15.) Righteousness by Faith in The Sanctuary

There is probably no more important subject for every Christian than the elusive topic of righteousness by faith. I say elusive, because although there have been, no doubt, millions of words written and spoken on this topic, there is yet more to understand, more to discover. I do not claim to be able to end all mysteries about it in this relatively short article. But I do hope, by God’s grace, to bring more understanding to the subject as it is seen from the light shining from the sanctuary.

The first consideration of importance is the fact that the sanctuary service is divided into three compartments. Each compartment symbolizes a section of history in which the plan of salvation was progressively unfolded and experienced by God’s people. The first section is called the court. In it were two items of furniture. The first was the altar of sacrifice upon which was sacrificed a lamb, pointing forward to the time when Jesus would sacrifice His life to provide salvation for every person who would accept Him as their Savior from sin. The second item was called the laver, which contained a basin of water for washing the hands and feet of the priest before he entered through the curtain into the sacred precincts of the Holy and Most Holy places.

In the earthly sanctuary, the court was the only place where the common people were allowed to come. There they confessed their sins over the head of the sacrificial animal, then slit its throat as a symbol that their sins were now forgiven, and the blood of the animal was carried by the priest into the holy place, where it was sprinkled upon the curtain before the presence of the Lord.

The significance of the court experience was that the level of righteousness required was mainly aimed at obedience to the laws and regulations which were handed down from God through Moses at Sinai. Sacrificial offerings were not required for the thoughts and feelings of the heart and mind. This did not mean that they were not instructed in the sinfulness of wrong thoughts and feelings. God warned the people that hatred for one another, envy or covetousness, sexual lusts leading to adultery, etc., were unacceptable to Him. But the major focus of the sanctuary service was centered around the laws, regulations, and instructions spelled out for them in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They were to study and memorize these daily, teach them diligently to their children, and pass them on from generation to generation in order to maintain their connection with God as His chosen people. For the Jewish people in the Old Testament, righteousness by faith was equivalent to careful obedience to God’s instructions, and going through the sanctuary rituals for forgiveness and favor with God.

By the time Jesus came to earth, these rituals had deteriorated to a form of religion without the power. The earthly sanctuary was designed to be a way of maintaining connection with God through the priestly services each day and throughout the year. The people at Sinai had set the tone for future generations by asking that God would not speak to them personally anymore, but that Moses would be their spokesman and interact with God for them. In requesting this, they cut off the privilege of hearing God speak to them personally, and establishing a relationship with God such as Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses had as friends with God. God has never cut off anyone from any age in history the privilege of having a personal relationship with Him. This is what He desires most for everyone! It is we who limit the amount of interaction with God by choosing to listen more to others than to Him. Jesus said:

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27, 28.

“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15.

“It is only by personal union with Christ, by communion with Him daily, hourly, that we can bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit. . . .Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness, all depend on our union with Christ and the degree of faith we exercise in Him.” SD 290.

“The very limited and earthly apprehension which the disciples had of the teachings of Christ made it difficult for the Great Teacher to lead their minds into an understanding of heavenly things, and determined the measure of divine communications.” OHC 211.

“The value of man is estimated in heaven according to the capacity of the heart to know God. This knowledge is the spring from which flows all power. God created man that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind; and He is ever seeking to bring the human mind into association with the divine mind. He offers us the privilege of cooperation with Christ in revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive knowledge of heavenly things.

“Looking unto Jesus we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity.” COL 354, 355.

The sanctuary was built specifically for maintaining communication between earth and heaven, between man and His God. At their creation, Adam and Eve had the privilege of direct communication with God. Through disobedience to God’s requirements, they forfeited this privilege for themselves and their posterity. However, God did not leave them to be the prey of the evil one. He set up a simple sanctuary system for them as an altar of sacrifice before the gate of the Garden of Eden. There they could again experience communication with God. One such conversation is recorded in Genesis 4:3-16, where God counseled Cain concerning the requirements for appropriate offerings on this altar. Cain’s jealousy of his brother Abel was a direct result of his own disobedience to the requirement of a blood sacrifice; instead he offered the fruit of his own labors. God’s requirement was absolutely essential because the blood of the sacrificial animal pointed forward to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for sin. Abel’s faithfulness is the first recorded mention of righteousness by faith, and it had to do with obedience to God’s requirements, even though it cost him his life.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. . . .By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.” Heb. 12:1-4.

So the first lesson in the sanctuary is obedience by faith to God’s laws and requirements. This is because all God’s requirements are for establishing a relationship between a Holy God and fallen, sinful mankind. Because “holiness is agreement with God” (5 T. 743), and “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14), it is essential that we are willingly obedient to God’s requirements in order to establish a relationship with Him. This is not because He is an arbitrary God who demands obedience as a penance or proof that we love Him. It is because agreement is the natural law of communication and relationship, even between two people. If we are not willing to obey God, there are no open receptors in our minds through which He can establish communication with us.

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’

“’Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.’

“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1. (Emphasis Supplied.)

When everything had been learned that could be learned from the sacrificial system and the earthly sanctuary, God brought forth His Son to establish the second section of the plan of salvation to be wrought out from the heavenly sanctuary.

“When we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law the we might receive the full rights of sons.” Gal. 4:3, 4.

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. . . .Those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

“Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.”

“First he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them’ (although the law required them to be made). Then he said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Heb. 10:1-14. (Emphases supplied.)

Please notice that the whole plan of salvation is for one central purpose—taking away the cancer of sin, which is disagreement with God. Everything God does is for the purpose of bringing us back into agreement with Him on all levels and about all things. While Jesus was on earth, He began to open up the minds of His hearers to a deeper work of restoration than they had understood in the rituals performed by the priests in the earthly ministration. He introduced the concept that sin originates in the mind and heart, not just the behavior.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. . . .You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt. 5:21, 22, 27, 28.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. . . .

“The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man unclean; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’” Matt. 15:8, 9, 18-20.

Level two in the plan of salvation, which was represented by the daily priestly work in the Holy Place of the earthly sanctuary, pointed forward to the Holy Place ministry of Jesus when He ascended back to heaven. In this ministry the spirit of man is addressed, not just his behavior. It is a deeper level of understanding the problem of sin. Sin originates in the heart, and therefore the heart must be cleansed from defilement and disagreement with God on a deeper level than mere behavior. The Hebrew word for “spirit” is “ruah.” This means: “breath, wind; by extension: spirit, mind, heart, as the immaterial part of a person that can respond to God, the seat of life; spirit being, especially the Spirit of God.” (NIV Concordance, p. 8080.)

When Jesus came to earth as a man, He lived a perfect life not only in behavior, but in His thought life. He was always connected to His Father’s mind through the Holy Spirit, and therefore they were in constant, unbroken agreement, just as they had always been throughout the eons of eternity. He said, “I and my Father are one. . . .the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” John 10:30, 38. No sin could exist or break through the barrier of that oneness. And so it may be with us. Jesus has made it possible through His righteous life for us to become one with the Father and the Son, so that nothing can take us away from their love and care for us, or our devotion to them. Jesus addressed this in His last prayer for His disciples:

“Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. . . .Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:11, 21-23.

But there is yet one deeper level to be addressed in our recovery from the problem of sin. Our minds actually have two compartments of consciousness. The first is our conscious mind, which is twenty percent or less. The second is our stored memories, or unconscious mind. Like the data bank in a computer, these stored memories affect all that we do, whether we realize it or not. This can be helpful and good, or it can be detrimental, depending upon the type of information we have stored away during our entire life. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 15:13:

“Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots.”

Paul also addressed this problem in Hebrews 12:14, 15:

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”

By the grace of God we can be in agreement with Him on the level of our behavior, and even our conscious thoughts and feelings. But until the unconscious areas of our lives are also cleansed, our present thoughts, feelings and behavior can be affected adversely by the uncleansed areas from our past experiences. God wants to cleanse all the areas of our entire lives, and He can do this if we are willing to cooperate with Jesus in His final mediatorial work of judgment in the Most Holy Place in the heavenly sanctuary!

“For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Eccl. 12:14.

“The work of restoration can never be thorough unless the roots of evil are reached. Again and again the shoots have been clipped, while the root of bitterness has been left to spring up and defile many; but the very depth of the hidden evil must be reached, the moral senses must be judged, and judged again, in the light of the divine presence. The daily life will testify whether the work is genuine.

“. . .If the tempted soul endures the trying process, and self does not awake to life to feel hurt and abused under the test, that probing knife reveals that the soul is indeed dead to self but alive to God.” 5 BC 1152.

“The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated, and they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding. . . .When, by thorough confession you destroy the root of bitterness, you will see light in God’s light. Without this thorough work you will never clear your souls.” LS 326.

“Wrong dispositions and feelings are to be rooted out.” UL 218.

“Roots of bitterness crowd out the precious plant of love.” DA 651.

Where do these roots of bitterness come from? Often they are leftovers from childhood, where we have made immature decisions and conclusions that have never been healed or changed, and our minds continue to act on those same thought patterns from the past. Fortunately, this is the very work that Jesus is doing in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary right now! He is cleansing and blotting out the records and memories of our sins and removing them from our minds as well. But as in all other areas of our walk with Jesus, this must be an experience of cooperation with Him. He can reveal these areas to us if we ask Him. Here are a few examples of what Jesus can do for each one of us.

Jane* grew up in a home where her father was harsh and controlling. There was never a word of commendation, but any infractions of the rules received harsh punishment. When she grew up, she looked for approval from men to replace the insensitivity of her father. After years of trying unsuccessfully to be healed, she found solace and love in a close and loving relationship with Jesus. She forgave her father, and ministered to him in his old age. Eventually God guided her to a life partner who reflected the love of Jesus to her.

Sarah* grew up in the shadow of a beautiful, gifted older sister. She considered herself to be the “ugly duckling” of the family, and retreated within herself. She married an abusive man, but after five years of marriage, they were separated and eventually divorced. Gradually she began to realize that she was special to God, and that He had important plans for her life. She went back to school and received her degree in teaching, with a specialty in damaged children. Today Sarah has a close walk with Jesus, and is a leader in her field, as well as in the church. She has let Jesus cleanse her of past resentments toward her sister, and is a blessing to all within the sphere of her influence.

These are only two examples of how God can change our lives when we cooperate with Him as He cleanses the books of heaven from the record of our sins, all the way back to the beginning of our lives. If you are finding it difficult to forgive someone; if you have roots of bitterness, fears and wrong thinking that prevent you from having a trusting relationship with Jesus, go to Him and ask Him to forgive and cleanse you from the sinful memories, choices, and thought patterns from the past that are still affecting you now. He will give you the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit bringing the righteousness of Jesus’ own perfect life into your heart and mind. Thus you become one with the Father and the Son on all three levels of righteousness—behavior, thoughts and feelings, and subconscious drives from past uncleansed experiences. It is this cleansing that prepares God’s people for the seal of God to be placed upon their foreheads, as a sign that they are now fully in harmony with God’s mind on every point, and thus ready to receive the latter rain and be ready for Jesus’ coming.

“When tempted to sin, let us remember that Jesus is pleading for us in the heavenly sanctuary. When we put away our sins and come to Him in faith, He takes our names on His lips, and presents them to His Father, saying, ‘I have graven them on the palms of my hands; I know them by name.’ And the command goes forth the angels to protect them.” 4 BC 1143.

“The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.” Isa. 32:17.

When this is the experience of God’s people, the purpose of the sanctuary will have been completed. Sin—disagreement with God—will have been eradicated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, bringing Christ’s righteousness into every area of the mind. No sympathy with Satan or agreement with his evil principles will remain. Then the new covenant promise that God made to the Israelite people so long ago will finally become a reality in the final generation—the remnant “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 14:12. KJV.

[It is interesting to note that the word “testimony” in Greek means “to be a witness, give evidence, testify” (Strong’s Concordance); “evidence, reputation, proof” (NIV concordance). It is also the word used for the Decalogue in the sacred Tabernacle (Strong’s Concordance).]

The remnant of God’s people will be the living proof that Jesus can fulfill the purpose and meaning of His name, as the angel Gabriel said, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. They will stand forever as a witness before the universe of the power of divine love to restore the human race from sin to God’s perfect holiness and harmony with His character and His law, for it will be written not upon tablets of stone, but upon the tablets of the heart.

“’This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’” Jer. 31:33, 34.

Conclusion

Since the fall of Adam and Eve, people have struggled with the fallen human nature. Without divine intervention from God, there is no hope for recovery from the devastation sin has caused. But “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. KJV. In the Old Testament, provision was made for the forgiveness of sin through the sacrificial system.

“If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring . . . his offering for the sin he committed.” Lev. 4:27, 28.

“If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.” Lev. 5:17.

Other than the shedding of the blood of the sacrifice, there was no provision for forgiveness. Some people believe that becoming a Christian and trying to be a good person is all that is needed to be saved. It is true that God’s mercy and longsuffering are great, and He waits patiently for the wicked to repent; but Christ’s sacrifice does not make provision for the forgiveness of known, cherished sin without the repentance and cooperation of the sinner.

“In His sufferings and death Jesus has made atonement for all sins of ignorance, but there is no provision made for willful blindness. . . .We shall not be held accountable for the light that has not reached our perception, but for that which we have resisted and refused.” 5 BC 1145.

“God will not make the slightest compromise with sin. If He could have done this, Christ need not have come to our world to suffer and die.” 5 BC 1144.

With these principles in mind, we must conclude that although Christ died for all sin and sinners, only those who accept the gift of salvation and remain in connection with Him are benefitted by His sacrifice for them. Those who refuse to stay connected to Him have no innate ability to produce the fruits of righteousness.

“Our professions are worthless unless we abide in Christ; for we cannot be living branches unless the vital qualities of the Vine abound in us.” 5 BC 1144.

It is vital to our comprehension of the subject of righteousness by faith to realize that we are not saved or covered by His righteousness unless we are connected to Him. His righteousness is not a cloak to cover our unrighteousness—it is the avenue by which we become His sons and daughters in a loving bond which cannot be broken by Satan’s lies and temptations. The three levels of the sanctuary reveal to us that God has been patiently bearing with the human race through the centuries, teaching the lessons that need to be understood for complete recovery from the damage sin has caused. Here are the three levels of God’s progressive healing, as demonstrated in the sanctuary services:

1. The Court – Being obedient and connected to God on the level of behavior.

2. The Holy Place – Being aware that we are accountable to God for our thoughts and feelings, and maintaining connection to God through the Holy Spirit for victory in this area of our lives.

3. The Most Holy Place – Cooperating with Jesus’ cleansing and blotting out ministry in the heavenly sanctuary as He prepares a people to go through the time of trouble without a mediator. Allowing Him to reveal all hidden thoughts, feelings, and motives throughout our lives that influence our present behavior and thought life. Coming into agreement with God on all levels and receiving Christ’s perfect righteousness imparted and imputed into our deepest hearts, minds and souls, so that no trace of disagreement with God remains in us. We will then be ready to be among those who will be translated without seeing death.

In all three levels, Christ’s righteousness covers what we do not know, and also our failures to reach perfect obedience because of what we do not yet understand about the nature and reasons for our sins. But we should not presume upon His mercy as some are now doing by saying that we will sin until Jesus comes, and trusting that He will cover sins that are unconfessed and for which we have not repented. The sacrifice of Christ, coupled with His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, is completely adequate to bring us back from the power and presence of sin in our lives, but if we do not avail ourselves of all that He has for us, we cannot know the joy of recovery and freedom from the control of Satan and our own sinful nature.

May God help us in this blotting out time to cooperate fully with Jesus in the final atonement that He is making for us right now!

“To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Jude 24.