All right, here we are in the
midst of some prophecies of Jeremiah. We're isolating one. You'll recognize
the Messiah, the Lord, immediately in this passage of Scripture.
Jeremiah 23, verses 5 through verse 8, please. Behold, the
days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise up unto David a
righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the
name whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth
which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt, but they shall say, in verse 8, The Lord liveth which
brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out
of the north country and from all countries, whither I have
driven them, and they shall dwell in their own land. Now look again
at verse 6. In his days Judah shall be saved,
Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the name whereby he shall
be called the Lord our righteousness. Now, I'd like to add two other
verses to that that will come before us in the course of our
study. One of them is 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 and verse 30. There Paul writes, But of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Made unto us
righteousness. Then one of the greatest verses
in the New Testament, 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21 will come
before us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now with those verses and this
subject before us, we are in for a spiritual feast this morning. Let me begin by saying that the
greatest need of a guilty sinner The greatest need that any sinner
has is a saving righteousness. Without it, he will perish. Without
it, he will fall into eternal condemnation. Not only that,
but nothing can be substituted for this saving righteousness. Nothing else can be put in its
place. Nothing else will survive. not keeping the law, not doing
good, not practicing the golden rule, nothing. There is no alternative
for the righteousness of God and that righteousness becoming
ours. And the reason why guilty sinners
need a saving righteousness is because 1 Corinthians 6 And verse
9, Paul writes, Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Now, the word unrighteous is
summed 11 times. in the King James Version, and
in each place that word is translated either by unrighteousness or
unjust. They are one and the same. The extended meaning of unrighteousness
is wickedness. And by implication, treacherousness. All that are unrighteous are
treacherous. So the meaning is that unrighteous
person shall not in any wise inherit or enter in to the kingdom
of God. They shall not go into eternal
life. They shall not see or enter into
the blessing and the fellowship of the great Messiah. They shall
not be with Him where He is. Now what's more, to make the
matter worse, there are none that are in themselves righteous. Romans 3 and verse 10, as it
is written, and Paul means in Psalm 14 and Psalm chapter 53,
as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that seeketh after
God in their natural estate, not so much as even one are righteous
or seek after God. And this is not only true of
the pagan and of the Gentile, but this also applies under the
Jews, as Paul writes in Romans chapter 3. that Romans 3 and
verse 9, they are all under sin. So the best way to sum up what
Paul is saying here in this place is to assert that there is none
righteous, no, not one. And to add for emphasis, no,
not even one. One commentator expressed it
this way, quote, righteousness is the criterion by which sin
is judged and the absence of righteousness means the presence
of sin, unquote. To which we might add, the absence
of righteousness means guilt and condemnation. to those that
are without a saving righteousness. And then the problem. Tell people
that they must have a righteousness to be accepted with God and what
will they do? Well, immediately they will drag
in their own filthy self-righteousness before God and expect God to
accept their righteousness as justifying in His sight, trusting
in themselves that they are righteous, as we read in Luke chapter 18
and verse 9. They repeat the sin of the Jew
in Romans chapter 10 And verse 3, that being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. That's a mouthful in Romans 10
and verse 3. So we see the source of their
error. What was it that drove them off
course? What was it that set them adrift? It was ignorance of the righteousness
of God. Being ignorant of the righteousness
of God. Not knowing. Having no knowledge
of it. Being blind spiritually to that
righteousness that God approves. and that God provides for the
saving of sinners. That righteousness, not His attribute
of righteousness, but that righteousness that is revealed in the Gospel,
Romans 1.17, and that comes only by and through Jesus Christ. And in the New Testament, it
is called the righteousness of faith. That's a favorite with
Paul. He uses it in Romans 4.13. in
9.30 and again in chapter 10 and verse 6. The righteousness
which is of faith. We remember Isaiah 64 and verse
6, I trust, that says we are all as an unclean thing. All of our righteousnesses, plural,
are as filthy rags." When you look at that, this was the confession
of those that were in captivity at that particular time. Our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Now coming to the passage,
Jeremiah chapter 23, particularly the last half of verse 6, that
this is the name whereby he shall be called the Lord our Righteous
Name. Now, first thing to do, let's
get our contextual bearings concerning this passage and its setting
in Jeremiah. In this chapter, the prophet
of God carries two subjects that we want to notice very quickly. Number one, it was a promise
of restoration, that they would be brought back out of their
captivity, brought back again into their own land and blessed
and restored. God gathering again the scattered
flock. blessing them by means of one
called a righteous branch, secondly, a king, and thirdly, the Lord
our righteousness. And in verse 8, he speaks of
the great work that would be wrought in them that overshadowed
in their minds the deliverance of their fathers out of the land
of Egypt. This would be so great, so wonderful,
and so blessed that it would, as it were, make them forget
that great deliverance out of the land of Egypt. There is a
like analogy for this from Paul, found in 2 Corinthians 3, verses
7-11. where Paul writes there that
the glory of the law is so far eclipsed by the glory of the
gospel that it is as if the law had no glory of its own at all. And I would that you think about
a candle in the light of the midday sun. Even so, says the
prophet Jeremiah, the promised deliverance gathering them from
the north would cause the Egyptian deliverance to all but be forgotten
when both are come into the mind at the same time. Now the second
thought that the prophet is carrying here is that he condemns the
behavior of both the civil leaders You'll find that in verse 1 through
4. And the so-called spiritual leaders
are pastors or shepherds of the people. You'll find that in verse
9 and following in this great chapter. Both sorts of leaders,
civil and spiritual, were corrupt. And they led the people astray
and away from the things of God. And the judgment of God came
and scattered them, even into captivity, from which only God
could free them or deliver them. Now, look at the one mentioned
in verse 5 and verse 6. This wonderful person. Who might
this be that the prophet Jeremiah is describing. Again, I'll call
your attention to the fact that he is called a righteous branch,
that from the lineage of David. I want to read a passage, Isaiah
11 1 through 5. There shall come forth a rod,
that is, a stem or a shoot, as Isaiah 53 and verse 1. A shoot out of a dry ground,
of Jesse, a root of Jesse. A branch shall grow out of his
roots, and his power and his glory are described over and
over. I'll not turn there, but one
place is Zechariah 3, verse 8, Zechariah 6, and verse 12. On the branch. This branch out
of the house of David. He is called also a king. He shall reign, he shall prosper,
he shall exercise power, he shall exercise judgment and justice
in the earth. and then the name whereby He
is called the Lord our Righteousness. Now, this is both His name and
also His relationship unto His people. Who can this be but Messiah? Who can this be but the Anointed
One of God? This is the Christ. This is the
Holy One of God sent among His people to save them. Now, let
us note the alternate rendering, if we might, in the margin. The Lord, our righteousness,
is given there in the margin, and I'll give it the old college
try again. Jehovah Tistak. Jehovah Righteousness is the
name by which he would be called. Now this word righteousness is
a common one which we often meet with in the Old Testament. It's from a word that simply
means to be right, to be just, that which is altogether just
and right. So that He is not only called
by the name Jehovah Righteousness, but Jehovah Our Righteousness. I like the point made that I
found in the footnotes of the Geneva Study Bible that names
such as Jehovah Righteousness, saying these are not just labels
of identification. They are that, but they are not
just labels of identification. but they are designations of
the character and of the work and the blessing that this one
should bring unto him. Like Matthew 1 and verse 23,
Thou shalt call his name Emmanuel. which being interpreted is God
with us. Again, call His name Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sin. Call Him Emmanuel,
for God is with us. Spurgeon put it this way, He
is with us as God to save us. The incarnation of Jesus is our
salvation. unquote, the words of Spurgeon
in his commentary on Matthew. Even so, his name is called Jehovah,
Our Righteousness, because as Gil said, this one is the author
of righteousness unto his people. Only he is so. None other is
our righteousness. Here's some of what John Gill
wrote on Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse 6, and I quote, The
Father appointed and sent Christ to work it out. He approved it
and accepted it, wrought it out, and imputes it unto His people,
end quote. Now, coming into the New Testament
Scripture, and that verse in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30,
that by God's purpose, by God's design, Christ is made, Christ
has become to the elect wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He is all of those things. He has made all of those things
unto us by God. Why does Paul say this? Well,
in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, this is said in relation to what we
read in verse 26 through verse 29. Basically saying this, that
there is no ground of boasting to them that are called into
the salvation in Jesus Christ. The reason being, they had absolutely
nothing to commend them. And their call stands upon nothing
but the sovereign good pleasure of God. Being in Christ is all
a matter of grace. Being called to salvation is
all a matter of sovereignty. Calvin noted here in 1 Corinthians
1, Paul, he said, would have them pay attention to the procedure
that God had followed in calling them. as He tells them at Colossae. You are complete in Him, in Christ. Colossians 2 and verse 10. The reason is that Christ is
all things needed to be elect. He is all they have need of to
be saved, to be brought into the happiness of heaven at last. And that includes righteousness. They had their spiritual existence
and their standing only in Christ Jesus. And in Him, that is, of
God, are you in Christ Jesus by the purposing and the ordination
of God They came into Christ Jesus and were called into the
fellowship of the Son of God whom God sent into the world. People are prone to trust in
and to brag on and to boast in their putrid self-righteousness. That's just the trait of the
natural man. But in Christ Jesus, He has made
unto us righteousness. That righteousness completely
and absolutely justifies us before God. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Or literally, Jehovah, for the
word there in Jeremiah is Jehovah. Let us catch the thought that
Christ is, by God and of God, been made, has become, who became
unto us this saving righteousness. Jesus Christ is our saving righteousness. And it completely saves us from
sin and guilt and condemnation. By it, the elect in Him, that
is, in Christ, are reckoned righteous so that there is no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8 and verse 1. By special arrangement, by divine
purpose, Christ is made unto us righteousness. And righteousness
is put to our account by God's sovereign design. Now, let's
switch our focus further into the New Testament to that great
verse in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21 that we read from a
while ago. It explains the grounds upon
which Paul exercised the ministry of reconciliation. He had the
ministry of reconciliation committed unto him. He preached that men
could be reconciled unto God, and how it could be that God
would not impute their trespasses unto them. You need to read verse
19 through 21 in this place. That God would not impute their
trespasses unto them. If I may take a moment, Psalms
chapter 32 and verse 2 says this, Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord does not impute iniquity. No more blessed person in the
world than that. Does not put it under their account. Paul says more in Romans chapter
4 and verse 6. Listen to this. He said, David
describes the blessedness of the man unto whom the Lord imputes
righteousness without works. So, there are two things. There
is the non-imputation of sin and the imputation of righteousness
without works and without merit of any kind. Now, the manner
and the ground of this is set forth in 2 Corinthians 5, and
verse 21, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now here is the great wonder
and the great mystery of the gospel. Here is the wonder of
the gospel, that God should do two things. Number one, that
he should lay the whole mass of sin of the elect upon one
who is holy and who is without sin and who knew no sin. that he should lay sin upon one
that is perfectly righteous, and that that one without sin
should bear sin and endure the curse of the law. that God should
make the iniquity of us all to light upon Him, as Isaiah said,
chapter 53 and verse 6. Not only that, but that He should
lay those sins upon a perfectly holy, righteous One, and then
punish those sins in the body and the soul of the Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Now there's a second wonder about
this and about the gospel and that is that God should reckon
a vile sinner to be righteous. That God should declare that
the vilest of sinners stands righteous in his sight. That God should put righteousness
to the account of a fallen son or daughter of Adam without any
recompense from their hand, without any merit, and without any work,
that they have a righteous standing before God, that God impute righteousness
to them and not impute iniquity. But this is what Paul tells us
here in this most famous verse. These two things. What's more,
Paul tells us that the first thing is in order to the second
thing. He made him to be sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He made him to be sin for us
in order to the end, so that we be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now, we're going to be very careful
at this verse of Scripture this morning because of some errors
that are concerning it in the country today. That when Paul
says that Jesus was made sin for us, He neither became a sinner
nor sinful in the Lord making him sin for us. He was not made
sin by an infusion of depravity into Him, but by imputation of
the sin of the elect unto Christ. I think we can get a picture
of this. It is typified and foreshadowed so beautifully in Leviticus chapter
16 on the day of atonement in verse 21. when Aaron took a live
goat, and he lay his hands upon the head of that live goat upon
whom the Lord's lot had fallen, and he confessed over that goat
the sins and iniquity of Israel, as it were, putting them, laying
them upon the head of the live goat. And then He sent that goat
away into the wilderness, over the hill, beyond the horizon,
out of sight by a fit man, he was let go in a land of wilderness
of the margin, said separation, signifying they're gone, they're
gone, they never will return again. And this is the sort of
language that John the Baptist chose to use in preaching and
speaking of the Lord. John 1 and verse 29, he pointed
the Lord out to the people, Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away, or the Margin said, which bears away the sin of the world. God made them to light upon the
sinless, spotless Lamb of God, even Christ. We read in 1 Peter
2, verse 24, He bare our sin in His own body on the tree that
we, having been dead unto sin, should live unto righteousness. What a wonderful exchange. He
takes our sins, endures their punishment, and gives us righteousness. He has made sin while we are
made the righteousness of God in Him. Thomas Manton, I was
reading this week, wrote some things on 2 Corinthians 5 and
verse 21 that there are two words here, he said, that ought to
be noted, taken notice of, and explained and understood that
we might get a right sense or a better sense out of the verse. And the words are sin and made. He made Him to be sinned that
we might be made the righteousness of God. How He was made sin. As to sin, made sin. Manton wrote, and John Gill agreed,
He did not become sinful or a sinner, but that the Father imputed unto
Him the sin of the elect. And the word made, we recently
saw that in another study, refers to God appointing or ordaining
Christ to bear the sin of many. It is a result of this arrangement
that Christ bears our sin, and that the elect are made the righteousness
of God. Hear a verse clearly. Romans
5 and verse 19. Listen to it. As by the obedience
of one, that is, of one man, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Now listen to that very carefully.
By one man made are constituted sinners. By one man's obedience
shall many be made righteous. Now what this is, is the proper
conclusion from that long discussion, I think it's a digression, from
verse 12 through verse 19 in Romans chapter 5, that the disobedience
of one man made many to be sinners. So the obedience of one made
many righteous. I hope I said disobedience of
one man. Even the practicing of sin or
the infusion of depravity is not the main thing that is put
forth in this play. They are made righteous. And that does not refer first
and foremost to practical godliness, at least not in this place, for
their righteousness is the result of the obedience of one." Look
at it, by the obedience of one. Nor is this righteousness synonymous
with personal sanctification, least not in this place. And
may I say it again, in Romans 5 and 19, by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous. I like the way that John Murray
described it in his commentary on the book of Romans. He uses
the word constituted. Made are constituted synonymously. So by the obedience of one, that
being the Lord Jesus Christ, shall many be made are constituted
righteous, as again 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, made the righteousness
of God in him. Now, none could be declared just,
none could be justified unless they are constituted righteous
by some means in the sight of God. Justification, like condemnation,
is a forensic term in the scripture, or a forensic act of God on God's
part. He declares as the great judge
that it is so, and it's not based on personal behavior, but on
imputation. And as a result of the union
between Christ and the elect, that Romans 5 and 18, by the
righteousness of one came upon all men on the justification
of life. The margin in the King James
has it, the result of one act of righteousness was justification
that brings life. Some call it justification, is
a constitutive act. And this constitutive act has
as its basis and ground that great solidary union of the elect
with Christ. So that the elect then are placed
in the category of righteous by reason of, number one, their
union with Christ, and number two, His obedience unto death
upon the cross in their behavior. So, He is the surety of righteousness
unto the elect of God. He's the Lord our righteousness,
Jeremiah 23 and 6. He is our Advocate, Jesus Christ. 1 John 2 and 1, listen, Jesus
Christ the Righteous. We have an Advocate with the
Father, who is He? Jesus Christ the Righteous One. Not only that, but He is the
propitiation for our sin. Now, his righteousness was not
attained by practicing godly or righteous acts, or did he
become righteous by obeying God? Nor is his an imputed righteousness,
for if that were the case, he should have none to spare if
his were only imputed. His righteousness is Inherent. His righteousness is innate. He was righteous before he ever
came into the world. Yet we understand that this is
not something that Christ earned in a later day. but something that he was obedient
to the law, he kept every precept of that law, and he endured the
curse of the law. In nothing did he break it, in
nothing did he transgress it at all, and then endured the
curse and penalty of the law. I'll just throw this out for
our consideration, but it's thought by many that this righteousness
that is imputed unto us is not the attribute of God's righteousness. This He cannot spare with any
other. There are some of God's attributes
that are incommunicable, and none can become the same degree
of righteousness as God. Else, I guess, they would be
God. What righteousness, then, is
it that is imputed unto us? If it is not exactly the attribute
of God's righteousness, what then is imputed? Well, Paul says
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. who Jesus Christ has died for,
so that we have no need of any further righteousness. He that
has or stands righteous in the sight of the law is righteous
in the sight of God and free from condemnation. Let me tell
you what we can do. Paul did it and we can. We can
fling away our own filthy garments of self-righteousness and be
done with them forever. What Paul says in Philippians,
the third chapter, that I might be found in Him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that righteousness
which is of the faith of Christ our blessed Lord. We can fling
away our righteousness and be done with it and be clothed with
a garment of righteousness that is imputed by God unto those. Like Abraham, righteousness was
imputed to him. And I'll tell you something else
we can do in closing, and that is that we can stand upon this
righteousness that God has provided in Christ and that is imputed
unto us and stand upon it and say, here I stand. While others are working, trying
to merit favor from God, We can stand upon this righteousness
provided in Christ and imputed unto us. And I'll tell you one
final thing. We can close our eyes in death
trusting in this righteousness that God has provided us and
that has been imputed unto us in the Lord Jesus Christ. By
that righteousness may we pass out of this world and into the
presence of our God and of our Savior and be welcomed in. A lot of people don't like imputed
righteousness. They say it takes away from actual
righteousness, but we can never actually be perfectly righteous,
but the imputed righteousness is the righteousness of the law
so that not in one point, have we condemnation from its hand. The Lord our righteousness. I'm persuaded that few today
understand this great principle of the gospel, that the Lord
is our righteousness. And to trust in anything else
for righteousness is to sink in sinking sand, quicksand, and
be swallowed up. The Lord our righteousness. Thank God for that.