Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death.”
All flesh from Adam’s seed has earned the wages of sin, which is death, because we were made sinners: ”…by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners…” (Romans 5:19).
So, how could a just God make the sinners He has chosen to be righteous and live? How could they pay the price with guilty blood? There is only one way: the Substitute, Christ Jesus the Lord. “Jesus saith…, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life’” (John 14:6). ”…so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
By Christ’s obedience, we are saved. He was obedient to the law—every law—always, and perfectly. We are all born sinners, so perfect obedience is not an option for us. Sinners from the womb, there is no hope in ourselves.
Christ saved sinners by obeying His Father’s commands, even the one command given only to Him: to sacrifice His innocent blood unto death to pay for His children’s sin debt. “He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
Christ’s blood, shed unto death, finished His obedience. That is how we were made righteous. He paid our debt, bringing our account to zero. Only then could His obedience—His righteousness—be imputed to our account. Only then could sinners be made right in God’s eyes.
If Christ had not been obedient up to and including His death, the Father could not have accepted His blood. It had to be innocent, righteous blood, shed completely unto death.
It wasn’t simply being chosen by God in eternity or Christ’s praying for us that saved us; it was His perfect obedience that bought life for His sinners.
We could never be perfectly obedient. We could never pay the price for our sin. But Christ was commanded to do so, and He obeyed perfectly. “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). ”…He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
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