is that many people talk about the blood of Christ.  They say  the blood is their hope and claim to be under the blood.  But simply talking about the blood of Christ without substance or definition means nothing and gives no evidence of being truly under the blood.  The Bible tells us that God's people have been forgiven of all sins and are redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:19).  Redemption means the full price has been paid, and this redemption means that Christ, who paid that price with His own precious blood, will have all whom He redeemed (John 6:37).  Here is where we see the substance and definition of the blood of Christ.  Blood speaks of death; death speaks of satisfaction to law and justice; and satisfaction to law and justice speaks of righteousness.  The shed blood of Christ shows us plainly  how that sin demands death.  When the sins of God's elect were legally charged (imputed) to Christ, God's justice demanded His death.  We know that His death was real because He was buried, and His burial symbolized the fact that all the guilt and the defilement of all the sins of all whom He represented in His obedience unto death were put away.  Did His death pay the full price for all the sins of all His sheep?  We know it did because He was raised from the dead.  He was raised from the dead because righteousness demands life, and, praise God, He was raised from the dead for our justification (Rom. 4:25).

     If Christ redeemed His people from their sins by His own precious blood, then all His people must be saved, secured, and entitled to the whole inheritance of grace and glory.  Why?  It is because His righteousness demands it.  Righteousness gives substance and definition to the blood so that we who see the value of His precious blood can trust Him and plead His righteousness as our only ground of salvation.  Many speak of the blood of Christ not as that which demands the eternal salvation and final glory of all for whom He died, but as that which merely makes salvation possible if sinners will only meet certain conditions.  They boldly claim that Christ's blood was shed even for those who finally perish in Hell.  They profess that by His precious blood Christ redeemed those in Hell as well as those in Heaven.  The difference between saved and lost, between Heaven and Hell, to them is not the precious blood of Christ.  To them it is not the righteousness of Christ that demands, secures, and entitles sinners to salvation.  The difference to them is something the sinner is enabled to do with the help of God.  The blood of Christ in and of itself, according to their doctrine, does not cleanse from all sin.  They are cleansed by their confession and repentance.  The blood they claim has no power to save any sinner, therefore, it is the blood of a counterfeit, not the Son of God incarnate.  Christ's precious blood means the establishment of a righteousness that enables God to justify the ungodly and  insures the eternal salvation of all whom Christ represented.  This is the substance of His precious blood.

                                                     RIGHTEOUSNESS – PRECEPT AND PENALTY

     Whenever we refer to Christ's righteousness imputed in our preaching, teaching, and writing, we always define it as perfect satisfaction to God's law AND justice accomplished by Christ's obedience unto death.  We are always careful to show how it includes both Christ's perfect obedience to the law's precepts and His perfect satisfaction to the law's penalty.  The  righteousness of Christ freely imputed and received by faith refers to the merit of His entire life of obedience, not merely His perfect life, and not only His suffering just prior to and during the cross experience.

     The preaching of the Gospel most assuredly should include an emphasis upon the atoning blood of Christ.  One cannot read the Scriptures and not see this.  Consider that one of the first issues brought to the forefront after the Fall in Adam was the issue of blood sacrifice and atonement when God instituted the sacrificial system of worship by shedding the blood of animals and making coats of skin to clothe Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21).  Some may argue we cannot say for certain that this is when the sacrificial system was instituted, but we must admit that God was showing both Adam and Eve that sin deserves death.  This was the first time in history that blood was shed and the sentence of death was carried out.  God was most certainly showing even then that "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22), no pardon and forgiveness of sin.  We must realize also that somewhere from this event to the record of Cain and Abel, God instituted the sacrificial system of the shedding of animal blood, teaching through types and pictures the Gospel doctrines of representation, substitution, imputation, and satisfaction.  We know that Abel obeyed God by bringing the blood of a lamb, and Cain disobeyed God by bringing the fruit of his own labors.  We know also that this system of sacrifice pictured and typified the blood atonement of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, for sinners.  It was established from the beginning that animal blood could not take away sins and result in eternal pardon and forgiveness.  Animal blood only typified and foreshadowed the merits of the obedience and death of Christ (Heb. 11:4), "who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" (Heb. 9:14).

 Consider how that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all worshiped God by sacrifice.  Consider the rivers of animal blood shed in Israel for nearly 1500 years under the law of Moses.  Consider the tabernacle, priesthood, altar, sacrifices, the holy of holies, mercy- seat, and the day of atonement.  These all spoke of the need of a blood atonement which would satisfy the justice of God for the sins of His people.  These all pointed to Christ as the only one who could eternally satisfy God's justice and secure eternal salvation (including the forgiveness of sin) for all whom He represented.  "The sacrifices of the patriarchs, and the whole of the ceremonial law in all its typical ordinances and observances, bear their direct though shadowy testimony to the righteousness of God, of which Noah was alike a preacher and an heir (2 Pet. 2:5; Heb. 11:7)."  Christ is the fulfillment of all these types and pictures (Gal. 3:24).  "The righteousness of the Messiah, as connected with salvation, is the constant theme of the prophets, especially of Isaiah", and they always connected the truth of righteousness with both the obedience and death of the Messiah (Isa. 53:11; Jer. 23:5-6; Dan. 9:24-27).

 Why was there such an emphasis on the issue of blood atonement in the Old Testament, and why is there so much emphasis on the blood of Christ in the New Testament?  It was and is for four very good reasons:

 (1) To emphasize that sin deserves death and  righteousness demands life – "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 5:21).
 
 All men and women are sinners, and sin deserves death.  How does this fit with the Biblical concept and truth of righteousness?  Consider the thoughts of natural, fallen humanity.  Most men and women by nature will admit that before one can be saved, before one can enter heaven, that person must be righteous, or somehow be made righteous.  The question then becomes – What is righteousness, and how can sinners become righteous?  We by nature think of righteousness merely as positive obedience to the precepts of God's law.  Whether we think of it as perfect obedience or as merely doing the best we can, in our sinful, natural thoughts we have a low concept of righteousness.  For this reason, God, in all His testimony and revelation through the blood sacrifices over all those many years, taught that the righteousness that demands life is satisfaction both to the precept and the penalty of His law.  Even lost, religious Israel understood this as they "followed after the law of righteousness," but failed to attain its goal "because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law" (Rom. 9:31-32).  They were not seeking righteousness by trying to keep the ten commandments perfectly.  If they had thought they could attain righteousness by keeping the ten commandments, they would have seen no need for blood sacrifices.  They sought righteousness by their participation in the ordinances of the ceremonial law, not by faith in Christ, God's promised messiah who would bring in righteousness for His people.

 This emphasis brought to light the fact that no amount of obedience sinners may attempt can atone for sins and, thus, produce the righteousness required for eternal salvation.  It also brings to light the fact that all attempts of sinful men aimed at attaining or maintaining salvation are no more than dead works, evil deeds, and fruit unto death.  The Gospel not only reveals the righteousness of God provided in Christ, it also exposes the wickedness and evil of sinners seeking to establish a righteousness of their own (John 3:19-20; Rom. 10:1-3).  As the Gospel is aimed at bringing sinners to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works and former idolatry, it is thus stated in the Scriptures that "the blood of Christ" purges our "conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb. 9:14).  God the Holy Spirit uses the preaching of Christ and His righteousness, which includes His blood atonement, to bring sinners to repentance (John 16:8-11; Phil. 3:7-10).  It is the preaching of Christ's righteousness that exposes the dead works and evil deeds by which we are all deceived before submitting to Christ and His righteousness (Rom. 7:5-11; 10:1-4).  Sinners will remain deceived and lost without it.

 This also shows us how far Christ Himself had to go in producing a righteousness that would enable God to be both a just God and a Savior.  Had He merely obeyed the precepts of the law perfectly without satisfying justice in His atoning death, there would be no righteousness.  Where does this leave our own pitiful attempts to obey the law which always fall short of perfection (Rom. 3:23)?  It leaves us in need of a righteousness we cannot produce.  Precept and penalty must be satisfied.  Many who imagine that only His death was required for our salvation without His perfect obedience claim that Christ took care of the penalty but we must obey the law in order to attain or maintain salvation.  This was revealed in Christ's sermon on the mount when He said, "That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20).  Even the highest view of righteousness held by the lost religious Jews was too low.  The best obedience of the best of sinners cannot atone for sin, and their best attempts fall short.  The revelation of Christ's righteousness imputed as the complete fulfillment of God's law in both precept and penalty, which required an emphasis on His obedience unto death, proves beyond doubt that salvation cannot be attained or maintained by sinners based on anything they do or anything they suffer.  This is stated in Galatians 2:21where the Apostle Paul connects the establishment of righteousness with the death of Christ – "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

 (2) To establish the hearts of believing sinners with grace in showing over and over again that our sins cannot bring us back under condemnation and wrath – "And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever." (Isa. 32:17)

     The Gospel teaches that Christ's righteousness alone secures the believer's entire salvation and entitles him to Heaven without his works and efforts and because his sins have been remitted.  This is all true for believers because Christ is their substitute and surety.  We know from God's testimony that our attempts at obedience before salvation were dead works and fruit unto death and our attempts at obedience after salvation are as "filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6) when compared to Christ's righteousness.  This is why we desire to "be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which of God by faith" (Phil. 3:9).  As believers we must be convinced that (a) our obedience cannot recommend us to God, and (b) our sins cannot bring us back under condemnation.  We who are convinced of sin find it easier to believe that our attempts to obey cannot save us than the fact that our sins cannot cause us to lose favor and fellowship with God.

 Most unbelievers will admit that they are less than perfect, that they are sinners who fall short of the standard of perfect love.  This is why many unbelievers by nature believe that their admissions of guilt, defilement, confessions of sin, tears of remorse, and promises to do better will contribute in removing God's wrath and gaining God's favor.  Some believe that where their obedience falls short, Christ's blood makes up the difference.  We who believe God's Gospel know better than this, but we still have to deal with remaining sin and selfishness as long as we live on this earth.  Therefore, we have to be reminded continually of the fact that our sins cannot bring us back under God's wrath or lose God's fellowship and favor because "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7), and that when we sin "we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 2:1-2a).

 "Propitiation" has to do with atonement, reconciliation, satisfying the law and justice of God for sins.  Notice how propitiation is connected with Jesus Christ as the righteous One, the One who established righteousness for His people.  In this way He stands as the Advocate of His people pleading the merits of His obedience and death for their complete salvation and assurance.  God told the prophet Isaiah, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.  Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned:  for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (Isa. 40:1-2).  The ultimate and eternal application of this is to spiritual Israel concerning the complete removal of both the guilt and defilement of sin, thus, the dominion of sin, by the blood of Christ.  We who believe the Gospel are to fight sin in our lives, and we are to fight legalism – any notion that our obedience can recommend us to God, that our sins could bring us back under condemnation and wrath, or that our confession, tears, and promises to do better could remove wrath and restore us to God's favor and fellowship.  We fight this by seeing that Christ's righteousness alone (His perfect obedience unto death, His blood) cleanses us from all sin.

 (3) To identify the Messiah who would make an end of sin and bring in everlasting righteousness for His people – "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand" (Isa. 53:10).

 The Jews had failed to acknowledge the true messiah as identified and distinguished in His atoning work.  The Old Testament identifies Him not only as the Son of God, divine in every attribute of His nature, but also the Son of man, truly human in body and soul without sin.  It also identifies Him not only as one who would be perfectly obey the law of God, but who would also suffer, bleed, and die for the sins of His people, both Jew and Gentile (ex., Isa. 53).  The Jews had no problem with a messiah who would live a perfect life, conquer their earthly enemies, set up an earthly kingdom in Jerusalem, and rule over the earth through them.  They did have a problem with a messiah who would suffer, bleed, and die in shame.  Consider the thoughts of Christ's own disciples as expressed by Peter in Matthew 16:21-23.  The emphasis on His death, His blood, His cross was to show the completion and establishment of righteousness so as to identify and distinguish Him as God's true messiah who would die but who would also be resurrected from the dead for the justification of His people (Rom. 4:22-25).

 God is holy, and His law is holy.  God demands perfect obedience to the law.  When the law is broken, God demands satisfaction to the penalty of the law – justice.  God cannot save sinners apart from both His law and His justice being satisfied.  The emphasis on blood atonement was a continual reminder to men that they were sinners and that sin deserves death.  It was a continual reminder that no amount of obedience they could render to the law could atone for sins.  God gave the nation Israel the Ten Commandments, mainly, to expose their sinfulness (Rom. 5:20a).  The impossibility of a sinner attaining or maintaining salvation by obedience to the law was always emphasized (Rom. 3:19-20; Gal. 3:10-12), mainly, by the ceremonial law in the priesthood and the blood sacrifices.  None of these earthly elements could make a sinner righteous before God (Heb. 7:19; 10:1-2).  These things were continual reminders of the guilt, defilement, and dominion of sin, as well as the necessity of a better sacrifice (Heb. 10:3- 4).  In the Old Testament the messiah was identified by the prophets and the ceremonial law as the one who would make an end of sin by establishing righteousness.  Christ identified Himself in the Gospels as the one sent of the Father to accomplish this.  In the New Testament epistles it is emphasized that Christ has already accomplished this great work.  Herein is He identified as the one mediator between God and men.

 What was God teaching in all this?  He was and is teaching that sinners must either be saved based totally on the righteousness of Christ, or they are debtors to do the WHOLE law, precept AND penalty.  God was emphasizing that we as sinners are in need of a righteousness we cannot produce, and that if salvation is to be possible for us, He must provide it in and by the obedience AND death of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 19:25-26).

 (4) To prove that righteousness had surely been established by the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ – "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:8-9).

 Christ's death on the cross, the shedding of His blood unto death, was the culmination and consummation, the pinnacle, of all that He was to accomplish for His people by way of establishing a righteousness for them.  This is why He cried, "It is finished" (John 19:30) when He died on the cross.  What was finished?  The establishment of the righteousness He came to accomplish was finished.  He began to establish this righteousness the moment He began to do the will of His Father (John 4:34; 8:29).  Therefore, we see that all the terms in the Bible referring to His cross, His death, His blood, are all equivalent to the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel.  Whenever we read of His cross, His death, His blood, we should think of it as a righteousness finished and established which secures our entire salvation and entitles us to Heaven itself before we make any efforts to obey and serve God.

 (Continued next month)

                                

The conclusion of –
                                         "CHRIST'S BLOOD ATONEMENT AND IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS"

                                                         GOSPEL CONFERENCE IN THE MOUNTAINS
                                                       WAYNESVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA – JUNE 20 - 24
                         Sovereign Grace Church, located on the Great Smokey Mountain Expressway, Highway 23 - 74

SPEAKERS:
  WAYNE ROBINSON, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church in Waynesville, NC
  BOBBY R. BULLINGTON, elder at Eager Avenue Grace Church
  LARRY SIMPSON, pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Knoxville, TN
  DAVID ADKINS, media director at Eager Avenue Grace Church
  RICHARD WARMACK, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Ruston, LA
  BILL PARKER, pastor of Eager Avenue Grace Church
 
 SERVICES:  Wednesday through Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday at 10:00 a.m.
 For more information, contact Reign of Grace Media Ministries