The right use of the word standing has to be examined. As a substantive (standing) it does not exist in the New Testament; as a verb, to stand (ËFJ0L4), it is frequently found, but never is it applied to ourselves, in the sense so often repeated by Mr. Stuart. Not only the idea of our standing before the throne is wanting, but the application of it to our justification, has no foundation in the word of God.
We may have so used it, perhaps all have done so harmlessly in times past; but when it is attempted to construct a system of doctrine, out of a conventional meaning attached to a word, of a character injurious to the souls of saints, it becomes necessary to examine if scripture warrants such a use of the term, or whether it is merely human. With such a system of doctrine, so carefully and elaborately built, and stated so repeatedly, and with such positiveness and authority, as exclusively apostolic teaching, on the subject of “standing,” we should have expected to find not a few clear definite statements of the word of God for its foundation.
But all that Mr. Stuart can bring forward in support of a theory, of such moment as regards the truth, is one passage which he repeats in innumerable instances, but which, when carefully examined, as will appear, gives not the very slightest support to his cause.
Before turning to Rom. 5, we shall cite other passages where the word occurs as a verb. “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standeth by faith” (Rom. 11:2020Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: (Romans 11:20)).
“Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:44Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)). “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein ye stand” (1 Cor. 15:11Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; (1 Corinthians 15:1)). “For by faith ye stand” (2 Cor. 1:2424Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. (2 Corinthians 1:24)). “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” “Take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand, Stand therefore” (Eph. 6:11, 13, 1411Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)
13Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; (Ephesians 6:13‑14)). “That ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col.4:12). “Exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein we stand” (1 Peter 5:1212By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. (1 Peter 5:12)). In all these passages there is no question of justification, nor of standing before the throne, but of the soul’s adherence to, or stay upon the truth or firmness in its position, or in conflict here in the world, or with Satan. We are looked at as believers, who stand in the revealed truth of the gospel, or by faith, or in grace, or as soldiers exposed to the attacks of evil, and having to hold our ground and to rest firmly upon the grace of God. Even of Satan, the Lord says, “He stood (ËFJ06,<) not in the truth”(John 8:4444Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)).
In the passage in 1 Peter 5, after speaking of the God all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, the apostle adds, “This is the true grace of God wherein ye stand”; for grace and peace flow to us, as we are constantly reminded, from God the Father, here moreover called “The God of all grace.” It is in “this” grace the apostle calls upon us to stand, for it is what God is towards us, in His own blessed character till we reach the glory, and here there is no question of justification, but firmness in “this grace” is what alone enables us to stand. Does Rom. 5 differ from this, and from all other passages, in which the word to stand is used? By no means; it corresponds, as we shall find, with them all. “By whom also, we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Not only may it be questioned from the use of the same word in 1 Peter 5, whether “this grace” refers to something before, but the word “also” appears to specify something additional. The apostle is speaking, not, merely of grace that saves, but besides our other blessings, we enter by faith into this grace in which we have firm and constant repose, for it invariably flows out from God, and is exercised towards us, whatever the weakness, which constantly calls for its display, till glory be reached, for God gives grace and glory. Had this verse occurred in Romans 3, there might have been more reason for Mr. Stuart’s asserting that our justification is intended by it, but coming as it does, after the close of Romans 4, there is not the smallest ground for it.
The apostle has got quite upon another part of divine truth –the blessed force of the resurrection, as the witness how God is for us, and has acted for us in power, in raising Christ after all question of sin and its judgment is passed, so that we are not here called upon to believe in Jesus or the blood, as in Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26), but in God, “who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification.” Resurrection always brings us into a new region, and we can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
This is a distinct advance upon Rom. 3, and differs from it, as much as the position of the children of Israel in Egypt sheltered by the blood on the door-post, did from that they occupied, when they raised their song of triumph on the other side of the Red Sea {Ex. 15}, in which God had taken their part, bringing them through it as on dry land, and Himself overthrowing all their enemies. For the Red Sea typifies, as is well known, the death and resurrection of Christ for us, in its blessed effect before God. This force of the resurrection of Christ, is constantly omitted by Mr. Stuart, indeed it is not consistent with his thought of standing before the throne without judgment overtaking the saint. Hence, when Mr. Stoney refers to acceptance in Christ, Mr. Stuart invariably returns to the acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice, limiting to this our acceptance as well as our standing.
. . . We are accepted by virtue of His sacrifice” (page 19).
Souls are accepted on the ground of, and when identified with, the accepted sacrifice . . . My standing before God’s throne, as accepted before Him, does not rest on my being in Christ, but on God’s acceptance of His sacrifice on my behalf (Is it the truth of the Gospel? p. 35).
Mr. Stoney tells us, that he, as a believer, is placed by Christ in the same acceptance as Himself. Is not the acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as our sacrifice the measure of every Christian’s acceptance! Mr. Stoney tries to make a distinction where there is no difference (page 15).
Acceptance in Him is not scripture in Ephesians 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6) nor does the word that I remember ever so speak of acceptance (Answers to Inquiries).
The sacrifice, blessed as it is, by no means gives what is found in Christ’s resurrection, for it always supposes the man who is identified with it, to be alive in the flesh, whereas the resurrection, founded as it ever is on the value of this sacrifice, shows us Christ accepted for us, where sin never has existed and never can be found, in the infinite, eternal favor which that act of God displays, and in victory over death, the first-fruits in that new life of those that are His and to be conformed to Him in glory. Hence, after the Passover (figure of justification and redemption by the sacrifice of Christ), in Lev. 23, we have the wave sheaf which was to be waved by the priest “before the Lord” on the morrow after the Sabbath, “to be accepted for you.” It is Christ as the risen Man before God accepted for us eternally, the offering being waved to show the delight of God, to have Him before Himself in resurrection; whilst the meat-offering and the burnt-offering which accompanied the wave sheaf, tell us that He carries there all that was precious and acceptable in His life and death, “to be accepted for us.”
In the mitre also of the High Priest (Ex. 28:36, 3936And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. (Exodus 28:36)
39And thou shalt embroider the coat of fine linen, and thou shalt make the mitre of fine linen, and thou shalt make the girdle of needlework. (Exodus 28:39)) which he wore upon his forehead, with the face of blue, and the golden plate, with “holiness to the Lord” engraven on it we learn how Christ bears the iniquity of our holy things now that He is exalted on high. This holiness is based upon divine righteousness (the golden plate), and connected with what is heavenly (the lace of blue). It was to be “always upon Aaron’s forehead,” that the children of Israel “might be accepted before the Lord.” Thus, again, we have our acceptance secured in the Person of Christ in heaven, for it is there He exercises His priesthood. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:2424For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24)). The Old Testament scriptures therefore connect our acceptance: first, with the burnt-offering (Lev. 1:44And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. (Leviticus 1:4)); secondly, with the wave sheaf and, thirdly, with the position and office of the High Priest.
The fact is that acceptance is not taught, as a doctrine in the New Testament, though many passages blessedly involve the truth of it. The same expression used of the Virgin Mary, “hail, thou that art highly favored,” or much graced, translated by some, graciously accepted, is used concerning the saints in Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6), much graced or favored in the Beloved. This is not a doctrinal statement of it, but certainly implies that the person is accepted, who is so favored. So also when it is said that “as Christ is so are we in this world,” this certainly includes the acceptance that He has; or, if we are “complete in him,” we have everything in Him as to nearness to God – position and favor – that we could desire.
Sacrifice never goes so far as the death of the individual who offers it, whilst owning that he had incurred and deserved death, the life of the victim being substituted in his stead; this supposes him always to be a man living still in the flesh, for he lays his hand on the head of the victim which takes his place and is available for him, either in judgment or acceptance; but as the sacrifice never lives again, it cannot carry the offerer into resurrection, even in figure, nor bring in new creation. Israel will be accepted on this ground, as we see from Lev. 9, where the sin-offering, burnt-offering and peace-offering, being offered for them, the glory appeared to them, but they have no place in the glory as we have, nor in Christ either, though blessed by Him as King and Priest, when He comes out (ver. 23) in glory, the whole scene being typical of their future acceptance. This necessarily leaves creature position still existent, for the man as such still exists, though his responsibility may be met by the sacrifice. Hence Mr. S. does not see creature responsibility to be ended. “We are, and shall be whilst on earth, responsible creatures as regards walk and service, and we do well to remember this” (Is it the Truth? &c., p. 20).
For our freedom can only be realized when our position in Christ is apprehended. It is then, our new and higher responsibilities as in Christ, or as sons, commence; but these are founded on privilege, and are of an entirely different nature, for our responsibilities as creatures are held under the law and its requirements, but those which belong to us as in Christ throw us back upon what He is, and not what we are at all.
The statement is made that the
real standing of the people of Israel, as Lev. 16 portrays in type, was on blood-besprinkled ground before the mercy seat, which was in the holiest of all.
Now that is really where every individual Christian stands, formerly typically set forth, now fully declared.
For what was true of them nationally is true of saints now individually. Much, of course, we have, which they had not. But if the teaching of Lev. 16, distinctly referred to in Heb. 9 and 10, is to instruct us, the standing for all saints before God’s throne rests solely on the sacrifice of Christ” (page 16).
This is another instance of how scripture is strained to support a theory. “Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat and before the mercy-seat. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel and because of their transgressions in all their sins, and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation that remaineth among them, in the midst of their uncleanness.
And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement for the holy place, until he come out and have made an atonement for himself and for his household, and for all the children of Israel” (Lev. 16:15-1715Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: 16And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. (Leviticus 16:15‑17)). It does not portray their standing nor anything of the kind, for they could not stand there at all either “nationally” or individually, but it shows how God as a holy God could dwell in the midst of Israel, though He did not allow their approach beyond the door of the tabernacle when He was not manifested, but hidden behind the veil.
Whilst we learn from Rom. 3 that God declares, now that the type has been fulfilled, in the blood being on the mercy-seat, how His own character has been justified and displayed in His dealings with sin, and not merely that of Israel, but of Old Testament saints since the fall – that says nothing of their standing whatever, but shows the ground on which He could act toward them. This appears even more distinctly on referring to Ezek. 45:17-2017And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnities of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel. 18Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary: 19And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court. 20And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house. (Ezekiel 45:17‑20), where the future reconciliation of Israel and of the sanctuary is given, by means of the same sacrifices; yet the blood is not brought into the holiest for them at all, but put upon the altar of burnt offering and the posts of the house and of the court. The gold has been replaced by brass or wood (Ezek. 41:2222The altar of wood was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits; and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is the table that is before the Lord. (Ezekiel 41:22)). The ark, with the mercy-seat on it, has disappeared (Jer. 3:16 17), and the most holy place is shut up with doors (Ezek.41:1-4). So that this use of the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat as conveying “the real standing of all saints,” as if all were upon one level, has no foundation whatever. As priests ourselves, we are looked upon as risen. The frequent repetition of the words “with him” (Lev. 8:2020And he cut the ram into pieces; and Moses burnt the head, and the pieces, and the fat. (Leviticus 8:20); Rev. 20:4 6), shows how we are associated “with Christ,” whether in His present priestly position within the veil, or in His manifestation in the future as Melchizedek, King and Priest in public glory.
We have, strange to say, statements of Mr. Darby’s brought forward referring to the blood put on the mercy seat and its effect in display of the glory of God, and in bringing the saints of this dispensation into the holiest, as if this were the same as the ordinary justification of all saints, and rendered their standing identical. To mark in italics, the words which show the contrast, will be sufficient.
The bullock, whose blood was employed as one of them (referring to the goat’s), is lost and set aside by Dr. W, and the bringing us to God in the holiest (not merely clearing the world) dropped – the HIGHEST and ESPECIAL blessing of the saint; and this done not by forgiving His people, but by presentation of the blood to God, by whom the excellency of this sacrifice in which He has been glorified in respect, yea, through the very means, of sin, is justly estimated (Bible Witness and Review, vol. 2, p. 22).
Again Mr. S. says
The blood of the bullock and that of the goat were treated in the same way, and sprinkled on the same places, so the standing of Aaron and his house, typical of Christians, and that of Israel was the same . . .Hence all saints stand before God’s throne on precisely the same ground.
Again Mr. Darby writes
Finally, the people were not represented in the blood on the mercy-seat and holy place; their sins gave occasion to its being done, but the cleansing was of God’s dwelling-place, that that should be fit for Him, and what He was, perfectly glorified by Christ’s death – to be ever before Him as eternal redemption (Words of Faith, 1884, p. 224).
In reality, if we use the word “standing” where scripture does not, and where its use is partly misleading, as a mere human notion always is, there can be no doubt that their national standing, or justification, dated, not at all from the day of atonement, but, as has been observed, from the blood of the paschal lamb put on the door-post, whilst they were yet in Egypt. After this, God could look on them as His redeemed people and go along with them in the pillar of cloud.