p. 3 | The Surety for Righteousness

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 15, 1908

The Surety for Righteousness

RIGHTEOUSNESS is the condition of entrance into the kingdom of God, and this righteousness must be after the divine standard. To the people gathered about him on the mountainside, Jesus said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and of the Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

The outward evidence of the possession of such righteousness is obedience to the commandments of God. “He that doeth righteousness [“All thy commandments are righteousness”] is righteous, even as he is righteous.” It follows therefore that there must be obedience to the commandments of God on the part of those who are citizens of the heavenly kingdom.

If this were all, and if no provision had been made whereby we are enabled to render obedience to the requirements of God, our case would be indeed hopeless; for it is not only true that “there is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one,” but it is also true that our very nature has been so depraved in consequence of sin that we have in ourselves no power to do good. Our desires may be for the things that are excellent, our purpose may be to conform to the highest standard, and our ambition may be to lead a life free from imperfection; but the experience of every man demonstrates his inability to meet such ideals. All this was recognized in the statement of Jesus, “Apart from me ye can do nothing,” and was illustrated in the experience of the apostle Paul, who said, “The good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise.”

There is a clear application of these principles in the case of the two covenants. In the old covenant the people readily promised the required obedience to the law of God, without appreciating their own inability to fulfil their agreement, and consequently without availing themselves of the provision, already in existence, to make obedience possible through the assisting grace of God in Christ. The need of something further than good intentions and unsecured promises was soon demonstrated by the lapse of the people into the gross idolatry by which they had been surrounded in Egypt.

The new covenant is upon an altogether different basis, having been “enacted upon better promises,” and provision has been made through which the obedience required may be rendered. There was no surety of the old covenant, and the need of one was not recognized by those who promised obedience, but the utter uselessness of unaided human effort was soon made manifest. In marked contrast with this is the new covenant, of which Jesus is both the mediator and the surety. Of this we learn in these words: “But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.” “And inasmuch as it is not without the taking of an oath (for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest forever); by so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant.” A surety is “one who has made himself responsible for another.” Jesus “is surety of the covenant on both sides, — surety to us that God will keep his promise, and give us his life and law and Spirit in our heart,— surety to God for us; he will ensure our obedience and our keeping the covenant.” “Christ is called a surety . . . because God on his part gave him to the human race as a surety for the actual fulfilment of his covenant promise.”

As our sacrifice Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish unto God;” as our substitute he stood in our behalf to pay the penalty for sin which was due from us; as our surety he becomes the power in us, overcoming evil and enabling us to render obedience to all the commandments of God.

In this last generation, when the new covenant will be fully accomplished, there should be such a manifestation of conformity to the perfect and complete will of God as would clearly distinguish those who are enjoying the blessings of the new covenant from those who are depending upon inherent goodness or their own ability to reveal a Christlike character. This is plainly implied in the words of the Revelator, who spoke of that company who should be on the earth during the closing experiences of the gospel, in these words: “Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” It is only through “the surety of a better covenant” that such experiences can be attained, and it is therefore of the utmost importance that both the fact and the meaning of such a surety should be made known in the clearest terms.