righteousness

Law/Grace Paradigm

by Ben Zornes · Apr 25, 2023

Later in our service we’ll recite together the first table of the Ten Commandments. This is an opportune time to clear up a common misunderstanding in evangelical circles. Many read Scripture with a Law/Grace paradigm. This way of reading & interpreting the Bible, however, turns us into editors of God’s Word, scratching our chin and trying to discern which parts are Law parts and which parts are Grace parts.

Some even go so far as to say that Paul’s writings are too laden with Law, and that we should really only concern ourselves with the parts that talk about God’s forgiveness, grace, and love. This approach turns the Law into oozing pond to be avoided, and reduces grace into a smothering, maternal hug.

But this approach will stump us when we get to texts like this:

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them (Ps. 119:165).”

“Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it (Deu. 32:46-47).”

Taking all this together, it is the Word which sorts mankind, not mankind which sorts the Word. To the regenerate heart, all the Words of God are precious, they are Grace. To the unbelieving, all of Scripture is a millstone of Law. As we corporately recite the Ten Commandments, notice the prologue: the Lord delivered us from Egypt. It’s this deliverance which forms the basis for our obedience. It isn’t our obedience that procures our deliverance. Grace, in other words, makes law-keeping a possibility.

God’s Law is holy, just, and good. It restrains wicked men, it reveals our sin as well as the perfect righteousness of Christ; but it also restores us, by our union with the Son, to righteousness. The Father has clothed us in Him, and reckoned us righteous in Him. Furthermore, the Law is not grievous, as John tells us; for the Law commands us to love God, and so bask in the glory which He made us for. Yet, we have transgressed the law in its finer points and in its major ones. We have been legalistic about other’s transgressions, and profoundly permissive of our own. This compels us to go to God for forgiveness for such unjust weights and measures. Our prayer should be that by God’s Holy Law He would reveal Christ to us, reveal our sin to us, and spur us to righteousness in Christ.

Being righteous isn’t a matter of trying harder, but of resting entirely in the righteousness of Christ. This is the only way to have the guilt of your sin cleansed, and the only way to obtain strength for the good works God has called you to.

The Crown Jewel of Christ’s Righteousness

by Ben Zornes · Sep 6, 2022

Jonathan Edwards once made this remark about Jesus at the Last Supper, when our Lord inaugurated this sacrament, “This act he did as God’s minister, as God’s anointed priest; and it was the greatest act of his public ministry, the greatest act of his obedience, by which he purchased heaven for believers.”

This meal was the high point of Christ’s earthly ministry before His descent into the sufferings of the cross, the despair of being the cursed of God for our sins, and down into the darkness of Hades. At that last feast, Christ offers Himself up to God as the only truly righteous one. But then He offers Himself to His disciples.

Only because Christ offered Himself up to God can He then offer Himself to you as well. The pinnacle of earthly righteousness was this sacred meal. This is the crown jewel. For in this meal the Righteous One who was soon to lay down His life covenanted to both take your place and take you with Him.

He not only died in your place, but you also died in Him. Here is the covenant meal which assures us that the wages of death we ought to pay for every last trifling sin has been paid in His body broken and blood spilled. Here is the covenant bond which also secures for you eternal life. He extends His righteousness to you, even while making your sin His own.

That’s why we shouldn’t think of this meal as just a sweet time to reflect on precious memories. This isn’t like looking through your Grandpa’s photo-album; it’s more like discovering your Grandpa’s will that leaves everything to you. This meal is the bond which secures your deliverance from the just wrath on your sin, and will one day bring you into everlasting glory, joy, and blessedness.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

1 John 3:7-9 | To Destroy the Works of the Devil

by Ben Zornes · Aug 24, 2022

7 Little children, do not let any man seduce you; he that does righteousness is righteous even as He is righteous.
8 He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whoever is born of God does not sin; for His seed abides in him and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 John 3:7-9

One of the way the false teachers were seducing the early church was in regards to blurring the clear line between righteousness and sin. This same temptation repeatedly presents itself as a continual danger which confronts the church. It is the danger that Paul addresses in Romans 6:1, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” God pronouncing us as righteous in Christ is not permission to continue in sin. The proof of our justification is the resulting works of righteousness. Righteousness is what those who are reckoned as righteous do, for Christ is their righteousness, and He can do no other than produce the fruit of His righteousness.

But the seducers which John is warning about tried to have it both ways. As Calvin points out in commenting on this text: “For many would gladly persuade themselves that they have this righteousness buried in their hearts, while iniquity evidently occupies their feet, and hands, and tongue, and eyes.”^⁠1 Righteous deeds accompany a righteous seed. A righteous seed will not produce an evil fruit. Woe to those who call up down, and down up.

The contrast which John raises here is similar to what he insists upon in John 8:42-44a “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” Those who walk in sin are sons of the devil. They do according to their generation, to their paternity. Their father is the devil. So, they behave like their father. From the beginning of the devil’s rebellion, he has sinned and therefore all he produces is sin.

John follows up this warning with one of the most swagger inducing lines in all of Scripture: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested in order to destroy the works of the devil.” Jesus came to bind the devil, and take his stuff. Jesus came to end his whole evil empire. The dark tower has been toppled, never to be rebuilt. Christ came to bring about a new birth. This new birth has brought about a new category of humanity: those “born of God.” Being born of God means that you are no longer under subjection to the devil’s works.

This doesn’t mean that we aren’t still faced with evil outside and within. Some wrench verse 9 into describing a sinless perfectionism. But if this were the case, what John said earlier would be nonsensical. Why confess sin if you have no more sin? Rather, what is being identified is that those who are born of God cannot endure in their sin. The seed of righteousness will more and more overtake the whole life of the child of God. Once more, we must jump up and down on this verse of assurance. If you are born of God, sin is a grief to you. Those not born of God don’t care about their sin, they redefine their sin, they ignore their sin, so that they might continue in sin. The one born of God, refuses to walk any longer in sin.

¹Calvin, Jean. Calvins Commentaries. Vol. XXII. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999. Pg. 211

The Warrior King’s Flag

by Ben Zornes · Jun 7, 2022

Baptism isn’t a bare sign, as if it were one of those weatherworn signs on a remote trail. If it was merely a placard, placed there by men, it would would be subject to the fading effects of man’s earnestness, zeal, and emotion. But this sign is more like a flag of conquest, planted by a warrior King. This is a sign which produces what it declares.

The Church, by her ministers, apply this sign of water to the brow of a covenant child. In so doing, we confess that God through Christ is indeed planting a flag which declares, “This one belongs to Me.” Along with this claim comes good promises. Chief among them is this, that baptism into Christ assures us that our black sin is made white righteousness by the red blood of Jesus.

So welcome our sister to Jesus Christ…

Hunger for Righteousness

by Ben Zornes · Jun 25, 2019

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt. 5:6). In this bread and wine You are offered a blessing. The blessing is of a refreshmentâ€“â€“a satisfactionâ€“â€“which cannot be derived from mere bread or mere wine. The refreshment and blessing which you crave is only found in righteousness. It is found in right standing with God.

But check your pockets. All youâ€™ll find there are the grimy leaves of self-righteousness. Audit your moral books. Youâ€™ll only find a ledger covered in red ink: ethical debts you canâ€™t repay, good work checks that have bounced, well-intentioned I.O.U.â€™s which remain unfulfilled.

The blessing which accompanies this meal is that those who are fed up with their own righteousness will be fed with Christâ€™s righteousness. This meal gives rest from works righteousness.

You hunger and thirst to be accepted by God, and here is the token that those that have put on Christ by faith are reckoned as righteous by God the Father. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, because they will be satisfied. You can be satisfied because in Christ, God the Father is satisfied with you. As Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:21 – â€œFor he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.â€

So come in faith, and welcome to Jesusâ€¦

Turning a Profit on Disobedience

by Ben Zornes · Mar 23, 2018

If you grew up in the conservative Christian community, as I did, and if you often attended worldview conferences, as I did, then this verse is perhaps one of the most familiar to you. It is from that wonderful book of Two Corinthians, as Trump and the British call it, 10:5:

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).”

This passage presents such a vivid picture of what it looks like to engage with falsehoods. It is vital in both our inner man and our cultural engagement to embrace a disposition of demolition experts when it comes to lies, heresies, deceptions, etc. If lust is niggling at your mind, you must tear it down. If jealousy is crowding out all other thoughts, you must bring out the mental bulldozer. If our culture is parading lust down the street, we must engage it with all the gentleness of a polemic atom bomb. If jealousy is passed via legislative spending bills, we need to bring in the wrecking ball.

Imaginations and high things that exalt themselves agains the knowledge of God must be cast down, and brought into captivity. Note that Paul is writing to a congregation, not just an individual. Of course, within our own mind and inner man we must have this ruthless attitude towards internal struggles with sin, doubt, and falsehood. But this is addressed to a community. Thus, it is the community’s responsibility to do something about wicked actions and attitudes within our community, and those which are infiltrating our community.

All of this, though, has to do with obedience to Christ. It is not for the preservation of a peaceful community or a placid inner stability. It is so that our thoughts, both individually and corporately, are obedient to Christ. We don’t just want a pile of the rubble of our disobedience, we want revenge.

The next verse states: “And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Cor. 10:6).” So, while we are commanded to demolish falsehood, we are not just to leave a smoking crater of destruction. We are to replace falsehood with the towers of truth. The rivals to Christ must be ground to powder, but in the end Christ must be exalted. It does no good to tear down your idols, but fail to obediently worship Christ. In fact, you’ll find more and worse idols crowding in if they are not replaced with adoration for Christ.

When we find that disobedience has been present within us or our community we are to be ready to revenge that disobedience. Disobedience to God’s law is sin, and sin has consequences. But Paul here is teaching us to turn a profit on our sin. You blew it? Great…don’t wallow it, but confess it, use it to drive you to have a greater love for a forgiving and cleansing Savior; let the bitterness of sin cause you to do whatever it takes to flee that sin in the future. If you stole, make restitution four times more than you should. If you are full of seething hate for your brother or sister, leave it and labor to love them sincerely. If we have embraced madness and murder in our laws, we must not only remove those laws, but work to never again enshrine sin in our laws.

Revenge your sin. When you fail, confess it, and do as the Psalmist teaches: “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it (Ps. 34:14).” We flee from evil, in order to do good. Confessing your sin and disobedience by tearing down the idol is part one of obedience. But, revenging your disobedience is that the next time you are tempted to do that sin, you do what is righteous instead. Obedience to Christ is two-fold. On one hand, we confess our sin. On the other, we…you know…actually obey. Christ doesn’t save us merely to forgive our sins and help us stop sinning, but so that we would actually do righteously (1 Jn. 3:7).

In short, in demolishing falsehood we mortify the disobedience, but by erecting the truth by vivifying the fruits of righteousness we revenge our former disobedience. Where once was a monument to sin and self, stands a monument to the exalted Christ. For instance, where there are now Planned Parenthoods, there must soon be birthing centers. This is the ultimate revenge. This is how we turn a profit on our disobedience.

The Debt We Owe

by Ben Zornes · May 2, 2017

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]Every time we sin we are breaking a part of His creation[/epq-quote]He declared His creationÂ “good”, and thus, every time we sin we are breaking a part of His creation. It’s like the fellow who recently went into an Apple store with a rock and smashed up thousands of dollars of merchandise. But imagine him doing this daily, and as a result, the debt he would be racking up in lost merchandise. His income would certainly never allow for him toÂ pay off his obligation to make restitution withÂ Apple!

The only hope for such a debt is for it to be forgiven, but as any good economist would tell you, “Ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Our forgiveness was costly,Â as someone had to “eat the cost” of our sins. God must judge sin, and the wages of sin is death. This is why Christ’s death is spoken of as a ransom, a payment made on our behalf which satisfies the justiceÂ and mercy of God. When we think of Christ’s merit, we must take from our minds the Catholic notion that Mary and the saints have some too which,Â all told, can get us across the finish line to heaven. Rather,Â all our human “merit” is itself tainted by evil.Â Christ alone is able to pay the debt we owe, and by faith in Him He freely appliesÂ His righteousness to our account.