RIGHTEOUS FATHER

We have pointed out that in this great prayer of the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, that the Lord addressed God as ‘Father’ in verses 1, 5, and 24, as ‘Holy Father’, v. 11, and, in our present text, as ‘Righteous Father’. The title ‘Holy Father’ has to do with our sanctification. The title ‘Righteous Father’ deals rather with our justification. The Lord Jesus had just prayed, ‘Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory’, v. 24. On what merit could such a great request be made? How could those who had sinned be with Him? How could they enter the presence of the Father? It would certainly have to be on righteous grounds in keeping with that essential aspect of His character.

The ground on which God can answer this prayer of the Lord Jesus, that they may ‘be with me where I am’, is the work to which the Lord referred when He said, ‘I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do’, 17. 4. In the Roman treatise on the gospel, Paul proves that the gospel he preached is consistent with the Scriptures and consistent with the character of God. The righteousness of God, apart from the law, was witnessed by the law and the prophets, Rom. 3. 21. This righteousness of God is ‘by faith of Jesus Christ’, v. 22. Therefore, it is not based on works but on the work of Jesus Christ. Because of Calvary, we can now be ‘justified freely by his grace’, v. 24. Because the propitiatory work of Christ has totally met all the claims of God, He can now ‘be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’, v. 26. God was righteous in saving Old Testament believers, to pass over the sins committed beforetime, on the ground of faith alone, because Christwas going to die. They were saved in view of Calvary. He is righteous to save today, ‘at this time’, because Christ has died. Calvary made it possible for God to be righteous and also declare sinners righteous on the ground of faith.

He is indeed the ‘Righteous Father’, and remains so, even when He takes us into His eternal presence!