Since we have been talking about the transformative nature of receiving Jesus’ righteousness, the whole experience of being born again, I thought maybe we should explore this further.
As we stated before, Jesus’ death signaled the end of the old covenant for all those who put their faith and trust in Him. Even though Gentiles are not Jews and therefore not subject to the law of the Jews, we can be drafted in to the promises of the old covenant through faith in Jesus. We become God’s chosen people through faith in His Son. This is an awesome opportunity and not one that should be taken lightly.
Jesus had to deal with the old covenant law before He could institute the new covenant because God is righteous. It was Jesus’ righteousness that made it impossible for Jesus to just take all of mankind to heaven with Him when He ascended back to heaven. Righteousness is what confines God to the laws He has enacted. Thus Jesus was bound by the old covenant law when He was born a Jew. He lived out His life subject to the old covenant law and having perfectly kept it, He also fulfilled it for all those who accept His sacrifice on the cross as their own. Since God the Father had instituted the old covenant, only God could fulfill it and Jesus, being God, stripped Himself of His Godhood, came to earth as a man; perfectly honored and respected His Father as a man but died according to one guilty of transgressing all of the old covenant law. Thus, those who place their hope and trust in His sacrifice receive into their life His perfect keeping of old covenant law. They are clothed with the righteousness of the old covenant law.
Now, this is really, really great but what about the new covenant? Through faith in Jesus, mankind can be adopted into the family of God, made to be children of Abraham but free from all old covenant law. However, Jesus instituted a new covenant after the cross and issued a new commandment after the resurrection. He established a new entity, an entity that is peculiar to the new covenant age, the Church. It should be readably apparent that it is not enough to be washed of your sins and adopted into the family of God. To be clothed with Jesus’ righteousness is a life changing experience because not only have your sins been washed away, which is in itself a life changing event, you have now also been adopted into God’s family, which is a more intimate experience with God, and, moreover, you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of the old covenant. As such, you have been gifted with a gift whose value is without measure.
This is all due to the work of the Saviour! However, Jesus was not raised from the dead as Saviour; He was raised from the dead as Lord, but not just Lord. Jesus was given all authority in heaven and in earth at His resurrection. He was made to be Lord of Lords and King of Kings. There is no other God besides Jesus today because the Father God and the Holy Spirit stripped themselves of their Godhood to convey all authority onto Jesus. The authority that was conveyed is the authority that made them God. The Father and the Holy Spirit serve the Lord Christ in this present age just as Jesus served the Father and the Holy Spirit in His earthly ministry. The age has changed. We no longer live in the age of the Jews. We now live in the age of the Church and it is not enough to be washed of your sins by the Saviour in the Church age.
It is foolishness to try to live under the old covenant in the Church age. The Saviour died on the cross. Through faith in His death we can receive all the riches promised to the Jews but Jesus was transformed after He had fulfilled the old covenant. He is no longer the suffering servant even though He still wears the marks of His suffering in His body. It was not the Saviour who appeared to the apostle John on the isle of Patmos; it was the resurrected Lord and John could not stand in the presence of His power and authority even though John was in the spirit. We live in a different age than the age of the four gospels. We don’t live in the age of the Jews; we live in the age of the Church, the new covenant age. We have been transformed by our faith in the Saviour, given a new station in God. This new station is what makes it possible for us to enter the age of the Church. While being washed from our sins makes us God’s chosen people, it does not make us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.
It should be noted that Jesus did not extend the old covenant age and just rename the Jewish nation. The Church is a uniquely different entity as illustrated by the letters Jesus dictated to the churches of Macedonia through John in Revelations 2-3. The church of Jerusalem is missing. The God of the Church age is different than the one of the age of the Jews. The Father instituted the old covenant age while Jesus instituted the new covenant age. Jesus fulfilled His Father’s covenant for the express purpose of instituting His own. The promises made to the Church by Jesus extend past those made to the Jews by the Father.
Look at Romans 10 again. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.” The obvious question is, “So what is salvation?” Paul is about to not only answer this question, but to also juxtapose Israel’s experience with a warning to the Church. “For I bear them record that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (v.2) and here is the problem. We all want to please our creator, even Adam wanted to please his creator; but how do we do that? Somewhere between hearing the commandment not to eat of the tree in the center of the garden and Adam’s disobedience, Adam’s thinking about how to please God changed. Paul goes on to say, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to God’s righteousness” (v.3). The problem is that mankind struggles to understand God and in their zeal to please God establish a path to righteousness that does not lead to righteousness. It is a mistake Adam made, a mistake the Jews made and now a mistake the Church has made.
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes” (v.4). Notice that Christ is the end of the law to those who believe. This is because those who believe in Jesus’ death receive Jesus’ complete keeping of the law unto themselves. This makes an end of the law to those who believe in Jesus’ death for sins. However, most church goers are taught to repent of transgressions of old covenant law, which means that Christ is not the end of the law for righteousness for these believers. In their zeal for God, they have exchanged the righteousness of God, which is obtained by faith, for a righteousness that is obtained by actions. In other words, these believers believe they must keep the Ten Commandments in order to be righteous and the blood of Jesus will wash them clean of transgressions once repentance is exercised. They have exchanged the righteousness of God because they have failed to comprehend the great love, mercy, and kindness, of the God they have chosen. That righteousness could be obtained and held by simple belief regardless of behavior is foreign and unbelievable. Righteousness that is obtained and maintained by sacrifice and works is much more reasonable and believable. The problem is, once you subscribe to righteousness through works, righteousness through faith is unattainable.
Paul then describes the righteousness of the law, “For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which does those things shall live by them” (v.5). Now, in that mankind cannot conceive of the mercy and grace of God and that the Jews exchanged the righteousness of God, which they could not understand, for a definition of righteousness they could understand, the meaning of verse five is foreign to us today. The righteousness of the law states that those who keep the law will be held accountable to the law. Thus, all those Christians who have been redeemed from the law through faith in Jesus’ death, who have made themselves subject again to the law, will be held accountable to the standard of the law. The Jews are born subject to the law while all non-Jewish people are not born subject to the law. However, anyone who subjects themselves to the law becomes subject to the laws demands. The point is that those who are free from the law should not submit or resubmit themselves to the law. Gentiles in the first century were being convinced that Jesus had merely extended the old covenant forward for the entire population of earth and that there was no new covenant.
However, Paul focuses on the righteousness of faith, saying, “The righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above: Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring Christ up again from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart: that is the word of faith, which we preach” (v.6-8). Paul’s gospel is that Jesus resides in our hearts through faith. However, we must understand that Jesus is actually sitting in the heavens exercising His authority as Lord of All and it is the Holy Spirit, serving in His capacity as the representative of Jesus, who is dwelling in our hearts. This is the gospel of the new covenant; that Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who accepts His death as payment for their sins. These people are now adopted into the family of God and are ready to become sons of God. However, the righteousness of the law, which those who believe in Jesus are now clothed with states, “The man who does those things shall live by them” (v.5)
The man who accepts Jesus’ payment for sins is now held accountable to the one commandment Jesus issues in the Church age; a commandment which obedience to causes a stream of words to flow over the tongue. This stream of language is the confession that Jesus is Lord of your life; it is the proof that you have honored the Lordship of the Christ. “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (v.9). “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart” (v.8). It is not belief in Jesus’ death that saves us; it is the stream of language that flows over our tongue out of our heart in response to a belief that God has raised Jesus from the dead that saves us. Moreover, the language that flows out of our hearts through obedience to the Lord’s commandment is the Holy Spirit, who is Jesus’ representative in the Church age. Thus, the Word of God (Jn.1:1), Jesus, flows out of your heart and mouth (v.8). “The man who does those things shall live by them” (v.5). The man who accepts Jesus’ death as payment for sins is held accountable to the commandment of the Lord. This is the righteousness of God. “For with the heart man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (v.10). “For the scripture says, Whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed” (v.11).
In John 4, Jesus informs the woman at the well that He can give her a well of water that springs up to everlasting life (v.14) and we are further informed that this is living water (v.10). However, in John 7 Jesus informs us of a second experience with Living Water whereby the well becomes a river, or rivers, plural, and the Living Water is identified as the Holy Spirit. In Romans 10:8, Paul informs us that the message of faith he preaches states, “the word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart” because through belief in Jesus’ death the Holy Spirit comes to reside in your heart in anticipation of your obedience of the Lord’s commandment. “The righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above: Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring Christ up again from the dead. But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart: that is the word of faith, which we preach” (Rom.10:6-8).
Now, I must point out that to believe on Jesus is quite different than to believe in Jesus. Those who believe in Jesus are washed from their sins and receive the righteousness of the old covenant as a covering or cloak. However, Moses described the righteousness of God on this wise, “That the man who does these things shall live by them” (Rom.10:5). In other words, he that accepts the death of the Saviour is now subject to the law of the Lord. To believe on Jesus is to believe that He was raised from the dead, not as Saviour, but Lord; Lord of Lords and King of Kings. To believe on the Lord is to respect the position and title He received from His Father. This respect and honor of the one who died for our sins, now raised with all power and authority demands obedience of His commandment. Those who believe on Jesus will not be ashamed while those who do not believe on Jesus will be ashamed. Notice in John 7:38 that it is belief on Jesus that produces the rivers of Living Water.
The Church doesn’t understand that you become the slave of whatever you subject yourself to. If you subject yourself to the new covenant through faith in Jesus you become beholden to that covenant and the law issued under its authority. It is not the righteousness of the old covenant law that saves. It is the righteousness of faith because the righteousness of faith responds to the commandment of the Lord, which causes the life of Jesus to pour out of our bellies as rivers. No wonder Jesus is not ashamed to be called our God and share His estate with us! “He that does those things shall live by them.” Salvation requires righteousness and depends on righteousness. In order to be saved we must first receive Jesus’ death as our payment for our sins but afterward we must act in compliance of God’s righteousness. Essentially, there is no difference between the righteousness of the law and the righteousness of faith. Those who submit themselves to old covenant law by striving to keep it are held accountable to that law while those who submit themselves to Jesus’ death on the cross are now held accountable to the commandment of the Lord. Jesus was raised from the dead as Lord. "The righteousness of faith speaks" (Rom.10:6).
Again, it is a matter of honor. If we choose to live under old covenant law, we must honor that law; if we chose to live under new covenant law, we must honor the new covenant: we must honor the commandment of the Lord.
Thus, “with the heart man believes unto righteousness” but “with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Now certainly the confession of the mouth is made by faith; faith on Jesus as Lord causes the gift of tongues to flow out of the belly, but it is the act of obedience that proves the faith of the heart. You know you have exercised the faith on Jesus as Lord when the gift of tongues flows over your lips.
It is interesting to note that here we are 2,000 years after the writing of the New Testament and the words of Romans 9:32 ring just as true today of the Church as they did of the Jews then. Paul starts in verse 31 by saying, “But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone; As it is written, Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and rock of offense: and whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed.”
Paul draws a parallel between the Church and the Jews. Israel did not attain unto righteousness because they failed to understand God’s righteousness and in their zeal for God, in their passion to be acceptable to God, they exchanged God’s definition of righteousness for a definition of righteousness they could understand. You might say they had the best of intentions. However, in verse 33 the word “Sion” is the Church. Paul subtly moves from the Jews to the Church. It is God who laid the stumbling stone and rock of offense in the Church. It is God that made the Church a proving ground for Christians.
The question is, will we follow God’s righteousness or devise a path to righteousness of our own. Will we stumble over our own ignorance, our own sense of self importance? Or will we heap honor and respect on the Lord Christ Jesus; will we honor the title and authority of Lord or will we stumble over the seeming foolishness of the gift of tongues? Righteousness is salvation just not the righteousness of the old covenant. The righteousness of faith speaks words the Lord provides.
God laid the true cornerstone of the Church, which is belief in Jesus’ death and respect for the Lord. However, along the way human architects laid a second cornerstone and built a second structure on a second foundation. For two thousand years now the foundation of the Church has been laid on an erroneous cornerstone because the wisdom of God was too wonderful for the understanding of man. Mankind exchanged the cornerstone of Jesus as Lord for the cornerstone of Jesus as Saviour. The emphasis of the Church today is on the blood of Jesus, not His death. Christians are taught to repent of sins defined by old covenant law and the commandment of the Lord is ignored and overlooked. We cannot enter the new covenant while ignoring the commandment of the Lord and so we are trapped between the old covenant and the new covenant.
The New Testament defines sin as the breaking of a commandment: John 3:4, “Whosoever commits sin also transgresses the law; for sin is the transgression of the law.” In that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes,” there is only one law that can be transgressed by the new covenant believer, the commandment given by Jesus in the new covenant age, which is the law of the new covenant. No other law has any bearing on new covenant believers because “Christ is the end of the (old covenant) law for righteousness to everyone that believes.” Transgressions against this law can be forgiven if repented of but the Church is taught to ignore this commandment and forgiveness is not sought.
The nature of a covenant is that there is a blood sacrifice and a commandment. The lives of the Jews were ruled by covenant and covenant was their history. When Jesus died on the cross innocent of all charges deserving of death, an innocent sacrifice, the apostles knew He was establishing a new covenant. The commandment He issued after His resurrection only served to confirm Jesus was establishing a new covenant and this commandment was the new covenant law, hence their passionate obedience. The apostles understood that to be allowed entrance to the new covenant, one had to keep the law of the new covenant. John understood perfectly well that Jesus had to fulfill the old covenant before He could establish a new covenant. The previous covenant has to be non-operational before a new covenant can be enacted. It is, therefore, not reasonable to believe he is referring to old covenant law. The fact that there is only one law (commandment) of the new covenant is immaterial; it only takes one commandment to establish a law.
Notice that John uses the singular “sin” as opposed to the plural “sins.” There is only one sin a Christian can commit; disobedience of the new covenant law. John is making the point that transgression of the new covenant law is sin and sin establishes unrighteousness. Even though we are washed of all sins through belief in Jesus and clothed with the righteousness of Christ by faith in His death, even though we are delivered from all old covenant law through this faith, there is a commandment in the new covenant and disobedience is sin and sin establishes unrighteousness. The righteousness of the new covenant states: “The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart,” but we will still have to release it over our tongues. The righteousness of faith speaks, Romans 10:6.
Jesus only fulfilled the old covenant for those who accept His death as payment for their sins, past, present, and future. For the unbeliever, Jesus must be accepted as Saviour from sins first. This gives them entrance into the family of God. Once the old covenant has been fulfilled, entrance into the new covenant is possible but not automatic. The Church of today is stuck between the old covenant and the new covenant. They receive Jesus’ payment for sins but then seek to keep the Ten Commandments, making them subject again to old covenant law and they refuse to enter the new covenant by faith on the Lord. If we ignore the commandment of the Lord, we cannot become heirs of God or joint heirs with Christ.
Let’s say that again for emphasis. We must negotiate two covenants in order to receive God’s salvation. The first is belief in Jesus’ death, which gets us into the old covenant but free from its laws. However, the new covenant was not enacted until after Jesus’ death on the cross. Belief in Jesus’ death cannot gain entrance to a covenant that was not yet established. To enter the new covenant you must believe on the Lord. If Jesus is Lord, why do you disobey the Lord’s commandment? The commandment Jesus issued after the resurrection is the cornerstone of the new covenant. It is the gatekeeper. You cannot enter the new covenant without showing honor of the Lord of the new covenant. To disobey the Lord’s commandment is not honoring or respecting the Lord.
We become children of Abraham through belief in Jesus but in order to become children of God, we must believe on Jesus.
At some point the Lord will have to retake the Church and found it on its true foundation. The cornerstone of God will have to be re-laid and perhaps this is the short work of righteousness Paul speaks of in Romans 9:28. The parallels between Israel and the Church are uncanny. Both traded the righteousness of God for a righteousness they could understand and appreciate; both missed the promises God made to them. Did the apostles live in a different age than the rest of the Church or was the rest of the Church founded on a different cornerstone? Faith is a personal choice. You will have to decide for yourself.