Christ’s Active Obedience – Part 1
Hebrews 10:1-18 (1-4)
February 4, 2018
Last time we met we started looking at the 4th of the 5 SOLAS.
We began to examine SOLUS CHRISTUS
Or the reality that salvation is in Christ Alone.
Now, just to again reiterate what we are talking about.
Most people assume that SOLUS CHRISTUS simply means that
Jesus is the only way of salvation.
And that is certainly true, and is a definite part of SOLUS CHRISTUS,
But that is not really the heart of the issue.
The term is defined because of a perversion of the gospel
In Roman Catholicism.
Rome would attest to Jesus being the only Savior,
But the debate stems regarding HOW Jesus saves us.
Rome would basically say that the work of Jesus is to make it possible for you to be now be saved.
Namely that Jesus saves you by working in you
To equip and guide and motivate you to become righteous.
SOLUS CHRISTUS adamantly denies that assertion.
• SOLUS CHRISTUS DOES NOT refer to what Jesus has done IN me.
• SOLUS CHRISTUS refers to what Jesus has done FOR me.
Again, the other statement:
We do not hold that Jesus has come to make me righteous.
We hold that Jesus has come to be my righteousness.
And to make that point
We looked at Paul’s famous statement to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
That verse perfectly explains to us the work of Christ “on our behalf”
• We have the sinless and righteous Son of God bearing our sin and thus being treated as a sinner.
• And we have sinful and wicked humans bearing Christ’s righteousness and thus being treated as righteous.
Christ did not become a sinner on the cross
And consequently we are not now perfectly righteous.
IT IS THAT WE ARE EACH TREATED AS THE OTHER.
• Christ wrapped Himself in human flesh that He might suffer as a sinner.
• We now are wrapped in Christ’s perfect righteousness that we might be rewarded as a saint.
It is not what He is doing in us, it is what He has done for us.
And as we also said last week,
There is a great deal of assurance to be found here
• When we start looking to our own righteousness as a means of our security
there is nothing that follows there but doubts and fear.
• But when we understand that our eternal hope does not rest on what I do, but
Christ has done for me, then assurance is ours.
SO THERE’S THE HEART OF THE ISSUE.
Beginning TONIGHT I just want to begin to zoom out a little
And try to understand the issue a little more.
And to do that we need to gain a better understanding of
The righteousness which Christ had.
I actually introduced you to the terms last time,
But I want to recall them for you tonight.
It has to do with the obedience of Christ, and in His obedience we divide that into two terms:
• THE ACTIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST
• THE PASSIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST
Now, please understand that when we talk about those we are not talking about two separate time periods in the life of Christ as though He were actively obedient for a while and then passively obedient for a while.
Throughout Christ’s life He was always both.
He was always actively obedient and He was always passively obedient.
However, it is easier to understand the difference if I say it like this.
• The Active Obedience of Christ refers to His righteous life.
• The Passive Obedience of Christ refers to His sacrificial death.
You can’t separate them just into those two events, for He was always both,
But it does help in understanding them if you separate it out like that.
And we want to begin looking at: THE ACTIVE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST.
LET ME TELL YOU WHY IT IS IMPORTANT.
It is based on a reality that is very often overlooked in Christianity today,
And also one that when it begins to be realized
Seems to bring with it an enormous amount of confusion.
What is this reality that is both overlooked and at times confusing?
THAT GOD’S LAW HAS MORE TO SAY
THAN JUST HOW TO ATONE FOR SIN.
Let me put it another way.
In regard to the Law of God there is more that is required than just to make a sacrifice when you mess up.
• God’s Law not only includes penal sanctions (required sacrifices)
• It also includes positive commands. (righteous living)
Now on one hand that is OFTEN OVERLOOKED.
It is quite easy for people in evangelicalism today
To really just turn a blind eye to all of the righteous requirements
That God brought forth in His Law.
It’s as though they are just sort of willing to throw up their hands and say,
“Yep, I’m a sinner, but that’s ok because Jesus is my all-sufficient sacrifice for sin.”
And honestly there is a great mass of people
That never think about it any deeper than that.
But then, ever so often, you find a person who has come to Jesus
And who desires to love God and live for Him,
And they start reading their Bible (in particular the O.T.)
And many of these people fall into CONFUSION
And they read about all of these positive commands that are found in the Old Testament.
• Laws about dietary restrictions
• Laws about Sabbath day requirements
• Laws about being set apart
• Laws about basic morality
And they get confused because they know that God has not changed.
And they rightly ask if God required obedience to these things in the past, why would we assume that God no longer requires obedience to these things today?
And many of them then decide that they must start obeying all of these commands and they in essence come under the law.
PERHAPS YOU’VE NOTICED THIS CONFUSING TENSION
What most often occurs today is that
People cherry-pick the commands that best suit their agenda
As those which are important to God
And then they disregard the rest.
• How many times have we heard someone quote from the Law about how homosexuality is an abomination to God?
• How many times have we heard someone quote from the Law how God hates the shedding of innocent blood?
• I even read a facebook debate the other day about whether or not Christians can get tattoos based on the Old Testament Law.
And so people have cherry-picked commands that suit their own agenda.
And granted some go further than that.
• Seventh Day Adventist are going to use the Law to enforce Saturday worship.
• Hebrew Roots people are going to use the Law to enforce dietary restrictions.
You get the idea.
And of course every group omits some of the commands.
• I don’t know anyone who refuses to wear half cotton half polyester T-shirts even though mixing fabrics was forbidden.
• I don’t know anyone who refuses to mix bread their cattle, although that was also forbidden.
• I don’t know anyone who grows the hair long on their temples although that was also required.
My point is just this.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE LAW
HAS BEEN A MASSIVE SOURCE OF CONFUSION
FOR THE CHURCH.
• We all seem to know what to do with the sacrificial commands (we look to the cross)
• But people are all over the chart when it comes to what to do with all those positive commands we find.
The confusion comes because people have failed to rightly understand the gospel, namely the doctrine of SOLUS CHRISTUS
What the gospel says; what Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 5:21,
Is that Christ fulfilled both the penal sanctions of God’s Law
AND He fulfilled the positive commands of God’s Law.
• He fulfilled the penal sanctions through His penalty-bearing work
most easily seen in the cross.
• But He also fulfilled the positive commands through His will-of-
God obeying work most easily seen in His righteous life.
AND THAT IS SO IMPORTANT.
Do not make the mistake (which is commonly made) of saying that God no longer cares about the righteous commands set forth in the Law.
THAT’S JUST NOT TRUE.
We read the command in the Old Testament.
Leviticus 11:44-45 “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. ‘For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.'”
And then we read the command in the New Testament.
1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
We even have Jesus Himself say:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Or how about:
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
And by the way, those are all the types of commands
That Hebrew Roots people or Seventh Day Adventist
Will quote in order to emphasize that God’s Law still matters.
You must understand that God is holy and He demands holy living.
His Law is filled with righteous commands that you must do.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?”
Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
Joshua 22:4-5 “And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan. “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
And that is just a few to remind you that
God has always been passionate about the fact that
As His children there is a righteous standard which we must meet.
Now, also provided for in the Law was the penalty and means of atonement for the times when we fail to uphold that standard.
Right?
I mean, when you fail to do what you are supposed to do, then you bring your sacrifice to God to be forgiven for your failure.
But please understand, the availability of atonement
Does not nullify the requirement of obedience.
Let me put it to you this way.
• Let’s say you tell your son, “God mow the yard”.
• But he decides to rebel against your command and refuses to do so.
• Will there be a punishment for his rebellion? Yes, there must be.
• But after the punishment is over, is the requirement to go mow the yard now
nullified as well?
• No
Does that help you understand God’s Law a little?
Just because forgiveness is offered through sacrifice
Does not mean that the righteous requirement is now nullified.
Now perhaps you are BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE CONFUSION
And why there all these groups who are trying to
fulfill all of these commands and reinforce them on the church.
THE PROBLEM IS THAT
THEY DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE WORK OF CHRIST.
No one ever explained to them
The significance of CHRIST’S ACTIVE OBEDIENCE.
First let me give you a few statements from men with far greater theological minds than mine.
Wayne Grudem wrote:
“If Christ had only earned forgiveness of sins for us, then we would not merit heaven. Our guilt would have been removed, but we would simply be in the position of Adam and Eve before they had done anything good or bad and before they had passed a time of probation successfully. To be established in righteousness forever and to have their fellowship with God made sure forever, Adam and Eve had to obey God perfectly over a period of time. Then God would have looked on their faithful obedience with pleasure and delight, and they would have lived with him in fellowship forever…For this reason, Christ had to live a life of perfect obedience to God in order to earn righteousness for us. He had to obey the law for his whole life on our behalf so that the positive merits of his perfect obedience would be counted for us.”
(Wayne Grudem: Systematic Theology, Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester, England and Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers, pp.570-571)
He goes on to say:
“Jesus had no need to live a life of perfect obedience for his own sake—he had shared love and fellowship with the Father for all eternity and was in his own character eternally worthy of the Father’s good pleasure and delight. He rather had to “fulfill all righteousness” for our sake; that is, for the sake of the people whom he was representing as their head. Unless he had done this for us, we would have no record of obedience by which we would merit God’s favor and merit eternal life with him.”
(ibid)
RC Sproul wrote:
“If Jesus merely needed to die on the cross to save His people, He could have descended from heaven as a man on the morning of Good Friday, gone straight to Golgotha, died on the cross, risen, and left again. Our sin problem would be fixed. He did not need to be born to Mary in a stable, go through all the trials and tribulations of growing up in this fallen world, or endure the animosity of the Jewish leaders during His ministry. However, Jesus did not live those thirty-three years for nothing. In order for Him to qualify as our Redeemer, it was not enough for Him simply to go to the cross and be crucified. If Jesus had only paid for our sins, He would have succeeded only in taking us back to square one. We would no longer be guilty, but we still would have absolutely no righteousness to bring before God. So, our Redeemer needed not only to die, but also to live a life of perfect obedience. The righteousness that He manifested could then be transferred to all who put their trust in Him. Just as my sin is transferred to Him on the cross when I trust in Him, His righteousness is transferred to my account in the sight of God. So, when I stand before God on the judgment day, God is going to see Jesus and His righteousness, which will be my cover.”
Adapted from R.C Sproul’s Preface in The Work of Christ (David C Cook, 2012)
I hope those statements help you
Understand a little bit better what we are talking about.
We are talking about what is required
TO SATISFY THE RIGHTEOUS REQUIREMENT OF GOD.
And Christ fulfilled this requirement through His obedient living.
He fulfilled this requirement through His ACTIVE OBEDIENCE.
And so when we trust in Christ,
We are not only trusting that His punishment is done for me,
But also that His righteous obedience is done for me as well.
Let me read that verse again.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Now perhaps you see both elements.
• On one hand the passive obedience in His paying my debt through His suffering,
• On the other hand His active obedience also being applied to me.
So what we want to look at now is HIS ACTIVE OBEDIENCE,
WHY it is important, and HOW that works on my behalf.
Well certainly you should understand that Christ was perfect.
John 5:19 “Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
John 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”
Both of those verses give insight into
The mindset and commitment of Christ.
He never had any intention of doing anything
But exactly what the Father desired.
HE ALWAYS PERFECTLY OBEYED.
The writer of Hebrews noted that:
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Perhaps you remember His baptism, and the debate He had with John the Baptist.
Matthew 3:13-15 “Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him.”
John certainly understood that Jesus had no need of repentance.
John was a witness to the perfect obedience of Christ.
But Jesus was not being baptized because He was sinful.
Jesus was being baptized because He was obedient.
He always did the things which God required,
Even if it seemed to the outside world to be unnecessary.
And because of that relentless obedience we even have the Father bearing witness to His perfection from heaven.
Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
And of course God echoed that assessment again at His transfiguration.
This perfect righteous obedience was even further demonstrated during His temptation in the wilderness where Jesus was faced with every temptation but still remained faithful to God.
He always obeyed.
He was perfectly righteous in all things.
He was without sin.
And that is so important to our understanding of the gospel.
• Jesus didn’t just die to pay my penalty.
• Jesus lived to satisfy my requirements.
If we go back to that illustration of telling your son to mow the yard.
What we find in the story is that your sons brother stepped up and agreed to take the punishment for his rebellious brother and then went further by going ahead and mowing the yard for him too.
He satisfied the wrath AND He fulfilled the requirement.
Both of which are imputed to us.
Now listen again to the passage we read a moment ago.
Matthew 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
That is such an important passage that Jesus introduced.
But it will be totally misunderstood
If you don’t rightly grasp that first verse.
• No doubt you see that God’s Law is important.
• No doubt you see that keeping God’s Law is essential.
• No doubt you see that a failure to keep God’s Law keeps people out of heaven.
I mean Jesus could not have said it any clearer than that.
• The righteous requirements set forth in God’s Law will never be EXPIRED.
They will be here even after heaven and earth pass away.
• The righteous requirements set forth in God’s Law will never be REDUCED.
Every single “letter or stroke” will forever be enforced.
• The righteous requirement set forth in God’s Law will never be DISREGARDED.
People who don’t meet them will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
DO YOU SEE ALL THAT?
(Those Hebrew Roots folks camp there)
What is failed to be understood is that first statement.
“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
THAT IS HUGE!
Jesus came to fulfill the Law.
(Not just the sacrificial Law on the cross,
But also the moral Law through His righteous living)
And is that fulfillment that the gospel says is also transferred to us.
Jesus didn’t just die for us, Jesus also lived for us.
Jesus atonement is not all that is imputed to us,
So is His righteous resume.
That is what makes this understanding of His active obedience so FULFILLING.
• When I begin to understand that the entire summation of the pleasing life of
Christ is now applied directly to my life and account.
• And when God looks on me, He sees that I have perfectly fulfilled the Law,
because I am wearing Christ’s graduation gown and Christ’s honor chords.
Do you see that?
Again,
• It’s not what Christ has done in me, it’s what He has done for me.
• It’s not that He has just made it possible for me to be righteous, it’s that He IS my righteousness.
Now, I did not intend to have that long of an introduction, but that’s ok.
We can still begin this powerful passage which explains this very reality.
The last time we examined it was a little over 2 years ago in our study of the book of Hebrews.
I pulled up those old notes and noticed that sermon was called:
“How to Be Perfect”
Having studied the idea more and in light of the truths we’ve uncovered,
I would probably change that a little to say, “How to be Perfected”
For that is really what the writer of Hebrews reveals.
(14) “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
What I want to begin to do tonight is to
Begin looking at this passage and then we’ll come back to it next time.
READ AGAIN: HEBREWS 10:1-18
Here is the first point that the writer of Hebrews makes here.
#1 A SYMBOL, REPEATED PERPETUALLY, CAN NEVER SAVE
Hebrews 10:1-4
Now because we haven’t just read the book of Hebrews
I need to remind you the truth he just taught.
In chapter 9 the writer gave us a parable.
It was the parable of the Day of Atonement.
The writer asked us to look at 4 symbolic realities from that parable.
1) The Existence of the Veil (9:1-10)
Man is separated from God
2) The Execution of the Sacrifice (9:11-22)
Blood is the requirement for a broken covenant
3) The Expiation of the Sinner (9:23-26)
That blood must be taken to God to appease His wrath on sin
4) The Emergence of the Priest (9:27-28)
The priest coming out reveals that God accepted the sacrifice
The writer revealed to us that
Everything that happened on the Day of Atonement didn’t actually work.
It was a parable, it was a symbol
• It wasn’t real heaven, it was just a tent
• It wasn’t an acceptable sacrifice, it was just a goat
• It wasn’t taken to God, it was just taken behind an earthly veil
• It didn’t accomplish real forgiveness, it just symbolized it
The problem was that so many of the Jews had missed the point. They performed that ritual so long that many of them
Started to believe that there was power in the ritual.
Somehow they came to believe that
Building a tent, killing a goat, and sprinkling blood on a man-made altar
Would actually bring forgiveness.
But the writer of Hebrews is clarifying that
THERE IS NO POWER IN THE SYMBOL.
(1) “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.”
Did you catch the problem?
The Law… All those sacrifices…
“can never…make perfect those who draw near.”
• Attend every Jewish festival
• Kill thousands of goats
• Present millions of wave offerings
• And at the end of the day you still will not be perfect.
EVEN IF THOSE THINGS COULD ATONE,
THEY STILL COULD NOT PERFECT.
That is tragic since we’ve already established that
Perfection is all God accepts.
Do you want proof they can’t make you perfect?
(2) “Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?”
If you are a person who likes “logic” and “reason”
Then this verse is for you.
Let’s say that on the Day of Atonement
That offering actually did what it was supposed to do.
Let’s say it actually atoned for all the sinner’s sin.
If that happened wouldn’t the offering have stopped?
If those people had actually been forgiven they would have had a clean conscience and would no longer feel the need to sacrifice.
But that is not what happened.
That sacrifice didn’t make them feel forgiven
And that is why the kept coming back.
(3) “But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.”
Those sacrifices didn’t make you feel forgiven,
Those sacrifices only reminded you that you were a sinner.
THERE AGAIN IS RELIGION.
Make no mistake religion needs sinners.
Religion needs people that it can threaten and terrify and command.
That’s how religion gets power
That’s how religion gets funded
The worst thing for religion is permanent forgiveness.
Then it loses it’s hook.
Indeed that is never the goal.
What religion wants to do is get people enslaved.
You have to keep coming back here
And keep doing this thing over and over and over OR ELSE.
ROME CERTAINLY FLOURISHED HERE.
That is also what the Law did.
Come back year after year and be reminded that you are a sinner!
• It didn’t forgive anybody.
• It didn’t make anybody feel forgiven.
• All it did was continually remind people that they didn’t measure up to God.
Now the question is:
WHY DIDN’T THE LAW FORGIVE PEOPLE?
IT COULDN’T
It was just a symbol and a symbol,
Regardless of how many times you repeat it, it can never save.
(4) “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Just let that sink in for a second.
• Do you really suppose that killing a goat makes you right with God?
• Do you really suppose that getting dunked in a baptistery makes you right with God?
• Do you really suppose that eating crackers and drinking grape juice makes you right with God?
• Do you really suppose penance or purgatory can make you righteous?
EVEN IF THEY COULD ATONE
THOSE THINGS CAN’T MAKE YOU PERFECT.
I mean do we really suppose
That God is sitting up in heaven and men are requesting entrance and He is saying, “Nope, not until you say 50 “Hail Mary’s” and 25 “Our Father’s”?
Do you catch the absurdity?
The Jews were killing a goat and that has no power over anything.
I mean let your banker call and say, “I’m going to foreclose on your house because you are behind on your payments.” And you say, “I tell you what I’ll do, I’ll kill a goat.”
Let your boss call you into his office and say, “You’re doing a lousy job and I’m going to have to let you go.” And you say, “Instead of that, why don’t we just kill a goat?”
That’s how absurd it is to think religious ritual can save you.
That’s how absurd it is to think religious symbols can make you perfect.
They never can – it is the first major point of the writer of Hebrews.
A symbol, repeated perpetually, can never save.
#2 A SAVIOR, ROBED IN PERFECTION, DID FINALLY SATISFY
Hebrews 10:5-10
And unfortunately this is where we have to stop for the night.
• The writer just revealed that sacrifice alone was not enough to make a man right with God.
• It also required adherence to God’s righteous standards, and Jesus also did this.
He not only presented Himself as a lamb for the slaughter.
He also offered His righteous life as satisfaction of God’s requirement.
The tragedy of Catholicism was that they looked to Mary or to the Saints to gain their “supererogatory merit”
The Reformers said – NO!
We look to Christ Alone (SOLUS CHRISTUS)
And the effect (as we will see next time)
Is that we are now counted righteous.
(14) “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
