Pilgrim,

No fear--I am in complete agreement with not only your presentation of the absolute necessity of the Lord Christ's perfect active obedience but also your concern that it is a vital and essential doctrine which has become, to our peril, dangerously neglected and/or corrupted in recent generations of the church. The imputation of the perfect righteousness of the entire life of Jesus Christ is a constant theme of my teaching opportunities, both as it is referenced in the Heidelberg Catechism (e.g. Q's 36, 56, 60-61, 115) and as the subtext to any exposition of the law of God, namely that Christ is alone our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

Just so there is absolutely no misunderstanding, my two entries above were in no way intended to present a full doctrine of the saving office of Christ, whose person and work are indivisible. Rather, since one can only speak of one thing at a time, and the initial topic of this thread seemed to be limited to the greatest sacrifice made by the Lord, my posts were directed solely to that question.

Back to active obedience, one of my pastors frequently drives home the point by saying that from the moment of Jesus' conception, not only was every inclination of his heart directed toward, and rejoicing in, pleasing his beloved Father, but because ot that, every movement of his hands, every step of his feet, every word of his mouth, every prayer prayed, every song sung, every reading of the Word, every laugh, every tear, every smile, every frown, every glance of his eyes, every thought, every dream, every emotion, every resistance of temptation--all was well-pleasing to the Father, and as such is not only that exact righteousness which is fully accounted to his adopted children as their own, but is also the righteousness against which those who hate his grace will be measured and found infinitely wanting, the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

In Christ,
Paul S