In 2 Corinthians 11:10 Paul says, “The truth of Christ is in me.” Here “truth” refers to the virtue of truthfulness. Because Paul lived by Christ, whatever Christ is became his virtue in his behavior. Christ’s truthfulness is His genuineness, sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness as a divine attribute (Rom. 3:7; 15:8) and as a human virtue (Mark 12:14), an issue of the divine reality (John 4:23-24; 2 John 1; 3 John 1). Such a divine attribute and a human virtue should be our experience and enjoyment of Christ.
Second Peter 1:1 speaks of “the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ is God to be our Savior. This verse speaks of the righteousness not only of our God but also of our Savior. From what Paul says in Romans we may think that the righteousness of God is one thing and that the righteousness of Christ is another. But here Peter combines these two kinds of righteousness when he speaks of the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. This is an important matter that requires proper understanding.
The Greek word for righteousness in 2 Peter 1:1 may also be rendered justice. Our God is righteous, just. In His justice, He has allotted precious faith as a divine portion equally to all believers in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, without respect of persons. Now He is not only our God but also our Savior. Thus, His righteousness is not the righteousness merely of God nor merely of Christ but the righteousness of both our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. As our Savior, His righteousness is His righteous act, His death on the cross in absolute obedience (Phil. 2:8), accomplishing propitiation for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2), enabling us to be justified by God (Rom. 5:18). As our God, His righteousness is His justice in that, based upon the righteous act, the redemption of our Savior, Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24-25) justifies all the believers in Christ (Rom. 3:26), both Jew and Gentile (Rom. 3:30). In and by means of such a twofold righteousness, the righteousness of both our God and our Savior, Jesus Christ, the precious faith has been allotted equally to all believers.
In 1 John 2:1 Jesus Christ is called “the Righteous.” Our Lord Jesus is the only righteous Man among all men. His righteous act (Rom. 5:18) on the cross fulfilled the righteous requirement of the righteous God for us and all sinners. Only He is qualified to be our Advocate to care for us in our sinning condition and restore us to a righteous condition so that our Father, who is righteous, may be appeased.
Instead of speaking of “Jesus Christ the Righteous,” we may say, “Jesus Christ, the right One.” Jesus Christ certainly is the right One, the One who is right, and only this right One can be our Advocate with the Father. The reason we have a problem and the Father has a case against us is that we are wrong ones. Because we are the ones who are wrong, we need the righteous One to take care of our case.
In Acts 3:14 Peter calls the Lord Jesus the “Righteous One.” To be righteous is to be right with God and also with everyone and everything. Only the Lord Jesus can be called the Righteous One, because only He is right with God and with everyone and with everything. As the Righteous One, the Lord Jesus is the Right One. He was never wrong with God or with anyone or with anything. The righteousness of such a One should be also a portion of our enjoyment of Christ.
Another attribute of Christ is holiness. Speaking of Christ, the last part of Luke 1:35 says, “The holy thing which is born will be called, Son of God.” As the conceiving of the Lord Jesus was of the Holy Spirit, so what was born of that conception was a holy thing, something intrinsically holy. This holy thing is Jesus our Savior. Hence, He has the divine attribute of holiness to qualify Him to be our Savior and our Sanctifier (Heb. 2:11).
In Acts 3:14 Peter refers to the Lord Jesus as the Holy One. In this verse “holy” indicates that Jesus, the Nazarene, the One despised by the Jewish leaders, was absolutely for God and separated unto Him. Furthermore, He was absolutely one with God. According to the denotation of the word “holy” in the Bible, this word signifies one who is absolutely unto God, who is absolutely for God, and who is absolutely one with God. Only the Lord Jesus is such a one. Throughout His entire life He was absolutely separated unto God, for God, and one with God. Therefore, He is called the Holy One.
In Revelation 3:7 Christ refers to Himself as “the holy One.” By Him and through Him the church can be holy, separated from the world. Furthermore, in and through His holy nature the church is sanctified.
In Hebrews 7:25, Matthew 9:28-30, Philippians 3:21, Hebrews 2:18, Revelation 5:3-5, and 6:1, the attribute of Christ’s ability is fully shown. Christ’s ability qualifies Him in His attributes of sympathy, mercy, compassion, meekness, forbearance, lowliness, self-humbling, obedience, faithfulness, truthfulness, righteousness, and holiness. He is able to do whatever He likes to do, and He is able to be whatever He wants to be. His unlimited ability is a unique attribute of His being.
Revelation 5:12 tells us that Christ is the worthy One. Worthiness is one of His attributes which deserves our praise and appreciation. Christ’s worthiness comes from His qualification of what He is and what He has accomplished, especially of the success He has made through the process He has gone through. All His divine attributes and His human virtues are also the qualifications of His worthiness.
(Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 050-062), Chapter 13, by Witness Lee)