A Christian Guidebook: Who Is Jesus? (3)

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5.19 

Obedient unto death
It’s possible, as we engage someone with the Good News of Jesus—even someone whose heart is being stirred to consider spiritual things—that we may hear an objection about sin. Put simply, our friends may not consider themselves to be sinners, or they may insist that if God is love He will accept us just as we are, sin and all.

We’ll need to be ready to help them see, not what seems to make sense to them, but what the Bible clearly teaches.

The Scriptures explain that the disobedience of Adam plunged the entire human race into sin and death (Romans 5.12-17). All people are born in sin and are thus naturally inclined to disobey God, preferring instead the sinful desires of our own hearts (Rom. 1.18-21). This is what is referred to as the doctrine of original sin. Nothing in us is either willing or able to overcome this preference for disobeying God. The Scriptures even speak of us as enemies of God while we are in this condition (Rom. 5.10).

How, then, can we ever be made acceptable to Him, and how can we live in His favor, since we will not and cannot obey His Word? How will we ever be restored to a path of obedience, so that we might know the blessings of God in every area of our lives, and thus realize the fullness of His good and perfect plan?

Anselm explained that it was to restore obedience to humankind that the Son of God became a man and willingly submitted to the righteous Law of God and the punishment of our sin. God the Father did not compel His Son to die, Anselm explained to Boso, “but He suffered death of His own will, not yielding up His life as an act of obedience, but on account of His obedience in maintaining holiness; for He held out so firmly in this obedience that He met death on account of it.”

Whereas Adam chose to sin, plunging us all into rebellion against God, Jesus chose the path of obedience, perfect obedience, and endured the hostility of sinners. Thus He opened the way to salvation through Himself (Jn. 14.6). 

Two aspects
There are two aspects to the obedience which Jesus accomplished on behalf of sinful men. I mentioned these briefly in our previous installment, but I want to visit them again here.

The first is what theologians refer to as Jesus’ active obedience. By His active obedience Jesus perfectly fulfilled all the righteous requirements of God’s Law. He never failed in a single jot or tittle of the Law, but kept and fulfilled all it requires, perfectly, and at all times. Thus He presented to God a righteousness full and complete, without stain or fault. We have no righteousness of our own and thus no right to be in the Presence or know the salvation of a righteous God. Our only hope of righteousness is in the imputed righteousness of the God/Man (2 Cor. 5.21). His righteousness is the ground on which God is willing to accept us.

The second aspect of Christ’s obedience is what is known as His passive obedience. By this Jesus allowed Himself to be taken and crucified to suffer the punishment of a holy and just God against the sins of every human being. God made Him Who knew no sin to be sin for us, as Paul said, so that, through His active and passive obedience—not ours—we might be declared righteous in the sight of God. Jesus’ death for sin is sufficient to pay for the sins of every human being (1 Jn. 2.2). But His death and resurrection are only efficient—that is, they only have saving effects—for those who believe in Him as Savior and Lord (Acts 2.36-47).

By actively submitting to the requirements of the Law of God, Jesus accomplished the righteousness we require to know, enjoy, and serve God. By submitting to the punishment of the Law at the hands of wicked men, He became our Substitute, and, taking our sins upon Himself, bore our sin away, so that all who believe in Him have no reason to fear the wrath of God. Now all people possess the means, through Jesus Christ, for enjoying fellowship with God forever. 

Obedient and exalted
Anselm summarized this reason for the Incarnation of Christ: “So the Father desired the death of the Son, because He was not willing that the world should be saved in any other way, except by man’s doing so great a thing as that which I have mentioned [he means, restoring obedience]. And this, since none could accomplish it, availed as much with the Son, Who so earnestly desired the salvation of man, as if the Father had commanded Him to die; and, therefore, as the Father gave Him commandment, so He did, and the cup which the Father gave to Him He drank, being obedient unto death.”

Because of His obedience—active and passive—and as the culmination of it, Jesus has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received a Kingdom and glory and honor (cf. Dan. 7.9-14; Ps. 110). Now He is advancing His rule on earth as it is in heaven (Phil. 2.5-11), giving His Kingdom to His saints, who inherit and rule in it forever (Dan. 7.18-27). The obedience of Jesus Christ our King cancels our sins and provides a power for righteousness by which we are increasingly transformed into His image as His Word and Spirit work in us (Phil. 2.13; 2 Cor. 3.12-18). 

As Jesus obeyed the Father, fulfilling all righteousness, so all who believe in Him are called to obey His Word as well, not that they might earn salvation, but that, being saved, they might participate in the life of Christ by the power of His Spirit, and thus know full and abundant life in Him. Through the obedience of Christ, we are saved, and through the obedience of Christ we obey, unto righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, precisely according to God’s eternal plan.

Search the Scriptures
1. Explain the active obedience of Jesus. Support your answer with Scripture, either those cited here or others.

2. Explain the passive obedience of Jesus. Support your answer with Scripture, either those cited here or others.

3. Why do those who might be searching for God need to know both these forms of Jesus’ obedience?

Next steps—Demonstration: How visible is the righteousness of Jesus in you? What opportunities for demonstrating that righteousness will you have today?

Additional Resources
For a free copy of Anselm’s Cur Deus Homo, click this link.

If you have found this study helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.