The
reason I want to bring this quote up for discussion is because I DO
think that IMPUTATION is the gospel. By "imputation", I mean the
doctrine that 1) the sins of the Elect were transferred into Christ's
account on the cross, and He suffered the due penalty for them. Then
there is 2) the fact that God credits the righteousness of Christ (His
obedience to the Law) into the accounts of the Sheep at their
justification. Now, the onus is on me to prove that these two
imputations are the gospel. The "church fathers" didn't believe it was
the gospel. The "creeds of Christendom" don't teach that it is gospel
either. But I think the Scripture does. And the Scripture is the sole
way God reveals Himself to men. Let's see what it teaches.
To
begin with, Romans 1:16-17 states that the righteousness of God is
revealed in the gospel. Now, what is the "righteousness of God" ??
Answer: "Christ is the end of Law for righteousness to everyone that
believes." (Rom 10:4). The heart of the gospel is the teaching that
Christ was "made under the Law" "to redeem those under the Law". The
Law which Christ obeyed demands PERFECT PERPETUAL obedience from ALL men,
and pronounces a CURSE of damnation on all who fail to keep it
flawlessly. Indeed, "the soul that sins shall die." Anyone who worships
the Just God and Saviour of the Scriptures will HAVE to know about
imputed righteousness. It's OBVIOUS from the Scripture that man must be
PERFECT to worship God, and since all men everywhere are sinners, it
MUST be the work of SOMEONE ELSE (Christ) that constitutes the elect
sinner right before God. You would have to be completely IGNORANT of
God's UTTER DISGUST with the smallest disobedience, to deny imputed
righteousness. God says, "cursed is everyone who does not obey all
these statues," and "not the hearer of the Law, but the doer of the Law
shall live,". Clearly, if you are not perfect in the sight of God you
will NOT enter heaven -- you are under the wrath of God. You need
Christ's righteousness. Because Only His obedience to the Law can met
the demands of the Law. In fact Romans 3 says that the FAITHFULNESS of
Christ to the Law is the way God DEMONSTRATES His righteousness. "God
set forth a propitiation through faith in His blood, as a
demonstration of His righteousness through the passing over of the sins
that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God, (26) for a
demonstration of His righteousness in the present time, for His being
just and justifying the one that is of the faith of Jesus." Anyone
ignorant of IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS does NOT understand God's
righteousness. They do not believe the gospel.
It's now time to
look at the other half of the gospel: IMPUTED SIN. "He who knew no sin
was made sin," and "the chastisement of our peace was upon Him." Now,
you would have to be a hardened heretic to deny that The Atonement is
PLAINLY LIMITED in the Scriptures to believers. "I lay down my life for
the sheep", Christ said, not the goats who will perish. "I pray not for
the world," He said, and Ephesians 5:25 says that husbands are to love
their wives like Christ loves the Church. Obviously, LOVE is ALWAYS
limited to SOMEONE (e.g. your wife, if you are a married man), or a
GROUP of people in the case of Christ. To say that Christ died for some
people who will perish is to deny His work was 100% sufficient to save
from hell.
I'll stop here.
Andrew Bain
Sydney, Australia
http://www.Godnoliar.com
