What is the Gospel? A Series, Part I

The Righteousness of God Revealed

A Sermon,

Preached on the Lord's Day

in

SANTA ANNA, June 17, 2007

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.

Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel, even under severe persecution from the Jews, and under threat of great persecution by the Greeks and the Romans, for by it the “righteousness of God” is revealed (1:17). The attributes of God and His work revealed as the “righteousness of God” in the Gospel include:

1. The requirements of the law

2. The condition and hopelessness of man.

3. The lack of any natural means of salvation.

4. The necessity of the perfect, holy and spiritual sacrifice in order to propitiate God.

5. The eternal contract between the Father and the Son.

6. The obedience and perfections of Christ, his nature, mission, and acts.

7. Christ becoming the perfect sacrifice, suffering the curse of the law on behalf of his people, and suffering its punishment.

8. Christ as High Priest and Prophet.

9. The satisfaction of God, and the justification of God's elect through imputed righteousness – the “righteousness of God”.

10. Christ as King.

It is to be understood, then, if the righteousness of God is to be revealed through the Gospel, that any “gospel” that does not reveal this righteousness of God, is a false “gospel”, of which there are many (Gal. 1:6-9, 2 Cor. 11:4). The true Gospel necessarily accomplishes the task of revealing the righteousness of God and directing all glory, honor, and praise to Him. The false gospel can be identified because it ignores, occludes, or confuses the righteousness of God, and elevates man.

It may be asked, “If the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God, and if this righteousness of God is the power of God revealed in salvation – then what is the means by which this salvation is attained?” What good is it to reveal that which is necessary to salvation (the power of God) if there is not also revealed a means by which this salvation is obtained (or made evident?

Here in these verses we learn that the Gospel reveals the power of God unto salvation, and thus His righteousness, and we rejoice that this righteousness is being made manifest. It is as if a key is now displayed that is said to unlock a door revealing salvation and the glorious righteousness of the Creator God. We now need to properly identify:

1. What is this Gospel that we might apprehend the righteousness of God.

2. By what means this power of God unto salvation is revealed.

3. By whom it may be received.

Notice that, according to the text, this righteousness of God is now to be revealed via the Gospel, which indicates that this righteousness was not revealed but partly and darkly in types and shadows during the age of the Prophets. Though the moral law had been revealed in the written commandments, and validated in the consciences of all men, even the heathen who knew not God (see vss. 19 – 20), the righteousness of God was not revealed beyond shadow and type except through the Gospel. This makes it all the more important that we properly identify the true Gospel and mark its counterfeits – noting again that the Bible warns us of false gospels, false spirits, and false christs.

This “righteousness of God” revealed by the Gospel is revealed “from faith to faith”, which in itself has a doubly important meaning. All men have not faith (2 Thess. 3:2), and all men that do have faith do not possess the same allotment of faith, as we see in the book of Matthew, Chapter 8, where it is said that the disciples had little faith (Matt. 8:26), and just a bit earlier a Centurion is said to have great faith (Matt. 8:10). Stephen is said to be full of faith in Acts. 6:8, while in Romans 14:1 some are said to be weak in the faith. The disciples asked Jesus to increase our faith in Luke 17:5. Our ability to receive and believe the Gospel is according to our faith, and that faith is not ours but by gift for it is the gift of its author and finisher (Heb. 12:2), which is Jesus, if it be true faith. That gift of faith, in whatever measure, is delivered by (or from) faith (via the Holy Spirit), which makes it God's faith in God, which is gifted to those whom the Lord elects. Thus it is said that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

So, we have read that men are saved by the power of God, which is His righteousness, being revealed by the Gospel and received and believed by faith. How then are we to understand and apprehend this truth? I propose to explain it in answering these five questions:

1. How does this righteousness of God save?

2. How is it given?

3. To whom is it offered?, and by what qualification in the receiver?

4. How is it received?

5. What requirements are there for those who have received it?

1. How does the righteousness of God save, or in what manner does it save?

The righteousness of God saves in the same manner that the unrighteousness of Adam damned and condemned. Adam was the progenitor, governmental head, and high priest of all men. As their representative, Adam sinned and brought the sentence of death and eternal separation and punishment upon all that would proceed from him by ordinary and natural generation. Both the actual guilt of his crime, and the corrupted nature that it wrought in men was then handed down to all of his heirs in turn, each being born of him.

The guilt is both imputed via Adam's guilt, and compounded by actual sins committed, even from the womb (Psa. 58:3, Isa. 48:8), which sin nature is now the natural and genetic predisposition of all men, who are born with corrupted hearts and wills, being dead spiritually to all righteousness and spiritual goodness. The comparison, then, is made clear by the Apostle who writes that those who were in the first Adam (all his progeny) are born dead in sins and trespasses – and in like manner, all those who are in Christ, called the second Adam, born again of His Spirit, washed in His blood, who have received life and a new heart and nature, and who have also received forgiveness of sins, are saved via the imputation of Christ's righteousness and are enabled by grace through the mind of Christ to walk by the Spirit and not by sight, and to do good. Death came by one man to all men who were in him (all men), and life has now come by one man to all that are in Him by faith (elect men). “But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many (Rom 5:15)”.

2. How is this imputed righteousness of God given? It is wonderful to hear that the righteousness of God saves, but if I do not receive this righteousness, then I am damned. So how is the righteousness of God given?

The righteousness of God is given freely. It is given in and through Christ, and is given as a gift, therefore there are no qualifications demanded of the receiver other than that he receive it by faith. All may receive it freely, without cost, and are invited to thus receive it. The gift is free, in that from God's perspective it is honestly offered to all who will take it by faith with no qualification or works, no merit considered, no foreseen faith determined, in those to whom it is offered. Any who are athirst may come and drink of the river of life freely. It is called “the gift of righteousness” (Rom. 5:17), and is given to those who will receive it:

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness (Rom. 4:5)

Why is it given freely and without price to the receiver? That no man may boast (Eph. 2:9), so that God would receive all the glory for salvation, and so the pride of man, who has rebelled against God and offended Him, is brought down and put under His feet. Please remember this, because it is critical to our understanding and to the right identification of the true Gospel - that through it no man may boast. This allows us to discount and cast off any “gospel” that allows men to boast. By this rule, we must immediately throw out and anathematize modern freewill theism because it puts the fountainhead of faith and belief in man and not in God. Since freewill theists believe that God is believed and received solely by the work of man using his “free will” and some remnant of moral ability in his heart that they believe remains uncorrupted from the fall, they place free will choice as the qualification for salvation, thus making salvation merited and giving man occasion to boast. Just as men become offenders by trampling underfoot the blood of Christ and His sacrifice, counting it of no effect – so, in like manner, men become offenders by belittling His work and by elevating the work of man and by accounting salvation a a co-operational work and by attributing to man the divine work of faith and belief. The fact that he that is saved worketh not, but believeth (Rom. 4:5) proves conclusively that belief is not the work of man, but is the work and gift of God - as it is written, unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake (Phil. 1:29); and in these scriptures: 2 Thes. 2:13, Isa. 53:1, Mark 9:24, I Cor. 1:19, John 6:29, John 12:39-40.

3. To whom is salvation offered, and according to what qualification(s) in the receiver is the righteousness of God given?

As has been said, there is no qualification at all required of the receiver but that he, needing salvation, take it by faith. The receiver need not say “am I qualified to receive salvation?” for if he is a sinner, he is qualified, for this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). Every manner of sinner is accepted, for neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (1Co 6:9-11). Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (Isa. 55:1). He has exalted the poor and filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away (Luke 1:53). If a doctor has announced that he will freely heal all the sick who will come to him, and if it is revealed that this Physician can heal all manner of sickness, then it is merely required that a) a man be sick and know he has need of healing, and b) that he go to the Physician believing that he can be healed. They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick (Matt. 9:12). If a man puts out a feast and invites all without exception who are hungered to come to the feast, then it is accepted that all who are hungered may freely come – though it is known that only those who are hungry, and who believe that they may freely come, will come.

4. How is the righteousness of God received?

The righteousness of God is given by faith, and must be received by faith, and so we must identify what this faith is. The fact that the “righteousness of God is revealed” assumes some facts:

a.) That this righteousness is offered, as we have already explained, for of what comfort is it that Christ is revealed as willing and able to save, if there is no offer of Christ to those who see their need? The offer of Christ is implied directly by the revelation of Him to the soul, and,

b.) That this righteousness may be received according to the offer. So if Christ is believed by faith, the promise is made without wavering that he may be freely received.

These two implications of the “righteousness of God” being revealed to us next implies that there is something in some men which enables them (according to his degree or his faith) to believe that these things are true, and to act according to that revelation. This something is the gift of faith. If a man is hungry and unable to provide food for himself or his family, and a messenger arrives that declares that a certain shop owner is willing to provide whatever food and provisions are necessary to save the starving man and his family – in order for the offer to be realized, the starving man must:

• realize that he is in need and will perish without aid,

• believe that there is such a shop owner and that the offer he has made is valid and the true expression of his will,

• accept that the offer includes him.

If the starving man believes that these things are true, then he has assented in his mind to the basic truths set forth, and now he must determine if he will act upon the information and go receive that which is freely offered. Here the will must act, and upon doing so the will proves that the mind (heart) has believed the message to be true. This is an act of faith. Now the difference, of course, is that man is not predisposed by his sinful nature, dead spirit, and corrupt heart, to despise food when he is hungry – where he is evidently and plainly disposed to despise salvation when he is lost. This carnal faith then, that causes a hungry man to seek food, while similar in some manner in that it is called “faith”, is very unlike the spiritual gift of faith that is necessary for a lost and condemned man to seek pardon and Salvation by Christ. A hungry man seeking food, or a thirsty man seeking water, is in accord with the character of the natural man; while for a dead man to seek life, or a corrupt heart to seek spiritual righteousness, would require a man to act contrary to his carnal nature, which requires divine intervention. Therefore we acknowledge that for a man to see his true condition, and to believe that God has made the offer of salvation to him, and to apprehend and accept this offer as true, and to move by faith to take and receive the salvation offered, is the work of God, for this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent (John 6:29). Now, in order for the man in our allegory to receive the promised food, there are three things necessary: First, that he know and seek the right shop owner. It does him no good to seek the free gift from another. He must not make an “error in person”. Second, he must know what it is to receive the gift, and to finish the transaction. If he stops at the gate of the city and proceeds not to the right shop, or if he believes himself to have received the gift merely based on the promise, without taking the gift, then he plainly has not received the gift. Third, his will must be one to the point that he is compelled to complete the journey. In saying that we must receive the “righteousness of Christ”, we admit that we must receive both Christ and His righteousness. There is no receiving of His righteousness without our also receiving Christ, and so Christ must be received first. This is why it is critical that the Christ we say we have believed be the Christ of the Bible, and not some false “christ” created by the devil through treachery. Just as the “christ” of this generation bears no likeness or similitude to the Christ of the Bible, so there have been “christs” in every age who have deceived many unto their own destruction. So if any man is deceived by a false “christ” (of which there are many), or by a false gospel (which predominate today), or if he begins the pilgrims journey but does not go unto Christ, or if he does not take Christ as he must, then he makes evident that his faith was human and earthly and not that spiritual faith authored and finished by Christ. He has not received Christ. Only those who have the faith of Christ, who is its author and finisher, can be assured that they will take Him as He is promised and be saved. Christ's faith given necessarily delivers the elect to the real Christ, thus it is revealed from faith to faith. Which Christ? Is the essential question. The Christ who offers salvation is Holy, and He is one who will not share his glory with another master. He will only be served by those who have put off the world as master. He is a jealous husband who will have a bride that loves Him above all things, and who serves no idols. He is hated by the world and therefore brings persecution on those who come to Him by faith, and thus they will be hated as well – and this according to His own promise: If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you (John 15:19). To take Christ as husband is to be divorced from all other lovers and to have him as King as well as High Priest and Prophet. Too many will say they have come to Christ, yet they love the world, are married to other lovers, and though they will declare Christ as Savior, will not have Christ as King and Lord. They do not know that they have missed the person, and have erred by approaching another “christ” altogether. We must go to the real Christ, and not the christ created by millionaire evangelists and carnal theologians. We must go to the real Christ that was killed by the world, and not the christ who the world loves and follows. Too many will say that they know and have taken Christ, when by every Biblical measure, they have refused Him as King and Lord – and these are those to whom He will profess, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matt. 7:23). It is not enough that we understand the Gospel with our minds, or that we assent to its essential truths and agree that they are true. The Bible says we must “receive Him”, which is an act of a regenerated will. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (Joh 1:11-12). The power to become the sons of God, is given to them that believe. We have already shown that to believe requires the gift of faith, and we have shown that belief itself is a gift. Unto those who have received, and to them only, is given the power to become the Sons of God. Those who do not seek Christ aright, who seek another person they call “christ”, and who do not receive Him by faith, who do not enter into marriage to Him, taking on His name – which includes the hatred and scorn of the world, and who do not receive and obey Him as King and Lord, are not His.

Now, it may be objected that these things are now become requirements, and therefore this is “works based salvation”. That could not be farther from the truth, though those of an Antinomian belief will deem it so. What we have described here are the attributes of those who believe and receive Christ. None of these were qualifications or requirements for salvation, but identify who it is that freely goes unto Christ for salvation. Those who feel no need, though the Gospel is offered to them, will not receive it. Those who are deceived as to the identify of Christ, and as to the offer He has made, will gladly receive a false Christ and a false offer, but when apprised of the identity and character of the true Christ, will not believe or receive Him. So a man or woman may gladly embrace the modernist Gospel and believe themselves to be full of faith and saved, yet if we present to them that those whom Christ marries are lowly and humble, persecuted and afflicted, hated and scorned, the offscouring of the earth, that they do not look like the world – and that they who marry Him must obey Him and His commandments, and must have Him as complete Lord as well as Savior, then these who have made a profession of faith by a false gospel to a false “christ” will reject and not receive the true Gospel and the true Christ. It is no work of man that saves them who come to Christ, but we are identifying the attributes of those who have truly come to the true Christ.

5. What requirements are there for those who have received this Gospel?

The great Puritan John Preston answered the question thusly: “It is required that you love your husband Jesus Christ, that you forsake father and mother, and become one Spirit with Him, as a man is one flesh with his wife: for you are now bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh.” Preston continues, “It is now required that you should repent. And that is the meaning of the place, 'Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand'. I tell you of a Kingdom, and a great Kingdom, but no man can come into that Kingdom except he repent: you must walk no longer after the flesh, but after the Spirit: you must have your flesh crucified, with all the affections and lusts of it... You must part with every thing for His sake, whether it be riches, or honours, or credit, or whatsoever, it is no matter, you must be ready to let them all go... You must be ready to undergo any thing for his sake: you must have him for worse as well as for better: you must be content to be hated of all men for His sake: you must take up your cross and follow Him. You must do much as well as suffer much for Him: He died to this end, that He might purchase to Him a peculiar people, zealous of good works: you must respect Him as a wife doth her husband, not as a servant does a hard Master: you must not look on his commandments as a hard task whereof you could willingly be excused, but as one that hath his heart inflamed to walk in them; as a loving wife, that needs not to be bidden to do this or that, but if the doing of it may advantage her husband, it will be a greater grief to her to let it lie undone, than labor to do it.” (John Preston, The Breast Plate of Faith and Love”.

And now we know how this marriage is made, and for what purpose. The righteousness of God is revealed by the Gospel from faith to faith, and it is used by God to draw those who have received the gift of faith to believe and receive Christ as husband, Lord and Savior. This is the purpose of the everlasting Gospel and it is antithetical to the modern gospel of salvation. Let us now close by contrasting these two gospels:

Attributes of the modern false gospel of salvation:

1. The gospel is the means of regenerating souls, who know nothing of it or their need, and who are not prepared in any way by the work of God to receive it.

2. The power of salvation is supplied by the will, which remains in some state of moral uprightness despite the fall.

3. God has merely provided the program and the product for salvation, and has left the rest of the work to men. God will marry whomever chooses Him.

Now this is not the only false gospel, only the most prevalent one.

Attributes of the true Gospel:

1. The Gospel makes evident the power of God in salvation, and reveals the righteousness of Christ, identifying the true Christ, his nature and character, the requirements of God, and the offer of salvation to them who will believe it and receive Christ by faith.

2. The power of salvation is supplied by God through His revelation of Christ, and by the gifts of faith and belief.

3. God has authored and finished all salvific faith in those whom He will save. He has provided the means, motive, opportunity, and has worked the work of belief and faith in those that are saved. By this, God has chosen a wife unto Himself, has pursued her and won her and has joined her with himself for eternity.

We believe that the Bible teaches that the Gospel is a converting ordinance and not a regenerating one; that the Gospel is the means by which the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, which faith is the particular gift of God via the Holy Spirit which gives it. Faith, which is a gift, informs the regenerated mind and will of the truth which is then apprehended via the gift of belief. The will is the result or product of the agreement already made in the mind and heart, both which have been quickened (made alive) by the Spirit of God. The true Gospel reveals the righteousness of God, the strait gate and narrow way, the truth and results of believing it (persecution and hatred from the world), the perennial requirements of the law (separation, obedience, death to self, love to God and to they neighbor, submission to God alone as Master, etc.), and through this God gathers to Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, unites them together into the Church of God, and by them makes His eternal and great wisdom known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms.

It is this Gospel that must be believed, and it is by believing and receiving this Gospel that those who believe on Him are enabled to follow and obey Him that they might enter into His perfect rest.

I am your servant in Christ Jesus,

Michael Bunker

 
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