CONTENTS
Chapter 1: The Bible’s Testimony
for the Life and Death of Christ Alone
Chapter 2: A Divine and Personal
Encounter with the God of the Bible
Chapter 3: The Positive
Consequence of My Encounter and of His Righteousness
Chapter 4: The Complete Work of
Christ is God’s Grace Alone
Chapter 5: The Mechanism of
Empty Hands of Faith Alone
Chapter 6: The Favor of God for
Possessors of His Complete and Divine Merit
Chapter 7: The Definition of the
Gospel: The Gospel is His Total
Meritorious Righteousness Alone
Chapter 8: The Wrath and
Displeasure for Those Who the Spirit Does Not Apply the Work of Christ Alone
Chapter 9: Abraham’s Imputed
Righteousness by Faith Alone
Chapter 10: The Judgment of Sin
upon Christ Alone and the Transference of His Holistic Righteous Virtue to the
Believing Ones
Chapter 1: The Bible’s Testimony for the Life and Death of Christ Alone
"But now apart
from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by
the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; or all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His
grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed
publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate
His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins
previously committed..." (Rom 3:21-25). "...But to the
one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the
man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works…" (Rom.
4:5-6). Only the righteousness of Christ avails before God the
Father: "...and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of
my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith..." (Phil.
3:9).
The divine
authority of the teaching of Christ’s active and passive obedience is the
precedence of the Divine Word. The
Divine Word presents this doctrine of the active obedience of Christ as His
perfect and sinless life, and it also presents the doctrine of the passive
obedience of Christ as the perfect death of the divine and eternal Son of
Man.
The
Lord Jesus Christ had to be God and man at the same time to fulfill the law’s
demand, because He entered into humanity and took upon flesh as the eternal
Second Person of the Trinity. Only the
God-man has the divine righteousness to meet the perfect and holy standard of
God. If God made me sinless today, I
would fail as a substitute. We needed
God to take upon flesh; so, that He would fulfill all holy righteousness. A Christian sinner or a sinless saint could
not fulfill what only God Incarnate could do.
We must understand that the Lord Christ is uniquely set apart, because
He existed from everlasting to everlasting.
I will never be God, because I was never self-existent. I am a creature, but the Lord Jesus is alone the inherent God-man. In order
to satisfy God’s demand for perfect holiness we need His divine virtue, because
only God could supply that. God supplies
sinners with the holy virtue in and of Himself, because this alone is pleasing to Him alone.
The so-called “goodness” of man falls infinitely short from the
perfect standard of goodness in God the Holy Trinity.
The
doctrine of His unified righteousness is taught through the pages of the Bible,
because God supplies Adam and Eve with a covering of animal skin. It is a divine picture of the set apart righteousness of the eternal
King-Messiah. This holy virtue of
complete righteousness alone is the
basis for redemptive pleasure with God. Thus
on this basis alone we are able to
commune with Him who is holy.
Chapter 2: A Divine and Personal
Encounter with the God of the Bible
I
found myself before God and on my knees.
I saw something like a face and a bright light of pure white light around
me. I saw God give me a bright-light covering,
and He would put it on me and took it off of me. When He put it on me, He looked pleased. When He took it off of me, He looked angry. He did this several times to me, and desired
that I learn a lesson in trusting Him for His complete and authentic
righteousness. This happened at the 1994 assault against me.
These
day’s people do not believe God is able to reveal Himself to someone, because
of sola scriptura. I hold to the doctrine of the Bible alone,
because the Divine Word is truly all-sufficient. I understand the view that discourages His
personal revealing of Himself, but what happens when He comes to confirm His
Word alone and testify of the glory
of its trustworthiness of it alone? Surely there are abuses; I wonder in what
area of theology sinners have not abused!
The
encounter spoke to my heart in showing me the essential and crucial way of His
righteousness alone, because God does
not honor sin-tainted, self-righteous merit of any kind! God confirmed the Bible’s teaching of the grace
of the Gospel, because it alone can
save lost sinners. We desperately need
the God-man’s unified virtue, because we do not have the right kind of
righteousness God requires.
Do
you see yourself as one whom does not have His righteousness? Are you not fearful of His divine anger? He looks at you and sees a “goodness” that is
not really good, because only His
virtuous holiness is accepted as inherently
authentic.
Chapter 3: The Positive
Consequence of My Encounter and of His Righteousness
The
positive consequence of my encounter of Christ’s complete righteousness is
acceptance with God, because it is the foundation and grounds of spiritual
life.
The
next positive consequence of my encounter of Christ’s unified righteousness is
to be acquitted on the Last Day, because God cannot condemn Himself. That is, His meritorious virtue given to us
by the pure grace of faith alone.
The
life I lead is a life that is determined by His righteousness, because I will
not seek my own merit. As the Bible is
all-sufficient for faith and morals, so to, the Christ of the Bible is
all-sufficient in His overall work of divine redemption for His people.
I
know His garment of moral virtue is all-sufficient for me in my standing before
God, because it came from within Himself.
So-called “virtue” of sinners fails at every level to adequately meet
the holy demand of God in utter sinlessness in true divine power. The “hope” of man’s religion is replaced with
the certainty of admittance to the
gates of heaven. Only a true acceptance
with God is the bulwark of divine and holy peace, because Christ alone is the eternal source of
peace. I will wear His garments of
righteousness alone for all eternity,
because He alone is my all-sufficient
Surety!
Chapter 4: The Complete Work of
Christ is God’s Grace Alone
The
work of Christ is His life and death, because this is what the Bible records
for us. The work of Christ is God’s awesome grace, because by it we
meet God’s demand for perfection due to His Son’s merit alone. This is grace
supreme; grace unknown; grace abounding and grace penetrating! The work of Christ is not separated from His
passive and active obedience, but all of it is
grace. It is grace all-sufficient,
because it is all we need to stand before God through His Son alone.
The grace of excess merit of
sinners will not suffice as grace, because true grace is only found in His unified work. Christ perfectly fulfilled the demands of the
Law of God, because it was impossible for any sinner to meet that requirement. Christ perfectly died and paid full
satisfaction for sin to God the Father as a ransom, because no burnt offering
could cleanse sin; and provides a set
apart righteousness. There will
never be a time in heaven where it will fail, because it lasts through life and
forever. It is truly the grace of His righteousness that avails alone before God
through the Only-Beloved Son.
Chapter 5: The Mechanism of
Empty Hands of Faith Alone
It
is only the grace of the empty hands of faith alone where we do what God desires us to believe in His blessed
name. It is not by works of satisfaction
where we gain acceptance before God, but only by the monergistic grace of God the Spirit. This is where we gain the faith of heaven,
and profess the Christ with St. Peter. Faith
can only come by the regenerating work of the Spirit of God, because it is in
this where we flee to Christ as our Savior.
Faith is the means or the instrument whereby we become right before the
Father, because it alone fits in the holy plan of grace. We do not bring with us our works, because
His work does not need adjustment or addition.
It is complete. Do you have the faith to apprehend His
righteousness? Reflect much on this
today!
Chapter 6: The Favor of God for
Possessors of His Complete and Divine Merit
The
approval of God rests with those who have His righteousness alone, but it is not a mix of the religious works of man (i.e., the
sacraments, confession, penance, etc). God’s
endorsement of Christ’s merit shows the only acceptable way of spiritual
salvation, because no other kind of
“righteousness” will do. Those who have
His righteousness are forgiven and cleansed, because of His awesome
kindness. Purgatory is not necessary,
because the total righteousness of the Son is all-sufficient. It is
enough to get you to heaven, because God will not reject His own merit. Adding to the Son’s merit nullifies it,
and subtracting from it improperly divides
His virtue. The favor of God is alone with His ones who are possessors
of the grace of the Son’s sustaining merit.
Chapter 7: The Definition of the
Gospel: The Gospel is His Total
Meritorious Righteousness Alone
These days the
Gospel is misrepresented, because people are not cautious in how they define
it. Very simply, the Gospel is Christ’s
complete, unified work. Spiritual
salvation or justification is by the work of Christ alone. This is
the definition of the Gospel. We
lack a perfect, divine life; and we lack an appeasing sacrifice. We are all spiritual beggars, because we are
of those who lack complete goodness in total perfection. The Gospel is becoming right with God by His
Son through His Spirit, because God works in a Trinitarian fashion in the work
of holy redemption. People fail at
defining the Gospel, because the attention is man-centered. Let us look to a Christ-centered Lord who is
enough for eternal bliss! This is the Amen Gospel.
Chapter 8: The Wrath and
Displeasure for Those Who the Spirit Does Not Apply the Work of Christ Alone
The
fury of God rests with those who do not have His Spirit, because they do not
have His complete work. Repentance and
faith is the evidence of the work of God the Spirit, because He produces the
fruits of obedience by a heart of flesh.
The Spirit comes in regeneration and applies the work of Christ to the
sinner, because only the Spirit and the Word could change a stony heart.
I
spent time under God’s condemnation, because I was not born again. These days people think they can pray the
“sinner’s prayer,” because they believe it is by the cooperation of man. I doubt
that any would come to faith, because free will is limited to rebellion. Our intentions and motives are corrupt,
because we are not good. Many today have
false professions, because so many think they made a decision for Jesus.
Are
you born again? Do you have the Spirit
of God? A heart that knows of his or her
deadness in sin is further evidence that God is at work. The only response to the wrath of God is the
eternal Son of Man, because through His work He makes certain the grace of
repentance.
Chapter 9: Abraham’s Imputed
Righteousness by Faith Alone
The
Old Testament saints walked by faith in the eternal Son of God, because He
provided His righteousness for His own.
Abraham believed God and it was accounted as righteousness by the means
of faith, because of the all-powerful Spirit and His all-penetrating Word. It is lie when people act like the saints of
old were not saved in the same way as we are, because God’s spiritual plan for
spiritual salvation is the same. Every
saint has the imputed righteousness of Christ, because He accepts it
alone. Abraham did not produce excess
merit, because no saint has done this.
The righteousness of Christ suffices for God’s people, because it is the
highest and purest standard.
Chapter 10: The Judgment of Sin
upon Christ Alone and the Transference of His Holistic Righteous Virtue to the
Believing Ones
The
sin of the elect only was placed upon Christ alone, because it needed to be
punished according to justice. Christ
provided His righteousness alone to His believing ones, because only it is the
holiest of virtues. Our sin was taken
upon Himself, because He became a curse for us.
By faith, we receive the transference of the grace of righteousness through
the Son by faith alone. The elect will
never receive punishment of any sins in heaven, but God chastens all of His
sons and daughters in this life. The
elect carry His matchless robes of pure merit upon themselves, because Christ
gave it to them through the application by His Spirit and Divine Word.
Do
you have your sin taken upon Christ? And
did Jesus suffer in your place? Do you have Jesus' unified work of merit as His unified righteousness of His life and death alone?
