THE MAN JESUS HAVING
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS ACCORDING TO THE LAW
AND BEING QUALIFIED TO REDEEM MAN
Jesus of Nazareth has come into the world. While He was on the earth, His works demonstrated that God loves us. But at the same time, He fulfilled the law. He was truly submissive to God. He was a holy man and a submissive man. In Him we see a perfect man. Jesus of Nazareth was full of righteousness. He was a righteous man. Throughout history there was only one man who could be saved by the law. This was Jesus of Nazareth. He did not need to keep the law, yet He kept the law. The Bible says that only those who keep the law can inherit the righteousness that is of the law. With righteousness, there is life. The law says that he who keeps it will live. To keep it is to abide by the law. All who have the righteousness of the law have life. The only purpose for God to say this to the whole world is to condemn man and prove to him that he is a sinner. God gave us the law to prove to us that we are sinners. Thank and praise the Lord. There is only One who has life by the law. This One is Jesus of Nazareth.
Let us for the moment set aside the fact that He is God and consider Him as a man, a very ordinary man. He kept the law and lived. He lived on earth for over thirty-three years. Not only did He not sin, He did not even know sin. He was tempted in all things. But He was not tempted by sin. Note this: the Lord Jesus was not tempted by sin. When many read the book of Hebrews, they receive a wrong understanding based on a wrong translation. The Greek text shows us clearly that although the Lord Jesus was tempted in all things, He was never tempted by sin. He was in the flesh and therefore had weaknesses. But He knew no sin. He was never tempted by sin. If you consult an accurate translation, you will see this clearly.
Are the Lord Jesus’ righteous acts of any benefit to us? Indeed they are. The righteous acts of the Lord Jesus prove that He is God. Because of these righteous acts, the Lord Jesus did not have to die for Himself. The righteous acts of the Lord qualify Him to die on the cross on behalf of our sins. If the Lord Jesus had any sin, His death would have been for Himself; He would not have been able to die for us. Since the Lord did not have any sin at all, He was qualified to be offered up as a sacrifice for our sins. Christian theology says that God has made the righteousness of the Lord Jesus ours. God has transferred the Lord’s righteousness to us in the same way that banks transfer money from one account to another. The Lord kept the law for us. We have disobeyed the law. But the obedience of the Lord Jesus has earned us God’s satisfaction. But let me ask emphatically: Has the Bible ever mentioned the "righteousness of the Lord Jesus"? Who can find a place in the New Testament that speaks of "the righteousness of the Lord Jesus"? If you read the entire New Testament, including the Greek text, you will discover that the New Testament never mentions the words the righteousness of Christ. One place seems to say this, but it does not refer to Christ’s own personal righteousness. Men do not like to read God’s Word today. They like to study theology. Theology, however, is created by man. It does not come from God’s Word. Theology tells us that God has imputed Christ’s righteousness to us. The Bible does not have this concept. On the contrary, the Bible is opposed to this concept. The righteousness of Jesus of Nazareth is His own righteousness. It is indeed righteousness, but it is the righteousness of Jesus of Nazareth. This righteousness qualifies Him to die for us and be our Savior, but God has no intention to transfer the righteousness of Jesus to us.
(Gospel of God, The (2 volume set), Chapter 6, by Watchman Nee)
