You would have to be completely IGNORANT of God's UTTER DISGUST with the smallest disobedience, to deny imputed righteousness.
A good point.
What do you have in mind when you present the notioin that the "atonement" is limited to believers only?
jd
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew C. Bain <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: TruthTalk@mail.innglory.org
Sent: Sun, 27 Nov 2005 02:07:33 +1100
Subject: [TruthTalk] Imputed Righteousness is Essential Doctrine
Today, I came across a quote that I would like to bring up for discussion:
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 "m ade 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 Chur ch. 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
"People can be saved in varying degrees of theological error. There are regenerated people who do not understand predestination, don't accept election, don't understand federal headship, are clueless about imputation, Christ's eternal priesthood, covenant, etc., yet they are regenerated. They simply haven't learned those doctrinal truths yet. Are they condemned for not rightly understanding these very important biblical teachings? No, because the ones I just listed in this paragraph are not declared to be essential doctrines by the Bible."
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 "m ade 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 Chur ch. 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
