righteous before God―first, in that the death of Christ procures for him the remission of sin, and the obedience of Christ a perfect righteousness. In other words, on the exercise of faith the blood of Christ cleanses him from sin, and the obedience, the merits of Christ imputed to him, constitute him as a righteous person before God. Our hymns are full of this doctrine, as for example:―
“Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness,
My beauty are, my glorious dress.”
But according to “the Brethren” we have all been mistaken, and they utterly deny the imputation of the obedience of the Saviour’s life―His righteousness to the believer. His life on earth was, they say, in no sense vicarious. This doctrine of theirs, as stated in the writings of Mr. Darby and Mr. Macintosh, has been popularised in a tract by C. S. (Mr. Stanley) entitled, “Justification in a Risen Christ.”
They maintain that through the Cross is the forgiveness of sins―nothing more; and that it is by passing into a new state, a state of oneness with the risen Christ, that we are completely righteous.
First, I cite from Mr. Darby, “He that is dead is freed from sin. But Christ died: He then is freed from sin. But whose? Ours, ‘who believe in Him.’ It is all gone, gone with the life to which it was attached, in which he bore it. … Our place, our standing before God, is no longer in flesh. It is in Christ. Christ, as man, has taken quite a new place that neither Adam innocent, or Adam sinner, had anything to say to. … Christ has taken this place consequent on putting away our sin , on having glorified God as to them, and finishing the work. He has taken it in righteousness, and man in Him has got a new place in righteousness with God.”[1] This
- ↑ Sufferings of Christ, etc., pp. 117–119.
