June 1929
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The Greatest Verse in The Bible B y D r . J o h n C . P age O f the Bible Institute o f Los Angeles
HE greatest verse in the Bible to one person may not be the greatest verse to another. There are different points of view, different types of mind, different methods of approach, and varied spir itual experiences. John 3 :16 is supreme in its greatness and glory to many and indeed to most. To me, however, there is no one Bible verse quite equal in spiritual suggestion and wealth of meaning to 1 Cor. 1 :30— “O f him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, even righteousness, and sanctifica tion, and redemption” (R. V. and Margin). This verse certainly has a claim to greatness, for it denotes the sov ereignty of God, the sufficiency of Christ, and the security of the Christian believer. I . T h e S ov er eign ty of G od This is seen in the two phrases “o f him” and “from God.” After all worldly wisdom, nobility and might are set aside as utterly inadequate for the saving of a soul from sin and death; when all false foundations are re moved, all human pride and religious pretense brought to nought, that no flesh should glory in His presence ; when there is nothing human left to stand upon, then God in' sovereign grace lays a foundation for us “as stable as His steadfast throne, forevermore the same,” Here it is that “o f him are ye in Christ Jesus.” This means that if you are occupying the place designated.by the phrase “in Christ Jesus” it is because God puts you there. No man could do it. It is “o f Him.” At this point someone may interpose and say, “Did I not believe the Gospel?” Yes,, buf whose Gospel is it ? According to Rom. 1 :1, it is God’s Gospel, good news from God concerning His Son. He thought it out and wrought it out and then throug'h the channel of our faith made us to be the recipients of all that He had done. So then the very position occupied by sovereign grace and indicated by the phrase “in Christ Jesus” grows out of a Gospel message proceeding from that same grace. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. But this is not all. The same sovereign grace that sends the Gospel message and then proceeds to put believers of that message “in Christ Jesus,” goes a step farther. In the wisdom- of God, Christ is ,made unto us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Nothing less than this can meet our need as sinners, and nothing more than this can ever be required. There are only three tenses; the past, the present, and the future. If our spiritual needs can be met in these three directions there will be nothing lacking. That is precisely what has been done. God, in His wisdom, meets our threefold need ; He makes Christ to be unto us righteousness for the past, sanctification for the present, and redemption for the future. Christ crucified meets all the requirements of righteousness. When received by faith as the sinner’s substitute and Saviour, He becomes the Lord our righteousness and we become the righteousness of God in Him. In His risen life, Christ is made unto us sanctification. We are united to Him in death and resur rection. By virtue of this spiritual union He becomes not only our righteousness, but our life. To use the words of 2 Peter 1 :4: “We through faith become partakers o f the divine nature.” For the future, Christ is made unto us
redemption,—that is, “the redemption of our bodies,” so that in looking forward we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. All this is forevermore lodged in Christ and He for evermore is made all this unto every soul united to Him by faith. This is just as true at the beginning of the Chris tian life as it is at later stages of growth and development. Our salvation is never less than this, for nothing less would meet the requirements of the case. So we sing of
Grace fathomless as the sea, Grace flowing from Calvary, Grace enough for eternity, Grace enough for me.
The infinite God in sovereign grace does exceeding abun dantly above all we ask or think in making Christ to be unto us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. II. T h e S u f f ic ie n c y of C h r is t He is made unto us righteousness. The word “right eousness” occurs nearly one hundred "times in the New Testament. It is used to denote four kinds of righteous ness, viz., God’s own righteousness, self-righteousness, the righteousness of faith, and the righteousness of Chris tian character, which, in New Testament terms, is called the obedience of faith and is the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.1 God’s own righteousness is that quality or characteris tic which inheres in the divine Being. It is that which Abraham referred to when he said, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” This conception of God permeates and dominates the revelation of Himself in Scripture. Such expressions as “Thou art righteous,” “Just.and right is He,” “The Lord is righteous in all His ways,” are of frequent occurrence. This righteousness is the foundation of the moral universe. Both conscience and law are wit nesses of it. In the law, the commandments, and the pre cepts of God, a perfect and unchangeable standard of righteousness has been given and will be vindicated. If its precepts are broken, its penalties must be met. The second aspect of righteousness is self-righteous ness, and is frequently referred to in Scripture as “the righteousness o f the law.” It is that righteousness which many try to obtain through the endeavor to keep God’s perfect and unchanging law. Simply stated, it is the effort to be religious in order to merit the divine favor. Under the lash of the law, conscience pulls and tugs in the at tempt to climb the hill of righteousness. Resolutions, prayers, penance, gifts, legacies to charitable work, rites, ceremonies, sacraments, Lenten regulations, man-made rules and requirements are all resorted to and in some cases adhered to in order to work out a righteousness of one’s own, on the basis of which a sinner hopes to attain eternal salvation. This kind of righteousness is highly esteemed among men, but is not valid with God. And why ? Because, while we look at each other, God looks through us. And what does He see? If, in the white light of His holiness, the lid were lifted from any human life, and all its secrets laid bare, what would be disclosed? A teapot dome worse than the one recently exposed in our courts
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