The lawkeepers attempt to keep the law for the building up of their own righteousness (Rom. 9:31). But “out of the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” before God (Rom. 3:20). To keep the law does not avail.
Christ came to be the end of the law unto righteousness to us. It is by fulfilling all the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory that He may be made judicially the righteousness from God to the believers (Rom. 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9). Christ’s completing work ended the law, so He is the end of the law.
There are two aspects of Christ being righteousness from God to the believers. The first aspect is that He is the believers’ righteousness for them to be justified before God objectively at the time of their repenting unto God and believing into Christ (Rom. 3:24-26; Acts 13:39; Gal. 3:24b, 27). The first stanza of Hymns, #295 says, “God’s Christ, who is my righteousness, / My beauty is, my glorious dress.” Christ is our beauty given by God to us to be put on us as our clothing, our glorious dress. This is outward, objective.
The second aspect is that Christ is the believers’ righteousness lived out of them as the manifestation of God, who is the righteousness in Christ given to the believers for them to be justified by God subjectively (Rom. 4:25; 1 Pet. 2:24a; James 2:24; Matt. 5:20; Rev. 19:8). We were sinners who repented to God and believed into the Lord Jesus. Right away God gave Christ to us as a glorious dress to cover us, so we are acceptable to God righteously, outwardly. This is objective righteousness. Also, when Christ was given to us to be put on us, He entered into us to be our life and life supply to live Himself out of us. This living out is the manifestation of God in Christ. This is pleasant in the eyes of God. Surely, God would justify us subjectively, not just objectively. Now we can see the two aspects—outward and inward. Christ is put on us, and Christ enters into us to live God out of us to be our subjective righteousness.
These two aspects are typified by the best robe and the fattened calf in Luke 15:22-23. The best robe typifies Christ as God’s righteousness given to the believers to cover them outwardly before God as their objective righteousness. The fattened calf typifies Christ as God’s righteousness given to the believers as their life supply for them to live out God in Christ as their subjective righteousness.
In Luke 15 when the prodigal son came back to the father, the father told his slaves to bring out the best robe and put it on his son. This robe replaced the rags (Isa. 64:6) of the returned prodigal. Surely the rags would not be pleasant to the father. But the father told the slaves to take the best robe and put it on his son as a new dress to cover him. Thus, he became a new man, but just outwardly.
Immediately following this, the father said, “And bring the fattened calf; slaughter it, and let us eat and be merry” (Luke 15:23). Even though the robe was put upon the prodigal son, he was still hungry. He could have said, “Father, I need something to eat. I was eating the pigs’ food. I am starved to death. Father, I don’t need this robe; I need something to eat.” But the father could say, “Son, if you are so poor, in rags, I cannot serve you anything. I must beautify you first by dressing you up. Then you match me. Then I can serve you with a pleasant meal, the fattened calf.”
The fattened calf is also a type of Christ, just like the best robe. The best robe is a type of Christ being righteousness to us outwardly. The fattened calf typifies the subjective Christ entering into us to be enjoyed, digested, and assimilated by us to become our tissue, to become us. By eating the fattened calf, the prodigal son’s face would be transformed. He came back with a pale face. But after eating the fattened calf, his face would become shining, bright, and colorful. This is Christ given by God to us as righteousness in two aspects: as the outward righteousness to beautify us and as the inward righteousness to supply us to live Himself out of us to be God’s pleasure.
These two aspects of Christ as righteousness are also typified by the two garments of the queen in Psalm 45:13-14. Solomon had a queen, and that queen had two garments. The first one corresponds with the objective righteousness, which is for our justification. The other garment corresponds with the subjective righteousnesses (Rev. 19:8), which are for our victory. This garment is equivalent to the wedding garment in Matthew 22:11-12.