The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum What was Christ's greatest sacrifice?

William,

I answered as I did for several reasons:

1. Personal: I believe the passive obedience, i.e., His death allows me to approach our blessed LORD with confidence since it removed that which separated me from Him; my sins. Secondly, it also removed God's wrath which justly rested upon me due me being a rebellious sinner. (cf. Rom 3:24, 25, 5:1, 9, 8:1; Col 1:19-22; 1Thess 1:10) I believe the active obedience, i.e., His keeping the law of God perfectly in every detail not only brought about His resurrection from the dead, showing the world that He was acceptable before God (Acts 17:31), but it was that righteousness which is imputed to me. This perfect righteousness is mine by imputation; God declares that I am equally righteous in His sight which allows Him to make me His own, adopting me as a son with the goal by grace in the inner working of the Holy Spirit and showing me the end goal to which I am destined. (cf. Rom 4:3, 5, 8:29, 30; Eph 1:4, 5:27; Col 1:8, 22; Phil 2:15; Lk 1:74, 75; 2Tim 2:19)
2. Perceptive: It seems that most people focus upon the death of Christ but give little thought to the perfect life of Christ, without which holiness no man can please God. There is much talk about Jesus dying in our place but little if any about Him living in our place. (cf. Matt 5:21; 1Cor 5:21; Rom 3:21, 22; Phil 3:9; Titus 3:5) That alien righteousness which is ours by grace through faith in Christ Jesus is the same righteousness which is being worked in us and sets us apart from the world which is a slave to sin and the evil one. It is that which marks us as His; being transformed into the image of Christ. (cf. Rom 8:28; 2Pet 1:4)
3. Protective/Preventive: There is an insidious heresy which is currently infiltrating the church and leading many astray. It has many faces and is known as "NPP" (New Perspective on Paul), FV (Federal Vision), Auburn Avenue, Shepherdism and others. Not only does this heresy deny the imputation of Christ's righteousness, i.e., a judicial declaration of God upon a believing sinner that he IS righteous, but it also denies the necessity of Christ's active obedience for salvation. Of course, it redefines many biblical terms which the Church has held to tenaciously, e.g., faith, covenant, works, imputation, depravity, atonement, justification, et al ad nauseam. Thus, it is imperative that ALL understand the biblical and historic confession of the Church in the whole matter of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone!

It is interesting that you mentioned "Christophonies" because after worship last Lord's Day, a group of us had an edifying discussion about this very subject. It was a blessed time indeed to ponder all the possible appearances of the pre-Incarnate Christ. And let's not forget that 4th man who was as of the Son of God who appeared in the fiery furnace. (Dan 3:25) <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

In that dreadful cry I find all my consolation, that God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. All my fears are swallowed up when I hear the dearly beloved of the Father--the Father who had commanded "listen to him!" now covers his own ears!--utterly forsaken that I might be justified and reconciled to God. Here I see the darkness and pain and shame and terrors of hell endured, not for self-deserved justice, but for the joy set before him, that he might forever dwell among a people who did deserve, but thanks to him will never taste, the death that he drank to the dregs.

And all the praises of all the redeemed through all the blissful history of heaven will never exhaust, but rather only heighten our love and joy and gratitude for him who was forsaken for our own sake.

Here is one the best expressions in the English language of much that has already been expressed above about the incomprehensible nature of the passive obedience of the Lord Christ:

The prayers in The Valley of Vision are so Christ-exalting and self-humbling. THANK YOU for sharing that! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Paul,

In both your previous response and now this one with the excellent prayer quoted from Banner of Truth's Valley of Vision (a book which every Christian should own, IMHO), the focus is upon the passive obedience of Christ, i.e., His vicarious, substitutionary death. There is no question that without His atoning sacrifice on the cross none could hope to have their sins remitted and to be reconciled to God. Yet, in my two responses I sought to bring to our attention the equal necessity of Christ's active obedience. Why? Because if all our Lord did was to suffer in our stead, our salvation would still be impossible. It was this active obedience which brought about His resurrection from the dead and proclaimed that His sacrifice death was acceptable. And, in our regard who could possibly continue to live a perfectly holy life without which no man will see the Lord? (Heb 12:14) We are just as needy to have Christ's righteousness imputed to us as we are to have the penalty due us paid for by another.

So again, my reason for emphasizing this matter that BOTH the passive and active obedience are absolutely necessary for our salvation is due to the heretical teaching of NPP, FV, et al that denies the necessity of the active obedience of Christ being imputed to sinners for salvation. It is a pernicious error which is being effectively taught through the subtlety of which the Devil is a master.

Thanks for the great quote! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/BigThumbUp.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,

Interesting that you would emphasize the active obedience. This past Sunday, I led a worship service and I spoke on redemption. I spoke on why we needed a redeemer. The only one that was able to redeem us and why, and what the benefits are that we received from our redemption.

I made a point of showing that Christ had to be fully obedient in His humility. We sometimes think that His obedience was just in His active outward obedience, but He had to be obedient in the inner man also. For me, that boggles my mind, especially since those who He sought to do good were only out to destroy Him. My thoughts would have been far less than holy in that situation. It required complete obedience in order to be the perfect sacrifice, otherwise as you pointed out, we would still be dead in our sin.

Amen! Christ's obedience to the law was perfect in EVERY aspect. Unlike the Pharisees and all who are under the law, an outward conformity to the law does not meet its requirements. The motive is equally important in the keeping of the law. It must be a humble submission out of love for God; an expression of our gratitude. (cf. Jh 14:15, 23; 1Jh 5:2, 3; Rom 6)

In His grace,

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.

Woah, that is driving the point home. I was told once we would be judged according to the many blessings given to us. With the freedom of religion and the opportunities to buy and study His word, not to mention all the physical blessings, that sounded frightening enough, but being judged against the righteousness of Christ is a fearful thing indeed. Good point and something to be repeated often.

Paul,

No misunderstanding whatsoever on my part! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/BigThumbUp.gif" alt="" />

The above statement is impeccably true. EVERYTHING, both within and without of our Lord Christ was exponentially perfect and well-pleasing to the Father. How marvelous it is that this righteousness is imputed to us by grace through faith alone. And, it is that righteousness which is being worked in us by the Holy Spirit. And, all we who have been given faith by grace will someday be made perfectly in His likeness and thus also be well-pleasing in His sight.

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.

Indeed, it is the Lord Christ Who shall judge the living and the dead according to that righteousness which He Himself has and lived while on earth.

Acts 17:30-31 (ASV) "The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

I am a little behind in my reading of posts. This is a great thread. What better topic than focusing on Christ and His perfect work of redemption...

I agree that everything about Christ is precious to me. Earlier this year, I did a teaching on Phil 2:5-11. The idea that He willingly laid aside His glory for a time and humbled Himself by becoming obedient unto death, filled me with love and awe for the Lord who stepped out of eternity into time, to save a wretch like me.

Amazing Love How Can It Be
That Thou My God Shouldst Die For Me!