"We must see that the righteousness of Christ
that is transferred to us is the righteousness
He achieved by living under the Law for
thirty-three years without once sinning.
Jesus had to live a life of obedience before
His death could mean anything. He had to
acquire, if you will, merit at the bar of justice.
Without His life of sinless obedience, Jesus'
atonement would have had no value at all.
We need to see the crucial significance of
this truth; we need to see that not only did
Jesus die for us, He lived for us."
R. C. Sproul
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The Bible makes it clear that Jesus committed no sin, and His sinless life
qualified Him to be the perfect sacrifice to save His people. He lived a flawless
life, one without any transgressions against God.
"For you know that it was not with perishable
things such as silver or gold that you were
redeemed from the empty way of life handed
down to you from your forefathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ, a lamb, without
blemish or defect."
1 Peter 1:18-19
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable
to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have
one who has been tempted in every way, just as
we are, yet was without sin."
Hebrews 4:15
"Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy,
blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above
the heavens."
Hebrews 7:26
"But you know that He appeared so that He might
take away our sins. And in Him is no sin."
1 John 3:5
*************
Jesus totally submitted to His Father's will that He suffer and die for the sins
of His people. He is the only way to the Father and eternal life.
[Jesus said],
"For I have come down from heaven not
to do my will but to do the will of Him
who sent me.
And this is the will of Him who sent me,
that I shall lose none of those He has
given me, but raise them up at the last day.
For my Father's will is that everyone who
looks to the Son and believe in Him shall
have eternal life, and I will raise him up
at the last day."
John 6:38-40
**************
"During the days of Jesus' life on earth,
He offered up prayers and petitions with
loud cries and tears to the one who could
save Him from death, and He was heard
because of his reverent submission."
Although He was a son, he learned obedience
from what He suffered and, once made
perfect, He became the source of eternal
salvation for all who obey Him and was
designated by God to be high priest in the
order of Melchizedek."
Hebrews 5:7-10
John MacArthur writes:
"Christ did not need to suffer in order to conquer or correct any
disobedience. In His deity, as the Son of God, He understood obedience completely.
As the incarnate Lord, He humbled Himself to learn.
('And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature
and in favor with God and man' Luke 2:52).
He learned obedience for the same reasons He bore temptation;
to confirm His humanity and experience its sufferings to the fullest.
('And being found in human form, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of
death, even death on a cross' Philippians 2:8).
('In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that
God, for whom and through whom everything exists,
should make the author of their salvation perfect
through suffering' Hebrews 2:10).
Christ's obedience was also necessary so that He could fulfill all
righteousness.
('Jesus answered him,
'Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness' Matthew 3:15).
Jesus was identifying Himself with sinners. He will ultimately
bear their sins; His perfect righteousness will be imputed to them.
('For our sake He made Him to be sin, who knew
no sin, so that in Him we might become the
righteousness of God' 2 Corinthians 5:21).
[He] thus proved [through His obedience] to be the perfect
sacrifice to take the place of sinners.
('For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that He might bring us to God ...' 1 Peter 3:18).
In His divine nature, Christ was already perfect.
However, His human nature was perfected through obedience, including suffering
in order that He might be an understanding high priest, and example for believers,
and establish the perfect righteousness imputed to believers."
*************
Jesus saves His people not only by His suffering and sacrifice,
and resurrection, but also His life, and He sustains us by His living power.
"For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more, now that we are reconciled,
shall we be saved by His life."
Romans 5:10
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