Every one of God's elect equally possesses the righteousness of Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that He was and did in His life was perfect holiness, and His holiness is reckoned as our own. He was not merely obeying laws written on tables of stone. Instead, the righteousness that enabled Him to endure the cross was the strength of PERFECT LOVE. In love, He died for His elect; in love, He obeyed the Father as the substitutional sacrifice for our sins; and in love, He provided Himself as our full acceptance before the heavenly throne.
Every believer mourns that we are unable to speak the right word at the right time for the comfort of our brethren. Even when we seek to do God's service, often we declare His gospel of peace from an attitude of contention or apathy. Yet, Jesus Christ always spoke perfectly. Our Representative says, "The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary… (Is 50:4)." He knew when to encourage, when to rebuke, and even when to ignore His seekers. The Gentile woman who came pleading for her daughter was ignored and then likened unto a dog by our Master, but His response only drew out the beauty of her faith (Matt 15:22-28). Through His wisdom, she is an example to us that no wearied seeker should ever despair when Christ seems to deal sharply in rebukes and silence. His mouth was wise for every occasion, and His obedient tongue is reckoned to be our own.
Christians do not live according to the works of the flesh. We honor our God by reserving marriage relations for marriage. We are not covetous of this world, wrathful, jealous, contentious, self-governed people (Gal 5:19-21). Yet, everyone who loves Christ is painfully aware that all of these things reside in the flesh. Grace constrains our outward conduct and breaks the dominion of the old nature, yet the new nature sees and abhors the iniquity that dwells within us. The coworker may commend us, but we recognize that the iniquity of our heart is treason worthy of eternal wrath. However, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Righteousness, lived in perfection from a perfect heart. He speaks of His God saying, "… he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back (Is 50:4-5)." He always obeyed the written Scripture, and He always obeyed the movement of the Holy Spirit upon His conscience. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, and He never pulled back the shoulder or turned away (Matt 4:1). He never did His own will, and His obedience was the obedience of a Man with a perfect conscience.
The immaculate obedience of Jesus Christ was far too much for this world to accept, so we eventually murdered Him. Our rage and natural enmity against God was most evident by what we did with His beloved Son. Yet, His obedience remained even unto death. He says, "I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting (Is 50:6)." He did not succumb to the temptation to taper his preaching because it was offensive to the flesh. He knew the Pharisees would have accepted Him if He gave man just a little bit of the glory, yet He steadfastly declared, "He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him (John 7:18)." Therefore, because He sought God's glory in all things, and spoke as One who was of God and an actual partaker of the Truth (yea, Truth itself), He was despised and rejected of men. Being tempted in all of our temptations, He was as hurt by rejection as anyone, yet His righteousness sustained Him to a higher cause. Even while we abused Him, He trusted saying, "Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God." The Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior, knew that He was righteous, and therefore He knew the Father would help Him. (Is 50:7) "For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."
Poor sinner, learn to see yourself according to the declaration of the Scripture. FAITH, and faith alone, reveals that Christ's standing before the Father is your own. He says, (Is 50:8-9) "He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together: who is mine adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me?" The Apostle Paul shows us how Christ taught him to understand the Law and the prophets when he applies this triumphant portion of Scripture to all of God's elect as our present possession. (Rom 8:33-34) "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth…" We possess His imparted righteousness whereby we also suffer for the church's sake; and we possess His imputed righteousness whereby grace delivers us from sin.
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