Christ Jesus, the infinitely holy Son of God, obeyed the law of God as a Man to give righteousness to guilty sinners (John 11:41-43). Take away the stone (the law), and believe that God Almighty will give you life because He has given you Jesus Christ as ALL THE OBEDIENCE NECESSARY to fulfill His goodness in the covenant (Is 42:1, 6-7). In the Old Covenant, God promised His faithfulness, but the obedience of Israel was also needed. In the New Covenant, God promises His faithfulness, and the obedience of Jesus Christ is the reason. Therefore, because Christ Jesus obeyed ON OUR BEHALF, God the Father will give us every blessing of the new covenant (Heb 8:7-9, 9:8-10).
He will give us life because we are justified in Christ's righteousness. Life is the reward of the justified. The law says, "This do, and thou shalt live (read Luke 10:25-28)". Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you will live. We BELIEVE the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law for us. I believe that because Christ OBEYED FOR ME, God the Father will give me what Jesus Christ desires for me to have, which is everything that He has promised.
So, take away the stone of your own supposed faithfulness; take away the stone of your own personal obedience to the law… or to the gospel; and BELIEVE the Lord Jesus Christ has OBEYED ENOUGH for God the Father to give life, the knowledge of Him, and all of the rewards of justification to an otherwise guilty sinner (John 11:38-41a).
Christ is the Servant of the Lord in whom the Lord delighted, and His responsibility is to bring forth judgment to the Gentiles (Is 42:1). It was His responsibility to bring us the gospel and to show us how WE are justified. Lazarus came to life, NOT by any obedience of his own, but because it is the glory of God to give grace, through Christ, to STINKING souls (John 11:4, 40).
It is His glory to love the unlovable. This is why He saves sinners. And, may God send this message, right now, like an arrow into your consciously unworthy soul. You think that God Almighty (as you know just a smidgeon of His holiness) could not love you. I don't mean the cheap love this world talks about… but the true love that engulfs the other things in this life and fills your soul. You know that God ought to be able to love you like that, but you believe you're too defiled to be made whole. But listen, God loves people freely for Christ's sake. God does not love people because they behave better than someone else. He does not love people because they have a burning desire for cleanness. He does not love people because they were raised in a Christian family. And, He does not love anyone because they have something to offer Him. God loves people for Christ's sake, and for Christ's sake alone (Rom 8:38-39).
Because He loved you, He put you in Christ from before the foundation of the world, and HE guaranteed your holiness (Eph 1:3-7). If you will but believe the gospel and entrust yourself to Him, then you will see that He loved you all along. You will see that He loved you as a depraved child while you were running headlong in all your sin, because He loved you outside of yourself, outside of what you've done, and entirely because He sees you in Christ's obedience. Your iniquities, that which you horribly commit, have ALWAYS been imputed or charged to Him… and upon the cross, He stood before the law of God, guilty, as if He had actually done it. And now, through His death, and for Christ's sake only, you stand before God "holy and blameless and unreprovable" having your sins forgiven and your iniquities covered (Rom 4:6-8).
This is the righteousness of God whereby He justifies the BELIEVING sinner in the obedience of His Son. And, this righteousness, which comes from His Son's life and death, is verified by His resurrection. This is the proof that His righteousness & death is ACCEPTED on behalf of guilty sinners, & it's given to you that believe; it is the ONLY cause of His love. Believe upon Him, and experience the blessedness of God's love.
And, for you who have believed before, BELIEVE AGAIN, and enter AGAIN into His love. Enter into what it means, right now, to be fully accepted in the Only Begotten Son… to be viewed by God Almighty, the infinitely Holy One whose eyes are flames of fire, as spotless, unreprovable, and absolutely astonishingly beautiful in His sight in love. Our very UNDESERVED-NESS is what makes it so much gospel; it is the fact that as a guilty sinner, made very conscience of my own personal unworthiness, I am a loved and fully accepted child. God says, "Behold MY SERVANT, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment [the gospel] to the Gentiles [sinners] (Is 42:1)… I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles (vs6)."