Righteousness
by Faith Outlined
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Chap. 14 - The Experience of Righteousness by Faith Outlined
PORTION OF REVIEW AND HERALD ARTICLE, NOVEMBER
4, 1890, TITLED "CHRIST THE WAY OF LIFE." PUBLISHED IN SELECTED
MESSAGES, BOOK ONE, PP. 365-368.
Repentance is associated with faith and is urged in the gospel as essential
to salvation. Paul preached repentance. He said, "I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you,
and have taught you publickly, and from house to
house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20, 21). There is
no salvation without repentance. No impenitent sinner can believe with his
heart unto righteousness, Repentance is described by Paul as a godly sorrow
for sin that "worketh repentance to salvation
not to be repented of" (2 Corinthians 7:10). This repentance has in it
nothing of the nature of merit, but it prepares the heart for the
acceptance of Christ as the only Saviour, the only hope of the lost sinner. {FW 99.2}
As the sinner looks to the law, his guilt is made plain to him and pressed
home to his conscience, and he is condemned. His only comfort and hope is
found in looking to the cross of Calvary. As he ventures upon the promises,
taking God at His word, relief and peace come to his soul. He cries,
"Lord,
But while God can be just, and yet justify the sinner through the merits of Christ, no man can cover his soul with the garments
of Christ's righteousness while practicing known sins or neglecting known
duties. God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification
can take place; and in order for man to retain justification, there must be
continual obedience, through active, living faith that works by love and
purifies the soul. {FW 100.1}
James writes of Abraham and says, "Was not Abraham our father justified
by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how
faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith
made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the
Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by
faith only" (James 2:21-24). In order for man to be justified by faith,
faith must reach a point where it will control the affections and impulses of
the heart; and it is by obedience that faith itself is made perfect. {FW 100.2}
Faith the Condition of Promise
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned
of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness" (Romans 4:3-5). Righteousness is obedience to the law.
The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is
incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to
righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son
to the sinner's account. Christ's righteousness is accepted in place of man's
failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul,
treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son.
This is how faith is accounted righteousness; and the pardoned soul goes on
from grace to grace, from light to a greater light. He can say with
rejoicing, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; that being justified by His grace, we should be made
heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7). {FW 101.1}
Again: it is written, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12, 13). Jesus
declared, "Except a man be born again,
Many are losing the right way, in consequence of thinking that they must
climb to heaven, that they must do something to merit the favor of God. They seek to make
themselves better by their own unaided efforts. This they can never accomplish.
Christ has made the way by dying our Sacrifice, by living our Example, by
becoming our great High Priest. He declares, "I am the way, the truth,
and the life" (John 14:6). If by any effort of our own we could advance
one step toward the ladder, the words of Christ would not be true. But when
we accept Christ, good works will appear as fruitful evidence that we are in
the way of life, that Christ is our way, and that we are treading the true
path that leads to heaven. {FW 102.1}
He Becomes Our Righteousness |
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