RIGHTEOUSNESS.....

IS NOT THE GOSPEL!!!!!!!!! The Gospel, ladies and gentlemen.. is the 'good news' that Jesus Christ, God's Son and Messiah, has made full and complete satisfaction of Divine justice against ALL the sins of ALL the elect, and in so doing He has saved every last one of them by His Atoning death on the cross.  Therefore, the Gospel is.... the CROSS.

God's people glory in the CROSS! True they boast of "The Lord Our Righteousness" but when someone asks us what is the Gospel we don't say.."it's the Righteousness of God"; or... "The Gospel is imputed righteousness". If we do we must take every step necessary to explain exactly what that means and the only way to do that is to preach the Atonement!
True again that Paul said of the Gospel that therein is the righteousness of God.. REVEALED! He never said that that righteousness was THE GOSPEL! He said the Gospel revealed righteousness and he did not stop there for he goes on to say... from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Is the Gospel "The just shall live by faith"? Of course not otherwise we're back to Arminianism that says the gospel is something we DO.. i.e. how we live! To use this passage to say "the Gospel is the righteousness of God" is a mis-use of Scripture.  Moreover, you can search the book of Acts and you will not find the Apostles preaching "righteousness is the Gospel". Of course they did talk about it... the word is found 4 times in Acts, but the overarching emphasis is the cross and the resurrection of Messiah; two major elements of the Gospel mentioned by Paul in both Romans 10 and 1 Cor 15.

There are many people going around saying 'the gospel is the righteousness of God in Christ'; or... the gospel is "imputed righteousness". That were an error. Righteousness... whether we say it is "established" or "imputed" is not the Gospel. It is the RESULT of the Gospel. Righteousness is exactly the same as all other blessings that flow from, or out of... the Atoning work of Jesus Christ. Therefore;

--->>The Gospel is The Atonement.

The Atonement is the bedrock of God's Gospel of salvation and without the Atonement there  could be no righteousness; either established or imputed. So to say "the Gospel is the righteousness of God" is misleading. You might as well say... "the Gospel is faith and repentance" because after all NO one is saved apart from faith, which is belief in the truth of the Gospel, and repentance. But folks... to say "faith and repentance" is the gospel is not only misleading error... it's gross Arminianism! It's saying that the gospel is grounded in something the sinner does, and that's not the gospel. That's the FALSE gospel of pelagianism! This is the gross error that both Arminians and Calvinists succumb to when they quote Acts 16:31 and say... "the gospel is 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved'"! Acts 16:31 is NOT the gospel and to say it is is pure pelagianism. It says that the gospel is something the sinner must do to be saved... believe. It says that salvation is the product of one's act of believing but that's Arminianism folks.

Both faith and repentance, as well as all other blessings of salvation are grounded in, and are a product of, the cross. A verse...

Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

What exactly are the "all spiritual blessings" Paul speaks of? Well the next verse[s] talk all about election and predestination. Think about it... How could a Holy God ever elect and predestine wicked sinners to enjoy His holy presence for all eternity unless something is done about their sin? I say... election, predestination, faith, repentance, regeneration, justification, sanctification, glorification.. did I miss any? yes... I forgot... Righteousness! These are ALL rooted and grounded in one thing and one thing alone... the Atonement. Take away the Atoning work of Jehovah Jesus and what's left? Nothing... except the fires of Hell! How did Messiah "establish" the righteousness so desperately needed by His people in order for God to predestine them to glory? THE CROSS !

The Cross is the central event in all of human history. It is the hub of all creation and the bedrock of everything that comes to pass within the framework of the will of God, all of which finds its sharpest focus in the redemption of the Church.

It is the Atonement that is most despised and hated by all the self-righteous religionists. It is this truth against which the most cleaver, bizarre, unbiblical, ungodly, and Satanic objections are concocted by the minds of men still steeped in darkness.

But for the true people of God... the Cross... the Atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of His sheep is the most wonderful, precious, lovely, mind boggling truth that not only leaves them speechless but will CONSUME them for all eternity. The wounds that Thomas the doubter felt with his own hands shall NEVER heal! It was those wounds that established the Righteousness so desperately needed by God's people in order for Him to accept them into His presence and enjoy Him for ever.

Prove  All  Things                                                                         bu5