Old Testament saints (4)

We are looking at salvation with particular reference to Old Testament saints. In the fourth part of this study I'd like us to look at the subject of righteousness.

Righteousness essential for salvation

In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality. (Proverbs 12:28)

'Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.' (Matthew 25:46)

If we examined no other scriptures in our study, those two, alone, should convince us that righteousness is essential for salvation.

Righteousness is a theme that runs through the whole of the Bible. It begins in Genesis 6 with Noah who, through his righteousness, saved himself and seven others from the wrath of God; and ends in Revelation 19 with a description of the wedding garments of the Bride of Christ which, we are told, are the righteous acts of the saints. Both of those examples refer to man's righteousness and not to Christ's righteousness.

Three kinds of righteousness

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. (Hebrews 5:13)

What is righteousness? Righteousness is a very practical thing. The Bible says that he who does what is right is righteous, just as he (Jesus Christ) is righteous. It also warns us not to be led astray by believing anything else (1 John 3:7). Righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of God.

The Bible teaches three kinds of righteousness, which it likens to clothing that we wear. The first is our own righteousness, prior to conversion, which Isaiah describes as being like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

The second is our Lord's righteousness, which was symbolized by the garment he wore next to his body (John 19:23). It was seamless, showing the perfection of his righteousness. It had been woven from the top to the bottom, indicating it was a righteousness that had come down from heaven. It was removed before he was crucified.

Jesus was crucified naked, symbolizing man's sin, which is as nakedness before God (Genesis 3:6–7). The item was worn as an undergarment (the Greek word describes a close-fitting inner vest), which meant it was hidden from view. Natural man was not aware of his righteousness, and still isn't. It is visible only to spiritual eyes.

When they took it from him they decided not to tear it (who can take away from Christ's righteousness?), so they cast lots for it (John 19:24). One of them walked away with it, but it would not have been of use to him. It benefits only those who put their faith in it.

When we are baptized we wash away our sins (Acts 22:16) i.e. we cleanse ourselves from the cause of our spiritual nakedness. We then clothe ourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27) i.e. we put on his garment of righteousness.

The third, and final, kind of righteousness is our own righteousness after conversion. These are the righteous acts of the saints that form the wedding garments of the Bride (Revelation 19:7–8).

It says that they are given to the saints to wear. They are given to us, by God, but we have to put them on. These are the good works (Greek: works, deeds, moral conduct) that God has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). They qualify us for the wedding banquet of the Lamb.

The wedding banquet

'Friend,' he asked, 'how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. (Matthew 22:12)

Jesus told a parable about a wedding banquet (Matthew 22:1–14). The parable teaches us about salvation and what qualifies us for salvation. It tells us what the kingdom of heaven is like (v2).

Scripture likens heaven to a meal (Luke 22:29–30), to a feast (Matthew 8:11–12) and, in this case, to a wedding banquet. They all symbolize fellowship—the fellowship we'll experience when God gathers his people together at the end of the age. Wedding banquets, in particular, are occasions of great joy and celebration.

Jesus said that a king prepared a banquet for his son. When all the guests were assembled he came in and noticed someone who wasn't wearing wedding clothes. He asked him why he wasn't wearing wedding clothes and the man was speechless. The king told his attendants to throw him outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

God's kingdom is a kingdom of light (Colossians 1:12) and the man was cast into darkness. He couldn't enter heaven because he wasn't wearing the right clothes; he hadn't satisfied the entry requirements.

The qualities required for salvation can be summed up in the word 'righteousness' (Matthew 25:46) which, we've seen, is symbolized in Scripture by clothing. So, do the wedding garments the man was lacking represent Christ's righteousness or our own righteousness? They represent both, because the Bible says that man is justified (regarded as righteous in God's sight) by what he does and not by faith alone (James 2:20–24).

To enter heaven we must be clothed correctly: with Christ's righteousness and our own righteousness.

The need for Christ's righteousness

This is the account of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)

Genesis 6:5 describes how great man's wickedness on earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

The whole human race had become so depraved that God was about to destroy it, and yet there was one man who was living a righteous life and walking with God. That man was Noah.

How was Noah able to do that in a world that had become totally evil? Certainly not by living according to his sinful nature, as everyone else was doing. Noah was able to do what he did because he was born again; he was an Old Testament saint who was indwelt by the Spirit of God and was living according to the Spirit (Romans 8:5).

But if Noah was a righteous man, who escaped God's wrath by his righteousness (produced, as it was, by God's indwelling Spirit), then why does man need Christ's righteousness for salvation? The answer is because Christ's righteousness is perfect, whereas our own righteousness is imperfect.

The Bible says that there is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Noah found favour with God through his righteousness, and yet in Genesis 9 we read that he made some wine, drank it and became drunk. Drunkenness is sin (Galatians 5:19–21).

You will find that every righteous man in the Bible had flaws, except for one. Jesus didn't sin from the moment he was conceived until the moment he died. He was sinless perfection in a human body. That is the God we worship (John 20:28), and that is the God through whom we are saved (Acts 4:12)!

Just one sin drove man from God's presence in the garden. Man cannot get back into his presence unless he is perfect. That is why we need to claim Christ's righteousness as our own.

The need for our own righteousness

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. (Psalm 23:3)

If Christ's righteousness is perfect and available to us by faith, then why do we need to live righteous lives in order to be saved (Matthew 5:20)? The answer is because faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Faith alone cannot save us (James 2:20). We make our faith complete by what we do (James 2:22).

In the 16th Century, Martin Luther, an unsaved Catholic monk, received the revelation that justification—the act of God declaring a sinner righteous—could not be achieved by his own feeble attempts to live a righteous life, but only through faith in the righteous life that Jesus had lived on his behalf (Romans 3:21–22). It is, as Paul declares, 'a righteousness that is by faith from first to last (Romans 1:17)'.

Luther, rejoicing in the wonderful truth God had shown him, took it to extremes and taught that man is justified by faith alone, and not by what he does. That is not true. James tells us that man is justified by what he does and not by faith alone (James 2:24).

How did Luther deal with the truth he read in the letter of James? He believed it wasn't divinely inspired and tried to have it removed from the Bible. Should we do the same? Certainly not!

Paul uses Abraham to teach the righteousness that comes from faith (Romans 4:1–5), and James uses Abraham to teach the righteousness that comes from what we do (James 2:20–21). Both are true; neither is any good by itself; both are needed for salvation.

Get yourself ready

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. (James 1:19–20)

Since the time of Luther, the Church has preached the righteousness that comes from faith, often neglecting to preach the righteous life that God wants us to live as a result of our faith (Romans 6:13).

As our Lord's return draws ever-nearer, we need to get our wedding clothes on (our righteous acts), and keep them on, so that when he comes we will not be shamefully exposed (Revelation 16:15).

Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. (Proverbs 11:4)

Michael Graham
November 2009

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