“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17
Written by Dr. Marcus J. Serven
Jesus Christ actively kept all of the provisions of the law of God on behalf of God’s people. In essence, he did for us what we could not do for ourselves. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4). This means that Jesus fulfilled the mandates of the Law upon our behalf, and he lavishly extends his righteousness to the people of God. Therefore, when we stand before the Lord on the Judgment Day we can know with certainty that our salvation is not based upon our own merit, but it is based upon the meritorious work of Jesus Christ—by grace he extends his righteousness to us. In another significant passage the Apostle Paul declares, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus Christ took our sins upon himself, and the people of God received the righteousness of Jesus Christ (in a double imputation). It was a divine exchange that was sovereignly brought about by the gracious activity of God. Professor Louis Berkof describes the “active obedience” of Jesus Christ in the following manner,
Christ as Mediator entered into the federal relation in which Adam stood in the state of integrity, in order to merit eternal life for the sinner. This constitutes the active obedience of Christ, consisting in all that Christ did to observe the law in its federal aspect, as the condition for obtaining eternal life. The active obedience of Christ was necessary to make His passive obedience acceptable with God, that is, to make it an object of God’s good pleasure. It is only on account of it that God’s estimate of the sufferings of Christ differs from His estimate of the sufferings of the lost. Moreover, if Christ had not rendered active obedience, the human nature of Christ itself would have fallen short of the just demands of God, and He would not have been able to atone for others. And, finally, if Christ had suffered only the penalty imposed on man, those who shared in the fruits of His work would have been left exactly where Adam was before he fell. Christ merits more for sinners than the forgiveness of sins. According to Gal. 4:4-5 they are through Christ set free from the law as the condition of life, are adopted to be sons of God, and as sons are also heirs of eternal life, Gal. 4:7. All this is conditioned primarily on the active obedience of Christ. Through Christ the righteousness of faith is substituted for the righteousness of the law, Rom. 10:3-4. Paul tells us that by the work of Christ ‘the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us,’ Rom. 8:3-4; and that we are made ‘the righteousness of God in Him,’ 2 Cor. 5:21.
Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 380
Whereas Louis Berkhof gives a rather lengthy description of the doctrine, Dr. J. Gresham Machen, a well known Presbyterian and Reformed theologian, gives us a much shorter statement by simply saying, “I’m so thankful for the active obedience of Christ. No hope without it.” (Stonehouse, J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memior, 508). With these compelling words Machen points out how the active obedience of Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity for the passive obedience of Jesus Christ to accomplish its goal—the redemption of the people of God. Thus, when Jesus Christ obeys his Father’s wishes he not only fulfills the Law by his active obedience, but he also lays down his life as a sacrifice for sins by his passive obedience. Both aspects—active and passive obedience—capture the essence of Christ’s atoning work on behalf of the people of God.
Dr. R. C. Sproul summarizes this important doctrine by saying,
It was by His sinlessness that Jesus qualified Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. However, our salvation requires two aspects of redemption. It was not only necessary for Jesus to be our substitute and receive the punishment due for our sins; He also had to fulfill the law of God perfectly to secure the merit necessary for us to receive the blessings of God’s covenant. Jesus not only died as the perfect for the imperfect, the sinless for the sinful, but He lived the life of perfect obedience required for our salvation.
R. C. Sproul, Essential Truths of the Christian Faith, 84
The “two aspects of redemption” mentioned by R. C. Sproul refer to Christ’s active and passive obedience. God’s plan of redemption begins with the active obedience of Christ—in perfectly fulfilling the law—and ends with the passive obedience of Christ—in laying down his life as a sacrifice for sins.
The Westminster Confession of Faith summarizes the active and passive obedience of Christ in this manner:
4. This office the Lord Jesus did most willingly undertake; which that He might discharge, He was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it, endured most grievous torments immediately in His soul, and most painful suffering in His body; was crucified, and died; was buried, and remained under the power of death; yet saw no corruption. On the third day He arose from the dead, with the same body in which he suffered, with which also he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of His Father, making intercession, and shall return to judge men and angels at the end of the world.
5. The Lord Jesus, by His perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself, which He, through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of His Father; and purchased, not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto Him.
Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 8, articles 4 & 5
The two phrases, “He was made under the law, and did perfectly fulfill it” (Article 4), and “The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience, and sacrifice of Himself…once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the justice of His Father” (Article 5) wonderfully express the active and passive obedience of Christ. Jesus kept the Law perfectly so that he would be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. By his righteous merit the salvation of unrighteous sinners was accomplished. It was a “divine exchange”–the righteous One gave up his life for the unrighteous ones (1 Peter 3:18). To all of this we can rightly affirm, Soli Deo Gloria!
If you would like to know more about the passive obedience of Christ then click on this link for an article I have written on that subject: https://thegenevanfoundation.com/the-passive-obedience-of-christ/
Key Bible Passages:
— “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished…For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:17-18, 20
— “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men, For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Rom. 5:18-19
— “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Rom. 8:3-4
— “For Christ is the end of the law for the righteous and to everyone who believes.” Rom. 10:4
— “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sins, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21
— “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, and so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Gal. 4:4-7
— “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” Heb. 5:8-10
Resources for Further Study:
Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology. 4th Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1939.
Murray, John. Redemption Accomplished and Applied. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1955.
Reymond, Robert L. “Obedience of Christ” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology. Walter A. Elwell, ed. Second Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001.
Sproul. R. C. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992.
Stonehouse, Ned. B. J. Gresham Machen: A Biographical Memoir. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1954.
The Confession of Faith and Catechisms. American Edition (1788). Jointly published by Great Commission Publications (PCA) in Atlanta, GA, and the Committee on Christian Education (OPC) in Willow Grove, PA, 2005.
Dr. Marcus J. Serven, ThM and DMin
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