Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The Lord gave specific instructions
concerning what Aaron, the high priest over the house of Israel,
was supposed to wear when he made sacrifices for the people.
If he did not wear these garments, he could not enter into the Holy
of Holies. One of those pieces of attire was a gold plaque which
he was to wear on his forehead which said, holiness to the Lord.
That holiness which the high priest alone wore into the presence
of God is typical of the fact that Jesus Christ, our great
high priest, has come into the very presence of God in our behalf,
bringing his own holiness with him. It is because of His holiness
that we are viewed as holy in the sight of God. But of Him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. When the Scriptures
say He is made unto us, it is speaking about one of the most
glorious subjects in all of the Word of God, which is the imputation
of His righteousness unto us. Paul says, 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. Here he speaks of the two aspects
of imputation which form the very basis upon which the hope
of every child of God is based. He became our substitute, being
made sin for us. That is, our sin was imputed
to him, and his righteousness was imputed to us. The word imputed
is an accounting term which literally means written upon the account.
We have been reckoned holy in the sight of God because of his
being our substitute, while at the same time he was reckoned
as a sinner in our behalf. In reality he had no sin of his
own, nor did we possess any holiness. Yet because He was our substitute,
mighty to save, He took our sin and gave us His righteousness.
We had not the power to accomplish this transaction, nor any means
at our disposal to effect this transfer. But He having united
us to Himself in the covenant of grace before the foundation
of the world, determined to redeem His kinsmen by this very act,
conceived and decreed by His power. For the children being
not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of
works, but of him that calleth. So in the fullness of time he
was born in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. For Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. Thus and forevermore are we adjudicated
as sanctified or holy in the sight of God because of what
he has done for us. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now as glorious as the imputed
righteousness is which is ours by the substitutionary work of
Christ on our behalf, Paul also speaks of a holiness which we
are to pursue. It is impossible that we should
hope to ever gain holiness that might be laid to our account
by our own actions, since we are already judged as perfectly
holy in the sight of God by His imputed righteousness. No improvement
or adjustment can be made to that which is perfect. Rather,
he is speaking about that holiness which is the evidence of our
sonship. It would be most odd that those who are predestined
to be conformed to his image should not have any desire to
be like him in word and deed. In fact, the scripture plainly
indicates that for we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. There are many false professors
who somehow think that those who are ordained unto good works
may or may not perform them. We're quite aware of the remaining
corruption that is in all of those who are yet justified by
the imputed righteousness of Christ. Paul's lament in the
seventh chapter of Romans is the common experience of the
sons of grace. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil
which I would not, that I do. Now while we find sin to still
be our mighty foe, yet we also have been given a desire to be
doing the will of God and a desire to be rid of the sin which doth
so easily beset us. This is the evidence of the work
of his spirit within us. Grace not only is that which
makes us acceptable in the sight of God, but is that which stamps
the image of Christ upon us. God is pleased not only to make
us acceptable in His sight through the righteousness of Christ laid
to our account, but He is also pleased to manifest His power
in His elect by conforming them to His image. But ye have not
so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him and have been
taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. That ye put off concerning
the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your
mind. And that ye put on, or have put on, the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Have you been made a new creature in Christ?