The following is the last in a series of blog posts on this topic that are meant to be read together. Links to the previous articles may be found at the bottom of this page. The series as a whole is also meant to accompany a collection of related articles posted on the website Reformation21. Links to those articles can likewise be found at the bottom of this page.
Why have I bothered taking all this time to discuss covenant theology? Because if you do not understand the difference between the Old and New Covenants, you may end up failing to understand the fullness of God’s grace.[1]
If you believe that these two covenants are substantially or essentially the same, then you might conclude that the New Covenant, like its predecessor, only offers salvation to those who keep the Law, by which I mean that the individuals within it perform the necessary righteous acts and avoid the right transgressions to become just before God. The grace of God then is limited to aiding individuals in this quest for righteousness. One may be brought into God’s covenant freely and unconditionally, but in order to stay there and receive the blessings, one must “do this and live.” Otherwise, the individual will be cut off.
When I look at the totality of scripture, I see a rather different narrative. I see initial graces introduced in the Old Testament but a totality of grace offered in the New Testament. I see people trying time and again to keep the Law and failing, forcing them to conclude that, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6) But then I see a Savior who comes to be “The Lord Our Righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:6)
Remember what Paul said? The gospel does not reveal human righteousness, but the righteousness of God. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’” (Romans 1:17)
This is the gospel that was preached beforehand to Abraham. In his covenant were the seeds of two more covenants that would be given to his two progenies. The physical descendants received the Old Covenant, the beginning of which is found in the sign of circumcision. (Genesis 17) But the promise that all nations on earth would be blessed through Abraham and the unconditional nature of the covenant’s initiation (chapters 12 and 15) spoke to the greater grace of the New Covenant, which was granted to Abraham’s spiritual descendants. The Apostle John wrote of this superior grace.
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”
John 1:14-17
Moses was the mediator who stood between God and man for the initiation of the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant, it is Christ Himself who stands between God and man. He is the one who brings the fullness of grace, which John calls “grace upon grace.” While the Old Covenant and its system of justification were gracious, for God did not have to provide sinners with any path to justification, the New Covenant is fully gracious in that it offers a perfection of righteousness to its members, which is received through faith alone. No, not even faith is righteousness enough to fulfill God’s law, but the greater grace He offers—the gift of His own righteousness—is sufficient for all.
Hear the words of the Apostle Paul: “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” (Romans 11:6) Even as the existence of the New Covenant implies the insufficiency of the Old Covenant, (Hebrews 8:7) salvation’s basis in grace implies that it is not based on works. If our own obedience could meet the standard of God and secure eternal life, the Son of God would not have had to live a perfect life and die an atoning death. We must become one with Him, dying to our old self and to sin, in order to be made righteous.
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Galatians 2:20-21
Again, Paul told the Galatians, some of whom were attempting to be justified based on works, “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” (Galatians 5:3-5) Our own feeble righteousness stands in opposition to the righteousness of God. We have a “hope of righteousness” that comes through union with Christ, which we receive “through the Spirit, by faith.” This was exactly how Abraham was justified, and we are his children if we share in his faith.
“For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness…”
Romans 4:2-5
This is the only way for a person to be declared just by God. We, like Abraham, must receive righteousness as people who do not work. We do not receive what is due to us, but the very thing that is not due to us. This is antithetical to human notions of justice. That is why it is grace. The fullness of grace is necessary to save a sinner. The offense of our sin is infinite, and so must its remedy be. We stand before God with empty hands and wait to receive what is necessary, carrying the hope of righteousness in our hearts.
Is grace so feeble that it cannot abide the presence of sin? If so, it cannot save sinners, for the grace of God must act upon the sinner to justify and sanctify him or her. Again, God does not treat us according to our deserts. Those He loves, He pursues to the end. If we think otherwise—if we suppose that the grace of God waxes and wanes, and that we must simply become righteous enough to hold on to it—then we are most confused about who is holding on to whom. Not only that, but we are mistaken about what it means to be righteous and the requirements of the Almighty.
Consider the words of Charles Spurgeon in a sermon on Jeremiah 23:6.
“Still it is not enough for a man to be pardoned. He, of course, is then in the eye of God without sin. But it was required of man that he should actually keep the command. It was not enough that he did not break it, or that he is regarded through the blood as though he did not break it. He must keep it, he must continue in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them. How is this necessity supplied? Man must have a righteousness, or God cannot accept him. Man must have a perfect obedience, or else God cannot reward him. Should He give heaven to a soul that has not perfectly kept the law; that were to give the reward where the service is not done, and that before God would be an act which might impeach his justice.Where, then, is the righteousness with which the pardoned man shall be completely covered, so that God can regard him as having kept the law, and reward him for so doing? Surely, my brethren, none of you are so besotted as to think that this righteousness can be wrought out by yourselves. You must despair of ever being able to keep the law perfectly… We must believe, then,—for there is no other alternative—that the righteousness in which we must be clothed, and through which we must be accepted, and by which we are made meet to inherit eternal life, can be no other than the work of Jesus Christ. We, therefore, assert, believing that Scripture fully warrants us, that the life of Christ constitutes the righteousness in which his people are to be clothed. His death washed away their sins, his life covered them from head to foot; his death the [sic] sneaky to God, his life was the gift to man, by which man satisfies the demands of the law. Herein the law is honored and the soul is accepted.”[2]
This is the Reformed Protestant notion of imputed righteousness, and it is entirely biblical. While individual verses can appear to point in various directions, an examination of the whole of scripture reveals this to be true: that Abraham, our forefather in faith, was credited with righteousness, and so must we be if we are to receive eternal life.
While this doctrine of imputed righteousness does not guarantee that every Christian will be fully assured of his or her salvation, it goes a long way toward securing our confidence, for we proceed not based on our own righteousness or lack thereof, but the righteousness of Christ. God is completely sovereign over every aspect our salvation. He alone brings it about, creating in us that which He wishes to see. His saving love is unconditional and His grace total.
“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Romans 5:6-11
What God has begun, He will finish. Those He calls, He will keep until the end. While some may appear for a time to belong to Him and eventually fall away, the one who are truly Christ’s sheep hear His voice and are led into eternal life.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
Romans 8:28-30
Will your Father love you forever? Can you trust Him until the end? It seems to me that there is only one solution for the problem of assurance, and this solution is real: “perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18)
This is the grace which we call “amazing,”[3] the grace which is “greater than all our sins.”[4] In Christ we are “faultless to stand before the throne” because we are “wrapped in His righteousness alone.”[5] Yes, “Jesus paid it all” and all to Him we owe.[6] “In Christ alone” our hope is found, and this is where “fears are stilled” and “strivings cease.”[7]
It is truly as Luther said: “The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.”[8] He alone is the source of love, grace, and righteousness. Therefore, we sing, “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my heart, my all!”[9]
All scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright The Lockman Foundation.
[1] I purposely use the word “may” here. There are plenty of Christians who disagree with me about the biblical covenants in various ways but still come to the same conclusions about how God justifies, sanctifies, and saves human beings. I am merely suggesting that errors in one’s covenant theology could potentially lead one down an intellectual path that results in soteriological errors. Even more importantly, those who have errors in their soteriology of necessity have errors in their understanding of God’s covenants.
[2] Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. “Jehovah Tsidkenu-The Lord Our Righteousness”, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 7, 2 June 1861. https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/jehovah-tsidkenu-the-lord-our-righteousness/#flipbook/ Accessed 29 June 2020.
[3] Newton, John. “Amazing Grace.”
[4] Johnston, Julia H. “Grace Greater than All Our Sins.”
[5] Mote, Edward. “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.”
[6] Hall, Elvina M. “Jesus Paid It All.”
[7] Getty, Keith and Stuart Townend. “In Christ Alone”, Kingsway/Thank You Music, copyright 2001.
[8] Luther, Theological thesis 28
[9] Watts, Isaac. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
Other articles in this blog series in order of publication:
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Covenant with Abraham”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Requirement of Works”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Prophecy of Substitution”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: The Circumcision of the Heart”
“Why I Am a Reformed Protestant: Two Progenies in Abraham”
Related articles hosted on Reformation21 in order of publication:
“Infusion and Imputation: An Introduction”
“Justification: The Roman Catholic View”
“Justification: The Reformed Protestant View”
