• history, with the idea of sin and condemnation. Or, as St. Paul expresses it ((ial 3'-*), it was a curse Avhich He did not lightly take upon Him- self. Two things result from this method of con- .sidering the death of Christ : (1) that it measures the highest degi'ee of devotion to the salvation of men ; and (2)^that it was effective because it lay in the will of (4od, to which Christ was obedient, not assuming it Himself, as a desperate and uncertain remedy, l>ut accepting it as the God-designed path of propitiation and redemption
6. The relation of Christ's Obedience to the salra- tion of men. — The relation of the sacrifice, which was the main article of His obedience, to the salva- tion of men is considered elsewhere (see Atoxe- MENT, Propitiation, Sacrifice, etc.). No text
VOL. II. — 17
of the Gospels presents the obedience of Christ, strictly considered, as having a connexion with our salvation, except as His moral perfection was among the qualifications for the ofHce of Saviour. The inference which has been made, that the obedi- ence of Christ itself formed a part of His saving work, has been drawn from such texts as Ro 5'^ ('tlirough the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous'). But this idea receives no support from the Gospels, and none from the text (ited itself, when carefully interpreted. The thought of the Apostle is unfolded here in a series of parallel expressions, in which, on the one side, Adam's 'trespass,' 'sin,' 'disobedience,' and, on the other side, Christ's 'grace,' 'gift by grace,' 'free gift,' 'righteousness,' 'act of righteousness,' ' obedience,' are mentioned as equal to one another, and as contrasted, the one side with the other. The obedience of Christ here considered is, there- fore, His act of obedience, or His atoning death. The act of obedience saves, not as obedience, but as atonement.
7. The significance of Christ's obediencefor religion arises from the exaltation which it attbrds of the Person of Christ. As the victorious contestant and the perfect character. He calls out the veneration and enthusiastic loyalty of His followers, incites them to greater ettbrts, and tills them witli loftier courage than any imperfect prophet could do, how- ever excellent otherwi.se, and thus becomes the true ' exemplar and leader ' (apx-qyos. He 12-) of our faith.
LiTER.iTiRE.— Hastings' DB, art. 'Obedience'; niniann, Sih- lei-snesii of Jesus; Forrest, Christ 0/ Biit. and Exper. 17 ff. ; R. Mackintosh, Christ and the Jewish Law; Dale, Atonement, Lect. IX.
ii. Our obedience. — Christ came not only as a Teacher and Kedeemer, but also as an Example, It might be said of all His life, as He said when He washed the disciples' feet, ' I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to j-ou ' (Jn 13'^). As the object of all His work was to reveal the Father, and he that had ' seen him had seen the Father' (Jn 14"), so he who did as Jesus did obeyed the will of the Father, mIucIi was perfectly exemplihed in Him (Jn 8^). Indeed, this was the necessary consequence of His teaching office, for He always sjiid in fact if not hy word, ' Take jny yoke upon you, and learn of me' (Mt 11^). It was His purpose in the world to bear witness to the truth (Jn 18^), and to do this not merelj- by word, but by right deed. Hence the obedience of Christ' is the standard of our obedi- ence.^ We are to be ' perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect" (Mt b'^), and that perfection is the i^erfection which is manifested in the Son. At the same time, as performance falls far short of ideal in other human things, so here. There is no example given us in the Go.^pels of the attainment by a disciple of such perfection as was in the blaster. Peter who denied Him, Thomas who could not believe His resurre( tion, John and James who were tired by an unholy ambition, were the chief among the Twelve, and doubtless as successful as the others. Even after Pentecost. Paul and Barnabas had a sharp contention. All had ' the treasure in earthen vessels.'
The obedience which Christ asks of us is an obedience of the spirit rather than of the letter. He says in one place, 'If ye keep my conimaml- ments, ye shall abide in my love' (Jn 15"^); but when we ask what the commandments of Jesus are, we find few whicli, in the form in which they are given, have direct api)lication to the conditions of modern life. He refers to the Ten Commandments when the young man asks what he shall do to in- herit eternal life (Mt 19'"); biit when the young man is not satisfied, He gives him a test which
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OBSERVATION
was not in any of the Commandments nor of any general application to men, ' Go, sell, and give to the poor' (Mt 19-'). His own observance of the Sabbath was not according to the customs of the Jews (Mt 12^). He went beneath the letter of the Law to its spirit, and this was His demand of men, that they should obey the spirit of the Law. Hence He reduces the Law to its essential and compre- hensive element of love (Mt 22^"^^), which, if a man observe, will constitute the fulfilling of the Law (cf. Ro 13^). And thus the attitude of one who is evangelically obedient is not that of an anxious inquirer as to every specific commandment and consequent dutyj^but that of one who freely wills to do the will of God, is animated by the spirit of love, and out of its abounding fulness, by the in- dwelling Spirit (Ro 8^ cf. Jn 16'^ 17''), does what is well-pleasing to God. Such a jjerson might con- ceivably err as to duty in some specific case, because of lack of enlightenment, but if he has the spirit of obedience, he has substantially obeyed. The spirit will bring him into eventual accord with the objective demands of reason and conscience.