The Great Exchange

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21, NIV). 
"Produce fruit in keeping with repentance..." (Luke 3:*, NIV).  
"By faith Abraham... obeyed" (cf. Hebrews 11:8).  
"... [T]o advance the obedience of faith among all nations"  (Rom. 16:26, HCSB).
"The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience." --Oswald Chambers
"True faith manifests itself in obedience only."  --John MacArthur
"Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Faith is not believing in spite of the evidence, but obeying despite the consequences."  --source unknown 
"Faith is not how much we believe, but how well we obey."  --source unknown


Religion is defined as tit for tat:  good works in exchange for salvation! You must earn it by good deeds outweighing bad ones.  But you can never know where you stand!  Legalism is defined as works plus faith in exchange for salvation.  While antinomianism or libertinism is defined as faith in exchange for salvation minus works; (in other words, works are not a part of the fruit nor authenticate salvation) in contrast to orthodox Reformed doctrine that faith is given in exchange for salvation plus works (works will always be the fruit and evidence!).  

The only way of assurance is for everything to be grace!  It's not a matter of us, nor of God and us in any combination, but of God alone ("Salvation is of the LORD," Jonah 2:9).  The rub is that if we had to do anything, we'd fail.  There's nothing we can do!  For those hoping their good works will amount to anything, they are never good enough in God's estimation.

This is an important nuance because the correct Reformed formula for salvation is that "we are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone!"  The "Five Only's" include by grace alone and by faith alone!   Faith and faithfulness (making good on our faith) cannot be divorced! These two can be distinguished but not separated more than you can distinguish your body and soul but if you separate them you're dead!  Paul and James both saw the two flip sides of the spiritual equation: Paul would say that he would show you his works by his faith; while James (cf. James 2:16) would counter that he would show you his faith by his works; the point is that they are not contrary nor contradictory statements but just two ways at looking at the one truth of our salvation by a faith that produces evidence in good deeds as fruit.

Salvation is not an imagined or figurative righteousness but actually forensic and totally by grace from beginning till end.  Our contribution to the cross was our sin and God exchanged that for the righteousness of Christ on our behalf to our account to use business jargon.  It was credited Christ's deeds to our account and that's why they say justification is "just-as-if-I'd-done-it!"  When God looks at us in our sinful nature all He sees is Christ's righteousness as it's imputed to our new nature in Christ--the new man.  It's not a new suit on the man, but a new man in the suit!

The point about this great exchange is that we must see our need for it.  The necessary condition for salvation is to realize we aren't worthy of it.  You could say it goes to the lowest bidder!  We don't realize how sinful we are till we've tried to be good and we cannot be good without realizing our sin! Sort of like quitting to smoke.   This is the catch-22 of salvation that is solved only by the mystery of how grace works in our hearts to kindle faith and awaken repentance and regenerate us into new creatures in Christ.

In coming to Christ, we must come in penitent faith or believing repentance which is granted by a work of grace--we exercise this making Christ real to us.  We cannot come of our own power but must be wooed or actually drawn by Christ (elko used here in Greek doesn't mean to woo but to drag, but Arminians don't want to make God out to be forceful and they are trying to protect His honor or reputation).  John 6:44 says "no man can come to [Christ] unless the Father who sent [Him] draws him, and verse 65 says similarly that it must be "granted of the Father."

Many see salvation is something that God owes them for their faith or repentance in a tit for tat arrangement or exchange.  However, if that were true, it wouldn't be by grace but justice; the point is that God owes no one salvation and didn't have to save anyone to remain holy!  We don't earn our salvation by our faith because faith is not a work, as the Roman Catholics believe, and a meritorious one at that-- but don't think grace is enough but add merit to grace, works to faith, the Church to Scripture, and the Pope to Christ.

Faith must be in the right object (we aren't saved by faith in faith--it must be directed in Christ), Christ saves--not faith!  It isn't how much faith we have in the church or in the priest or pastor!  If faith is a work, then we are saved by works!  But we are saved from beginning to end by grace--grace is not only necessary but sufficient (it's all we need).  He saved us by grace (cf. Eph. 2:8-9), He keeps us by grace (cf. Jude 21), and He's coming for us and gives us victory by grace (cf. Phil. 2:13).  We must become totally grace-oriented to appreciate our salvation in its totality.

Now our "righteousness is as filthy rags" in God's eyes and only what's done in Christ is worthy of God's stamp of approval, imprimatur, and reward in heaven.  Paul counted all his deeds in the flesh as "dung."  We must see our faith as God's gift to us, not our gift to God.  We must never attain the mindset that God owes us and we're doing Him a favor! We are simply vessels of honor that God is using for His glory and purpose.  For this is the "chief end of man," according to The Westminster Shorter Catechism, "is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."  John Piper adds that it should really read "by enjoying Him forever."  Our righteousness is God's gift to us and is the grand exchange for our sin.

That's grace:  we are forever in God's debt and will never be able to reimburse or pay Him back, and we never can earn it nor did we, and we certainly didn't deserve it and never will, much less we cannot add anything (nada!) to grace (not Jesus plus "churchmanship," Jesus plus "Churchianity," Jesus plus emotion (emotionalism or sentimentality); Jesus plus knowledge (Gnosticism or intellectualism); Jesus plus knowing the rules (legalism); nor Jesus plus being a do-gooder (moralism).  We must realize that grace means just that--the free gift of God we cannot even give back!  And God certainly won't ever take back His gift to us, for gifts are given and God will not repent concerning them:  "For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29, NIV).

In sum, we may think we are not that bad but God doesn't grade on a scale or curve and the closer we get to salvation and to God, the more we realize our own unworthiness and sinfulness.  Paul called himself the "chief of sinners" and William Jay of Bath said that he was a great sinner, but he had a great Savior.  No one is too far gone for God's grace and, in effect, we are all hopeless  (cf. Eph. 2:12) without it, no one cuts the mustard or meets the standards because Christ raised the bar to perfection, fulfilling the Law.

A word to the wise is sufficient:  We're predestined by grace, called by grace, saved and justified by grace, kept by grace, sanctified by grace, glorified by grace! By grace, no one is lost in the shuffle.   Soli Deo Gloria!

For His Name's Sake

God's reputation and character are at stake in protecting us and providing our needs, as well as the testimony we give and the salvation we receive.  For instance, if one of His promises fail, like the assurance of our salvation, God would be a liar and not the great Promise Keeper He is. For example, if we lost our salvation, God would lose His honor in keeping us.   In fact, we are not only justified while we are sinners, but God gives us the gift of righteousness in time and we are stewards of it.  We don't honor God with our righteousness, which is as filthy rags, but praise God by using His righteousness and walking in it to His glory.  Remember, we are engaged in His will doing His work, He is not doing our thing or doing what we want for our pleasure.  Bear in mind, our righteousness is God's gift to us, not our gift to Him.  

Everything we do, say and think ought to be for His Name's sake and to His glory.  We pray in Jesus' Name, not as a formula, but to ensure that our prayers are according to His will, not ours and bring Him glory and honor, not us.   This is the essence of trust:  seeing everything through God's eyes for His will and glory, not our self-interest.  We let go of the sovereignty of our lives before we can own Him as Lord!  We must remain on track with His will daily and constantly renew the commitment because we easily go astray or go rogue unto our own paths or ruts.  Actually, habits can become ruts to get into because they may interfere with God's will and can become hindrances in our walk.  But Scripture says we have all gone astray like sheep, each to his own way (cf. Isa. 53:6).  And we all tend to do what is right in our own eyes! (Cf. Judges 17:6; 21:25).  It is vital to know that the key to staying on course is to realize it's not about us!  The key to failure and depression is to live for self and not love anyone above yourself.


We must grow up and realize that God has our best interest in mind just like a shepherd cares for and tends his sheep--we are really too stupid to map out our own lives and to see the dangers ahead and how to find pasture or supplies for life.  No man is an island or a rock who needs no one!  We cannot survive without our shepherd for all our basic necessities in life--Jesus is that Shepherd!  We must constantly ask ourselves:  are we in the rut we make for ourselves by bad habits and lack of foresight, or are we in God's tracks that are sure to lead to fulfilling God's purpose for our lives?  We all can be on track with God if we renew ourselves daily and get into the Word, prayer, and stay connected through the ministries of the local church as it disciples us and trains us through all the spiritual gifts manifested corporately.

Job said that all of his days he shall wait for his "renewal" (cf. Job 14:14, ESV) and we must wait patiently on the Lord because we are assured He wants what's best for us (cf. Isa. 40:31).  If we had our own way, we would surely mess up our lives--we aren't merely as wise as we think we are as finite beings.  The safest place to be is in His will for our life and this ought to be Job One!  The only happy and fulfilling life is doing God's work and interpreting everything accordingly or seeing God at work in what we do.  We only learn the hard way of the school of hard knocks by resisting God's will and will soon find out that God knew best in the first place!          Soli Deo Gloria!

Maintaining Our Integrity

Robert Mueller III says, "If you have your integrity, nothing else matters; if you don't have your integrity, nothing else matters."

The context of Job is the premise that God always rewards good and punishes evil.
But we know that God prospers the wicked as well as the righteous, and the righteous suffer.

Job did just that in Job 31 where he delineates just how "righteous he is."  He actually doesn't think he deserves all this torture, suffering, and trials he is undergoing without knowing why.  His friend says he isn't getting less than he deserves and Zophar says, "...Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves" (Job 11:6, ESV).  He sounds blunt and cruel but none of us get what we deserve if God meted out justice.  He restrains Himself in mercy to all and awaits eternity to demand payment for sin. Self-righteousness is one of the sins that repels God and Job was full of it, actually challenging God to come up with a case against him.  He stood fast to his personal integrity and fell into Satan's trap of pride that wouldn't let him admit he was wrong.

The problem with his friends was that the popular doctrine was that all suffering was caused by sin and we only got what we deserved in life, good or bad (sort of a belief in karma).  The purpose of the story is to justify the ways of God to man and show that God doesn't have to explain Himself or answer to us, but we to Him.  God never answered Job's queries and made Him realize that what mattered was that He is God and Job is a man.  Job also realizes no one, including him, has a monopoly on wisdom and he has a lot to learn. There are behind-the-scenes reasons for suffering and God doesn't have to reveal His ways to us ("The secret things belong to the LORD our God..," says Deut. 29:29). The closer we get to God the more we become aware of our shortcomings and sins and see how unworthy we are (as Job finally confessed in Job 42:6). Samuel Rutherford said to pray for a lively sense of sin, the more the sense of sin the less sin.

Job suffers the consequences of challenging God and gets humbled, but we must all realize that we are not getting what we deserve and God is only showing mercy to us in sparing us the suffering we deserve.  We are only ready for the grace of God once we have experienced the reality of mercy and put in our place, knowing that we don't want justice but mercy and grace.  The reality of God's economy is that the way up is down and that we must confess with John the Baptist in John 3:30 saying, "He must decrease, I must decrease."  James 4:8 says that "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Job's spirit was broken by his trial and sometimes it takes a breakdown or coming to the end of ourselves to find God ("O that I knew where I might find Him," he says in Job 23:3).  When we start thinking we deserve something or God owes us, we are no longer grace-oriented and lost track of God's grace that everything we have is from God and we are only stewards of his bounties.

Job teaches us we that adversity builds character in the crucible of life because the same sun melts the butter, hardens the clay and with the same event one becomes bitter and another better. Man's highest good may come from his deepest suffering.   When Job asked,"Why?" God only answered "Who?" and revealed Himself to him.  We are to have faith in God, and this pleases Him, not to second-guess Him and try to figure Him out or wonder why something happens.  All suffering is providentially allowed and must be to God's glory, and have our best interests in mind and nothing can happen to us without His permission because there is a hedge of protection around us to protect us from Satan.

To conclude:  God is the causa prima or sole primary cause of the universe and we are all His vessels, either of honor or dishonor.  Satan and his subservient minions are subject to His Lordship and command and serve God too and cannot do independent mischief.  They are merely his unwitting pawns doing God's will. God is not evil, but uses evil vessels as second causes to accomplish His will.   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Concept Of Biblical Fairness

"I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten...You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied"  (Joel 2:25,26).  [E.g., God making it up to Israel and attempting to even the score.]

"... No one can stay His hand or say to Him, 'What hast thou done?'" (Dan. 4:35).  

There are three possibilities for defining fairness:  the people's subjective opinion, the dictionary, or God Himself.  Who or what defines it becomes the highest standard and is in effect deified. There are no laboratory conditions to test the concept: all things being equal is a hard test and there are multiple variables and givens that can't be measured, but may be relative--only God sees and knows the whole story.

There is no doctrine of fairness in the Bible, but corresponding and related words might be goodness, righteousness, and justice.  The Doctrine of Fairness was a network TV policy for political ads in the 70s.  Actually the word "fair" is not biblical  (it should be pointed out that our very concept of fair play came from God Himself and is often cited as one proof that He exists!) and we all have our own idea of what it means (usually a concept we picked up at age 7) and often the first complaint in life we have is that something isn't fair.

God defines what fairness is (He defines what everything is because He is autonomous or a law unto Himself subject to no higher laws), not us. The word is highly subjective and everyone has their own idea of what it means like the concept of beauty being in the eye of the beholder.  The Bible doesn't mention the word but comes close in referring to being right, just, and good. Note that God is not righteous, good, nor just because He obeys some outside law, but He is intrinsically that way by nature.  We must be careful not to call good evil, or evil good (Isa. 5:20).

If God is required to be gracious, it is no longer grace--a form of nonjustice (passing by of justice for whatever reason and offering grace or mercy), which is not injustice (doing something evil or wrong).  Case in point:  If a parent disciplines a more mature son, and withholds discipline or punishment from the younger one (having a reason and not being arbitrary), is the parent unfair?  Or does he have the right to reserve to punish or not to punish?  "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and harden whom I will harden."

 God cannot be accused of evil, though He can use vessels of dishonor to accomplish His ultimate will.   God can be accused of no wrongdoing (N.B. recall that "in all these things Job did not accuse God of wrongdoing").  God is holy and never does what is wrong, but always what is right.  Abraham said, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"  He is our judge and not we his.  Looking the word up in the dictionary, it says that fair means showing no favoritism or prejudice and also playing according to the rules.

God is certainly "no respecter of persons."  By virtue of these definitions, God is not unfair in saving us, nor in making Jesus our Substitute or Vicar, who did it voluntarily and joyfully.  We have no claim on His favor, mercy, or grace.  God didn't save the angels who sinned and didn't have to save us to maintain His deity.  When we say that God is unfair we are holding Him up to our standards of right and wrong and making ourselves the moral center of the universe.  If God does something, it is fair; it is not that he does something because it is fair.  God always acts according to His nature and cannot be God in contradiction to Himself.  "Who can say to God, 'What hast thou done?'" (Dan. 4:35).

One important concept we all misinterpret is that we believe fairness equals being equitable--parents are accused of not treating their children the same.  Is the parent unfair because he wasn't equal?  They would always feel under condemnation because that is an impossible goal. God decides what fairness is, not us.  What can be construed as unfairness is being arbitrary, whimsical, or capricious?  God always has a reason for what He does, and His ultimate glory is the end result--"Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever," says The Westminster Shorter Catechism.  God thought this was more important than going according to our rules and subjecting Himself to our standards.

God is our judge and we cannot judge Him.  No one has a case against God or "can say unto Him, 'What hast thou done?'" This is the mystery of salvation:  God is both just, and the justifier of the ungodly.  God found a way to preserve His divine nature and to forgive and justify us.  God knows what He is doing with His universe and His thoughts are higher than ours, "as the heavens are higher than the earth" (Isa. 55:9).  Life seems unfair but basically, we reap what we sow-- there is no karma as many believe, because we often get what we don't deserve, and don't get what we do deserve.

Don't envy the wicked who "receive their portion in this life" (Psalm 17:14) Some people die and leave their reward behind, others die to go to their reward in heaven! God is good to all: to the elect unto salvation (special grace), to some in all ways, to some in some ways, but to all in some way (common grace).  But God's goodness is an attribute we can be assured of:  "God is good to all, and He has compassion over all that He has made" (Psalm 145:9).  As they say, "God is good all the time; all the time God is good!  Learn this and find out for yourself!   Even if we pay the ultimate price in martyrdom, God will reward it to us and make it up in all eternity--He sees the Big Picture!  When the psalmist saw their "latter end" he was assured of God's justice.

God is just and that is a legitimate doctrine. He is unjust to no one and only withholds justice from His elect--that is not a form of injustice, but of nonjustice.  Jesus willingly paid the price of His own volition and wasn't forced to go to the cross to die on our behalf.  One cannot say it was unfair that he suffered for us: He said, "Weep not for Me, but for yourselves."  We don't have a claim against God and God owes us nothing.  We have no case against God and that very thought is near blasphemy.  Jesus said that Satan "has nothing against [Him]."  John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, his epic and classical poem, to "justify the ways of God to man."  We stand trial and not God--just think about how God didn't answer any of Job's questions, but only revealed Himself to Him.

When we open the door to questioning God's attributes or character it ultimately leads to heresy and then can lead to apostasy and a falling away. When we say that it is unfair that Jesus went to the cross we are saying that God was arbitrary, or showed favoritism and/or prejudice, not karma. Jesus went of His own volition and volunteered for the mission--He did it the joy set before Him!

To say that it is unfair that we get saved when we deserve to go to hell is to malign the justice of God and impugn on His nature--there is no injustice with the Almighty.  Grace is a form of non-justice, or of withholding justice, but it is not injustice per se.  We were not elected unto salvation and faith because of our virtue or merit, but because "of His own purpose and grace" (not according to our works of righteousness which we have done" i.e., He did not save us out of favoritism nor whim, but His own glory.)  We do indeed deserve to go to hell and God is withholding justice from us, but that is not a definition of being unfair.

God tempers His justice with mercy (cf. Hab. 3:2) and  Aristotle said that justice itself is strictly just giving one what is his due dessert (reward or punishment) for what he has done and is culpable or responsible for.  God "has mercy on whom He will have mercy" (Rom. 9:16) and it is God's prerogative to decide whom will get mercy, not us. He reserves the right to demonstrate grace, or it wouldn't be grace it would be justice.  God is not obligated to be merciful or gracious just because He is to someone else or not anyone! God doesn't owe us anything and we have no right to demand justice or mercy.

According to Wayne Grudem, famous Reformed theologian,  "God's righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with what is right and is himself the final standard of what is right." (If there is a standard higher than God then He is not God.) We all have an inner sense of "oughtness" and being unfair is one of those.  Moses says, "All his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deut. 32:4).  God Himself says, "I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right" (Isa. 45:19).

"Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (cf. Gen. 18:25).  God is the final standard of what conforms to His nature, which is what is right.  In Job, it says, "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?...Will you even put me in the wrong?  Will you condemn me that you may be justified?"  (Job 40:20,8).  We, as creatures, cannot judge our Creator:  the clay cannot say to the Potter, "Why have you made me thus?" God isn't accountable to us and is too deep to explain Himself to our finite minds. We are on the hot seat, as it were, not God.  There can be no standard higher than God, or that standard would be God.   Soli Deo Gloria!

What Is The Place Of The Law?

The moral code has not been rescinded which is summarized by the Ten Commandments, except for the Sabbath requirement which is a principle more than a legalistic burden (cf. Romans 14:5; Col. 2:16).  The law was made for lawbreakers and rebels according to 1 Tim. 1:9. We obey the law out of gratitude and not out of obligation: because we "want to" not because we "have to." Obedience is a "therefore" not an "in order to." The law is holy, righteous, and good if one uses it righteously. So, we don't have to become somewhat "Jewish" to be good Christians. Judaizers are wrong missing the point and want to burden themselves with the law.

Does the law of Moses serve any purpose today? There were 613 laws in the books of Moses. They were of three classifications: ceremonial (ritual); governmental; and moral. Only the moral laws are still in effect and are fulfilled in the command to love our neighbor as Paul said. "The entire law is summed up in one single command: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Gal. 5:14).  We are under a higher law:  the law of love  The law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ as Paul said in Galatians 3:25. "If you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." "Cursed is everyone who relies on the law for righteousness" (Gal. 3:10). Paul said in Rom. 6:14, "...You are not under the law but under grace."

The law has been set aside as a way of life, either justification sanctification, or obedience. "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for those who believe" (Rom. 10:4). "For if justification were through the law, Christ died for nothing" (Gal. 2:21). "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming not the realities themselves..." (Heb. 10:1). The law is obsolete for Christ "by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and ordinances" (Eph. 2:15) has made it irrelevant to us as a way of life, except for the moral code (it is still wrong to murder, for example).

Our relationship to the law is like a husband and wife and when one dies the other is free from the union. We are free in Christ and shouldn't be yoked again in bondage. The Law adjudicates or declares a man to be a sinner and does not exculpate him or free him from guilt. Only in Christ can we be free even though we say, "Mea Culpa" (I am to blame).

Romans 3:20 says that by the Law is the knowledge of sin. Paul wouldn't have known himself as a sinner unless he heard that he shouldn't covet. It is by the Word of God that the Holy Spirit convicts and it is His job to convict of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (Isaiah 55:11; cf. John 16:8). One law that is not repeated in the New Testament is the Sabbath law (cf. Neh. 9:14). This law was given as a sign (cf. Ezek. 20:20) to Israel that they were His people and comparing Rom. 14:5 and Col. 2:16 we see that this is not commanded or re-instituted in the New Testament. Finally, we serve not in the old written code of the law but in the new way of the Spirit (cf. Rom. 7:6). Watchman Nee said that the day he was delivered from the law was like heaven on earth.

The Formula of Concord (1577), the Lutheran confession of faith, established the so-called three-fold purpose of the law: To reveal sin; to establish decency in the society at large, and to provide a rule of life for the regenerated through faith in Christ. (this is according to R. C. Sproul). On the other end of the spectrum is Martin Luther's Against the Antinomians which refuted those who thought the law had no purpose (literally "against the law"). Sproul says that the law (here the moral law) does not sanction the idea that everyone has the right to do as they please in their own eyes or the right to do wrong just because we are not "under the law."

The law prepares us for grace and if we love Jesus we will do His commandments. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). The law is a mirror according to Luther that shows us our true selves. The Hebrews, upon receiving the law, didn't pray for mercy but said they would obey it--what a mistake! Legalism is mainly adherence to the letter of the law and exclusion of the spirit of the law according to Sproul. He says, "The antidote to legalism and antinomianism is a serious study of the Word of God."

The law should be used in witnessing because the "law is perfect, converting the soul" (Psalms. 19:7). Billy Graham says that the law is not a panacea but a diagnosis. "It condemns but does not convert, it challenges but does not change." Charles Finney says, "By a convicted sinner, I mean one who feels condemned by the Law of God as a guilty sinner. I remark that this [the Law] is the rule and the only just rule by which the guilt of sin can be measured." Psalm 19:7 says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the sinner."

D. L. Moody says, "God, being a perfect God, had to give a perfect law, and the law was given not to save men, but to measure them...They try to save themselves by trying to keep the law, but it was never meant for men to save themselves by...This, then, is why God gives us the law--to show us ourselves in our true colors." John Wesley says, "The first use of [the Law], without question, is to convince the world of sin." Yes, when He comes He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (cf. John 16:8). John Bunyan says, "The man who does not know the nature of the law does not know the nature of sin. The world at large is under the law until they are redeemed from its curse. 

The Law was given to convince us we cannot keep it!     Soli Deo Gloria!