Christ’s Active Obedience – Part 2
Hebrews 10:1-18 (5-18)
February 18, 2018
A few weeks ago we started studying this 4th SOLA from the Reformation.
It is SOLUS CHRISTUS or the statement that
We believe salvation to be “In Christ Alone”
And as we said, this certainly includes the reality
That Christ is the only savior, but it is also much bigger than that.
We certainly proclaim that Christ is the ONLY SAVIOR,
But we also proclaim that Christ saves us BY HIMSELF.
And really the verse we have been seeking to wrap our minds around is:
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.”
This verse speaks to us about the doctrine known as imputation.
Our sin was imputed to Christ and His righteousness is imputed to us.
At a Ligonier Conference Q&A with R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur spoke of that verse in this way:
“In my understanding of the cross I think the simplest way to grasp it is in 2 Corinthians 5:21, where it says, “God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God through Him”. You have there, what I think, answers the question of what was going on on the cross as clearly as anywhere. “God made Jesus sin” the question is “in what sense?” Did He become a sinner? No, He couldn’t become a sinner. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; the writer of Hebrews says. The Father Himself affirms that, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased”. We cannot conclude at all that Jesus became a sinner. That would be utterly impossible; it could not occur. The only sense in which God made Him sin is this; God treated Him as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe. God treated Him as if He had committed every sin ever committed by every person who would ever believe, though in fact He committed none of them… The other side of it is, the rest of the verse says that “we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” That’s the other side of imputation; God imputes our sin to Christ, treats Him as if He’d committed our sins, turns around and treats us as if we’d lived His life. That’s the imputation, that’s the reality of imputation. Was Christ a sinner? No. Are you righteous? No. But He treats Christ as if He’d lived your life and turns around and treats you as if you’d lived His life. “
(R.C. Sproul Q&A [Questions and Answers 2: Los Angeles 1998, R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, Ligonier Ministries, mp3 file] at: 25:43)
This is the greater reality that we are speaking of.
When we talk about SOLUS CHRISTUS,
We are not talking about what Christ has done IN us,
We are talking about what Christ has done FOR us.
Put another way:
Jesus Christ did not come to make me righteous,
He came to be my righteousness.
And that is what we are seeking to grasp and understand.
Not just that He is the only Savior,
But also how He brought that salvation about all by Himself.
Christ saves us apart from any help from us.
And so we have begun to discuss the issue of His perfect righteousness.
(If it is His righteousness that is imputed to me,
Then I certainly want to know what type of righteousness this was)
So we have started looking at His life.
We talk about
• His Active Obedience – His Righteous Life
• His Passive Obedience – His Sacrificial Death
Both are absolutely essential for our salvation.
Most understand the sacrificial death part because they understand God’s wrath on sin, and the need for One to bear that punishment.
What many don’t understand is the importance of Christ’s righteous life because they overlook that God also maintains a righteous standard which must be met.
If all Christ did was die on the cross to pay for our sin,
He would have only succeeded in taking us back to even with God,
And I think it is accurate to say that from there
We would have only blown it again.
Certainly His death is essential in appeasing God’s wrath on our sin.
But in what way did Christ satisfy God’s righteous requirements for us?
And that answer is THROUGH HIS ACTIVE OBEDIENCE,
Or through His righteous life.
We used the illustration of you telling your son to mow the yard.
• If he refuses then certainly there will be punishment, but even after the
punishment, the yard must still be mowed.
• Christ stepped in as the older brother who not only took our punishment,
but also mowed the yard for us.
This was the essence of what He said in:
Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”
He satisfied both God’s wrath and God’s righteous requirement.
I was reading this week a book by R.C. Sproul called
“The Truth of The Cross”
And I found what he wrote helpful in further understanding the concept here.
In the book Sproul said that sin is described in Scripture in 3 different ways.
1) As a Debt
2) As a State of Enmity
3) As a Crime
I just want to talk about the first, that sin is seen as a debt.
And you understand the analogy.
Matthew 6:12 “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Or perhaps you remember the parable in Matthew 18
• About the man who owed his king 10,000 talents, but the man was unable to repay, and when begging for mercy the king forgave him.
Matthew 18:27 “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.”
• Of course the story goes on to reveal how that slave then found a fellow slave who owed him 100 denarii and also demanded repayment.
• However when his fellow slave asked for the same mercy, the first slave refused it, prompting the king to respond.
Matthew 18:32-34 “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.”
Sin is pictured there as a debt.
Here is what R.C. Sproul had to say:
“If I am under someone’s authority, that person has the right to impose obligations on me, so if he or she issues a morally sound command to me, I am responsible to carry out that obligation. Likewise, we are under God’s authority by virtue of His authorship of all things, so He has the intrinsic and absolute right to impose obligations on us. When He does so, we “owe” obedience to Him. If we fail to perform the obligations He places on us, we incur a debt…When sin is depicted as a debt, the New Testament calls Christ our Surety (Heb. 7:22). That’s an economic term, just as debt is an economic term. With this language, the Bible tells us that Christ is the One Who cosigns the note. He is the One who stands there, backing up our indebtedness, taking on Himself the requirement of what must be paid.”
(Sproul, R.C. [The Truth Of The Cross; Reformation Trust Publishing, Sanford, FL, 1982] pg. 34, 42)
That paints another great picture of what we are talking about here.
We have a debt we have occurred before God.
• Not just a sin debt (which we often refer to)
• But also a righteousness debt which has yet to be paid
Sproul speaks of Christ as
THE ONE WHO COSIGNS our note to pay off our debt.
If you’ve ever cosigned for someone you understand the responsibility.
The difference of course is that you do it
Fully expecting the other party to take care of their debt,
Christ signed knowing full well that we were already delinquent.
He came to offer to God the righteousness which we had failed to give
And therefore to satisfy our negative account.
That is what are talking about
When we talk about the ACTIVE OBEDIENCE of Christ.
He wasn’t just satisfying God’s penalty for our sin.
He was satisfying God’s requirement for our righteousness.
And to look at this further, last time we began looking at Hebrews 10.
I want to pick that back up tonight and see what the writer has to say.
Now we saw the first point last time:
#1 A SYMBOL, REPEATED PERPETUALLY, CAN NEVER SAVE
Hebrews 10:1-4
Here we read that familiar truth that
“it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
The writer of Hebrews was addressing the problem of Judaism,
Namely that they were prone to trust in their religious ceremony as an effective atonement.
The writer of Hebrews says,
• “If that is true, then why does the priest have to keep offering it every year?”
• “If that goat or those sheep or those bulls were so effective then why do they have to do it so often?”
The reality is that those things were nothing more than a symbol of atonement, but were not actually an effective atonement.
What is more, COMMON SENSE would tell you that the notion of God wanting goat’s blood as an all-sufficient payment for your sin is absolutely absurd.
The reality is that
• These things were “only a shadow of the good things to come and not
the very form of things,”
• And therefore the priests “can never, by the same sacrifices which they
offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.”
And that was the key issue.
God mercifully agreed to accept those sacrifices
AS A PLEDGE against the real sacrifice that would one day be offered.
Those were really nothing more than I.O.U’s
That is to say, He agreed not to kill you when you brought them,
As they were a picture of the real offering that was on its way.
But because those were nothing more than figurative pictures
THEY COULD NOT MAKE YOU PERFECT.
They could not satisfy God.
Not His requirement of righteousness
& Not His wrath on sinfulness
A symbol, repeated perpetually, can never save
BUT…
#2 A SAVIOR, ROBED IN PERFECTION, DID FINALLY SATISFY
Hebrews 10:5-10
So first we come to grips with the fact that
All of those religious efforts were terribly insufficient.
They never worked.
That means sinners remained deficient in righteousness – still needing it
And they remained in their sin – still needed forgiveness.
What are they to do?
(5-7) Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'”
Here the writer is quoting from Psalms 40
TURN TO: PSALMS 40
This was one of the first Psalms I ever read after I was saved, and I was able to instantly peg this as a Psalm of salvation.
1) The Psalmist’s Deliverance (1-3)
• He recognized how God had pulled him out of the pit of sin and shame and given him a firm foundation.
2) The Psalmist’s Doxology (4-5)
• This is the “new song” he is now singing; that trusting God is so worth it.
3) The Psalmist’s Delight (6-8)
• The Psalmist says, “Now I get it”, it was never about religious routine, what You always wanted was an obedient life, well that’s what I want to give.
4) The Psalmist’s Declaration (9-10)
• Now the Psalmist has turned evangelist and is telling everyone else that it’s not about sacrifices, but all about righteousness!
5) The Psalmist’s Discernment (11-12)
• He recognizes now that God is for him and that he will be delivered from dangerous without and iniquity within.
6) The Psalmist’s Desire (13-17)
• Namely that God would deliver him yet again from his enemies and his sin.
Now that is a wonderful Psalm depicting salvation.
You clearly see the changed attitude of the Psalmist.
However, there is still an implied problem that is not addressed
Until the writer of Hebrews addresses in the New Testament.
• This Psalmist recognized that God did not want sacrifices, but
rather that God wanted righteous living.
• THE PROBLEM, however, was that even though he knew it, he
obviously still didn’t give it. He couldn’t give it.
That’s why this Psalm begins and ends with cries for deliverance from sin
And isn’t that true of us in salvation?
• We don’t just repent of sin on the day we are saved,
• We find that repentance is the constant theme of our conversation with God
• Because even though we know God desires righteousness, we still can’t seem to give it.
The GOOD NEWS however is this.
The righteous standard that the Psalmist recognized in verses 6-8 (but couldn’t’ give) the writer of Hebrews said, that Christ did that for us.
He stepped in and satisfied our debt of righteousness before God.
The writer of Hebrews recognized Psalms 40 as a Messianic Psalm
And he attributes verses 6-8 as being about the Messiah.
This Psalm perfectly makes the writer’s point.
“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired”
That’s been the whole point. God doesn’t want a dead goat!
Psalms 50:7-15 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. “I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
Isaiah 1:11-14 “What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?” Says the LORD. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. “When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. “I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.”
Jeremiah 7:21-24 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat flesh. “For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘ Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’ “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.”
God didn’t want sacrifices.
What did He want? Obedience! (The positive requirement of the Law)
He only allowed the sacrifices as a way to show them
The enormous cost of disobedience.
But the Israelites completely missed the point
And started placing all the value in the sacrifice.
Certainly David and the truly redeemed understood that,
But even they recognized their inability to fulfill it.
But when Jesus came He did fulfilled it for us.
“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me.”
When God sent Christ into the world, He didn’t send Him with a pet goat.
He didn’t say, “Now Jesus, you go down there and show them the proper way to sacrifice a goat.”
He just sent Jesus in a body to live out perfect obedience.
And that is what He did.
(6-7) “In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold I come (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.”
I didn’t come to sacrifice goats, I came to live a perfect life.
I didn’t come to be religious, I came to be righteous.
I didn’t come to perform ceremonies, I came to be perfectly holy.
This was the absolute perfection of Jesus.
He perfectly obeyed every command of God.
I think one of the most unique places that this is seen is at His baptism.
Remember John when Jesus arrived?
Matthew 3:14-15 “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.”
We certainly understand why John would try to prevent Him.
• John knew He was righteous.
• Jesus didn’t need repentance.
But Jesus was baptized because
He was fulfilling all the commands that we were under.
John was a prophet of God and through John, God had commanded baptism.
So if Jesus was going to fulfill all the commands even He had to be baptized.
Jesus came to do God’s will.
He came to accurately fulfill what David recognized back in Ps 40.
AND THEN COMES THE WRITER’S POINT.
(8-9) “After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.”
And notice the end of verse 9.
The writer is making another Old Testament point.
When Jesus said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will”
The writer said that Jesus was
Establishing a new means of making you pleasing God.
In fact the writer says, “He takes away the first in order to establish the second.”
What was He taking away?
That God could be pleased through the offering of a goat.
What was He establishing?
That God would be pleased through the offering of His own righteous life.
God was taking away the first ordinance (that He would accept goats)
And establishing the second (that He would accept Christ)
In Psalms 40:6-8 Jesus was saying, “I will come and be the sacrifice. I will come and be the offering. You don’t want goats, so I won’t offer them. I will offer My own perfect life.”
And then notice the power of verse 10.
“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
How many times did Jesus offer His righteous life to God? “once”
What did He accomplish in doing so? “we have been sanctified”
Do you know what “sanctified” means?
It means “set apart as holy”
When Jesus offered His holy life to God on our behalf,
God accepted it and consequently set us apart as holy.
We were not holy, we are not righteous.
But God set us apart as such
Because He applied Christ’s righteousness to us.
He did what bulls and goats never could.
He satisfied God’s requirements.
This is why the active obedience of Christ is so important.
He satisfied our debt.
Not just our sin debt, but our righteousness debt.
God looked at Christ and said He was well-pleased.
And now God looks at us in the same way
Because His righteousness has been credited to us.
It is bigger than huge, it is everything!
A symbol, repeated perpetually, can never save.
A Savior, robed in perfection, did finally satisfy.
#3 A SINNER, RELYING ON HIS PAYMENT, IS FULLY SANCTIFIED
Hebrews 10:11-18
Now first we spoke of Christ’s active obedience.
• Namely that He lived for us.
• He obeyed for us.
• He was righteous for us.
And therefore He offered to God the righteousness that we failed to offer.
But the other side of Christ’s obedience is His PASSIVE OBEDIENCE.
• That is what He endured for us.
• Namely we are talking about the wrath He endured for our sin.
And that is what the writer of Hebrews addresses here.
Now here comes an awesome comparison.
He’s going to put that priest at the Day of Atonement
Side by side with Christ.
(11-14) “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
First comes the earthly priests.
• Do you see them?
• Do you see them standing?
• Do you see them “daily ministering”?
• Do you see them “offering time after time the same sacrifices”?
• Do you see that they “never take away sins”?
Now look at Christ.
• He didn’t offer many sacrifices but “one sacrifice for sins for all time”
• He isn’t standing because He’s finished, He “sat down”
• And He didn’t offer a sacrifice that didn’t work. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
That’s it!
That’s the beauty!
At that moment on the cross when Jesus offered Himself to God.
He took every single person who would ever believe in Him
And He perfected them!
He SATISFIED THE WRATH THEY OBTAINED
And SUPPLIED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS THEY LACKED.
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.”
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Colossians 1:19-20 “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”
Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
And probably the greatest symbolic picture that occurred was
When Jesus died on the cross something happened
That no Day of Atonement had ever accomplished.
THE VEIL CAME DOWN!
Matthew 27:45-54 “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
For the first time since the fall in the garden access to God was available.
And the only way that is possible is if sinners are made perfect
Because no one else gets into the presence of God.
That is what Jesus did on the cross.
He made those who trust in Him perfect, acceptable to God!
The headlines in heaven read:
• “Sinners declared righteous through life of Jesus”
• “Veil comes down, access to God granted through death of Jesus”
• “Forgiveness achieved through crucifixion of Jesus”
This was the effect of Christ’s obedience.
• His Active obedience supplied the righteousness that we lacked.
• His Passive obedience satisfied the wrath we had acquired.
And what that means is that CHRIST ALONE is all that is required.
Listen as the writer finishes his thought:
(15-18) “And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,” He then says, “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
Do you recognize that passage?
It is Jeremiah 31, that passage on the New Covenant that the writer introduced back in chapter 8.
He is reminding of the promised effect of that new covenant.
“their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
The promised effect of that new covenant
Was forgiveness of all your sins.
And the writer wants you to know that it happened.
To which he says: “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
In other words, you no longer need the Day of Atonement.
• You don’t have to go to Passover anymore.
• You don’t have to attend the feast of booths any more.
• You don’t have to bind that Law on your forehead.
• You don’t have to bring God any more goats or bulls or grain offerings.
Your religious ceremonies are no longer needed.
Jesus satisfied God’s requirements.
Jesus paid your debts.
You are forgiven – You are free – You are now perfect
And that is true for every single sinner
Who places their faith in Jesus Christ.
They are now perfected.
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Jesus did what the Law couldn’t do.
He offered His perfect life as an offering for sin,
And through Him we are now perfected in the sight of God.
Do me a favor tonight if you’ve placed your faith in Jesus Christ.
Take a deep breath in. Now let it out.
Your labors are over
Your work is over
God is pleased and there’s nothing left for you to do
It is not as Rome teaches
• That Christ came to make it possible for you to live righteous.
• Or that Christ’s example shows you how to live righteous.
• Or that Christ’s authority threatens you to now live righteous.
• Or that Christ’s power now enables and expects you to become righteous.
Those sell Christ terribly short regarding what He did for us.
• He actively obeyed God His entire life that He might accrue all the righteous merit which God demanded.
• He passively endured suffering on the cross that He might pay for all sins at which God was angered.
And when we come to Him in faith,
Both of those aspects of His obedience are transferred to us.
Again, I read it:
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.”
So now, that we’ve begun this study
Let me make another seemingly SHOCKING STATEMENT to you.
• We spent several weeks on the doctrine of SOLA FIDE where we said that man is justified by faith alone.
• We talked about salvation is by grace and through faith and not of works.
Well now let me tell you this.
WE ARE ABSOLUTELY JUSTIFIED BEFORE GOD BY WORKS
You heard me. We are absolutely justified by works.
It’s just that it’s not by our works;
It’s by the works of Christ which we clothe ourselves in.
That is why it is so important for us to be “in Him”
And we’ll talk about that more next time.
