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Imputed Righteousness At the Cross: My Standing In Christ
Imputed Righteousness After the Cross: My State Before
God
Christ, the apostles and countless thousands of Christian have given their lives in martyrdom to deliver into our hands the doctrines (teachings) of the original gospel. One of those who gave his life laying the foundation cries to us through the long corridors of the church's history..."According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon." 1 Corinthians 3:10
We will soon learn that consequences are not always immediate but always ultimately sure.
We have compromised to the point of becoming moral wimps. The cardinal doctrine of sanctification has been abolished from mention, from the pulpits and from all serious consideration in study. More than that; the holiness teaching of generations is being bad mouthed by men who have the brains and background to know better. The desire to be holy is gone from us. And then intelligent men ask, "What is happening to the church?"
---
In doctrine these two parts are fused together like an acorn is
fused to the
mighty oak; like a mustard seed to the sprawling mustard tree.
The seed itself
is forgotten but the mighty oak could not exist without it. The
tree is born out
of the tiny seed yet could not exist without it. The qualities of
the tree will
always bear the qualities of the seed it sprang from. All
doctrine has this same
coupled truth in it. This twofold truth contained in doctrine is
easily
illustrated by dividing these two truths in each doctrine
between at the cross
and after the cross.
Matthew 7:28-29; 22:33; Mark 1:22; 4:2; 11:18;
12:38;
Luke 4:32; John 7:15-17; Acts 2:44; 5:28; Romans 6:17; 16:17; 1
Timothy 4:6;
4:13; 4:16; 5:17; 6:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:10; 3:16; 4:2-3; Titus 1:9;
2:1.
DOCTRINE SEPARATES THE CHURCH FROM WHAT?
Doctrine, truth and teaching are all but synonymous (being the
same thing).
Freedom and not bondage is in doctrine. By studying the above
references on the
subject of doctrine it will be quickly seen that doctrine does
indeed separate!
It separates the false from the true. It does not endorse the
mushy idea that we
must "discuss our viewpoints without coming to any conclusions."
Apostates,
traitors to the cross and demons believe that kind of bunk - not
the Christ's
disciples.CHRIST HATED FOR HIS DOCTRINE
Why was Christ hated and finally crucified? What were the real
reasons behind the
persecution of the early church? What brings persecution today
against
fundamental Christians? What is it the world hates about pure
apostolic
Christianity? The answer is simple and concise; doctrine. It is
the pure creed
of Christ Satan directs his most insidious attacks against.
Especially those
redemptive doctrines that determine the destiny of man. Use the
Book!TWO TIMES TRUTH EQUALS PURE DOCTRINE
Doctrine is dichotomous in nature. That is, it is made up of two
equal parts.
Picture an orange sliced in half and separated. But if you place
them together
again the two parts make the whole. This illustrates how
doctrine is made up of
two halves. When you put them together you have the whole
doctrine.
| At The Cross I Am Saved By Grace | Ephesians 2:8-10 |
| The works of man condemned and forbidden. | Romans 3:20 |
| For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. | Ephesians 2:8-9 |
| Good works commanded and commended. | For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 |
This scripture points out the fact that good works are not wrong after the cross. In fact, Christians are commanded to "walk in" good works after the cross. However, to offer good works of my own at the cross is to hold the redeeming blood of Christ in contempt!
| At the cross I am a sinner saved by grace. | Ephesians 2:8 | After the cross I am a disciple walking in sanctification. | 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 |
Being a Christian is not just one experience but two experiences!
What happens to you at the cross is different than what happens to you after the cross. Becoming a Christian means you agree to the disciplines of a life of holiness and perfection. It is the plainest teaching of holy scripture. After the cross comes the life of grace to execute what the Spirit and the Word teach me.
The primary purpose of redemption is not heaven. The primary purpose of the cross is moral transformation. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Metaphorically (a type of) the word fornication means to be joined in association with any persons, places or things which are contrary to God.
To believe only those doctrines that apply to Christian experience at the cross is not sufficient to give us overcoming lives of holiness.
At the cross Christ poured His blood out on the limestones of Golgotha. Who gave himself for our sins, Galations 1:4a
After the cross sanctifying grace begins the glorious process of modifying me and teaching me the first great victory of this faith in Christ that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: Galations 1:4b
At the cross the blood cleanses me of all past sins. Revelation 1:5b Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.
After the cross the Word obeyed sanctifies me. Psalm 119:7; John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, The Christians obedience to the Word is an extension of Grace beyond the experience of conversion at the cross. It is a serious inditement against the Word of God to teach that good work have nothing to do with salvation. Does this mean that those who have no good works are really the saved ones?
At the cross the power of the blood saves me.1 Peter 1:18-19 After the cross Sanctification keeps me saved. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 A holy life separated from the world is the only Biblical evidence of genuine salvation. Read James the second chapter.
At the cross the blood is God's legal agent. Leviticus 17:11; Isaiah 64:6 After the cross the word is God's moral agent.
At the cross Christ is the Lamb of God
After the cross Christ is the Lion of Judah!
At the cross Jesus is my redeemer.
After the cross Jesus is my master and teacher.
At the cross Christ saves me from the dominion of sin.
After the cross Christ gives me dominion over sin.
At the cross Christ is my Saviour.
After the cross Christ is my Lord. At the cross Christ is not
yet made Lord of
your life. So while He is indeed Lord of the universe, you have
not personally
allowed Him that recognition. After the cross He is both Saviour
and Lord.
At the cross Christ is crucified for me.
After the cross I am crucified with Christ.
Apostolic teaching calls for the death of self and a willingness to "forsake" even legitimate materialism to be a disciple of Christ. Matthew 10:38; 16:24; 19:29; Mark 8:34; 10:21; Luke 9:23; 14:27; But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Galations 6:14.
At the cross agape love forgives me.
After the cross agape love constrains me.
The word doctrine simply means teaching.
If preaching is characteristic of evangelistic ministry then
teaching is
characteristic of pastoral ministry. This word (didaskalia) is
used fifteen times
in the pastoral epistles and Paul used the word frequently.
Seeing the twofold structure of doctrine as at and after the cross will help us in three ways:
And it secures for us that glorious freedom from sin Jesus promised through knowing the truth. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
A quick glance at the AT AND AFTER THE CROSS chart included in this study makes this point very clear. Use it as a pulpit outline, make copies for your study group, an overhead transparency or all three.
AT: "BELIEVE", AFTER;"UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS" Romans 10:9-10
At the cross I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9
After the cross I believe unto righteousness. Verse 10
AT: "PRINCIPLE," AFTER; "PERFECTION" Hebrews 6:1
AT: "THE BEGINNING," AFTER; "UNTO THE END" Hebrews 3:14
At the cross is the beginning of salvation.
After the cross is "unto the end" of salvation.
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of
our confidence
stedfast unto the end.
AT: "BE CONVERTED" AFTER; "BECOME AS" Matthew 18:3
AT: "HATH BEGUN," AFTER; "WILL CONTINUE" Philippians 1:6
AT: "SANCTIFIED, "AFTER; "SANCTIFICATION"
1 Corinthians 1:2a, 30
At the cross refers to a person's life the moment he stands before the cross as a sinner surrendering his or her life to Christ as Saviour and Lord. The word "sanctified" in this verse is the verb HAGIAZO meaning to be set apart to the Lord. It expresses that instantaneous act of being justified and declared holy at the cross.
Here Paul is referring to my walk with God as I turn from the cross and face my new life as His disciple. The word sanctification here is the noun HAGIASMOS and speaks of possessing a nature in pursuit of the holy life.
In verse 2 Paul speaks of being sanctified at the cross.
In verse 30 he speaks of sanctification after the cross.
One is an experience at the cross.
The other is life after the cross.
At the cross I am sanctified. A greek verb (HAGIAZO).
I am declared holy and set apart to God by divine decree.
After the cross I enter into sanctification. A greek noun (HAGIASMOS) which speaks of dedication to God and separation from the world.
"Sanctified" is what happens at the cross.
"Made holy" is what happens after the cross.
Our Daddies were doctrinally correct!
We would remind those who have turned against the holiness teaching of their Daddies that those you fraternize with now have have been the most slanderous against holiness doctrine of our godly parents. Every thing from drugs to perversion is in the ranks of the critics of holiness. May it serve notice that what new age "touch me" love philosophy teaches is certainly not the things our godly Daddies taught us.
There may be some who do not realize why the blood of Christ is so supremely important to God's plan of redemption. Redemption is an extremely complicated process that that only holy intelligence could conceive and execute. Romans 3:24-25 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.
Anyone who teaches such things listens to the snake.
Of course our good works are in our own strength!...but it is Christ who dwells within me who inspires me and gives me that strength. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13 The scriptural outcome of the indwelling of Christ is "good works." (Read Ephesians 2:8-10)
At the cross good works are as "filthy rags". (Isaiah 64:6)
After the cross good works are required.
Any man, woman, boy or girl, who has been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and has the testimony of Christ, will have the desire to "fulfill all righteousness" and "keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Romans 2:10; 1 Corinthians 16:10; 1 John 3:2. Don't let arrogant and vocal apostates with charisma intimidate you.
At the cross: Imputed righteousness. Imputation is a legal term meaning "to reckon as" and refers to a type of judgement in which the quality of one person is ascribed to another. For example, one man's guilt may, under certain conditions, be imputed to another. Protestant theology...held that (1) God imputed Adam's sin and guilt to succeeding generations and (2) Imputed Christ's righteousness to those who place their faith in the atonement. Read Romans 5. This is called imputed righteousness. It is the righteousness of Christ given to me when I repent of my sins and receive a legal release from the guilt of all past sin through the atoning blood. (1)
After the cross: Imparted righteousness. To award; to credit with; to give; to confer. Righteousness is imparted when the Christian makes choices and commits acts of obedience to the Word that please the Lord. When our righteous conduct pleases God then that righteousness indicates the inner nature cooperating with the teaching and instruction of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Such acts of righteousness carried out in loving obedience becomes imparted righteousness. This righteousness reflects the nature of the believer thinking in moral harmony with the divine mind. The result of my nature coming into harmony with God's nature is because of my delight in God's moral law. Romans 8:7.
Imputed righteousness which is of Christ is given to us at the
time we are
justified.
Imparted righteousness is credited to us as we walk in obedience
to His Word.
(John 17:17)
There was no mercy shown the victim hanging on the middle cross that Friday afternoon!
Justice not been retracted, invalidated, annulled, prevented, thwarted, cancelled, repealed, revoked, invalidated, or abrogated!
The crucifixion is a historical spectacle attesting to one eternal and immutable fact: God is a God of perfect justice and will not violate the principles of justice; that God does not go easy on the penalties of sin! Calvary is the place where justice meted out the penalty of sin against the depraved and rebellious human nature.
The scenes of Calvary send a message loud and clear to saint and sinner: That God does not go easy on sin. God hates sin and will punish it. He spared not His Son...to bring justice against the sinner! That sir, is grace!
Calvary was the spectacle of divine mercy as Christ identified with sinners and as a sinner willfully yielded to a horrible death fulfilling the demands of divine justice for the sinner. Christ as a man identified Himself with the human race and secured our release from God's wrath by paying the death penalty for sin as a sinner. Isaiah 53:5
In the cross both justice and mercy are manifested without conflict. In the cross God's justice and God's mercy are reconciled perfectly.
In Christ, man did pay the penalty justice demanded. That is justice!!
In Christ man is forgiven through faith in Him. That is mercy!
I am not transformed at the cross. I am transformed after the cross by the "renewing of the mind." 2 Corinthians 7:1; Romans 12:2.
The evidence of Transformation is the breaking of ties with the world environment and it's value system. This is the most difficult task of grace. To bring the rebellious and complex flesh nature to come to grips with the absolute necessity of withdrawing from the world. It is a deathly experience. Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 1 Peter 4:1; Galations 6:14; Romans 6:2; 6:4,7,8,11; 8:10; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.
The one thing in the Christian life that determines destiny more than anything is the direction of the affections from the "untoward" sensual environment of the world and it's values to God and Kingdom values. This is the objective of transformation according to scripture. Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 1:4.
Transformation is a supernatural corrective modification of the whole nature of man!
The mind is the center of transformation according to Paul (Romans 12:2). It is by the renewing of the mind that change is effected in the life. Right concepts produce right living. Here is the link between doctrine (teaching) and the quality of Christian life. Pure doctrine produces pure people.
At the cross I am justified instantly, in one glorious legal moment! But after the cross justification remains in force as I continue in good works. James 2:21-25
Sanctification after the cross is the pursuit of godliness and moral perfection that from the cross to the crown!
Imparted righteousness is as much from God as imputed
righteousness.
For righteousness to be imputed at the cross, God must impute
it!
For righteousness to be imparted after the cross, God must impart
it.
At the cross I experience the instantaneous and legal aspects of salvation i.e. justification, forgiveness, regeneration (new birth) and adoption. Romans 5
After the cross I move into moral maturity, the perfecting of holiness and the increase of knowledge (doctrine). After the cross my intimacy with God develops and I learn more and more of that vital link between God and godliness.
By W.C.B.
[Taken from HAHGIOS Letter No. 3989]
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