specially for sins of ignorance.(2) Thirty times does the word Lamb, as Christ's heavenly name, occur
1. In these words, "they know not what they do," He is speaking as the sin-offering, which was
specially for sins of ignorance.(2) Thirty times does the word Lamb, as Christ's heavenly name, occur
in the Apocalypse; bringing perpetually before the redeemed in glory the cross and the blood, as if to
prevent the possibility of our losing sight of CHRIST CRUCIFIED.
Chapter Five
Righteousness for the Unrighteous
t is in righteousness and by righteousness that God saves the sinner. He
justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5); but He does it in and by
RIGHTEOUSNESS. For "the righteous Lord loveth righteousness" (Psa
11:7). He "justifies freely by His grace" (Rom 3:24); but still it is "in and by
righteousness." His grace is righteous grace; it is grace which condemns the
sin while acquitting the sinner; nay, which condemns the sin by means of
that very thing which brings about the acquittal of the sinner. His pardon is
righteous pardon, and therefore irreversible. His salvation is righteous
salvation, and therefore everlasting.
It is as the righteous Judge that God justifies. He is "faithful and just" in
forgiving sin (1 John 1:9). By His pardons He magnifies His righteousness;
so that he who goes to God for forgiveness can use as his plea the
righteousness of the righteous Judge, no less than the grace of the loving
and merciful Lord God.
God loves to pardon because He is love; and He loves to par-don because
He is righteous, and true, and holy. No sin can be too great for pardon, and
no sinner can be too deep or old in sin to be saved and blest; because the
righteousness out of which salvation comes is infinite. 1
The sacrifices on which the sinner is called to rest are "the sacrifices of
righteousness" (Deut 33:19; Psa 4:5). It is from "the God of our salvation"
that this righteousness comes (Psa 24:5). It is with the "sacrifices of
righteousness" that God is "pleased" (Psa 51:19). It is with righteousness
that His priests are clothed (Psa 132:9). It is righteousness that looks down
from heaven to bless us (Psa 85:11); and it is righteousness and peace that
kiss each other in bringing deliverance to our world. It is the work of
righteousness that is peace, and "the effect of righteousness, quietness, and
assurance for ever" (Isa 32:17).
It is with the "robe of righteousness" that Messiah is clothed, over and
above the garments of salvation (Isa 61:10), when He comes to deliver
earth; and when He proclaims Himself "mighty to save," it is when
"speaking in righteousness" (Isa 63:1). When He came to "finish the
transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to make reconciliation for
iniquity," He came also to bring in "everlasting righteousness" (Dan 9:24)."
This is the name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer 23:6); and as if to mark the way in which e
blesses and justifies, it is added in another place, "This is the name
wherewith SHE shall be called, The Lord our righteousness" (Jer 33:16),-
His name passing over to the sinner; the sinners name lost and forgotten in
that of his Substitute. Oneness in name, in nature, in privilege, in position,
in righteousness, and in glory with Messiah, his divine sin-bearer, is the
sinner's portion. "Their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord" (Isa 54:17);
for "He, of God, is made unto righteousness" (1 Cor 1:30). The transference
is complete and eternal. From the moment that we receive the divine
testimony to the righteousness of the Son of God, all the guilt that was on
us passes over to Him, and all His righteousness passes over to us; so that
God looks on us as possessed of that righteousness, and treats us according
to its value in His sight. Men may call this a mere "name" or "legal fiction";
but it is such a "name" as secures for us the full favor of the righteous God,
who can only show favor to us in a righteous way; and it is such a "fiction"
as law recognizes and God acts upon in dealing with the unrighteous as if
they were righteous,-supremely, divinely righteous, in virtue of their
connection with Him, who, "though He knew no sin, was made sin for us,
that we might be made the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD in Him" (2 Cor
5:21).
This is the "righteousness of God which is revealed from faith to faith" 2
(Rom 1:17). This is "the righteousness of God without the law which is
manifested, and was witnessed by the law and the prophets" (Rom 3:21);
"the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe" (Rom 3:22). 3 Thus, "in believing" (not in
doing) this "righteousness of God" becomes ours; for the promise of it is "to
him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly"
(Rom 4:5).
On our part there is the "believing"; on God's part, the "imputing" or
reckoning. We believe, He imputes; and the whole transaction is done. The
blood (as "atoning" or "covering") washes off our guilt; the righteousness
presents us before God as legally entitled to that position of righteousness
which our surety holds, as being Himself not merely the righteous One, but
"Jehovah OUR righteousness." We get the benefit of His perfection in all its
complete-ness; not as infused into us, but as covering us: "Thy beauty was
perfect through MY COMELINESS which I had put upon thee" (Eze
16:14). Applying here the words of the prophet concerning Jerusalem, we
may illustrate and extend the figure used by the Holy Spirit as to the
"perfection" of him whom this righteousness covers. Spread out, it is as
follows:-
1. "I said to thee, Live" (Eze 16:6).
2. "I spread my skirt over thee" (verse 8).
3. "I entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine" (verse
8).
4. "I washed thee" (verse 9).
5. "I anointed thee" (verse 9).
6. "I clothed thee" (verse 10).
7. "I shod thee" (verse 10).
8. "I girded thee" (verse 10).
9. "I covered thee with silk" (verse 10).
10. "I decked thee with ornaments, bracelets, chains, jewels, a beautiful
crown" (verse 12).
11. "Thou was exceeding beautiful" (verse 13).
12. "Thy renown went forth for thy beauty" (verse 14).
Such, in the symbols of Scripture, is a picture of the perfection (not our
own) with which we are clothed, so soon as we believe in Him who is
"Jehovah our righteousness." "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in
thee" (Song 4:7)."
He that believeth is not condemned" (John 3:18). This is the negative
side; and even were there no more for us, this would be blessedness, seeing
our portion was by nature that of "children of wrath." But there is more; for
it is written, "All that believe are justified from all things" (Acts 13:39); and
"Christ is the end (or fulfilling) of the law for RIGHTEOUSNESS to every
one that believeth" (Rom 10:4). "As by the offense of one, judgment came
upon all men to condemnation; even so by THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF
ONE, the free gift came upon all men unto JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE"
(Rom 5:18).
The strength or kind of faith required is nowhere stated. The Holy Spirit
has said nothing as to quantity or quality, on which so many dwell, and over
which they stumble, remaining all their days in darkness and uncertainty. It
is simply in believing,-feeble as our faith may be,-that we are invested with
this righteousness. For faith is no work, nor merit, nor effort; but the
cessation from all these, and the acceptance in place of them of what
another has done,-done completely, and for ever. The simplest, feeblest faith
suffices; for it is not the excellence of our act of faith that does aught for us,
but the excellence of Him who suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God. His perfection suffices to cover not only that
which is imperfect in our characters and lives, but that which is imperfect in
our faith, when we believe on His name.
Many a feeble hand,-perhaps many a palsied one,-was laid on the head of
the burnt-offering (Lev 1:4); but the feebleness of that palsied touch did not
alter the character of the sacrifice, or make it less available in all its fullness
for him who brought it. The priest would not turn him away from the door
of the tabernacle because his hand trembled; nor would the bullock fail to
be "accepted for him, to make atonement for him" (Lev 1:4), because his
fingers might barely touch its head by reason of his feebleness. The burnt-
offering was still the burnt-offering, and the weakest touch sufficed to
establish the connection between it and him, because even that feeble touch
was the expression of his consciousness that he was unfit to be dealt with
on the footing of what he was himself, and of his desire to be dealt with by
God on the footing of another, infinitely worthier and more perfect than
himself.
On our part there is unrighteousness, condemning us; on God's part there
is righteousness, forgiving and blessing us. Thus unrighteousness meets
righteousness, not to war with each other, but to be at peace. They come
together in love, not in enmity; and the hand of righteousness is stretched
out not to destroy, but to save.
It is as the unrighteous that we come to God; not with good-ness in our
hands as a recommendation, but with the utter want of goodness; not with
amendment or promises of amendment, but with only evil, both in the
present and the past; not presenting the claim of contrition or repentance or
broken hearts to induce God to receive us as something less than
unrighteous, but going to Him simply as unrighteous; unable to remove that
unrighteousness, or offer anything either to palliate or propitiate. 4
It is the conscious absence of all good things that leads us to the fountain
of all goodness. That fountain is open to all who thus come; it is closed
against all who come on any other footing. It is the want of light and life
that draws us to the one source of both; and both of these are the free gifts
of God.
He who comes as partly righteous is sent empty away. He who comes
acknowledging unrighteousness, but at the same time trying to neutralize it
or expiate it by feelings, and prayers, and tears, is equally rejected. But he
who comes as an unrighteous man to a righteous yet gracious God, finds
not only ready access, but plenteous blessing. The righteous God receives