#active obedience

[lifeovercoffee]

Passive obedience is what God is doing in our hearts, while active obedience is our responses to His great work in us. If someone is not a "doer of the Word," something is not happening inside them.

[brianchilton]

What is the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ?

What is the Active and Passive Obedience of Christ?

By: Sherene Khouri, PhD | July 18, 2022 While the two terms are distinct, they are not separable. The two terms are related to the work of Christ (not the person of Christ doctrine) and accompany each other at every point in Jesus’s life. This article will answer three main questions: what is the active and the passive obedience of Christ? Is this doctrine biblical? Why this doctrine is…

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[reformedontheweb]

Dagg BK 7 Chapter III

Dagg BK 7 Chapter III

When the Scriptures speak of Christ’s blood as the ground of our justification, his obedience is supposed: and, on the other hand, when his obedience is mentioned, his sufferings are supposed. His obedience to the precepts of the law would not have sufficed, if he had not also endured its penalty: and if, while enduring his sufferings, he had not loved God with all his heart, his sacrifice would…

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[reformedontheweb]

The Most Important Question One Can Ask!

The Most Important Question One Can Ask!

By Roger Duke

“Of Justification”

There are many important questions that should be asked concerning the possible paths one’s life should take. These questions must be considered, especially in the light of “characteristic … key events … which compose the essential[s] of human existence, such as birth, growth, emotionality, aspiration, conflict, … morality”3 and even death. No one single question…

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[reformedontheweb]

John Owen on the Imputation of Christ's Active Obedience

John Owen on the Imputation of Christ’s Active Obedience

by Michael Brown

Introduction

In 1677, when John Owen (1616-1683) published his book, The Doctrine of Justification by Faith through the Imputation of the Righteousness of Christ; Explained, Confirmed, and Vindicated, the Protestant doctrine of justification was still engulfed in controversy. “In my judgment,” said the English Calvinist, “Luther spake the truth when he said, ‘Amisso articulo…

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[reformedontheweb]

Romans 1:17 & the imputation of God's inherent righteousness?

Romans 1:17 & the imputation of God’s inherent righteousness?

by Hershel L Harvell Jr.

A few weeks ago I blogged an article which was entitled “The ‘Word of God’ and quotes from Reformers via social media,” you can read that article here, which consists of three parts. In part three I made mention of a minister friend, of whom I respect and love, which had a problem with the term ‘eloquence,’ as used by ministers to describe one who is fluent in the…

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[timothygharris]

The Nature and Extent of the Atonement

The Nature and Extent of the Atonement

The following is an adaptation of a presentation I gave at the latest Northwest Ohio Reformation Society meeting. Our topic was “Redemption Accomplished and Applied,” borrowing from John Murray’s classic text on the gospel. I was tasked with covering the application of redemption and decided to focus on the nature and extent of the atonement.

What is Redemption?

According to Baker’s Evangelical…

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[areformation]

The obedience Christ rendered fulfilled the obedience in which Adam failed. It would not be correct to say, however, that Christ's obedience was the same in content or demand. Christ was called on to obey in radically different conditions, and required to fulfill radically different demands. Christ was sin-bearer and the climactic demand was to die. This was not true of Adam. Christ came to redeem, not so Adam. So Christ rendered the whole-souled totality obedience in which Adam failed, but under totally different conditions and with incomparably greater demands.

-- John Murray, Collected Writings, Vol. 2, p. 58

Quick reflection: this flies directly in the face of the claim that Jesus's suffering on the cross amounted to squat compared to ours, or that the difference between his suffering and ours is merely one of degree and not one of kind. In Spike Lee's 25th Hour (one of my favorite flicks!), Ed Norton's character Monty goes on a famed monologue his hatred for New York City. (Ironically, it's also a tribute to New York City.) In his monologue, he lambasts the Catholic church and moves on to Jesus. "F* the church that protects [pedophilic priests], delivering us into evil. And while you're at it, f* JC! He got off easy! A day on the cross, a weekend in hell, and all the hallelujahs of the legioned angels for eternity! Try seven years in f*in' Otisville, Jay!" Like the rest of the monologue, it's difficult to say whether he really means it.

In any case, my point is, the suffering of Christ isn't what it seems on the surface. One meaning of his suffering and its profundity is that it was absolutely undeserved. He was the one truly innocent victim who ever lived, earning and therefore deserving absolute bliss and approval by God. He succeeded where we all fail, where Adam failed. But instead of finding this bliss, this approval, a reward, he found condemnation, rejection, and wrath. One with nothing to mar his record, he was yet numbered with the transgressors.