As we begin to consider the fourth article of the Apostles' Creed, we come to the great purpose for the humiliation of the Son of God in becoming incarnate. He came to suffer for the sins of God's people. The answer of Heidelberg Catechism # 37 rightly states that Christ "bore in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race." When we acknowledge that our sins deserve temporal and eternal punishment, we should always be amazed that the holy Son of God came to suffer in our place. He did so for all God's elect, as we will consider.

The Sufferings of Christ

Regarding His sufferings, the One who had perfect bliss in fellowship with God the Father and the Spirit in heaven, who received the worship of all creatures in heaven, came to take upon Himself a perfect human nature, body and soul, in which to suffer for sinners! "All the time He lived on earth, but especially at the end of His life" Christ suffered. It was painful for the Holy One just to live in this sin-cursed world. We have only the smallest experience of such, when sin and its result bring pain to our hearts. Our old nature is still attracted to what is evil. Our Lord Jesus Christ was never for an instant attracted to it, but was repulsed and grieved by all sin.

He suffered also when "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). The agent of man's creation was rejected and hated by those He made. He was wrongly condemned to death by the rulers of Israel.

Obviously, the physical sufferings of Christ due to crucifixion were torture. However, many others were crucified in the ancient world. Our Lord's sufferings were absolutely unique, however, not in what man could do to Him, but in that He bore the eternal wrath of God against sin in those hours on the cross! More than the equivalent of eternity in hell for mankind was endured by Jesus. Only in being God and man could He take and endure that penalty. Since He is holy God incarnate, the sufferings of Christ were more than having all creatures endure the punishment of hell.

Indeed, in considering that He bore "the wrath of God against the sin of the whole human race," we are to understand that the punishment He endured was of "infinite worth and value." It was a sufficient payment or atonement for sin, being enough to provide redemption for everyone. It is, however, given for the elect alone. As Ursinus wrote in his commentary on Catechism #40, "He died for all, in respect to the sufficiency of his ransom; and for the faithful alone in respect to the efficacy of the same." The effect of His atonement is applied to the elect alone. Still, the greatness of Christ's merits in His death, grace, righteousness, and life is sufficient for all. No one who rejects His atoning sacrifice has any excuse.

This redeeming work was, of course, accomplished according to God's eternal plan of salvation. The love of God is proven at the cross of Jesus. All believers rejoice to say, as in I John 4:10, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Jesus willingly gave Himself as "the only atoning sacrifice." He paid the infinite price to redeem His people, that all the Old Testament sacrifices could only point forward to. Propitiation, or the removal of God's wrath against sin, for all His people was there provided. Justice was satisfied so that all believers are redeemed, body and soul, from everlasting damnation. Jesus Christ alone could so obtain for us the grace of God, righteousness, and eternal life. (See Catechism #37.)

Suffered under Pontius Pilate

The creed also states, as all four gospels record, that Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate. Our Lord submitted himself to the power of the Roman governor, to give His life for that sacrifice. As Jesus told Pilate, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above" (John 19:11).

Now, when we know, as in Romans 13:1, that "the authorities that exist are appointed by God" so that the government is to function as God's servant, we can understand why suffering under Pilate was important. His judgment was, in effect, the judgment of God. Repeatedly, Pilate declared that he found Jesus to be innocent. That was the proper judgment of the case, and it was the judgment of Almighty God.

Yet, the eternal plan of God triune was that God the Son would bear the penalty of sin for the elect. Therefore, it was also God's judgment that Jesus was condemned, though innocent. For Pilate, it was the greatest evil to condemn the innocent Christ and crucify Him. Nonetheless, our sovereign God had judged that Jesus would suffer in the place of all who will believe. So, both the holiness of our Lord Jesus Christ and His condemnation for others was proclaimed to the world in the actions of Pilate. Our Lord's suffering under that ruler is God's assurance that He has brought about the sacrifice He required, and has declared it sufficient payment for His elect!

Death by Crucifixion

As for Christ's death by crucifixion, we are also assured that He bore in it the curse against sin. Certainly, to be the only atoning sacrifice, Jesus could not die by accident, illness, or old age. His death had to be an execution, a punishment intentionally inflicted. This was foreshadowed in the sacrificial animals killed under the old covenant.

Also, the crucifixion itself was foreshadowed in the command of Deuteronomy 21:22-23. One who committed sin deserving of death was to be executed, as by stoning. Then the corpse was to be hung up in a tree that the judgment and curse of God could be seen. All would know that the curse of God was on the executed criminal, and all should fear God rightly. That Jesus would be hung up on the wooden cross for all to see was clearly brought about in God's sovereignty, and it declares that Christ bore the curse for us. Yes, the curse that fell on Adam-and all mankind, with his sin in Eden-was placed upon our Lord and Savior.

Crucifixion was a shameful and public death, in which one was subjected to all manner of ridicule. What an amazing testimony it is, then, to the love and grace of our God to so save His people.

The focus of Scripture is not on the magnitude of Christ's suffering. The focus is on the fact that He did suffer and die according to the glorious covenant of redemption, in which the work of Father, Son, and Spirit were determined in God's love and grace. The crucifixion so assures us. Through the repentance and faith granted by God, every believer can say, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).

His Death Was Necessary

In asking why it was necessary for Christ to suffer death, Catechism #40 answers, "Because the justice and truth of God required that satisfaction for our sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God." Again, as Ursinus wrote in his commentary on this question, "sin is an evil of such magnitude ... that that which is an offence against the highest good, can only be expiated by the most severe punishment and extreme destruction of the sinner...." So, it is justice when Romans 6:23 declares, "The wages of sin is death." Rebellion against our Creator justly calls for temporal and eternal punishment. As we have seen, only Christ could bear that punishment for us.

Consider then the truth of God. He had declared that death would result for disobedience. The warning in Eden was, "In the day you eat of it (the forbidden tree) you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). Spiritual death came immediately, physical death came with mortality, and eternal death would be the end result for all people, if God had not provided a Savior. God had promised that Savior in the garden and, through all the centuries until Christ, repeatedly said that He must die as a ransom for many.

So, the justice and truth of God required Christ's death. He bore it all in His human nature, even the punishment of hell, as His cry testified: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). It was as if He was sin being punished! "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).

His Burial

Since Jesus completely satisfied God's justice in His death, we might wonder why He remained dead and buried until the third day. Obviously, His burial was first a proof given by God that Christ had truly died and paid the price of our salvation. He also identified with His people in bearing this part of the punishment we merited, as the curse included returning to dust (Gen. 3:19).

Now, believers need no more to fear the grave when He has set apart our graves as resting places for our bodies until the resurrection! His resurrection from the tomb showed Christ had truly overcome death for us, and assures believers of the hope of resurrection. When Christians die, it is then an end of all our sinning and an entering into eternal life!

Transformation of the Redeemed

In summary, since our Lord Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried-the transformation of the life of those redeemed in Christ is to be seen. We are to live as those who have died to sin and are spiritually alive in Christ. In asking what further benefit we have from His sacrifice and death, the Catechism #43 answers, "That by His power our old man is with Him crucified, slain, and buried; so that the evil lusts of the flesh may no more reign in us, but that we may offer ourselves unto Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving."

May this new life, granted through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, be seen in us more and more!

Righteousness is a term that belongs to theological jargon. It is a biblical word, but is probably not used much outside of a theological context. The word "righteous," by contrast, has become part of common slang, although its meaning is somewhat altered. "That's righteous!" may now mean that something is just acceptable to the person or that it is "cool." But the word "right" is a part of everyday usage. The dictionary has over thirty definitions for the word in its adjective, adverb, verb or noun form. A popular phrase today is "Do the right thing." Most people intuitively know that the word "right" has to do with some standard. Most often it is the standard of the prevailing societal mores, the accepted traditional custom of that society. But that standard is relative to the particular society. The moral standards of ancient Greece and Rome would be unacceptable to a Christian society.

The ultimate question, however, has to do with the ultimate standard-an absolute standard. As Bible-believing Christians, we believe the ultimate standard is the revealed will of God, His Law. God's Law reflects His nature of holiness and perfection. The moral Law of God is encapsulated in the Ten Commandments and summarized by Christ as loving God with our whole being and loving our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:21-24). Paul said, "Love is the fulfilling of the Law" (Romans 13:8). So if we love God we obey Him, and if we obey God we love Him. Now how does this tie in with righteousness? Well, righteousness, doing what is right, means being conformed to that absolute standard. So, righteousness is to love God and our neighbor perfectly. This means not only outwardly but inwardly as well, not only in letter but in spirit. It encompasses all of our thoughts, words, and deeds, perpetually, consistently, and completely. The idea of love is welcomed by most people, especially after the Beatles sang, "all you need is love...love is all you need." But I'm sure the Fab Four would not agree with the Bible's definition of love as obeying God.

The Bible teaches that God is holy and righteous and that He is unchangeable. Man, who is a sinner, and has failed miserably at loving God and neighbor perfectly, cannot approach the all-holy God in his current state. In fact, man, because of the fall of his federal head, Adam, is born into a state of condemnation. He is dead in sin from the moment of conception. This state of sin and misery is the inheritance of all the children of Adam. In Adam ALL die. All therefore are justly condemned by God because they have sinned both representatively by Adam, and practically in their own lives. This is the bad news, and it is worse than we think.

But God (two of the most wonderful words in Scripture), "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..." (Eph. 2:4-6). This is the Good News, and it's infinitely better than we think. God provides for us the solution which upholds and magnifies His holy Law and demonstrates His grace, mercy, and love towards undeserving, condemned sinners. Only God could do this, so that "salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9). God offers, in the second Adam, His Son, Jesus Christ, the perfect, everlasting righteousness which satisfies His Law, His holiness. He offers this as a gift to any who believe this Good News and receive that gift with the empty hand of faith. God then imputes-reckons to the believing sinner-"the perfect satisfaction, holiness and righteousness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me; if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart" (Heidelberg Catechism Q/A #60). If that doesn't absolutely thrill your soul and fill you with such love for God that you want to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever, then nothing will.

Why then, would anyone want to add their attempts at keeping the Law to the perfect righteousness of the God-Man? Why would anyone want a mongrel righteousness, partly Christ's and partly theirs? It is because, as Spurgeon said, we are all Pelagian at heart. In our sinful nature, which we inherited from our federal head and father, Adam, we have the inclination to seek autonomy from God. We want to contribute something of our inherent righteousness to God's acceptance of us. We want at least some bragging rights before God that we can boast of. This distinction between an imputed and an inherent righteousness was the crux of the whole debate between Rome and the Reformers. In fact, it is the distinction between biblical Christianity and all other religions. Only Christianity, as recovered by the Reformers in the Protestant Reformation, teaches that we are accepted by God on the basis of another's life and death, upon righteousness imputed to us and not inherent within us. The substitutionary atonement of Christ is the heart and soul of the Gospel. And it is an either/or proposition, an all-or-none situation. Either you are saved by the righteousness of Christ imputed to you plus nothing of your own inherent righteousness, or you are lost. You cannot add anything to Christ's perfect work without denying it altogether. As Spurgeon said, "if you seek to add one stitch of your own to that celestial robe of Christ's righteousness, you are lost."

Isaiah declared that "all our righteousness is as filthy rags." Notice that he doesn't say "all our sins are as filthy rags," but all our righteousness is as filthy rags. Calvin said that all our best works are so tainted with sin that they alone would condemn us. Do we renounce our good works as vehemently as we do our sins? William Romaine, in his book Twelve Discourses on the Law and Gospel, wrote,

Your false righteousness will destroy you, if you venture to put your trial upon it at God's bar: for He has already decreed, that since all have sinned, therefore by the deeds of the broken Law shall no flesh be justified in His sight."

Now, there is a common objection at this point. Martin Lloyd-Jones said that if people don't raise this objection to your preaching the Gospel, then you probably haven't truly preached it. It is this: "But that will lead to antinomianism!" Paul anticipated the same objection: "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Certainly the Bible teaches that a person who believes the Gospel will bear fruit. Good works will follow as surely as a fruit tree bears fruit. Sanctification will flow out of justification. We love Him because He first loved us. But all of that fruit, all of those good works, all of that progress in sanctification contributes Nothing, absolutely Nothing (and as Luther said, nothing is "Not a little something") to our justification before God, to our being accepted by Him ("He made us accepted in the Beloved." Eph. 1:6).

Romaine writes again:

"Believers are not only righteous in Him, but righteousness, and that the righteousness of God too, against which Law and justice cannot make any exception; therefore of this righteousness, though not of their own, may they boast all the day long. The merits of it are their justification, the fruits of it are their sanctification, and when they come to heaven, this righteousness will be their everlasting robe of glory, and to sing His praises, who clothed them with it, will be their employment and happiness for ever and ever."

Do you boast of the righteousness of Christ? Do you delight in it and renounce your own for His sake? Do you love more dearly Him who gives you this robe of perfection and makes you a child of God and an inheritor of all God's blessings for the sake of Christ?

Let us echo the hymnwriter who penned:

"Upon a life I did not live;
Upon a death I did not die,
Another's death, Another's life,
I'd rest my soul eternally."