Righteousness of Christ in the Law
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not exercised genuine repentance toward God for the transgression of
His holy law, and you cannot have genuine faith in Me, for it was My
mission to exalt God’s law.
A Transcript of Christ’s Character
Paul did not represent either the moral or the ceremonial law as
ministers in our day venture to do. Some cherish such antipathy to the
law of God that they will go out of the way to denounce and stigmatize
it. Thus they despise and pour contempt on the majesty and glory of
God.
The moral law was never a type or a shadow. It existed before
man’s creation, and will endure as long as God’s throne remains. God
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could not change nor alter one precept of His law in order to save man;
for the law is the foundation of His government. It is unchangeable,
unalterable, infinite, and eternal. In order for man to be saved, and for
the honor of the law to be maintained, it was necessary for the Son
of God to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He who knew no sin
became sin for us. He died for us on Calvary. His death shows the
wonderful love of God for man, and the immutability of His law.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ declared, “Think not that I am
come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”
(
Matthew 5:17, 18
).
Christ bore the curse of the law, suffering its penalty, carrying to
completion the plan whereby man was to be placed where he could
keep God’s law, and be accepted through the merits of the Redeemer;
and by His sacrifice glory was shed upon the law. Then the glory of
that which is not to be done away—God’s law of ten commandments,
His standard of righteousness—was plainly seen by all who saw to the
end of that which was done away.
“We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
by the Spirit of the Lord” (
2 Corinthians 3:18
). Christ is the sinner’s
advocate. Those who accept His gospel behold Him with open face.
They see the relation of His mission to the law, and they acknowledge
God’s wisdom and glory as revealed by the Saviour. The glory of