The Righteousness of Christ by C. P. WHITFORD

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 7, 1914

The Righteousness of Christ

By C. P. WHITFORD

C. P. WHITFORD

ThE righteousness that will be accepted when the Lord comes is the "righteousness of God," and God's righteousness can only be obtained by faith. The gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" it is the gospel that makes manifest the righteousness of God, and by the gospel the fruits of righteousness (which is right doing) are made to appear in the life of the believer.

He that is born of God overcomes the world through faith. It is faith that lays hold of the mighty power of God; and his power alone does the work; or, in other words, we are enabled to do that which only the power of God working through us can do. How the power of God can work in a man accomplishing that which he could not possibly do for himself, no one can tell. It would be as easy to tell how God can give life to the dead. How the Spirit works in a man to subdue his passions, and to make him victorious over pride, envy, and selfishness, is known only to the Spirit. It is sufficient for us to know that it is done, and will be done in every one who wants, above all things else, that work wrought in him, and who trusts in God for the performance of it.

It is not within any man's power to do righteousness, even though he wants to. Listen to Paul: "For I know that in me . . . dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do." Paul here tells us that it is utterly impossible for him to do good. He also teaches, in Rom. 7:17, that when he did that which he did not want to do it was not he himself that did it. Do you ask me who it was that did the evil? Paul answers this: "If then I do that which I would not, . . . it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Was it sin, then, that did the works, or was it Paul? Accepting Paul's word, we must acknowledge that it was sin which did the works, and not he himself. In view of Paul's deplorable condition, trying to do righteousness but failing every time, he exclaims, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Is there no deliverance from the bondage of sin?—Yes, there is complete deliverance. Where can it be found?—Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 7:25.

Paul had been a servant of sin. His members had been used as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. He was the servant of Satan, whom he obeyed (Rom. 6:16); he was free from righteousness (Rom. 6:20), and yet he was blameless touching the law. But when he came to believe in Christ—accept of Christ as his Saviour—when he had lost all confidence in himself and his ability to keep the commandments of God, and looked away from self to Jesus as the one who was able to keep them perfectly for him, then it was that he became justified by faith. "His faith is counted for righteousness." Rom. 4:5. Doing the law himself, the reward would be of debt, and not of grace. "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith."

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:27, 31. To make the law void is to show by the life that it is considered of no consequence. To make the law of God void is to break it; but the law itself remains the same, whether it is kept or not. Making it void affects only the individual. Therefore, when the apostle says that we do not make void the law of God by faith, he means that faith establishes the law in the heart. It is faith itself that obeys or keeps the law. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for." If the thing hoped for be righteousness, faith establishes it.

Paul said that it was sin dwelling in him that caused him to do the things he would not. He said that he himself could not do the things he wanted to do. Then what power was it in Paul that caused him ever to do good? Listen to this extract taken from his letter to the Hebrew brethren, as recorded in Heb. 13:20, 21: "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, . . . make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever."

We must all acknowledge, with Paul, that it is not in us to do good works, "for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." Rom. 7:15. It is manifestly impossible for us to do good works, and yet we must do good works, for we are to be judged by our works. Do you say this is a contradiction, that it is paradoxical, that you cannot understand it? Who can understand the mystery of godliness, Christ manifest in the flesh? The whole plan of salvation is a mystery that none of us can fathom, yet there are many who profess to believe it. But, alas! where is the faith that actually works by love?

For many years we have been wanting to do good, trying to do good, and all these years there has been a law in our members that when we would do good, evil was present with us, and so we have concluded that if we do the best we can, such doing will satisfy the requirements of God. But is this true? Will it be safe to settle down upon the belief that if we do the best we can we shall be saved? The promise of a home in the kingdom of God depends upon implicit obedience to all the commands of God. "Here are they that keep the commandments of God." Rev. 14:12. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. "Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." Isa. 26:2. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven." Matt. 7:21.

We are in an utterly lost and ruined condition. We are not able to help ourselves, and yet we must avail ourselves of the means provided for our salvation. We must do that which only the power of God working through us can do, and in so doing we are doing better than we can do. We are doing the impossible. It is impossible for a man to walk on water, yet Peter did it when he exercised faith in Jesus. Since all power in heaven and earth is in the hands of Christ, and this power is at our disposal, even Christ himself coming to dwell in the heart by faith, there is no room for finding fault with God for requiring us to do the impossible. For the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. Luke 18:27. Therefore we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Heb. 13:6.

What remains for us to do?—Simply choose whether or not we will let God work in us that which is good. God never invades the freedom of the will. I, as an individual, am left free to choose whether I will yield my members as instruments of righteousness unto God, or as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Rom. 6:13. If I have completely emptied myself of self, if I have surrendered every power of my being unto God, then, and not till then, will he come in and take full possession of my very being. When he does this, then he can use me to do righteousness, so it is proper for me to say, Now if I keep the commandments, it is no more I that keep them, but Christ that dwelleth in me. See Rom. 6:20. The fruits of righteousness, or right doing, are the result of my having yielded all that I am, have, and are, to God, and so the power is all of God and not of me. Through me he has kept the commandments. I can say as did my blessed Saviour, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:30), "but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John 14:10. Thus it is that God lives in us to will and to direct all our understandings, and thus it is that God himself does the work through us.

This gives to Christ all the glory of our salvation. We have no part of the purchase price to pay. It is only when we understand this that we can catch the inspiration of Paul, and say with him, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." The apostle realized what his words meant when he said, "For I am determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified." He knew that it meant the surrender of every power of his being to the service of God.

When we as completely yield ourselves to God as we have in the past yielded to Satan, then definite results will be seen in our characters and lives. We well may be compared to an instrument. What it will do depends entirely upon the one in whose hands it is. There is, however, this difference between us and an instrument: We have the will or power to choose who shall use us. But it is not in our power to do the work, and yet we are commanded to keep the commandments of God, and we must keep them if we are saved, and all this time we are helpless to do the very thing we are commanded to do. If I am an instrument in the hands of God, he cannot use me to do evil works, nor can he permit me to do evil as long as I remain in his hands. If I am kept from doing evil, he must keep me, because I cannot keep myself. But he wants to keep me from evil, for he has shown his desire, and also his power to fulfill his desire in giving himself for me. Therefore as long as I keep my eyes upon him I shall be kept from evil.

"Now unto him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen." Jude 24, 25.

Orlando, Fla.