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Section Titles
Christ's Righteousness Becomes Ours
The Fruits of Righteousness
Throughout his book Mr. Canright gives the impression to
his readers that Seventh-day Adventists endeavor to secure salvation by the
works of the law instead of through faith in Jesus Christ. He quotes one Milton
F. Gowell, whom he represents as a former Seventh-day Adventist, as giving a
true picture of advent experience, in the following words:
“‘All the doing was indelibly impressed
on my mind as a boy, but the believing on Christ for salvation, and
resting in His finished work, I have no remembrance of
whatever.’”—Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, p. 61.
Now, a statement could hardly be made about Seventh-day
Adventists that would be more completely misrepresentative than this one.
Trusting in the law for salvation is exactly what Seventh-day Adventists do
not do. They realize that the law has no power to pardon a sinner or give
life to the soul. And, further, they understand clearly that even after
conversion the human flesh, unaided by the Holy Spirit, is entirely too weak to
keep a law so high and holy as is the law of our God. Their dependence is ever
and always only in Christ.
The law, however, is the very instrument that the Holy
Spirit uses to lead men and woman to Jesus their Saviour, “for by the law
is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:20. It is the law that condemns the
sinner,
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and thus makes him feel his need of a Saviour. The patient
must first realize that he is sick before he will call a physician. Just so,
sinners will not be constrained to flee to Christ for pardon, justification,
and eternal life until by some means they have been made painfully conscious of
sin and of its blighting, soul-destroying effect upon the life.
It is by the commandment that sin is made to appear in
its true light. On this point Paul explains:
“Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment
holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God
forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is
good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” Romans
7: 12, 13.
Thus it is by contact with the holy law of God that men
learn that sin is exceedingly sinful and is working death in
them. James compares it to a looking-glass:
“Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he
was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein,
he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be
blessed In his deed.” James 1:22-25.
The law, then, is a great mirror which reveals our true
character and our actual worth in God's sight. It shows up every spot, every
stain that sin has made, every evil propensity of the flesh, in fact,
everything that makes us unfit for heaven. But the law cannot remove a single
stain from our lives or grant us pardon for a single transgression. Neither can
it impart power whereby we can
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bring our lives into harmony with its high standard. For
this it must refer us to Jesus. Thus it “brings us to Christ.”
Just as a mirror can reveal a spot on the face and
convince us of the fact that something must be done to remove it, so the law
points out our sins, the spots on our characters, and reveals to us the
absolute need of cleansing. But the mirror cannot remove the spot from the
face. Soap and water must do that. And just so with the law. It can reveal the
plague spots of sin, but it cannot remove them. The blood of Jesus must do
that. There is no other remedy. This is the fountain that has been opened in
the house of David for sin and uncleanness, and there is no other cleansing
agency for sin. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is
none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12.
Said Mr. Canright before he left the Seventh-day
Adventists:
“Paul argues that no one can be justified by the
works of the law; and this is true of any law, moral or ceremonial. It is true
of the moral law as well as of the ceremonial law. ‘Therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; for by the law is
the knowledge of sin;’ ‘for all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God.’ Rom. 3:20, 23.
“Why can no one be justified by the observance of
the moral law? Because of the simple fact that when you have once broken that
law, it must always condemn you. What kind of a law would that be that would
justify the man who broke it? Now, all have broken the moral law, and hence it
must condemn everybody. There is no pardon in it. Neither could the observance
of the typical law take away sins, as we have before shown that Paul repeatedly
affirms. ‘For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats
should take away sins.’ (See also Heb. 7:18, 19; 10:1-4; 9;9-14.)
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“Consider a moment; what is there in the shedding
of the blood of an animal that could take away a man's sins? Absolutely
nothing. So, then, there was no law given, the observance of which could pardon
sin or justify the sinner; and hence Paul says to the Galatians: ‘For if
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.’ ‘For if
there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law.’ Gal. 2:21; 3:21. So the great apostle
truthfully argues that pardon and justification cannot be obtained by law of
any kind. It must come through faith in Christ, through the unmerited mercy of
God.”—The Two Laws, pp. 68, 69.
It was for the purpose of accomplishing what the law
could not do that God sent His Son into the world. Thus Paul declares:
“What the law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3, 4.
There was no weakness in the law, but “the
flesh” was too weak to keep it. Man had been weakened by sin, and had no
power within himself to do right. The righteousness of the law could not be
fulfilled in him until the guilt of past sin was removed, and he was
strengthened by the indwelling Spirit. But to accomplish this, God sent
His own Son into the world, and He proved Himself to be abundantly able to do
for man all that the law could not do. Therefore with the law to reveal sin and
with Christ to save from sin, there is provided for man full and complete
salvation.
When Jesus was on the earth He lived a life in perfect
harmony with the law of God. He declared, “I have kept
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My Father's commandments.” John 15:10. His life was one
of perfect obedience. “In Him was no sin.” He declared that He had
come “to fulfill” (fully keep) the law (Matthew 5:17); and therefore
the righteousness of the law was fully revealed in His life.
Now with us it is just the opposite. We have all
“sinned, and come short of the glory of God,” “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.”
Romans 3:23, 10-12. When a sinner, therefore, comes to that point in his life
where, by contact with the law of God, he is made to realize his lost condition
and to desire a life of holiness, he must first deal with the guilt of past
sins. These he is powerless to remove, and to this end he finds no help in the
law. It only condemns and reveals the existing need of help. It is powerless to
render aid.
“How then can man be justified with God?” Job
25:4. The answer is at hand: “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. This, then, is the way of salvation. It comes through confession
and repentance of sin, and through faith that Jesus can and does save. And when
Jesus cleanses a sinner from his past sins, He does a thorough work; He
cleanses “from all unrighteousness.” “Wherefore He is able also
to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth
to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25. “If the Son therefore
shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:36.
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Christ's Righteousness Becomes Ours
“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren,
that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him
all that believe are justified.” Acts 13:38, 39. Now how does this
justification come about? How can a man be justified from sins which he has
actually committed, and which are recorded against him on the books in
heaven?
We answer: It is by an act of Christ, whereby He
assumes responsibility for our sin, and imputes to us the righteouseness of His
life. He counts that our transgressions were committed by Him, for which He
paid the penalty on the cross, and that His obedience was performed by us. Our
books of record reveal lives of perfect obedience to the law, since all past
sins are forgiven, and His perfect righteousness has been imputed to us.
“The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6. Thus
Jesus takes away the sins of the world by taking them unto Himself and placing
His righteousness upon the sinner. This He can do without having actual guilt
attached to Himself, since He has already paid the penalty for our sins in His
death on the cross.
When the prodigal son returned to his father, his own
tattered garments were exchanged for the best robe in the house. The father
took away the old garments, and clothed the son in his own rich apparel. It was
of a similar experience that Isaiah sang in his day: “I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me
with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of
righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride
adorneth herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10.
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This process of justification by faith is clearly stated
by the great apostle to the Gentiles in the following language:
“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.” Romans
3:22-26.
Thus it is the righteousness of Christ that is
received by the sinner when he turns to God for help. God declares Christ's
righteousness to be ours.
This righteousness of Christ is declared for the
“remission” (margin, “passing over”) of sins that are past.
It is imputed to the sinner just as though it were actually his, and he now
stands before God with a perfect record of purity and obedience, which he had
no part whatever in making, but which he has received as a gift from Christ.
The sinner now appears before God as innocent as if he had never sinned.
Justification, therefore, does not come by
“doing” the law, but by faith in Christ. When that faith is
exercised, then Christ's law keeping is imputed to the sinner; and thus by His
obedience the transgressor is declared to be righteous. “As by one man's
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be
made righteous.” Romans 5:19. It is by Christ's obedience that we are made
righteous. He obeyed for us, and now He substitutes His obedience for our past
disobedience; and thus we stand justified before God.
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When a man is converted, two distinct changes take
place. One is called the new birth; the other, justification. The first takes
place in the man himself, being wrought by the Spirit of God. He is
given a new heart; all things become new. The second is his changed standing in
God's sight. This is justification, and this is the change that is wrought by
the righteousness of Christ being imputed to him.
This brings us to a consideration of the Christian life,
or the life after conversion, and the attitude of the newborn, justified man to
the law of God. On this point Paul inquires: “What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that
are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Romans 6:1, 2. Sin is the
transgression of the law, hence Paul is really saying, “Shall we continue
to transgress the law in order that God's grace may be even more abundantly
manifested by continuing to forgive and justify us?” To this he makes the
most emphatic reply, “God forbid.”
It is, therefore, not God's plan that converted men
should transgress His law, but rather “that the righteousness of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.” Romans 8:4. Sin is no longer to have dominion over the life.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof.” Romans 6:6, 12.
But it is impossible for any man to keep perfectly the
law of Jehovah in his own strength. What Christ said is verily as true of Him
now as before, that “without Me ye can do nothing.” How, then, may
God's will be accomplished
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in the life? The answer is found in the words of the beloved
disciple: “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become
the sons of God, even to those that believe on His name.” John 1:12.
The secret is couched in that expression, “as many
as received Him.” Those who receive Him find power. The power comes
through receiving Him. Herein is revealed one of the most marvelous and
astounding truths of the gospel—that it is God's purpose that the
Christian shall actually receive Christ into his life and permit Him to live
and reign there, perfecting in him the same righteousness that was revealed in
the life of Christ nineteen hundred years ago. This is the mystery spoken
of by Paul when he said:
“Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and
from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints: to whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles;
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every
man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man
perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labour, striving according to His
working, which worketh in me mightily.” Colossians 1:26-29.
“Christ in you,” then, is the secret. This
constitutes our hope of glory. Without this experience we are helpless, and for
us there is no salvation. But with Christ in control of the life, our strivings
and labors are not performed in human weakness, but are “according to
His working, which worketh” in us mightily. Again Paul talks of this
experience in his epistle to the Ephesians, thus:
“That He would grant you, according to the riches
of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
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being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to
know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with
all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto
Him be glory.” Ephesians 3:16-21.
Note carefully the expressions used. We are “to
be strengthened with might … in the inner man.” This is to be
accomplished by Christ dwelling in the heart; and when He dwells in the heart,
He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think.” And this doing is not through our poor weakness but through
“the power that worketh in us.” And that power is Christ in the
person of the Holy Spirit.
Once again the apostle repeats it, this time in his
letter to The Hebrews:
“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the
dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will,
working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ;
to whom be glory for ever and ever.” Hebrews 13:20, 21.
Here, then, the plan is clear and plain. We can be made
“perfect in every good work to do His will.” This perfection is not
obtained by struggle and effort on our part, but through the operation of the
power of the indwelling Christ. It is His “working in you” that
brings the perfection. Our working is all a failure; His working is always a
glorious success. When, therefore, He works in and through us, He brings
success and perfection to our lives, just as He worked it out in His own life
when here in the flesh.
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Once again the Pauline letters repeat the blessed truth,
this time the message to the Galatian church:
“I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for
me.” Galatians 2:20.
This is the glorious result of having Christ live in the
heart. The life that is lived is, then, no longer ours, but “Christ liveth
in me.” It is His life lived over again in our flesh. We have relinquished
the throne, and He is in control. Now we can exclaim, “I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13.
Christ declares Himself to be “the same yesterday,
and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. When He was on earth in the
flesh, He demonstrated that He was a commandment keeper. “I have kept My
Father's commandments” (John 15:10), He said; and David prophesied of Him:
“Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I
delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Psalms
40: 7, 8. Since, therefore, it is Christ's desire to do the Father's will, and
since the law of God is written in His heart, the life that He will live today
in our flesh will also be a life in harmony with that law. He will literally
keep the law in us and through us, and thereby bring our lives into perfect
accord with its holy precepts.
This is what Paul refers to when he says that God sent
His Son to make it possible. “That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:4. When, therefore, Jesus was here in the flesh, He kept the law
for us. Now
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He offers to dwell in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, and
keep His law in and through us. The first was a work of God
for man; the second is a work of God in man. The first we had
nothing to do with, but to receive it by faith; the second we cannot
accomplish, but it is wrought in us by the Spirit through faith. Thus “by
the obedience of One” we are made righteous, and justified from our past
sins; and also by “the obedience of One” (now obeying in us) we are
kept righteous day by day. This truth reveals how it is that to the Christian
“Christ is all, and in all.” Colossians 3:11. We are justified by
faith in Christ, and the just must live by faith in Him. Thus we are
“saved by His life.” (Romans 5:10.)
It is therefore clear that righteousness comes as a
result of faith. Good works in keeping the law of God are the logical sequence,
or fruits, of the indwelling of the Spirit of God. One cannot save himself by
keeping the law, but a saved man will keep the law because of the fact that he
is saved. It is the fruit by which the tree is known.
“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth
good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot
bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the
fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16-20.
Here Jesus makes it clear that the man must first
be good before he can do good. “If a man love Me,” said
Jesus, “he will keep My words.” John 14:23. The loving must come
first, the keeping of His law follows.
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This great truth is further set forth in the epistle to
the Romans, where Paul uses the experience of Abraham as an example of the way
good works testify to the present faith-righteousness:
“In this way David also tells of the blessedness of
the man to whose credit God places righteousness, apart from his actions.
‘Blessed,’ he says, ‘are those whose iniquities have been
forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over. Blessed is the man of whose
sin the Lord will not take account.’
“This declaration of blessedness, then, does it
come simply to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? For Abraham's
faith—so we affirm—was placed to his credit as righteousness
(Gen. 15:6). What then were the circumstances under which this took place? Was
it after he had been circumcised, or before? Before, not after. And he received
circumcision as a sign, a mark attesting the reality of the faith-righteousness
which was his while still uncircumcised.” Romans 4:6-11, Weymouth's New
Testament in Modern Speech.
So in Abraham's case his righteousness was not produced
by his works of circumcision, etc., but the works appeared because of that
righteousness. Circumcision became a sign of the fact that he was
righteous.
Now, let us apply this to our own experience. Do we
receive righteousness before we keep the law, or after? Before, not
after. And we receive law keeping “as a sign, a mark attesting the reality
of the faith-righteousness” which comes to us by believing on Christ and
permitting Him to dwell in the soul. Thus our righteousness does not come by
the “deeds of the law,” but the deeds of the law do witness to its
presence and to its genuineness. (See Romans 3:21.) Thus John the beloved
declares: “He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His
commandments,
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is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth
His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we
are in Him.” 1 John 2:4, 5.
By this it is seen that faith does not make void the
law, but rather establishes it. (See Romans 3:31.) In fact, without this
“faith-righteousness,” all our efforts to keep the law are doomed to
utter failure; but trusting Him to do the work, our weakness is overcome, we
become connected with the boundless power of Omnipotence, and thus we “can
do all things through Christ which strengtheneth” us. Philippians 4:13. In
this way our faith is shown by our works, as stated by the apostle James:
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may
say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works,
and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:17, 18.