righteousness will give you the greatest boldness before
through Jesus Christ, and that the Lord looks at them, through the righteousness of Christ, as fruits of his own Spirit, Heb. 13:20-21; 1 Cor. 6:11. The Sun of Righteousness has healing enough in his wings for all our spiritual maladies, Mal. 4:2. The saints' prayers, being perfumed with Christ's fragrance, are highly accepted in heaven, Rev. 8:3-4. Upon this foundation of imputed righteousness, believers may have exceeding strong consolation, and good hope through grace, that both their persons and services do find singular acceptance with God, as having no spot or blemish at all in them. Surely imputed righteousness must be the top of our happiness and blessedness, Romans 4:5-6. But,
9. Ninthly and lastly, Know for your comfort, that imputed righteousness will give you the greatest boldness before God's judgment-seat. There is an absolute and indispensable necessity of a perfect righteousness wherewith to appear before God. The holiness of God's nature, the righteousness of his government, the severity of his law, and the terror of wrath, calls aloud upon the sinner for a complete righteousness, without which there is no standing in judgment, Psalm 1:5. That righteousness alone, is able to justify us before God which is perfect, and which has no defect nor blemish in it, such as may abide the trial before his judgment-seat, such as may fitly satisfy his justice, and make our peace with him; and consequently, such as whereby the law of God is fulfilled. Therefore it is called the righteousness of God, such a righteousness as he requires, as will stand before him, and satisfy his justice, Romans 10:3. Just so, the apostle says, "The righteousness of the law must be fulfilled in us," Romans 8:4. Now there is no other righteousness under heaven whereby the law of God was ever perfectly fulfilled—but by the righteousness of Christ alone. No righteousness below the righteousness of Christ was ever able to abide the trial at God's judgment-seat, and fully to satisfy his justice,
and pacify his wrath. A gracious soul triumphs more in the imputed righteousness of Christ, than he would have done if he could have stood in the righteousness in which he was created. This is the crowning comfort to a sensible and understanding soul, that he stands righteous before a judgment-seat, in that full, exact, perfect, complete, matchless, spotless, peerless, and most acceptable righteousness of Christ imputed to him.
The righteousness of Christ is therefore called the righteousness of God, because it is it which God has assigned, and which God does accept for us in our justification, and for and in which he does acquit and pronounce us righteous before his seat of justice, Romans 3:2122, and 10:3; Phil. 3:9. There is an indispensable necessity which lies upon the sinner, to have such a righteousness to his justification as may render his appearance safe and comfortable in the day of judgment. Now there is no righteousness which can abide that day of fiery trial—but the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Paul, that great apostle, had as fair and as full a certificate to show for a legal justification as any person under heaven had, Phil. 3:4-6; Acts 23:6; 2 Cor. 11:22; but yet he dared not stand by that righteousness, he dared not plead that righteousness, he dared not appear in that righteousness before the dreadful judgment-seat.
But oh, how earnest, how importunate is he, that he may be found, in that great day of the Lord—in the mediatorial righteousness of Christ, and not in his own personal righteousness, which he looked upon as filthy rags, as dross, dung, dogs' meat, Phil. 3:9-10. The great thing that he most strongly insists upon is, that he might be clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness; for then he knew that the law could not condemn him, and that the judge upon the bench would pronounce him righteous, and bid him enter into the joy of his Lord, Mat. 25:21, 23, 24; a joy too great to enter into him, and therefore he
must enter into that. When the match is made up between Christ and the soul, that soul bears her sovereign's name. The spouse of the first Adam and her husband had both one name, "God called their name Adam, in the day that he made them," Gen. 5:2; so the spouse of the second Adam, in the change of her condition, from a single to a married estate with Christ the Lamb, had a change of her name. The head is called, "the Lord our righteousness," Jer. 23:6; and so is the church: Jer. 33:16, "In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness." Here is a sameness of name. [Christ and Christians are namesakes. The head is called Christ, and the members are called Christ, 1 Cor. 12:12. Christ is called Solomon, Cant. 1:1, and 3:11, in Hebrew, Shelomah of peace, and the church is called Shulamite, by her bridegroom's name, Cant. 6:13.] As Christ is called, "the Lord our righteousness," so his spouse is called, "the Lord our righteousness." Oh, happy transnomination! Christ's bride being one with himself, and having his righteousness imputed to her, is called, "the Lord our righteousness;" and therefore they may, with the greatest cheerfulness and boldness, bear up, in the great day of account, who have the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to them, especially if you consider,
(1.) That this righteousness is of infinite value and worth.
(2.) That it is an everlasting righteousness, a righteousness that can never be lost, Dan. 9:24.
(3.) That it is an unchangeable righteousness. Though times change, and men change, and friends change, and providences changes, and the moon changes—yet the Sun of Righteousness never changes, "in him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," Mal. 4:2; James 1:17.
(4.) That it is a complete and unspotted righteousness, an unblamably righteousness, and unblemished righteousness. And therefore God can neither in justice except it, or object against it. In this righteousness the believer lives, in this righteousness the believer dies, and in this righteousness believers shall arise, and appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, to the deep admiration of all the elect angels, and to the transcendent terror and horror of all reprobates, and to the matchless joy and triumph of all on Christ's right hand, who shall then shout and sing, Isaiah 61:10, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorned herself with jewels."
Oh, how will Christ, in this great day, be admired and glorified in all his saints, 2 Thes. 1:10, when every saint, wrapped up in this fine linen, in this white robe of Christ's righteousness, shall shine more gloriously than ten thousand suns! In the great day of the Lord, when the saints shall stand before the tribunal of God, clothed in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, they shall then stand and be pronounced righteous, even in the court of divine justice, which sentence will fill their souls with comfort, and the souls of sinners with astonishment, Rev. 20:12, and 12:10. Suppose we saw the believing sinner, holding up his hand at God's bar; the books opened, the accuser of the brethren present, the witnesses ready, and the judge on the bench thus bespeaking the sinner at the bar, Romans 7:12, 14, 16, and Gal. 3:10. "O sinner, sinner, you stand here indicted before me, for many millions of sins of commission, and for many millions of sins of omission; you have broken my holy, just, and righteous laws beyond all human conception or expression, and hereof you are proved guilty! What have you now to say for yourself, why you should not be eternally lost"? Upon this, the sinner pleads
guilty—but withal he earnestly desires that he may have time and liberty to plead for himself, and to offer his reasons why that dreadful sentence, "Go, you cursed," etc., Mat. 25:41, should not be passed upon him. The liberty desired, being granted by the judge, the sinner pleads that his surety, Jesus Christ, has, by his blood and sufferings, given full and complete satisfaction to divine justice, and that he has paid down upon the penny, the whole debt at once, and that it can never stand with the holiness and unspotted justice of God to demand satisfaction twice, Heb. 10:10, 14. If the judge shall further object, "Ay—but sinner, sinner, the law requires an exact and perfect righteousness in the personal fulfilling of it; now, sinner, where is your exact and perfect righteousness?" Gal. 3:10; Isaiah 45:24. Upon which the believing sinner very readily, cheerfully, humbly, and boldly replies, "My righteousness is upon the bench—in the Lord have I righteousness. Christ, my surety, has fulfilled the law on my behalf!"
The law's righteousness consists in two things,
(1.) In its requiring perfect conformity to its commands.
(2.) In its demanding satisfaction, or the undergoing of its penalty, upon the violation of it.
Now Christ, by his active and passive obedience, has fulfilled the law for righteousness; and this active and passive obedience of Jesus Christ is imputed to me. His obeying the law to the full, his perfect conforming to its commands, his doing, as well as his dying obedience—is by grace made over and reckoned to me, in order to my justification and salvation; and this is my plea, by which I will stand before the judge of all the world. Upon this, the sinner's plea is accepted as good in law, and accordingly he is pronounced righteous; and goes away, glorying and rejoicing, triumphing and shouting it
out, Righteous, righteous, righteous, righteous! "In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory," Isaiah 45:25. And thus you see that there are nine springs of strong consolation that flow into your souls, through the imputation of Christ's righteousness unto you.
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Nine Strong Consolations by Thomas Brooks, Copyright © 2025
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