The Theological Significance of the Active Obedience of Christ

By Caleb Kolstad (Pt 1)

INTRODUCTION
Jesus Christ is the most influential Person who ever walked the face of the earth. He is the greatest preacher, friend, teacher, leader, and example the world has ever seen. “No other name has inspired greater devotion, evoked greater reverence, or ignited greater controversy.”
Jesus Christ was both 100% God and 100% man. In John 8:58, “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.’” Following this account in John 10:30-33, Jesus says to the Jews, “‘I and the Father are one.’ Then the Jews took up stones again to kill him. Jesus answered them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make yourself out to be God.’” Jesus is referred to as both the Son of God (John 20:31) and the Son of Man (Mark 10:45) during His earthly ministry.
Perhaps the apostle Paul sums up Jesus’ Godhood best in Colossians 2:9-10, “For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.”

The Theological Significance of Jesus’ Perfect Life of Obedience

Much more could be written about the Deity and perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. John 21:25 says, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books which were written.” The scope of Jesus’ life and ministry can never be fully exhausted! The purpose of this essay is to research and explain the theological significance of Jesus perfect life of obedience.
Jesus lived His life in total submission to the will of His Father. “Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work.’” As the second member of the Trinity Jesus is totally equal with God. Yet by virtue of His eternal role as Son, He is submissive to the perfect will of the Father. He told His followers, “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” Everything that Jesus said and did during His time on earth was in complete accord with the Father’s will.
Jesus’ perfect life of obedience is normally broken down theologically into two categories: The active obedience of Christ and the passive obedience of Christ. “Christ as Mediator entered the federal relation in which Adam stood in the state of integrity, in order to merit eternal life for the sinner. This constitutes the active obedience of Christ, consisting in all that Christ did to observe the law in its federal aspect, as the condition for obtaining eternal life.” Christ passive obedience consists in, “His paying the penalty of sin by His suffering and death, and thus discharging the debt of all His people.”
The distinction between the active and passive obedience of Christ are in some ways unimportant. Both elements were apart of God’s perfect will and are the basis of a Christian’s justification. Charles Hodge wisely notes, “The distinction becomes important only when it denied that His moral obedience is any part of the righteousness for which the believer is justified, or that His whole work in making satisfaction consisted in expiation or bearing the penalty of the law. This is contrary to Scripture and vitiates the doctrine of justification as presented in the Bible.” Justification includes the active obedience of Christ (keeping the righteous requirements of the Law) and His passive obedience (paying the penalty of the Law). This essay will examine 6 different elements of theological significance pertaining to Jesus perfect life of obedience.

Jesus’ Perfect Life Verifies Christ’s Messiahship and His Divine Message.

The Messiah was prophesized hundreds of years before Jesus Christ was ever born. The Old Testament prophet’s predicted where the Messiah would be born, what family linage He would come through, and what exactly He would accomplish, among many, many things.
At what point young Jesus fully understood His Deity and Messiahship is not clear, but by age 12 Jesus is already teaching the religious leaders in His “Father’s house.” He apparently had at least some understanding of His mission here on earth at even a young age.
Jesus started His public ministry (after His baptism) at around the age of 30 years old. “Luke 3:21-22 shows that with Jesus’ baptism comes the divine confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah-Servant. The testimony of heaven is that Jesus is the beloved Son.” Jesus ministry was comprised of mainly preaching and miracles. He spent much of His time proclaiming the divine message of faith and repentance.
As Messiah, Jesus understood that He was God, very God. As the God-man, Jesus had the ability to perform supernatural works that in turn validated His divine message. It was His message (the gospel according to Jesus) that really infuriated the religious leaders and unbelievers. They accused Jesus of blasphemy on a number of different occasions. The people of Israel ultimately put Jesus to death because they hated His message of genuine faith and humble repentance.
The events surrounding Jesus crucifixion point to His innocence as well as His perfection. The Jewish people were under Roman jurisdiction so they needed Pilate’s permission to kill Jesus. They accused Jesus of blasphemy because of His Messianic claims of Deity. To prove His claims were a lie, all the people had to do was find one sin that Jesus committed and present it to the authorities. Yet, Pilate (as well as the people) could not find any guilt in Jesus life and his wife even proclaimed that Jesus was truly a righteous man.
During Jesus’ 33 years of life and ministry He was never guilty of sinning one time. He was spotless and blameless in the sight of man and God. Jesus again and again declared himself to be God’s unique Son. “This was either the most horrible blasphemy or the most glorious truth.” His perfect, unblemished life verified that He truly was who He claimed to be (the Messiah) and that His gospel message was from God and thus authoritative.