Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 30 – The essence of God – Righteousness. Rom 3:25-26; Isa 6:1-8.

Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 30 - The essence of God - Righteousness. ROM 3:25-26; ISA 6:1-8.

 

The righteousness of God is available to anyone who believes in Christ, ROM 3:22.

 

ROM 3:21But now [dispensation of grace] apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

 

ROM 3:22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction;

 

ROM 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

 

 “fall short” - u`stere,w[hustereo] = to fall behind, to come up short, to be bankrupt.

 

“All” have sinned and are bankrupt before God’s glory.

 

 “glory of God” - all the attributes of God that comprise His essence and to which no man may approach without the mediation of Christ.

 

ROM 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption [slave purchase] which is in Christ Jesus;

 

Justified - the measuring stick is divine justice (ISA 28:17). If a creature is declared +R by imputation then he is also pronounced justified forever.

 

Illustration of French corporal ...

“What are you doing here?” que fit vuee cee?

“General Napoleon has made me a captain.” Shgenerale Napoleon ma fey un capitehn.

“You are no captain” vuoon ne ew ken capitehn.

“Yes I am a captain!”  wee jay suis un capitehn!

 

The redemption of the unrighteous so that they may be righteous is illustrated best by the typology of Hosea: HOS 1:2; 3:1-3.

 

ROM 3:25 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;

 

If God passed over the sins of the OT without judging them it would destroy His essence and integrity. But because of the reality of the cross, the covering and forbearing of past sins is shown to be +R.

 

ROM 3:26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

 

 “demonstration” - e;ndeixij[endeixis] =  a showing, a pointing out, a proof. God’s perfect judicial Righteousness was shown at the cross.

 

It says here that righteousness is demonstrated at the cross of Christ, but can righteousness be seen with the human eye? If so I believe everyone who was there at cavalry would be saved and in fact everyone would be saved because we remember that the place turned to black and no one could see anything, so it wasn’t important to be there physically. So if God’s perfect judicial Righteousness is shown at the cross and everyone has heard about the events of the cross, then why isn’t everyone saved?

 

First they must hear the good news. Those who were around the cross heard the good news.

 

Though it was dark, they could hear the repeated cries of the Savior, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” It doesn’t sound like good news, but if one around the cross understood the implication of this statement then he was closer to seeing +R if the question entered his mind, “Why has God forsaken Him on the cross who is innocent and not forsaken me who is guilty?” But that implies that they understand that they are guilty and that is the purpose of the Law and its witness.

That is the demonstration of righteousness that qualified the covering of past sins and the covering of present and future sins.

 

God is Righteous and sin therefore must be judged and condemned. I deserve that condemnation, but Jesus Christ took it as my substitute. I can see that light even if it’s pitch black around me.

 

Yet as all human history tells us, the evidence that demands a verdict can be right in front of a person and he can miss its truth. [Ishmael, Esau, Pharaoh, 10 of the 12 spies, etc.]

 

And this brings us right back to the issue in the AC, arrogance and pride attacking the character and nature of God making the darkness so dark that they fail to see or acknowledge the light.

 

God’s righteousness stands in great contrast to the arrogance of man and angel. The two are mutually exclusive.

 

ROM 3:27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

 

ROM 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

 

There are certain blessings that I can expect directly as a result of my righteous position in Christ as a believer and everything I can expect are no longer based on justice but on grace.

Divine justice can only bless perfect righteousness. We have the righteousness of God imputed at the moment we believe in Christ and so we are pronounced as justified, ROM 5:9.

 

ROM 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 

ROM 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

 

Someone may say that you, as a believer are under the justice of God, and quite right they are, but the scales are no longer swinging since under that justice you are justified. Therefore, your positional point of contact with God is justice, but now justified your experiential point of contact with God is grace.

 

I understand that I’m treading a fine line here, but that is because grace and justice are so close together due to the finished work of Christ. If not for the finished work these words are not close to one another at all. Grace could define the integrity of God, meaning the combination of His righteousness, justice, and love that can now act towards fallen man in a certain way since all has been satisfied or propitiated by Christ.

 

Grace - the ability for a sinner to accumulate doctrine, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to live in and execute a perfect plan by means of the salvation work of Christ.

 

It’s certainly not this:

ROM 6:15

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

 

ROM 11:6

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

 

The believer must receive by means of grace and be sustained and kept alive by means of grace so that he may attain maturity and fully realize the righteousness of God.

 

Logistical grace: The justice of God blesses the righteousness of God in the believer while He sustains the believer with everything he needs so that he may grow up to spiritual maturity.

 

Divine justice blesses His own righteousness imputed to us at salvation. This is logistical grace blessing. The principle of logistical grace avoids compromise of the attributes of God, and is compatible with the integrity of God.

 

grace pipeline

 

In logistical grace God gives everything it takes to keep us alive plus blessing. This logistical grace is given to winners and losers alike.

 

There is nothing you can do to be sustained or blessed by the grace of God. The grace of God comes from faith in Christ which forever satisfies divine justice and righteousness. God found a way to bless us as believers totally apart from any system of works, human righteousness, or Christian service.

 

Those believers who freak out over the details of life still have those details covered by the Righteous God who blesses His Righteousness in them. By this we conclude that “freak outs” were just a waste of time and energy, but also a revelation to the one who lacks faith in God’s logistical grace.

 

Once we understand grace then we can constantly adjust our lives through rebound [alert to the filling of the Spirit], faith rest [alert to the promises of God], and doctrinal orientation [alert to doctrines that are pertinent to apply in any given situation] and that adjustment is to His will.

 

When our free will lines up with His sovereign will then imputed righteousness and grace have done what God designed them to in bringing us into divine relationship with Him, what the NT calls abiding in Him.

 

John 4:23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

Communion:

 

John 4:1 When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

 

John 4:2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were),

 

John 4:3 He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.

 

John 4:4 And He had to pass through Samaria.

 

John 4:5 So He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph;

 

The Samaritans were outcasts who were hated by the religious Jews in Judea.

 

John 4:6 and Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour [noon].

 

John 4:7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 

 

Jesus has nothing to use to draw from the well and she does, however He has something that draws from the well of Righteousness and she doesn’t.

 

John 4:8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

 

John 4:9 The Samaritan woman therefore said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

 

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 

 

In other words, if God asks you for something, if you knew who He was in essence and attributes, you would say, you need to give me something greater. “God, you want me to serve you, You need to give me power that is greater than service. You want me to give to your people, You need to give me a greater ability than their needs, etc.”

 

John 4:11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?

 

John 4:12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?"

 

Jesus Christ is greater than any person or human celebrity that you imagine and give to you.

 

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again [human solutions always leave you thirsty again];

 

John 4:14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him [divine righteousness] shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. " 

 

John 4:15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw."[seeing with her eyes and human intellect]

 

John 4:16 He said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 

 

John 4:17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband';

 

John 4:18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly. " [I know who you are and am still willing to give you this water]

 

John 4:19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. [closer to +R but not quite there yet]

 

John 4:20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people [not a big fans of the Jews either] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

 

John 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming [CA] when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.

 

John 4:22 "You worship that which you do not know [rejected the Mosaic Law]; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

 

John 4:23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

 

John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 

 

John 4:25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us."

 

She knew this without following the Law, because righteousness is apart from the Law, but what she did know of the Law solidified her faith in the coming Messiah.

 

John 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

/ “The Jesus said unto her” … ego eimi = “I am.” There is no pronoun “He” in the original language. “I am the eternal One who is perfectly Righteous! So Drink!”\

 

1 Cor 11:24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 

 

1 Cor 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." 

 

1 Cor 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.