victorious here in the Praetorium and on the cross by his own grit, or he fails miserably. What are the kinds of trials Jesus


is confronted with during this un- paralleled time in his ministry, trials he could avoid with a word from his own mouth or with a legion of angels from the Father? At what point would either of us, for exam- ple, in Jesus’ situation, being able to avoid any of the abuse or physical pain, snap and say, “Let me show you who I am and what I can do”? At what point would we say, “Who do you think you are, you wretch? You’re beneath contempt”? At what point would we say, “I don’t need this. I’m out of here”? Yet, despite it all, Jesus endured till the end. That is how he defended righteous- ness. That is how he hungered and thirsted for righteousness, for the kingdom of God for his own and the Father’s glory and that of oth- ers (John 17:1-2)! That is how he re- sisted yielding to the temptation to sin, to be a fallen human being! He won the battle before breathing his last, even before he was upright on the cross, having already suffered the flogging and the nails! Victori- ous before death, assured of Para- dise (Luke 23:43), he was never to be tempted again to be other than eter- nally righteous, eternally godlike, a fitting perfect sacrifice. That was Jesus before his burial and resurrec- tion. That was Jesus in resurrection, dead to sin and alive to God (Rom. 6:4, 7, 9–10)! Forever unfallen!


So what? Well, we all know “so what.” The


groundwork for God’s kingdom of righteousness on earth has been laid by means of his instruction and sac- rifice. Phase 2 may now begin. The Construction Engineer now has the tools, the blueprint, the resources, the purpose, the authority, and the


July/August 2020


power to begin his mission of bringing a diverse and divergent rabble of sin- ners together as one. Thus does he undertake his charge (John 14:6, 26; 16:7) to build the Church by perfecting the Bride of Christ. The Construction Engi- neer begins his work on the day of Pentecost as he descends audibly and vis- ibly with transforming power upon the elect, those loved and chosen before the foundation of the world, chosen — if the apostle Paul is right about salva- tion by grace alone before the foundation of the world — to declare and live out in this age the righteousness of the everlasting kingdom. We see, then, that the Holy Spirit begins with the elect. The elect, under his supervision and with his authority and power, do the work of proclaiming the message that moves other elect to do the work of proclaiming the message that moves other elect — and thus does the mission continue unchanged until this day. So, what is the current mission that has been transferred to the elect in our


day and time? It is to do the work of proclaiming the message that moves other elect to join in kingdom building and perfecting the Church, the Bride of Christ. Kingdom building requires growth in quantity and quality. Where does the


quantity come from? From the elect, which means that the numbers have al- ready been determined! The declaration of the message by the elect to the elect will not add to the numbers. None of those given to the Son by the Fa- ther before the foundation of the world will be lost (John 17:12, 24). That lets us know that all the reasons for preaching are valid and have their place, but that the primary reason is not to gather in the elect. That suggests that it is not a useful enterprise to blame the elect in our congregations or ourselves for not being more effective evangelizers for the growth of our congregations. If the elect are not in our neighborhood or sphere of influence, we have no field white for the harvest to draw from! Still, we all are under Christ’s command to seek and save the lost, and our prayers and efforts must always be for the most effective ways to attract others to glorify the triune God. Even so, the role of proclamation for the sake of increasing numbers is not our appropriate primary goal. I would further suggest that the redeemed, that those inaugurated into membership in the Church Universal by the gift of faith — that gift which is God himself in the person and power of Jesus Christ by the living presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives (Eph. 2:8) — need only be reminded occasion- ally of the doctrine of the imputation of righteousness, for the imputation of righteousness does not bestow righteousness. The primary work, then, of kingdom building, is quality. And what is the


nature of that quality? The righteousness of Jesus, the righteousness that must be hungered and thirsted for, the righteousness that must be defended, as Paul says, with the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:11, 13), the righteousness that is like the burden Jesus imposes (Matt. 11:30). We might even infer that this righteousness makes up the feast at the great banquet in the kingdom of God that Jesus mentions in the parable in Luke 19. The unambiguous mean- ing is that if we, being invited, do not hunger and thirst for what is offered in the kingdom of God, we will be replaced, forcefully if necessary. But there will be guests at the banquet!


Righteousness


Imputed righteousness, that is, righteousness that is declared to be ours, is not our righteousness. The righteousness that is given to believers by the Holy


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