“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.” (Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 380)
Source: Louis Berkhof. Systematic Theology. 4th Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1939.
— Dr. Marcus J. Serven