← Back to sermon library

Romans, chapter 5, our meditation 
this evening will be more of a topical survey, but I did want 
to read Romans, chapter 5, specifically verses 12 to 19. We consider 
the active obedience of Jesus Christ tonight. Romans 5, beginning 
in verse 12, therefore, just as through one man sin entered 
the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to 
all men because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in 
the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, 
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned 
according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who 
was a type of him who was to come. But the free gift is not 
like the offense, for if by the one man's offense many died, 
much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the 
one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not 
like that which came through the one who sinned, for the judgment 
which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free 
gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For 
if by the one man's offense death reigns through the one, much 
more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness 
will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, 
as through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting 
in condemnation, even so through one man's righteous act, the 
free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For 
as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also 
by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover, 
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, 
grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, 
even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank You for Your Word and for what it sets forth concerning 
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank You that He is the One 
who came into this world, sinners to save, and that He accomplished 
that task perfectly, and how we praise You for the mercy and 
the grace that You have given to us, and for the faith and 
repentance so that we could have closed with Christ. We thank 
you for the supper tonight and how it reminds us and encourages 
us and exhorts us to consider the blessed reality of Christ's 
death on behalf of His people. Help us, Lord, to do this on 
a regular basis. Help us as well to remember His 
life, His resurrection, those other things joined with that 
ministry that He undertook on our behalf. Do forgive us now 
for our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and 
fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we may glorify and honor 
You. And we ask through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Well, as 
I said, our subject this evening is the active obedience of Christ, 
and I'll seek to explain what I mean by that in just a few 
moments, but we just sang in Hymn 127. He, Christ, has hushed 
the law's loud thunder. He has quenched Mount Sinai's 
flame. Now, He doesn't do that or didn't 
do that by destroying the law. Rather, He fulfilled the law 
for us. He fulfilled the law that we 
could not in order to bring us as many sons of God to the Father. Now, the law remains intact, 
it remains in full force, it remains as a rule of life with 
reference to sanctification. But when it comes to justification, 
those who pursue righteousness by that means are using the law 
unlawfully and rejecting or denying the absolute necessity of the 
act of obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ's fulfilling 
the law is referred to as His active obedience, and that is 
imputed to the elect. It is received by faith alone. 
Notice Paul says this clearly in verse 19, for as by one man's 
disobedience, this is Adam, many were made sinners, so also by 
one man's obedience many will be made righteous." So I want 
to do three things tonight. First, the explanation of the 
active obedience of Christ. Secondly, the obligation apart 
from the active obedience of Christ. In other words, what 
is our obligation if the active obedience of Christ is not true 
and not biblical? And then thirdly, the realization 
of the active obedience of Christ, obviously in the life and ministry 
of our Lord. But in terms of a definition, 
as we explain the active obedience of Christ, our confession highlights 
this reality in chapter 11, paragraph 1, in the section of justification. The confession tells us those 
whom God affectionately calls, He also freely justifies. The confession then specifies 
a few ways that that doesn't happen. But then it goes on to 
say, but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole 
law and passive obedience in His death for their whole and 
soul righteousness. Now when we look at Romans 519, 
Paul says, by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. He doesn't distinguish or he 
doesn't break it down in terms of active and passive. This is 
a theological reflection. It is indeed one act of obedience, 
but the Reformed tradition in the majority has recognized or 
distinguished between the active, Christ's fulfillment of the law, 
and the passive, his satisfying divine justice through his sufferings 
and death at the cross. And those things particularly 
answer to our need. We need forgiveness that is wrought 
by Christ in his death. It is the blood of the Lord Jesus 
Christ that washes us from our sin. But God demands righteousness. God demands perfection. God demands that those who dwell 
in his presence are pure and are fit and are upright. And so we need a righteousness, 
and through Christ's obedience to the law, when by God's grace 
we believe the gospel, we are forgiven of our sins, but we 
also receive the righteousness of Christ. It is imputed to us 
and received by faith alone. So when we consider this particular 
reality, it is helpful for us to remember we need Christ's 
death, we need His blood, but we also need His obedience. We 
need His life. We need the fact that He always 
submitted Himself to the Father. John Fesco makes this observation 
or definition. He says, the classic Protestant 
use of the distinction, active and passive obedience, is that 
Christ's active obedience is His fulfillment of. the requirements 
of the law on behalf of the elect. Christ's passive obedience, on 
the other hand, is His suffering the penalty and curse of the 
law on behalf of the elect. I'm sure we've covered this ground 
many times, both in our confession studies and in our preaching 
of the Word in a consecutive manner, but I think it bears 
some reflection and our meditation as we consider what our Savior 
did on our behalf. Now, as we continue this explanation, 
there is an assumption here, and the assumption is the truth 
of Romans 5, 12 to 19. And essentially, Paul's point 
here, or Paul's design, is to explain how it is that Christ 
could die on our behalf. how it is that Christ could die 
for us, and he sets this up in terms of covenant theology. This 
is the assumption that is necessary when we consider the active and 
passive obedience of Christ. Again, laying some foundation, 
we're going to get into some specific texts in a few minutes, 
but bear with me for just a moment. Now, covenant theology is taught 
here in Romans 5. It's taught from Genesis 1 to 
the end of Revelation 22, but certainly it is preeminent in 
this particular passage. There is a parallel set up by 
Paul between Adam and Christ. As well, note in verse 14 of 
chapter 5, he says, nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, 
even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of 
the transgression of Adam, who is a type of him who was to come. So Adam functioned as a type 
in the garden of Him who was to come. And then notice the 
link between the status of those in Adam and those in Christ in 
verses 18 and 19. Therefore, as through one man's 
offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation. That's what we have in Adam. Even so, through one man's righteous 
act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification 
of life. That's what we have in Jesus 
Christ. He summarizes this or declares 
it clearly in verse 19, for as by one man's disobedience, many 
were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience, many will 
be made righteous. So as we proceed, we need to 
understand this link, this parallel, this covenant theology. Both 
Adam and Jesus are federal or covenantal heads. In other words, 
Adam stood or represented his people. Christ stood or represented 
his people. Both men were placed in a covenant 
of works, and the result of their obedience would mean eternal 
life for their posterity. And then the disobedience and 
obedience or obedience of the two men is imputed to their posterity. So in other words, God doesn't 
deal with all men individually. He deals with men covenantally, 
certainly individually when we come to stand before His throne. 
But in terms of God's dealing with people, you're either in 
Adam or you're in Christ. You are either in Adam and dead 
in your trespasses and sins, or you are in Christ and an inheritor 
of all the blessings that Christ has secured. All the spiritual 
blessing, or every spiritual blessing, is ours in Christ. or to use the language of the 
apostle, by the one man's disobedience many were made sinners. The idea 
here is constituted, or it was imputed onto them. Now certainly 
actual transgressions proceed from this reality, but it's legal 
categorization. And then he goes on to say, so 
also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. So that's 
hopefully a brief explanation. If you missed all that, Simply 
get this, the active obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ is the 
fact that He fulfilled the requirements of the law on behalf of the elect, 
something you and I desperately need. Now, let's look secondly 
at the obligation apart from the active obedience of Christ. 
In other words, let's just suppose for a moment that Christ didn't 
come. Let's just suppose for a moment 
that Christ wasn't the covenant mediator. Let's just suppose 
for a moment that Christ is not the champion of the elect who 
brings many sons to glory by his redemptive work. How would 
we achieve heaven? Well, the way that we would achieve 
heaven is by obeying the law. Now, on the one hand, you might 
say, well, that sounds pretty easy. But on the other hand, 
when we start to explore what is involved in the obedience 
to God's law, we will see why it is we need the active obedience 
of Christ. In the first place, the demand 
of the law. I'm going to read several passages 
here so that you can kind of get your minds wrapped around 
what Christ did and what we would be obligated to do apart from 
Him should we ever enter into heaven. In Deuteronomy 27, 26, 
we're told, Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the 
words of this law by observing them. Note that little word, 
all. God demands absolute perfect obedience to His law. God demands 
a confirmation of all the words of this law by observing them. Leviticus 18.5, you shall therefore 
keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man does, he shall 
live by them. I am Yahweh. I wonder if we feel 
the full force of such statements as we read through Leviticus 
and Deuteronomy. Now, before you say, well, that's 
the Old Testament. Well, Paul marshals these texts 
into certain contexts to prove the necessity of Christ, the 
necessity of justification by faith. In Romans 10.5, for instance, 
he quotes Leviticus 18.5. He says, for Moses writes about 
the righteousness which is of the law. The man who does those 
things shall live by them. And then in Galatians 3, 10 and 
12, he quotes both Deuteronomy 27 and Leviticus 18. He says, 
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. 
You see, we need to appreciate that. We're not morally upright, 
innocent persons with a blank slate, enabled thereby to obey 
God's law, to obey all that the Lord has commanded. We died in 
Adam. Our hearts are afar and astray 
from God, and we do not seek him out. So Paul says, "'As many 
as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is 
written, "'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all 
things "'which are written in the book of the law to do them, 
"'but that no one is justified by the law "'in the sight of 
God is evident.'" In fact, look there at Galatians 3 very quickly. Galatians 3, notice Paul's argument. Galatians 3.10, just repeat this. For as many as are of the works 
of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is 
everyone who does not continue in all things which are written 
in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident." And he gives two 
proofs. He gives two reasons why no one 
is justified by the law in the sight of God. Four, first of 
all, the just shall live by faith. The Old Testament Scriptures 
prove that man won't be saved by the law because the demand 
is all things. Man is a sinner and does not 
do all things, so even in the Old Testament it was taught that 
the just shall live by faith. But the second argument is an 
appeal to Leviticus 18. Yet the law, I'm sorry, but that 
no one is justified by the law on the side of God is evident, 
for the just shall live by faith, yet the law is not a faith, but 
the man who does them shall live by them." Do you see there is 
an exclusivity here that Paul emphasizes so that we will not 
conclude that we can do it on our own. That we can go it alone, 
that we don't need the Lord Jesus Christ. The emphasis in both 
Romans and in Galatians is justification by faith. That justification 
is grounded upon the active and the passive obedience of Christ. 
The fact that He perfectly fulfilled God's law and He died as a penal 
substitute in the place of His elect at the cross. Without that, 
there is no hope. Now, our confessional statement 
indicates what is demanded by God. It says, God gave to Adam 
a law of universal obedience written in his heart and a particular 
precept of not eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil, by which he bound him in all his posterity. 
Now, notice, I want you to hear this. If you miss Deuteronomy 
27, if you miss Leviticus chapter 18, if you are not a Christian 
this evening, you are dead in your trespasses and sins, and 
if you think that moral reformation trying to be a little bit better 
you, trying to fix some things up in your life, will somehow 
avail with God, listen to the demands of God's law. It says, 
by which He bound him in all his posterity to personal, entire, 
exact, and perpetual obedience. Your teachers may grade on a 
curve. Your parents may wink at your 
sin. Your parents may not demand absolute 
perfection. Your bosses may not demand absolute 
perfection. Maybe they do. But the bottom 
line is God does, and the divines were right. Reflecting what Deuteronomy 
27 says, reflecting what Leviticus 18 says, reflecting what the 
Apostle Paul says, as he contrasts approach to God via law or via 
faith, all these things, we conclude that what is demanded is personal, 
entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Now, let's consider 
the uses of the law, the way that man uses the law, the way 
the Bible tells us we are to use the law. In the first place, 
there's what's called the civil use, and that simply means that 
God's law is profitable for man as creatures. In other words, 
the civil use means that God's law is helpful to restrain the 
wickedness and madness in society. The second use of God's law is 
called the pedagogical use, and that means child tutor. The law 
of God is an instrument in the hand of God, specifically the 
Holy Spirit, to convict us of our sins, to show us our waywardness, 
and to show us our need for the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the 
third use is what's called the normative, and that speaks to 
sanctification. In other words, when God freely 
justifies a sinner by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ 
alone, that sinner is then pointed, that redeemed sinner is then 
pointed to the law as a rule of life, as a pattern for sanctification, 
as a means by which we can please and honor and glorify God. So 
those are the three uses of the law. Now, Paul tells us in 1 
Timothy chapter 1 that there is an unlawful use of the law. And it's to this I want to direct 
your attention now specifically with two test cases in Matthew 
19 and Luke 10. You can turn to Matthew 19. Again, 
just showing you the obligation apart from the act of obedience 
of Christ. what you need to do if indeed 
you're going to achieve heaven in your own strength. Well, there's 
two instances in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ 
that I think shed some light on this whole approach to God 
via law, this whole approach to God via law. Now, the rich 
young ruler, of course, in Matthew 19, beginning in verse 16, behold, 
one came and said to him, good teacher, what good thing shall 
I do that I may have Now, I want to tell you that Jesus here is 
using the law lawfully. He is using it as a pedagogue. He is using it as a child tutor. He is using it to show the man 
the futility of his own attempts to achieve heaven. So he says 
to him, why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that 
is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to him, which ones? Jesus 
said, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you 
shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your 
father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 
Now note verse 20, the young man said to him, all these things 
I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? It's an incredible 
statement, isn't it? That is an incredible statement 
for anyone to ever utter in light of the fact that our obedience 
to the law must be entire, exact, and perpetual. For this young 
man to say all these things I have kept from my youth, what do I 
still lack? Now here again, Jesus is going 
to use the law lawfully and show him his sin. That's the point. Jesus is not teaching him a different 
way of salvation. He's bringing him to an end of 
himself. But I think the Geneva Bible study note is absolutely 
correct. It says, they neither know themselves 
nor the law that seek to be saved by the law. And that is this 
young man's mistake. That is his error, to suggest 
that all these things I have kept from my youth is to not 
have reflected upon our own sinfulness and upon the demands of the law, 
to not reflect upon the impact of Deuteronomy 27 or Leviticus 
18 or all of the statutes and the ordinances and the commandments. 
upon the spirituality of the law. Would any of you ever suggest 
all these things I have kept from my youth? If you had, I 
would suggest that you have no clue whatsoever concerning God's 
holiness, concerning the demand of His law, and concerning your 
own sinfulness and waywardness. You see, God doesn't want your 
best try. God doesn't want your best attempt. 
God doesn't want you to just, you know, do everything you can, 
but still come up short. Now Christ, as I said, uses the 
law here to show him his need. So the young man says this, and 
Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you 
have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, 
and come follow me. Now some take this and say, wow, 
you know, this might be an alternative. way of heaven, to heaven. We 
just get rid of everything. We have a swap meet, we have 
a yard sale, we have a garage sale. We dispossess ourselves. 
I mean, this is quite popular today, the simplicity of life, 
or non-complicated life. If that's what Jesus is teaching, 
and that's the means by which we achieve heaven, according 
to him, in the rich young ruler, we'll certainly, we'll divest 
ourselves of all our worldly goods. We'll wear orange robes, 
we'll shave our heads, and we'll bang tambourines down at the 
airport. That's not the point. When Christ 
says, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give 
to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, 
follow me. He is preaching the law to him. 
He is bringing the tenth word to bear upon him. The reality 
is that this is a covetous man. It is reflected in his response 
in verse 22. When the young man heard that 
saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 
Christ isn't saying sell everything and you'll get saved. Christ 
is saying sell everything to see your own covetous heart. 
Sell everything so that you can feel the weight of God's holy 
law. And Calvin and Gill agree. Calvin says this reply of Christ 
is legal because it was proper that the young man who inquired 
about the righteousness of works should first be taught that no 
man is accounted righteous before God unless he has fulfilled the 
law. Again, it's not eight out of 
the Ten Commandments. It's not even nine out of the 
Ten Commandments. It's ten out of the Ten Commandments. This 
tenth word, you shall not covet, was the means by which our Lord 
brought this fellow hopefully to recognize his own sin. So 
Calvin says, unless he has fulfilled the law, which is impossible, 
that, this is the means by which or why Jesus did this, convinced 
of his weakness, he might betake himself to the assistance of 
faith. You say, well, that doesn't seem like a very gracious response. 
Why didn't Jesus just say, well, come to me and believe in me 
and you'll have everlasting life? It was a gracious response. Preaching 
the law to show sinners their need is a wonderful thing that 
the church ought to do. It's unfortunate the church doesn't 
always do that, but we need to preach the law in all of its 
killing, condemning power so that sinners will know their 
problem isn't just they're not as happy as they could be. Sinners 
will know that their problem isn't just they're not as well 
adjusted in society as they ought to be. Know that sinners will 
know that God is angry with them, that God is a furious God against 
them and their sin, and His wrath is revealed from heaven against 
them. You see, it is a gracious thing for the church to preach 
the law in all of its condemning power, because sinners need to 
know this. They need to understand their 
problem. They need to realize that they have big problems, 
and it's not those things mentioned earlier. It's that they are in 
enmity with the living and true God. John Gill makes this observation, 
this Christ said in order to show that it is impossible to 
enter into or obtain eternal life by the works of the law, 
since no man can perfectly keep it. And to unhinge this man from 
off the legal foundation on which he was, that he might drop all 
his dependence on doing good things and come to him for righteousness 
and life. You see, the obligation that 
is ours, apart from the act of obedience of Christ, is to obey 
the law entirely, exactly, and perpetually. Now, notice in Luke 
chapter 10, another illustration of, on the part of the persons, 
an unlawful use of the law. Christ uses it lawfully to show 
them their sin. But these men attempting to enter 
into heaven based on their good works didn't feel the weight 
of Deuteronomy 27. They didn't get their minds wrapped 
around Leviticus 18. They wouldn't track with what 
Paul wrote in terms of the contrast between works and faith. Luke 
chapter 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan, is typically 
handled in this fashion. Persons begin reading at chapter 
10, verse 30, and they read to verse 37, and then the moralistic 
point of the story is brought to bear upon the hearers. In 
other words, don't be like that priest, don't be like that Levite, 
be like the Good Samaritan, go thou and do likewise. It's taken 
in a moralistic sense. It's taken in a way to try and 
encourage the people of God to do what the people of God ought 
to do. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't try and be like the 
Good Samaritan. Of course, you see somebody broken, battered, 
and bruised, bleeding on the ground, help him. Put him on 
your pony or your donkey and take him to an inn and give the 
money to the innkeeper so he can bandage him and give him 
oil and tend to his needs. By all means, do that. The New 
Testament is filled with the one and others, the moral principles 
by which the believer ought to be governed in this world. But 
that's not from this passage. Christ uses this as an illustration, 
again, to show this man his sin. Note the larger context beginning 
in verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer 
stood up and tested him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit 
eternal life? He said to him, what is written 
in the law, what is your reading of it? So he answered and said, 
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with 
all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, 
and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have 
answered rightly, do this and you will live. Beautiful, isn't 
it? But what we often fail to realize 
is that this certain lawyer is testing Christ. He is testing 
Jesus. He is not really seeking the 
answer to the inheritance of eternal life. Luke is conspicuous 
to tell us what is driving this certain lawyer, what is driving 
this particular question. It isn't, say, an Acts 16, sirs, 
what must I do to be saved type of a question. It isn't the genuine 
seeker after God's grace who says, what is it in the Bible 
that I need so that I might have eternal life? No, the man is 
testing Jesus. So he says, what shall I do to 
inherit eternal life? So Christ says, what is written 
in the law, what is your reading of it? So what does the man do? 
He summarizes the law. Love to God, love to neighbor. Those two principal commandments 
upon which all the law and the prophets hang. Deuteronomy 6, 
5, Leviticus 19, 18. Love to God, love to man. First 
table, second table. You see, Jesus answers his question, 
what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus is correct to say, 
what is written in the law, what is your reading of it? Again, 
he's using this as a means to bring this man to see the futility 
of his effort to try and achieve God without Christ, without the 
active obedience of our Lord Jesus. So the lawyer invokes 
the law as the means for inheriting eternal life. Again, the Geneva 
Bible stands to be invoked here. They neither know themselves 
nor the law that seek to be saved by the law. Now, let us... Notice 
what Christ does. Verse 28, He said to him, you 
have answered rightly, do this and you will live. That's true. Don't ever think Jesus isn't 
accurate. It is true. If you do what the 
law says and you do it perpetually and entirely and personally, 
then you will be saved. But that is a very difficult 
thing or an impossibility in light of our sin in Adam and 
in light of our actual transgressions. But the language of our Lord 
Jesus, he said to him, you have answered rightly, do this and 
you will live. The translation could be, keep 
on doing this and you will live. See, that perpetuality involved. Before we move on, consider this 
man here. He says, you shall love the Lord 
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all 
your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. 
Does he really think he's done this? Does he really think that 
love to God and love to neighbor has indeed been demonstrated 
in his life? Are sinners that arrogant? Do 
people actually think that they are okay before God? It sure seems to be the case 
with this particular man. Now, the lawyer wants to justify 
himself according to verse 29. So he says to Jesus, and who 
is my neighbor? Give me a little clarification 
on this second table thing. It's interesting. He asks no 
clarification on the first table. Is that to imply that he's got 
the first table down? He actually loves God with all 
his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, with all his 
strength. Now, if you're sitting there saying, well, you know, 
that doesn't sound very hard. It doesn't sound very difficult. Really? Have you ever considered 
the spirituality and depth of those first four words? You shall 
have no other gods before me. Or you shall have no other gods 
besides me. Do any of us ever do that 24-7 
in a day as believers? I realize we're not bowing down 
to Molech, we're not throwing our children in the arms of Molech, 
we're not dancing around or copulating in front of Baal so that he'll 
water our crops. I get that. You know, brethren, 
we have an idol in our hearts, and it's us. Can any of us say 
we have no other gods before him? Can any of us say, with 
reference to our approach to God, the manner by which we seek 
after God, we're always just so? We do that perfectly. I don't 
think any of us could ever say such a thing. Blasphemy. So you 
may not go out and curse the name of the Lord God using His 
name or using the name of Christ, but by our actions we give cause 
to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. And I mean the Sabbath 
day, I mean we might as well all just get on our faces before 
God right now and confess our sins. I mean, how many of us 
actually keep, you know, the Sabbath morning, you know, the 
Sabbath five minutes, five minutes of the Sabbath, do we actually 
love God and love our neighbor for those five minutes? No. For 
this man to posit this means as the way to life and to at 
least imply that he is in the right place, the right standing 
and on the right path is absolute arrogance. So now the parable 
that Christ tells him about the Samaritan is not to be moralized. We're not supposed to take 30 
to 37 and then tell people go out and do nice things for others. 
Again, go out and do nice things for others, but the point of 
the parable is to show this man and to show Israel at large their 
waywardness. Their sinfulness, the claims 
of Leviticus 18 and Deuteronomy 27 have not been met by them 
at the very basic point of rendering kindness to an image bearer of 
the living God who is lying on the ground bleeding out. That's 
the reason for the parable. Again, go do good things. But in the context, this self-righteous, 
this proud, arrogant man who thinks that somehow he's going 
to achieve acceptance with God through his own love for God 
and his love for a neighbor needs to be smashed. He needs to be 
crushed. He needs to feel the weight of 
his sin. And the fact that Jesus uses 
the Samaritan as the hero in our story, contra the priest 
and contra the Levite, exacerbates this a hundredfold. Because remember, 
with reference to the Samaritans, they were not looked at favorably 
by the Judeans. The apocryphal book of Sirach 
says that two nations my soul detests, and the third is not 
even a people. Those who live in Sir, which 
is Edom, and the Philistines, and the foolish people that live 
in Shechem. Shechem, Samaria, that's the 
Samaritans. The Mishnah, Shabit 8.10 says, 
he that eats the bread of the Samaritans is like to one that 
eats the flesh of swine. So in this story that Christ 
tells, the primary emphasis is not, so you'll go out and pick 
up a guy that's been broken, bruised, and battered. But again, 
do that. The primary emphasis is to show 
this self-righteous man who's trying to achieve heaven by his 
own works of love to God and love to neighbor has failed. failed miserably, drastically, 
completely, and he stands in need of the righteousness of 
another. You see, the law, again, in the 
hand of the Lord Jesus, is a gracious means to show sinners their need 
for the Lord Jesus Christ. This was a blessed thing that 
happened to this certain lawyer in Luke's gospel. So that is 
the futility of seeking justification by the law. We have the express 
statements of the Apostle Paul. You turn to Romans 3. Romans 
3, to tell us, to educate us, to teach us what it is to try 
and pursue status with God through the law. Romans 3.20, therefore, 
by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight, 
for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Note the language there. By the deeds of the law, no flesh 
will be justified in His sight. Certainly, if you do the deeds 
of the law and you're not perfect, you're not exact, and you're 
not perpetual, people will still think you're a swell guy or girl. 
But that's not the point. It's the deeds of the law to 
be justified in His sight. Certainly, it can be justified 
in the sight of your parents. Certainly, it can be justified 
in the sight of your employer. Certainly, it can be justified 
in the sight of your spouse or your pastors or whoever. If you're 
doing those things that are according to God's law, it's not perfect. 
It's not exact. It's not perpetual. You see, 
the design of the text is to tell us with reference to God, 
therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified 
in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. That's 
one of the lawful uses, the pedagogical use. By the law is the knowledge 
of sin. Notice in 328, therefore we conclude 
that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 
So you see, if we have no active obedience of Christ, we have 
no salvation, because God's law demands perfection, and we are 
everything but perfect. We are lawbreakers, we are covenant 
breakers, we are transgressors, we are wanters of conformity 
unto God's law. Everything that God commands, 
we have done the opposite. Everything that God has determined 
that His creatures should engage in is something that we engage 
in the opposite. We have broken God's law. We 
are justly liable to His punishment. We desperately need the righteousness 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. So the attempt to approach God 
apart from the active obedience of Christ means the pursuit of 
justification by law. Now, I don't know that everybody 
always fully understands that or embraces that. If you reject 
Christ and you still want to go to heaven, you're in bad shape. As well, the attempt to approach 
God by the law demands personal, entire, exact, and perpetual 
obedience, and the obligation apart from the active obedience 
of Christ means certain damnation. So we've seen an explanation. 
We've seen the obligation that we have if there is no active 
obedience. Let's look finally at the realization 
of the active obedience of Christ, His life of obedience. I mean, 
we could go from Matthew chapter 1 to Matthew chapter 28. We could 
go to Mark. We could go to Luke. We could 
go to John. What do we find every step of the way? Our Lord observes. Our Lord obeys. Our Lord does 
what the confession says the law of God is about. There is 
that personal, entire, exact, and perpetual idea. Now, Jesus 
was under a covenant of works. There's some debate concerning 
which covenant of works. Was it the specific covenant 
of works that Adam found himself in? Was it the republication 
of the covenant of works under the Sinai covenant? Some suggest 
it was the covenant of redemption, which was indeed a covenant of 
works for our Lord Jesus Christ. Suffice it to say, he was in 
a covenantal context before his father, and he obeyed, in that 
context, everything that was necessary. He fulfilled the demands 
of God's law. Turn to Matthew chapter 3, we 
see an overarching statement there concerning our Lord's respect 
to God's law. Matthew chapter 3, verse 13, 
then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized 
by him. And John tried to prevent him, 
saying, I need to be baptized by you, and are you coming to 
me? But Jesus answered and said to him, Permit it to be so now, 
for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him." So that's 
an overarching story. description or an overarching 
statement of our Lord with reference to fulfilling all righteousness. Again, we start tracing from 
this point with reference to the life of Christ. Never did 
He commit the sin of idolatry. Never did He blaspheme His Father. Never did He break the Sabbath. 
Never was He insubordinate to lawful authority. Never did He 
murder, not only externally but internally. Never did he commit 
adultery, not only externally, but internally. Never did he 
commit theft. Never did he lie. Never did he 
covet. You see, that is his act of obedience. Even to the point in the Garden 
of Gethsemane, crying out to the Father, if it is possible, 
let this pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, 
but as you will. He is always submitting to, He 
is always obedient to, He is always engaged in personal, entire, 
exact, and perpetual obedience to every jot and tittle of God's 
holy law. He does that certainly because 
He is the mediator. He does that certainly because 
He is Christ. He does that certainly because 
it is His very character to obey the Father. But He does that 
for us. We need that obedience before 
we're able to stand in the presence of God Most High. We have the 
language of the Apostle Paul emphasizing this reality over 
and over again. Several passages, not only in 
Romans 5, verses 18 and 19, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, God made Him who 
knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become what? The 
righteousness of God in Him. that passage, because some deny 
the imputation of the act of obedience of Christ. We do not. We affirm that with our confession 
of faith, and you should confirm that as well. But even in a passage 
like Galatians 2.21, Paul says, therefore I do not set aside 
the grace of God, for if righteousness comes to the law, then Christ 
died in vain. What do we learn there? Yes, 
the fact that we need Christ alone, but we need a righteousness. And Paul's suggestion is that 
if it comes through the law, our ability to keep it, then 
Golgotha was in vain. But since Golgotha did take place, 
Christ hung there on the cross, having satisfied the demands 
of justice, but as well, having obeyed perfectly the entire requirements 
of God's law, then that righteousness comes to us. As well, Philippians 
chapter 3, you can turn there just to see this in the apostle 
concerning this reality of the active obedience of Christ coming 
to the elect, received by faith alone. Notice in Philippians 
3.7, but what things were gained to me, these I have counted lost 
for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the 
excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom 
I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, 
that I may gain Christ and be found in Him." Now notice, not 
having my own righteousness which is from the law. That's sort 
of righteousness that that rich young ruler prided himself on. 
That's sort of righteousness that that certain lawyer in Luke 
10 prided himself on. That righteousness that Paul 
or Saul, the Pharisee, would have prided himself on prior 
to his conversion on the road to Damascus. And he found in 
him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that 
which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from 
God by faith. You see, the reality is we need 
His death, we need His life. Look at 1 Corinthians 1. So we see the realization of 
this act of obedience in the life and ministry of our Lord 
Jesus and His perfect fulfillment of God's law at every jot and 
tittle. We see the theological implications of this in Paul's 
language. Notice in 1 Corinthians 1.30, 
"...but of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom 
from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, 
that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the 
Lord." A to Z of redemptive benefit that we have in and through our 
Lord Jesus Christ. And one of those things is righteousness. You see, you need to be forgiven, 
but you also need to be clothed with a righteousness that is 
accepted by God. And that's what Christ's life 
answers to. And all of this to serve what 
is an overarching theme in the Bible. Now, many have looked 
at the Bible and said, you know, what's the bottom line? If we 
were to take the Scriptures and ask the question, what's the 
bottom line? What's the big picture? What's the big idea? Some suggest 
kingdom. Some suggest covenant. Some suggest 
salvation. Some suggest moral principles 
for a happy life. They're really not to be listened 
to. But certainly an overarching 
theme that the Bible presents from Genesis to Revelation is 
God dwelling with His people. God dwelling with his people. Isn't that what the Garden of 
Eden was all about? Again, Adam's vocation in the 
garden was as a priest. It wasn't as a farmer. No, certainly 
he farmed, certainly had to grow food, certainly had to cut things 
down and eat them, or else he would have dropped dead. But 
Adam's vocation in the garden was priestly. It was to commune 
with God. In fact, the garden was a temple. It was a dwelling place of God 
with man. What happens when Adam sins? Adam is thrown out of the garden 
temple. So what then occurs in terms 
of God dwelling with man? Enter the tabernacle. Now we're 
just jumping over large swaths of scripture, but just touching 
on some of the high points here. What was the purpose for the 
tabernacle? Was it, well, all the other religions 
have something like this where they try and worship their deity. No, if you look specifically 
at Exodus chapter 25, you can turn there. Let's get this idea 
down in our heads of the dwelling place of God. and how Christ's 
active and passive obedience served that, we'll see realization. Notice in Exodus 25. Verse 8, and let them make me 
a sanctuary, this is the tabernacle, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show 
you, that is the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of 
all its furnishings, just so you shall make it. Have you ever 
considered how much of the book of Exodus is taken up with the 
tabernacle? In fact, chapters 25 to 31 are the instructions 
on how to build the tabernacle. We have to take a bit of a detour 
because of the idolatry in chapter 32 and then Moses' intercession 
in chapter 33, but things get back on track in chapters 35 
to 40 for the construction of the tabernacle. So all of these 
details in terms of how to build it, and then we follow along 
the builders who are building it, those artisans who are filled 
with the Spirit of God so that they can pound nails and hang 
curtains for the glory of God. When you look at the architecture 
of the tabernacle itself, it suggests the dwelling place of 
God. God with his people. Certainly 
the Holy of Holies that the high priest enters into that one day 
of the year on the Day of Atonement, but even in the holy place itself. On the north wall you have the 
Shobrat. Those 12 loaves of bread, who do you think they represent? 
They represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Directly on the other 
side of that wall is the light, the lampstand. What's the emphasis 
there? The lamp of God, the light of 
God shining upon the people of God. You see, tabernacle and 
then temple under Solomon was all about God dwelling with his 
people. And this is what Christ does for us through his active 
and his passive obedience, through what is called justification 
by faith alone. We're not only forgiven, but 
we're clothed in righteousness so that we can now ascend the 
mountain of God and dwell with him. In fact, turn with me to 
the Psalter, specifically Psalm 15. Psalm 15, it's a beautiful 
thing. Psalm 15, the psalmist asks a 
question. We see it as well in Psalm 24 
at verse 3. Morales suggests that this was sung at the gates. It was a gate liturgy. This framed 
Israel's approach to the tabernacle. Who may ascend the mountain of 
God? Who may dwell in your presence? You see, Adam enjoyed it until 
he disobeyed. Then he was cast out. So God 
puts in place a means by which sinners gain access. so that 
they can dwell with Him. In the old covenant situation, 
it was through a bloody knife and a smoking altar. In the new 
covenant situation, it is what that bloody knife and smoking 
altar pointed to, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in Him that we dwell 
in the presence of God. But he says, Lord, who may abide 
in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? 
Have you ever considered that verses 2 to 5 are not a description 
of you? Have you ever considered the 
reality that that does not describe you? Have you ever asked the 
question with the psalmist in verse 1, Lord, who may abide 
in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? 
You say, well, that's a valid question. That's a good question. 
I want to know that question so that I can dwell in the presence 
of God. And then you start reading verses 2 to 5 and you say, wait 
a minute, that can't be me. Wait a minute, that's not describing 
me. So if the one who abides in the 
tabernacle, who dwells in God's holy hill, is the man defined 
or described in verses 2 to 5, then I'm finished. I'm toast. I have no hope. I have no help. 
Look at the description in verse 2. He who walks uprightly, works 
righteousness, speaks the truth in his heart. He does not backbite 
with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he 
take up reproach against his friend. In whose eyes a vile 
person is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord. He swears 
to his own hurt and does not change. He who does not put out 
his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. 
He who does these things shall never be moved. It's that whole 
sort of thing. Oh yeah, love to God, love to 
man. I sort of started to ask the questions, what does that 
look like? How does that relate or how does 
that translate in my life? Brethren, you're not the verses 
2 to 5 man. I'm certainly not the verses 
2 to 5 man. So if we ask the question, Lord, 
who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? 
And we look at verses 2 to 5 and we say, well, that ain't me. 
It points to another. Notice in Psalm 24. Psalm 24, 
verse 1, the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world 
and those who dwell therein. For he has founded upon the seas 
and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill 
of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place? He who has 
clean hands and a pure heart. You have a pure heart, brothers 
and sisters? He was not lifted up his soul 
to an idol nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from 
the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This 
is Jacob, the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face. And then it goes on to describe 
in detail the Lord Christ. Lift up your heads, O you gates, 
and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory 
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The 
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your 
heads, O you gates, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is 
the King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the 
King of glory. Brethren, the active and passive 
obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ brings dwelling. brings communion, 
brings union, brings fulfillment to all of the covenant promises 
along the way where God says, I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. It's realized, it's fulfilled, 
it is completed by our Lord such that the seer on the island of 
Patmos can say, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will 
dwell with them and they shall be his people God himself will 
be with them and be their God. The movement from paradise lost 
in the garden to paradise restored in the New Jerusalem comes as 
a result of the active and the passive obedience of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. That's why it's important. If 
you and I are ever going to stand accepted by this God, we're ever 
going to ascend that mountain of God, we're ever going to stand 
in the presence of this God, we must be clothed with the righteousness 
of another. You see, this doctrine is so 
important that on his deathbed, last words of J. Gresham Machen 
was, I am so thankful for the active obedience of Christ, for 
there is no hope without it. And I suggest that is accurate. 
No hope without it. If you try to go it alone, you 
try to mock or parrot or imitate that rich young ruler or that 
certain lawyer in Luke chapter 10, you are headed to certain 
destruction and certain damnation. Do not pursue righteousness through 
the law. Pursue the righteousness which 
is from God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't 
it a blessed thing, believer, to be able to say, not having 
my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that righteousness 
which is from God through faith? Because that is the righteousness 
detailed for us in Psalms 15, in Psalm 24. It is that righteousness 
that the holy God of heaven and earth demands, that he absolutely 
demands, But in the gospel, he supplies in and through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. You see, this was Luther's perplexity. He struggled with the righteousness 
of God. He struggled when he worked through 
the Book of Romans with that concept of the righteousness 
of God. Because the righteousness of God is scary, isn't it? When 
you consider the unrighteousness of man and you consider the righteousness 
of God, you ought to be fearful. You ought to be terrified. But 
when he realized what the gist of Romans 1, 16, and 17 were, 
then it was like paradise opened up. Now, I know Truman says that 
that was probably apocryphal, but I'm not as skilled and as 
scholarly as Truman, so I'm going to give it to you. A lot of people 
say that's exactly what happened. But it was like paradise opened 
up. Because why? I'm not ashamed of the gospel, 
for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, 
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness 
of God is revealed. Not the righteousness of God 
in His furious holiness, wherein He's going to damn to hell the 
unrighteous. That is taught in certain passages. 
But the righteousness which God demands and God supplies through 
the grace of the gospel. For in it, for in the gospel, 
the righteousness of God is revealed from what? Faith to faith, that 
as it is written, the just shall live by faith. You see, when 
you see that, and when you experience that by God's grace, when you 
believe the gospel, and you are forgiven of your sins, and you 
get that righteousness that avails with God, You are like a Luther, 
you say, wow, paradise has opened up. Paradise is restored in and 
through the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus. Well, I hope those thoughts are 
helpful in our meditation concerning our Savior. We need His death, 
we need His life. And certainly the supper calls 
us to reflect specifically on His broken body and His shed 
blood. causes us to reflect on that 
perfect obedience every step of the way that our Savior rendered 
to His Holy Father on behalf of His elect. Well, let us pray. 
Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank You for what 
Paul teaches us so clearly and so accurately concerning Your 
Gospel. how we thank you for that righteousness of God which 
is given to us, received by faith alone, and how we thank you for 
His death at Calvary and for His resurrection on the third 
day. I pray, Most High, that you would cause us now, as we 
eat this bread and drink this cup, to receive spiritual nourishment 
and benefit and help for our souls, and God, for any and all 
who have out there tonight or here tonight that are not believing 
the gospel, may your spirit work and may you cause them to reflect 
upon their desperate condition before a holy God and to see 
the grace of the gospel, to see the glory of Christ revealed, 
to see that faith alone is the means by which we come into contact 
with Him. Grace, grant them blessing, grant 
them the gifts of faith and repentance, and we ask through Christ our 
Lord, amen.