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How
Can I
Live Forever?
Chapter 10
A Gift Hard To Receive
In
the light of all that God wishes to give to us, we cannot
help but to conclude that it is `the glory of our God to
give.' (DA21)
God
just loves to give - because giving is love's highest
means of expression. Thus, while it was no easy matter
for Jesus to give His life, and while it certainly was
no simple decision for the Father to give His Son, it
was the character of Infinite Love to do just that. Perfect love
simply could not be constrained from giving its all.
Wrapped
up in the gift of Jesus' life, there are many other
gifts that God offers to His repentant children, but
there is one gift that man seems to have extreme
difficulty in accepting, and that is the gift of His
righteousness.
Few have any difficulty accepting that
righteousness is necessary in order for us to be saved,
but many have a great struggle with the thought that the
righteousness that saves us is all His and none of
ours.
In other words, that the righteousness that saves us totally excludes the
righteousness of man.
Yes,
the human mind can have a mighty struggle with the idea
that God saves us on the strength of a Righteousness
that is not our own, yet the absolute truth is
that . . .
`The
moment a sinner accepts Christ by faith, that
moment . . . the righteousness of Christ
is imputed to him [considered by God to be that of the
believer], and he is no more to doubt God's forgiving
grace.' (6BC1071)
This
is why Paul urges us to `be found in Him, not having a
supposed [righteousness] which depends on my doing what
the law commands, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the real [righteousness] with God which
originates from Him and rests on faith.' (Philippians
3:9 Williams)
As
we have pointed out repeatedly, the righteousness that
saves us is Jesus' righteousness alone and this
righteousness is given to us exchange for faith - we do
not earn it and we do not deserve it - we can only
accept it. It is
not a reward that we receive in exchange for obedience,
but a gift that we receive in the hope that it will
motivate us to obey. After all, if we could earn a
righteousness that could save us, what need would we
have of a Saviour? As Paul confirms . . .
`If
righteousness could be gained through [our keeping of]
the law, Christ died for nothing!' (Galatians 2:21)
Through
the sacrifice of countless numbers of animals the Lord
has endeavored to impress upon the minds of men the fact
that it is only through faith in the merits of the slain
Substitute that man receives the righteousness that
saves him. Yet, despite the powerful testimony of the
sanctuary, despite the shed blood of so many animals,
great numbers today still believe that they can and are
expected to add something to that One Perfect Sacrifice.
Still today . . .
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`No matter who you are or what your life has been, you can be saved only in God's appointed way. You must repent; you must fall helpless on the Rock, Christ Jesus.' (5T218) |
`There
are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon
their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right
character, and secure salvation.' (SC44)
`They
insist on being saved in some way by which they may
perform some important work. When they see that there is
no way of weaving self into the work, they reject the
salvation provided.' (DA280)
Unfortunately
this
is a serious and a very widespread spiritual malady, one that
finds its roots buried in heathen beliefs, for . . .
`The
principle that man can save himself by his own works
[lies] at the foundation of every heathen religion.'
(DA35)
Of
those who have this erroneous view of salvation, a more
enlightened believer would enquire?
`Are
you expecting that your merit will recommend you to the
favour of God, and that you must be free from sin before
you trust His power to save? If this is the struggle
going on in your mind, I fear you will gain no strength,
and will finally become discouraged. As the brazen
serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so was Christ
lifted up to draw all men unto Him. All who looked upon
that serpent, the means that God had provided, were
healed; so in our sinfulness, in our great need, we must
"look and live." (3SM149)
If
the righteousness of man is valued by God at `less than
nothingness,' then the blending in any degree of our
righteousness with God's righteousness could only turn
His perfection into imperfection. This is why we must
ever remember that . . .
`Since
we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy
law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to
meet the claims of the law of God.' (SC62)
The
humbling truth assures us that . . .
`Apart
from Christ we have no merit, no righteousness. Our
sinfulness, our weakness, our human imperfection make it
impossible that we should appear before God unless we
are clothed in Christ's spotless righteousness. We are
to be found in Him not having our own righteousness, but
the righteousness which is in Christ.' (1SM333)
No
wonder the psalmist was inspired to declare:
`I
will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.'
(Psalm 71:16)
The
psalmist surely understood that . . .
`He
who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in
keeping the law is attempting an impossibility.' (DA172)
Yet,
even though this lesson is clearly taught in Scripture,
man has long had difficulty in coming to terms with it.
In Eden, after his fall, Adam tried to cover his
nakedness with the works of his own hands. Right there
and then God gave to man a powerful gospel lesson. God
slew a lamb and gave to Adam an acceptable covering for
his nakedness. In doing this, God gave testimony to the
fact that only by the death of a Substitute can man's
nakedness or sin be covered over.
Then
we have the example of Cain and Abel. Both brought their
offerings to the Lord, . . .
`Cain
presented his offering as a favour done to God, through
which he expected to secure the divine approval. Abel
brought the slain victim, the sacrificed life, thus
acknowledging the claims of the law that had been
transgressed.' (PP72)
By
rejected Cain's offering, God provided us with another
eternal reminder that the works of man cannot atone for
his sinfulness. Only the shed blood of the Substitute is
acceptable.
Then
in the New Testament we have the parable of the workers in the
vineyard. Some worked a full day, others worked only one
hour, yet all received the same wages. The simple lesson being
that God rewards us, not in proportion to our work, but in accordance with
His mercy. As the words of Scripture remind us . . .
Salvation
`does not . . . depend on man's desire or effort,
but on God's mercy. He
saved us,
not because of
righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.'
(Romans 9:16; Titus 3:5)
The
prodigal son's elder brother had much the same problem
as did Cain. The elder son could not understand why his
upstart young brother was so readily accepted by their
father. After all, why should the younger brother
receive the best robe after squandering his inheritance?
Why should the fatted calf be slain for the younger
brother after he had brought such shame on the family
name? The elder brother was convinced that, in view of
his many years of hard work on the father's estate, the
fatted calf should have been slain for him, but he just
could not understand that his younger brother had been
accepted, not because of what he was, not because of his
past, but simply because he had come home, humbled and
contrite, and had accepted the gifts that his loving
father longed to bestow on him.
While
the elder brother had not left home, he had yet to
"come
home" . . .
Then
there is the penitent thief who was crucified with
Jesus. From the time that he accepted His Saviour to the
time of His death, his hands and feet were nailed to a
cross. This made it impossible for him to perform any
meritorious act. Yet Jesus gave him the promise that his
faith - devoid as it was of any visible physical works - would find him a
place in paradise.
All
of these examples speak of a gospel that offers to
everyone full pardon, total acceptance, and a perfect
righteousness on condition that they "come
home" and
concede that only the shed blood of the Substitute is
acceptable; that only the righteousness of Jesus can
save, and that this righteousness is all His and none of
ours.
When
Scripture tells us that "the grace [unmerited
favour] of
God . . . brings salvation," why do we
find it so hard to accept this fact? Why, by trying to
place a value on our works, do we attempt to purchase
the gift? Titus 2:11. Why, by our own strenuous efforts,
do we try and improve on Christ's perfect righteousness
when . . .
`The
righteousness of Christ, as a pure, white pearl, has no
defect, no stain [and] no work of man can improve the
great and precious gift of God.' (COL115)
When
Scripture makes it so abundantly clear that eternal life is a gift,
why do we, by way of our attitude toward our own works,
try and earn the gift?
Paul
says . . . `If you confess with your
mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that
God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.' If it
is as simple as that, then why do we make it so
complicated?
Why do we insist on trying to make God our debtor by
thinking that our works have some merit for salvation?
(Romans 10:9)
And
so, dear friend, . . .
`You
have the assurance that as you renounce your own
righteousness, you will be clothed with His
righteousness.' (YI 09-28-99.6)
`No
matter who you are or what your life has been, you can
be saved only in God's appointed way. You must repent;
you must fall helpless on the Rock, Christ
Jesus.' (5T218)
When
God gave life to man, it was a gift. Our part in
creation was passive. We could not earn that life
because whatever was needed was provided before we took
our first breath. Eternal life is granted to us on much
the same basis. We cannot earn it because it was earned
for us long before we
were born. It is a gift that has been earned for us by The
Gift.
`Thanks
be to God for His indescribable Gift!' (2 Corinthians
9:15)
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