Reign of Grace Media Ministries

REIGN OF GRACE NEWSLETTER - June 2001 -Vol. 3, No. 6

From the editor . . .
This month we are featuring the conclusion of last month’s article concerning the issue of the blood atonement as it relates to the imputed righteousness of Christ and the preaching of the Gospel. I hope the Lord will be pleased to use this article to bring His elect to a saving knowledge of the true Christ and to edify and motivate His children in growth, knowledge, and worship. We here at Eager Avenue are excited about the upcoming conference in Waynesville, NC, on June 20-24. We hope that many of you can attend and enjoy our fellowship around the Gospel, its particulars and implications. I have printed a conference schedule on the back of this newsletter. For more information, please contact us as soon as possible. As always, we invite any questions, comments, or discussion of issues raised in these newsletters.

Bill Parker, pastor
Eager Avenue Grace Church

REIGN OF GRACE is a ministry of
Eager Avenue Grace Church
1102 Eager Avenue
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Bill Parker, editor
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CHRIST’S BLOOD ATONEMENT AND IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
(Continued from last month)

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

Many fail to recognize that the preaching of the righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel as stated in Romans 1:16-17, which is the righteousness of Christ freely imputed and received by faith as defined in Romans 3:21-26, includes the preaching of the atoning blood of Christ. In other words, when we emphasize the righteousness of Christ freely imputed and received by faith, we are emphasizing and preaching the atoning blood of Christ. However, since many are confused on this issue and many have never been taught aright about this truth, we should emphasize it even more.

It is true that we need Christ’s atoning blood, else there is no salvation. It is true that we need His righteousness imputed, else there is no salvation. But His righteousness imputed requires and includes His atoning blood, because without blood atonement, there can be no righteousness. The law must be satisfied in both its precepts (obedience) and its penalty (blood atonement, death), or there is no salvation because there would be no righteousness. This is why Christ, the Godman/Mediator, had to “become OBEDIENT unto DEATH, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8). He had to establish the righteousness required to enable God to be just and justifier, to demand and secure the entire salvation of all whom He represented, and to entitle them to the whole inheritance of grace and glory.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, MADE UNDER THE LAW, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). Having been made under the law, it became mandatory that He fulfill the whole law, precept and penalty. Some may argue that God’s elect among the Gentiles were never under the law, meaning the law of Moses. It is true that the elect among the Gentiles were never under the law of Moses, but they were under law. What law? They were under the law that cursed them and pronounced them guilty and defiled. They were under the same law as summarized in “love God perfectly and our neighbor as ourselves.” Surely one cannot argue reasonably that the phrase “to redeem them that were under the law” refers only to the elect among the Jews who were under the Law of Moses. Christ became obligated to the same law under which His people were bound and cursed. As the Representative and Surety of the elect, Jew and Gentile, Christ was made under the law as a broken covenant of works, the law which condemned both Jew and Gentile. He, therefore, had to obey the law in both precept and penalty for all His people.

His obedience to the precepts of the Law did not, as some claim, merely qualify Him to be our sin-bearer. His PERSON as both God and man qualified Him to be our representative both in His obedience to the law and in His death for our sins (Heb. 10:5-7). As our Representative and Surety, He had to obey the law perfectly and satisfy the law’s penalty, because the righteousness necessary for the glory of God in the salvation of sinners required satisfaction both to the precepts and the penalty of the law. Without obedience to the law’s precepts, there can be no righteousness. Without perfect satisfaction to the law’s penalty, there can be no righteousness. Without righteousness, there can be no salvation, and the only way sinners can be made righteous before a holy God is by Christ’s righteousness imputed and received by God-given faith (Rom. 5:21; 6:23). Christ’s righteousness imputed, therefore, does not merely refer to His obedience to the law’s precepts. It refers to the entire merit of His whole work of mediation both to obey the law’s precepts and to die on the cross of Calvary, shedding His blood as an atonement for sins, satisfying the justice of God.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD REVEALED

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Rom. 1:16-17)

What is this “righteousness of God” revealed in the Gospel? Some claim is the God’s attribute of righteousness or holiness. Although it is true that the Gospel includes a grand revelation of God’s attribute of righteousness and holiness, this is not the meaning of the phrase here. God’s attribute of righteousness is revealed in the law to expose our sinfulness and guilt, not the remedy for sin. What good news would this be to sinners? The context determines the meaning of the phrase, and the context of Romans 1:1-15 revealing the Person and work of Christ, along with Romans 3:21-26 which explicitly defines this phrase shows us without doubt that the apostle is speaking of the righteousness God provided by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the only ground of a sinner’s justification and entitlement to Heaven. What does this “righteousness of God” include? Is it Christ’s perfect life alone without His atoning death? If this be the case, then is the apostle saying that the Gospel is merely the revelation of Christ’s perfect life and not His death, burial, and resurrection? We know this is not so.

In the following paragraphs I quote several men of the past. I must add a disclaimer because I cannot honestly say that all of these men truly believed the Gospel. Based upon what I have read, I believe that some of them were true believers, and, therefore, I can recommend them. I cannot say the same thing about the others, not because I know they were not true believers, but because I have not read enough of their writings to make this judgment. I can say that what I am quoting of their writings on this subject is consistent with the Gospel.

Robert Haldane wrote, this phrase refers to “the righteousness which God has provided, which He has effected, and which He imputes for justification to all His elect.” Haldane went on to write, “The grand object of the Apostle is to show that man, having lost his own righteousness, and thereby fallen under condemnation, God has provided for him a righteousness – the complete fulfilment of the law in all its threatenings and all its precepts – by which, being placed to his account through faith, he is acquitted from guilt, freed from condemnation, and entitled to the reward of eternal life.”

Commenting on the term “the righteousness of God” as it is used in Romans 3:21-22, Haldane wrote, “No explanation of the expression, ‘the righteousness of God,’ will at once suit the phrase and the situation in which it is found in the passage before us, but that which makes it that righteousness, or obedience to the law, both in its penalty and requirements, which has been yielded to it by our Lord Jesus Christ.” He went on to write, “In its nature, this righteousness is twofold, fulfilling both the precept of the law and its penalty.” I highly recommend Haldane’s commentary on these verses.

John Gill defined “the righteousness of God” as used in Romans 1:17 as “that righteousness which [Christ] wrought out by obeying the precepts, and bearing the penalty of the law in the room of His people, and by which they are justified in the sight of God.”

John Owen wrote, “Imputation is an act of God, of His mere love and grace, whereby, on the consideration of the mediation of Christ, He makes an effectual grant and donation of a true, real, perfect righteousness– even that of Christ Himself – unto all that do believe, and accounting it as theirs, on His own gracious act, both absolves them from sin, and granteth them right and title unto eternal life.”

John Bunyan wrote in “Justification by an Imputed Righteousness,” “In Christ, for the accomplishing of righteousness, there was both doing and suffering; doing, to fulfill all the commands of the law; suffering, to answer its penalty for sin.” In the same discourse he wrote, “the righteousness by which we stand just before God is righteousness consisting of works and deeds, of the doings and sufferings, of such a person who also is essentially righteousness. And hence, we are said to be justified by the obedience and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the doings and sufferings of the Son of God.”

James Buchanan wrote that the righteousness which is revealed for our justification “properly consists in the merit of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and perfect obedience, for these were offered by Him as our substitute and representative . . . By His vicarious sufferings and obedience, He fulfilled the law both in its precept and its penalty; and is now said to be ‘the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth’.”

William Romaine stated, “The God-man undertakes in our nature to pay perfect satisfaction to his Father's justice. Accordingly he paid the law an infinitely perfect obedience. And he thereby magnified it, and made it more honourable than the obedience of all created beings could have done. Then he suffered what was due to our breach of the law, and paid the death which we deserved. And justice demonstrated, that it had no more demands upon him, when it released him from the prison of the grave. And by this obedience and these sufferings he wrought out an infinitely perfect righteousness, which being imputed to the unrighteous; and laid hold of by the band of faith, renders them perfectly righteous at the bar of justice . . . Salvation on his part was finished, when, having fully satisfied the demands of law and justice by his obedience and sufferings, and thereby wrought out an all-perfect righteousness for us, he ascended with great glory to his kingdom in heaven.”

The Apostle Paul after having shown how the law brings us in guilty and condemned, shows how the Gospel reveals the only remedy in the righteousness of God – “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed 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: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Rom. 3:21-26)

The righteousness of God here is not God’s attribute of righteousness, and this is proven by the fact that based on this righteousness God is both just and justifier. This is the righteousness imputed to all who believe in Jesus, the righteousness of faith, i.e., the object of faith. It is the righteousness of God by which sinners are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Salvation requires the cooperation and honor both of God’s holiness and grace, God’s justice and mercy, God’s truth and love. Salvation based on Christ’s righteousness is perfectly consistent with God’s attributes of righteousness, holiness, and justice. Notice here how the righteousness of God is connected with redemption, propitiation, and the blood of Christ. This shows that righteousness imputed includes His blood atonement as well as His perfect life.

Romans 4:6-8 connects the truth of imputed righteousness with atonement and remission of sins – “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Here the non-imputation of sin is connected with imputation of righteousness. The forgiveness of sins comes at the cost of the blood of Christ. This is part of the righteousness which is imputed to those whom God will not impute sin. Would we suppose that God imputes the merit of Christ’s perfect life without imputing the merit of His blood atonement? This would be impossible as justification includes the complete forgiveness of all sin based on the atonement Christ’s accomplished for His people.

“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Rom. 5:9) Believers are justified by His blood. Justified means to be legally constituted righteous. If righteousness imputed only referred to His perfect life of obedience, then it could not be said that sinners are legally constituted righteous by His blood. Justification before God based on the righteousness of Christ freely imputed and received by faith includes not only the complete forgiveness of all sins, but also perfect fitness to commune and fellowship with God and full entitlement to the whole inheritance of grace and glory. Consider, “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) Is the Apostle saying that grace reigns only through Christ’s perfect life of obedience and excluding His suffering unto death to God’s justice? Of course not! Grace reigns through all that Christ did and accomplished as our Mediator, Substitute, and Surety.

Abraham Booth in commenting on Romans 5:21 wrote, “Grace reigns, says the oracle of heaven, through righteousness. Righteousness, in this place, I understand as including the whole of that obedience which the Redeemer, under the character of a surety, performed to the preceptive part of the law; and all those bitter sufferings which he underwent, in conformity to its penal sanction. Through this obedience grace reigns, in a way strictly conformable to the rights of Divine justice . . . [righteousness] was completed when the Divine Redeemer cried, ‘It is finished,’ and gave up the ghost.”

George Smeaton wrote, “This atoning obedience extended over the entire life of the Lord, and was not limited to the few hours on the cross . . . That the element of obedience pervaded His entire life, and went into all His sufferings,” so that He was “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8), and “by the obedience of one, shall many be made righteous” (Rom. 5:19). “The obedience of the God-man was ONE and indivisible. Though possessing a twofold aspect, it was one finished work. As man is under precept and penalty because he is the creature of God under the eternal law of obedience, and a sinner under condemnation, the obedience of the Lord must satisfy the law in both respects. Many expositors incorrectly sunder the two, or fix attention on the one to the exclusion of the other. Others acknowledge both, but make the two elements separately meritorious, losing sight of the link that binds Christ’s deeds and sufferings together as one vicarious obedience.”

A passage of Scripture which should make it obvious that the term “righteousness of God” refers to the righteousness Christ accomplished for His people and that this righteousness includes both His obedience to the precepts of the law and His blood atonement is 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” We must all agree that Christ was “made . . . to be sin” by a legal act of imputation. As stated He knew no sin and did no sin. He died for sins that He Himself did not personally commit but for the sins of God’s elect legally charged to His account. Why did He do this? It was so that we, sinners, “might be made,” legally constituted by an act of imputation, “the righteousness of God in Him.” “In Him” proves that this is a legal act of imputation and not the infusion of a moral quality of character. Even so, how could it rightly be said that God’s attribute of righteousness and holiness is imputed to us or imparted into us? It could not. Also, a moral quality of character cannot be imputed. It can only be imparted within us. Only the merit of a work can be imputed. Therefore, this “righteousness of God” can only refer to entire merit of Christ’s whole work of mediation including His death on the cross. This is the ground of reconciliation between God and sinners, and it is the central message of the ministry and word of reconciliation. Nothing else would make sense or glorify God.

I hope and pray that those who are confused on this issue will consider it from the Scriptures. An understanding of this vital subject sets forth the central message of the Gospel and gives us a Biblical standard by which to judge messages we read and hear. We are instructed in God’s Word to test preachers (1 John 4:1-3), not by personality or reputation, but by their messages as they are consistent or inconsistent with the Gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed. Preachers may talk a lot about the blood atonement of Christ, but unless they preach the blood which has substance and power in the establishment of a righteousness that enables God to be just and justifier, exalts Christ, exposes all dead works and idolatry, leaves sinners with no room to boast, and secures and entitles believers to all of salvation, it is not the precious blood of the true Christ. ?

ANSWERING ACCUSATIONS

Given the fact that some of our readers receive a quarterly publication in which accusations have been brought against me, our church, and an unnamed individual whom I consider a brother in Christ and whom I baptized, it has become necessary and appropriate that I publicly address this matter. The accusations against me and this individual raise points that fall into one of three categories: (1) statements made by a young believer in error but which have been corrected; (2) statements taken out of the context of the author’s meaning and intent and given the worst possible interpretation; and (3) statements that are false. I will not speculate as to the motives of the author, and I will not use this newsletter to stoop to his level. As you know, I have used this newsletter to answer objections raised against the Gospel and its doctrines and will continue to do so; nevertheless, I will not use it to defend myself against character assassination and false accusations. I have written a detailed answer to the charges leveled against me and this ministry. If any of you wish to read this, please contact me, and I will send you a copy.
Bill Parker, pastor
Eager Avenue Grace Church

NEXT MONTH’S FEATURE –

“DO WE MAKE KNOWLEDGE A CONDITION FOR SALVATION?”

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

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

• WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20 – Service begins at 7:00 p.m. –
• Speaker – Wayne Robinson, pastor of Sovereign Grace Church, Waynesville, NC;
• Topic – “THE ETERNAL PURPOSE AND GLORY OF GOD”
• THURSDAY, JUNE 21 – Service begins at 7:00 p.m. –
• Speaker – Bobby Bullington, elder at Eager Avenue Grace Church; Albany, GA;
• Topic – “THE PERSON OF CHRIST AND THE GLORY OF GOD”
• FRIDAY, JUNE 22 – Dinner provided at 5:00 p.m.; Service begins at 7:00 p.m. –
• Speaker – Larry Simpson, pastor of Sovereign Grace Fellowship in Knoxville, TN;
• Topic – “THE WORK OF CHRIST AND THE GLORY OF GOD”
• SATURDAY, JUNE 23 – Dinner provided at 5:00 p.m.; Service begins at 7:00 p.m.;
• Speaker – David Adkins, media director at Eager Avenue Grace Church, Albany, GA;
• Topic – “THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE GLORY OF GOD”
• SUNDAY, JUNE 24 – Services at 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.; Lunch served at 12:30 p.m. –
• Speaker – Richard Warmack, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Ruston, LA;
• Topic – “SAVING FAITH AND THE GLORY OF GOD”
• Speaker – Bill Parker, pastor of Eager Avenue Grace Church, Albany, GA;
• Topic – “PERSEVERANCE AND THE GLORY OF GOD”
NURSERY WILL BE PROVIDED EACH SERVICE FOR CHILDREN 4 YEARS OF AGE AND UNDER