____________________________________________________ THE GOSPEL OBSERVER "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20). ____________________________________________________ June 18, 1995 ____________________________________________________ "Imputed Righteousness of Christ" by Tom Edwards Defined To the Calvinist, ``Imputed Righteousness'' simply means that God will now see only the perfect righteousness of His Son in the believer. No matter how wickedly the believer lives, God will not hold him accountable for his wrongs because He will only see the goodness of His Son in the believer who sins. Let's hear this from a Calvinist, Robert Brinsmead, to see whether he is being misrepresented or not: ''...the gospel sets forth Jesus as the believer's only righteousness before God...The sinner is accepted because Jesus is accepted in his stead; he is declared righteous solely because his substitute is righteous...His perfect obedience is credited to the sinner...Christ stood in his place and kept the law of God for him...the righteousness of Jesus will go with the believer to judgment and plead his abundant entrance into the kingdom of glory.'' We can even go to the ``horse's mouth'' -- John Calvin, the father of Calvinism: ``For we are said to be justified through faith, not in the sense, however, that we receive within us any righteousness, but because the righteousness of Christ is credited to us, entirely as if it were really ours, while our iniquity is not charged to us....'' In view of these quotes, it is easy to see why the Calvinist believes that a Christian can never be lost--even if he begins committing the most egregious of sins. How could he ever be lost if God never sees his sins, but only the righteousness of Jesus Christ within him? Just one passage alone, however, should suffice in showing the error of this doctrine. According to the New Testament, the believer can so sin as to be lost; God will see the Christian's sins and hold him accountable because of them (See 2 Pet. 2:20-22). In other words, the child of God can "fall from grace" and be lost in the judgment day because of unrepented iniquity (Gal. 5:4). "Imputed Sin of Adam" Calvinists use the idea of ``imputation'' in two different ways: First of all, they use it with reference to the sin of Adam being imputed to all mankind, along with all his guilt. According to this view, the reason why man is a sinner today is because he has inherited a "sinful nature" from Adam. The Bible reveals, however, that though man suffers the consequence of death, due to Adam's sin; he does not become totally depraved as a result nor inherit a "sinful nature." Sin is not something that can be imputed from one person to another, for ``sin is the transgression of the law'' (1 Jn. 3:4). Here's something to think about: If little children were born into this world "totally depraved" then is it not wrong for people to conceive them? In other words, should we be responsible for bringing "totally depraved sinners" into this world? If the Calvinist is right, then that's just what we're doing whenever we have children; and if these infants were born totally depraved then the devil Himself could be no worse, for "totally depraved" is TOTALLY DEPRAVED! I'm sure you can see, though, the foolishness of this. Jesus states concerning the young in Matt. 19:14, ''...Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'' What does the ``such as these'' mean if babies are born totally depraved? It would then mean that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are 100% corrupt! The Bible, however, shows that the infant is not born in sin and, therefore, is not in a lost state before God (See Matt. 18:3 and 1 Cor. 14:20). "Imputed Righteousness of Christ" The second way in which the Calvinist uses this term ``imputation'' is with reference to the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ to the believer. The Calvinist says God sees only the righteousness of His Son in the believer and will simply overlook all the sins which that believer might commit. Is this what the Scriptures reveal? 1 Jn. 1:9, which was written to Christians, states, ``If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'' Why must one bother with this if God does not take one's sins into account anyway? Undoubtedly, it is because the Christian who sins does need to "repent and pray" (Acts 8:22,23). Obviously, since salvation can be lost, the Calvinist's theory of the imputed righteousness of Christ is false. God does see the transgressions of the Christian who sins and will hold him accountable for his wrongs. "Imputation" in the Bible Here's the real irony of the Calvinist's use of the term ``imputation.'' Imputation in both the Old and New Testaments, as someone once said, is used ``to designate any action, word, or thing, as accounted or reckoned to a person; and in all these it is unquestionably used with reference to one's own doings, word, or actions, and not with reference to those of a second person.'' Neither sin nor righteousness can be transmitted from one person to the other. How Are We Made Righteous? Rom. 5:9,10: ``Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.'' Being ``justified'' is closely related to being ``righteous'' or ``having righteousness.'' That old play-on-words has really stuck with me: What is being justified? It is ```just-if-I'd' never sinned.'' The one who is justified has a perfect standing before God--a clear slate--all of his sins have been blotted out by the blood of Christ and removed as far as the East is from the West. The person whom God will not impute sin to, according to Rom. 5:9, is not on the basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ to the believer, but rather on the basis of the death of the Lord: ''...justified by His blood.'' That's where the atonement was made! But how we contact that blood, we shall see in a moment. The argument has been made that this ``Perfect Life'' of Christ is what is imputed to the sinner, and that is what he's saved by. ``Life,'' however, is shown in contrast to ``death,'' and refers to the resurrection of the Lord, which without would have made His death to no avail. Just a glance shows that this doesn't mention anything about ``imputed righteousness.'' Yes, we are saved through the life and death of Christ, but it is only after we obey His word that we can become righteous through our faith and obedience (Heb. 11:6; 5:9). 2 Cor. 5:18,19: ``Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting (imputing, KJV) their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.'' Again we see that the sins of these were not reckoned to them because they had been reconciled to God through Christ; and that means that they obeyed the gospel and were, consequently, cleansed of their sins. This passage does not teach the perfect righteousness of Christ being transmuted to the believer. Ken Green made a helpful comment about this. He said, ``If the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed to the sinner's account, what need was there for the death of Christ? He did not die for His own sins, and if God accounts His sinlessness to us, there would have been no reason to die for our sins.'' Ken makes clear this point: Our sins are washed away, not by the life of Christ, but by His death; and, therefore, we are justified on the basis of His death--``...justified by His blood'' (Rom. 5:9). There are ways, however, that the perfect life of Christ helps the Christian; and we certainly don't want to overlook these. What are some of the ways? First of all, the Lord's perfect life enabled Him to become our PERFECT SACRIFICE. Heb. 5:8,9: ``Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.'' Lev. 4:23,28: During the Old Covenant, the animal sacrifice had to be without blemish. Christ, too, had to be this way for us: 1 Pet. 1:18,19, ``knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.'' Heb. 9:14, ``how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?'' Yes, it wasn't the perfect life of Christ that atones for people's sins, it was his perfect sacrifice that does. But in order for that sacrifice to have been perfect, the Lord had to be perfect in all that He did--and He was (and is). Righteousness or justification is imputed as a gift upon the basis of an obedient faith. According to Rom. 4:3-8, Abraham's righteousness was on the basis of his faith; it was not the imputed righteousness of Christ. Rom. 5:1 speaks of being ``justified by faith.'' ``It is worthy of note just here that the NASV and the NIV are in error in their translation of Rom. 4:3,9. Abraham's faith was counted (imputed) unto him for (eis, unto, in order to) righteousness'' (Marshall E. Patton). The NASV says ``as righteousness,'' instead of ``for'' (``unto''; ``in order to'') righteousness. Notice these last two verses (7,8), which are taken from Psalm 32. Here is the answer to being righteous: Turn from your sins and do what you must in order to have them blotted out. Then you will have a righteousness because of your faith in God. Rom. 5:1, ``Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,'' The man whose sins are forgiven is declared righteous. He is justified, not on the basis of works of merit, but on the basis of the blood of Christ--the blood which is contacted through obedience to the Gospel. The sinner cannot do anything to deserve God's forgiveness, but he still must meet God's requirements if he wants to receive the mercy of God and be justified by His grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The sinner's sins are not forgiven unconditionally. We looked at Abraham and saw that he was made righteous through his faith, but even this was not without conditions (See James 2:19-24). The sinner must believe, repent, acknowledge his faith in Jesus Christ, be baptized for the remission of sins, and remain faithful throughout life in order to make it to heaven (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 10:9,10; Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21). The idea that God would only see the righteousness of His Son in the believer, regardless of how much the believer sinned, was a similar belief that some of the Gnostics of John's day held to. They, also, felt that God would simply overlook many wrongs they committed. Let us note the apostle John's refutation of this in 1 John 3:7: ``Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.'' What is righteousness? Psalm 119 tells us, "All Thy commandments are righteousness.'' The Bible message is clear: Man is not made righteous before God by receiving the perfect righteousness of Christ, but by his faith and obedience to the Lord on the basis of the death of Jesus Christ; which then enables him to benefit by that death and have all his sins washed away. ___________________________________________ Call Today To Find Out About Our BIBLE FILM SLIDES ____________________________________________ MAKING PLANS by Greg Gwin In a business newsletter, someone recently made the observation that most folks spend more time planning their summer vacation than they devote to planning their most important lifetime goals. That is, without doubt, a sad but true fact. How can we hope to succeed in life without planning and goal-setting? If you want to be a successful student, businessman, politician, etc.--it takes planning! Surely this same point can be made in regards to our spiritual service to God. In fact, it may be even more true in this particular realm. We might even say that some folks appear to spend more time planning what they will do after supper on a given night than they have ever spent charting their plans for serving God. It's a sad situation to be sure. The problem is that we have gotten our priorities out of order. Notice what Jesus said: ``Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?...for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you'' (Matt. 6:32,33). Do you see it? Jesus said that we ought not to worry about the things that we most often do worry about. And, He said that we should give careful consideration to our spiritual work--putting it first in our lives. Christians, are you making your plans to be faithful to God and to be active in His service? Have you spent any time lately planning about the things that are really most important? -- In Good News ___________________________________________ "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me, scatters" (Luke 11:23). ________________________________________ Tri-State CHURCH OF CHRIST 1314 Montgomery Avenue, Ashland, Kentucky 41101 Sunday: 10:00 A.M. Bible class 10:50 A.M. Worship 6:30 P.M. Worship Wednesday: 7:30 P.M. Bible study evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (606) 325-9742 e-mail: tedwards@zoomnet.net Gospel Observer web site: http://www.zoomnet.net/~tedwards/go ________________________________________