Titus 2:13

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Titus 2:11-14

For The Grace Of God, which was made possible by the shedding of the precious blood of Christ, His one sacrifice on Calvary, is the only means we have That Bringeth Salvation. There is salvation in none other. This is the salvation that Hath Appeared To All Men without distinction, to the great and small, and to rich and poor.

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Ephesians 4:24

And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

These two attributes are rather hard to separate, so we have put them together for the purpose of this study. Righteousness, in its basic meaning, is something that is straight without any deviation. But holiness is more in the realm of being separate, set aside for something special.

Holiness is an attribute that man must have if he is to see the Lord Heb. 12:14. Those who stand before God in love must be holy and without blame, Eph. 1:4. These high standards of God's requirements are a source of despair for the Christian. All believers in the Roman church had sinned and come short of the Glory of God. Can anyone do better?

In fact, such a requirement makes it absolutely impossible for anyone in the flesh to have access to God or to stand before Him. In the flesh, no believer has anything to commend him to God. Isaiah summed it up by saying that all the righteousnesses of God's people were but filthy rags in the sight of God Isa. 64:6. We are not considering the unbeliever.

Again, in Col. 1:22, we find that the work of reconciliation was to present believers as holy and unblameable and unreproveable in the sight of God. If that is true, then we have a wonderful hope. What we could not possibly do, the Son has done. That any man ever could approach God by virtue of his own works or worth denies that the eyes of God cannot behold evil or look upon iniquity Heb. 1:13.

Col. 1:12 shows that we are not fit in ourselves to be partakers of the inheritance of the Holy of holies in the Shekinah glory. We have to be made fit or meet for that glorious inheritance. Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but solely by His mercy has He saved us Tit. 3:5.

Further along this line, we find in Col. 2:10 that those who are saints are complete in Christ, i.e., filled to the full. This is where we find the true and required righteousness and holiness.

And not only for individuals is this work done, but also it has been accomplished for The Church of The Dispensation of The Mystery, The Body of Christ. We discover in Eph. 5:25-27 that Christ loved The Church and gave Himself as a sacrifice for it in order that He might sanctify and cleanse it, so that it will be glorious, not having spot or wrinkle; but holy and without blemish of any kind.

The saint has made a great trade, a transaction in which he has gained every advantage. His sins were imputed to Christ, Who died for them. In turn, the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to the saint like a wedding garment given to a guest: The saint stands clothed in the righteousness of Christ!

From this, we must conclude that when the Father looks upon the saint, He sees the righteousness and holiness of His Dear Son. That is why He has given all judgment to The Son. He Himself does not look under or beyond that garment of righteousness. That is the Son's prerogative. That has to do with our state, our correction, and our rewards.

No righteousness or holiness can come from the deeds of the law or the works of the flesh. So, we have to turn from our works to the work of Christ.

2 Timothy 2:11

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

Colossians 2:12 to 3:4

Probably, it would be better to define the term after we have seen its use in the Scriptures. Yet, we do not find the term itself in the Bible. But it very well sums up a great deal of serious teaching of the Word. And the examples will help to define the term.

1.  Col. 2:1 'Buried with Him in Baptism.' Buried signifies death. So, this is the believer's identification with Christ in His death. We died with Him. No unbeliever has this experience.

2.  Col. 2:12. 'Wherein also ye are Risen with Him.' Resurrection is very closely connected with the death. We cannot think of Christ's death without going on to The Resurrection. He did not stay dead. And so there must be a Resurrection for one who is identified with Him in death. You cannot separate these.

3.  Col. 2:13. 'And you...hath He Quickened together with Him.' The word quickened shows identification when used together. It is being made alive. It is a life in which there is awareness of surroundings. It is the opposite of being dead in trespasses and sins.

4.  Col. 2:20. 'Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?' If a person is dead to something, he is not aware of it and does not notice it. So, if we are identified with Christ and have our eyes on Him, how can we see and respond to sin? Ordinances or rules have to do with things that ought not to be done, sins. Even in a past dispensation, a believer could be justified by faith, even though under the law. But if we have died to all these things, there is no need for justification. We have passed into pure grace.

5.  Col. 3:1. 'If ye then be Risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.' We are beginning to see that identification has to do with a position with Christ. So it would be natural for one so identified to seek the things associated with it on the right hand of God. This is reasonable.

6.  Col. 3:3 'For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.' We have died with Him and, therefore, Risen with Him. Satan may try to find the believer, but he is hidden. Of course hid is the opposite of manifest and some day the believer will be manifested with Him in glory. But hidden now, for it is a part of The Great Secret or Mystery.

7.  Col. 3:4 'When Christ, Who is our Life, shall Appear, then shall ye also Appear with Him in Glory.' This answers the questions what? and where? Christ was God manifest in flesh and received up into glory 1 Tim. 3:16

This identification is further shown by the example in the garden. An animal was killed instead of Adam and Eve. And they were clothed with the skin. This was a further idea of identification and benefits of the sacrifice.

Reckoning

1.  Crucified with Christ. 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me' Gal. 2:20. Paul's life is entwined with that of Christ. This is identification.

2.  Dead with Him. 'For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him' 2 Tim. 2:11. If we are ever to live with Christ, we must be identified with Him in death, being dead to the world and to sin. One not identified with Christ is as the beast of the field. Psalms 49:20.

3.  Baptism. 'Buried with Him in baptism' Col. 2:12. Here, death is spoken of as a baptism. And baptism means identification. And, of course, burial follows death. These great truths of identification are so far above water baptism that we cannot take time to explain, except to say that water baptism was a ritual, a cleansing in connection with worship, and rituals have no place in The Dispensation of The Mystery.

4.  Quickened together with Christ. 'Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ' (Ephesians 2:5). In Eph. 2:1, we see that those who were dead to trespasses and sins were filled with the fulness of God (Eph. 1:23). These are the ones quickened or made alive at His call. They will hear His voice. But this is all reckoned as being a reality now.

5.  Raised with Christ. 'And hath raised us up together' (Ephesians 2:6). Although the root meaning of raised is roused, on being roused, one raises up. And here, the reckoning is that we have been roused and raised to Heavenly Places. This may take some word study, but we have the gist of the matter. The emphasis is that we were roused or raised together with Christ. Some would use the word ascension in this place, and no doubt that is included.

6.  Made to sit together. 'And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Ephesians 2:6). We have been enthroned with Him. This is the implication. This is reckoned as being true right now (de juro) and fulfilled later in resurrection (de facto). Those dead in Christ, Abraham, for example, are considered as being alive here and now. These are certainties.

7.  Manifested with Him in glory. 'When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory' (Colossians 3:4). Appear means Manifest, the shining forth in Glory in the place called Glory. God was manifest in the flesh...received up into glory (1 Timothy 3:16). This answers the question where?

These are a comfort and a shield against the darts of the evil one. We can rest assured that we are objects of His care, that He is at hand, at our side, Phil. 4:5.

Genesis 15:6

And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Justification is a word in The Word that has two main streams of meaning, and we will attempt to show both here in this study of one of the great promises in God's Word.

1. Remission of sins:

This is the first step and the primary meaning of the word Justification. Christ died for the ungodly. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He was the Lamb of God, foreordained to take away the sin of the world. Atonement is not a subject of the Epistles of Paul; however, it occurs there once and should be correctly translated into reconciliation.

Reconciliation is defined in 2 Cor. 5:19. '...that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them.' This great Truth is rarely recognized by Christians today. Stated simply, as far as God is concerned, all barriers have been removed so that the unbeliever may step up and receive The Gift of Everlasting Life freely. The purpose of reconciliation is to give each individual an opportunity to receive The Gift..

There is another side to the reconciliation that should be considered. The unbeliever is asked to be reconciled to God. Sin is enmity against God, and those who persist in sin build up walls of their own to separate them from God. There is no wall on God's part; the path is clear so that everyone has access and all have the means set forth so beautifully in God's Word.

We are told in The Word that there is forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ and that forgiveness is for all. This forgiveness or reconciliation does not give life. Many teach or think that if one's sins are forgiven, then he has Everlasting Life. That is not true. This Life is in Christ, and he that has the Son has life. Simply living a decent life is not what prompts Everlasting Life; rather, acceptance of The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Justification by faith:

We find this first mentioned in Gen. 15:6. Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. Here is another and even deeper meaning of justification. The believer, by faith, can have an imputed righteousness. He receives The Gift of Life and The Hope of Resurrection and earns rewards as he walks in The Light of Christ Jesus.

Should the Believer be satisfied with being saved as by fire? (1 Cor. 3:15) The Believer should lay up treasure, and that can be by faith. Abraham had life and was a believer long before Gen. 15:6. it was the faith of Abraham, though, that pleased God, and so Abraham had righteousness laid up to his account.

There are many who seek everlasting life and an escape from an imaginary punishment in the hereafter, but how many seek that righteousness which is of faith? Just read through Heb. Chapter 11 and note all the people who obtained this righteousness by faith, believing what God had said. They have a special inheritance awaiting them in Resurrection that they will enjoy throughout eternity. God wanted to reward their faithfulness with a special inheritance, and God wants to reward us with a special inheritance for believing what He has said regarding The Church, which is His Body.