Those godly believers we all admire and want to be like are the ones who have been through the fire. When the ungodly suffer they are shamed, but when God’s people suffer they love God even more and rejoice in their sufferings.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2 (LSB)
I shared in a previous post how I had in an incident in a Bible Study class while attempting to teach about the Doctrine of Election back in 2006 by a couple of men who were dead set on stopping me from simply reading certain texts from Sacred Scripture. I have had similar experiences when teaching on the Doctrine of Justification, which is what this post is about. Justification by Faith is a doctrine that was the storm center of the Reformation. It was also a major concern of the Apostle Paul. As we study his epistles we can plainly see that he considered this doctrine to be the heart of the gospel. (Romans 1:17; 3:21-5:21; Galatians 2:15-5:1) It also shaped both his message (Acts 13:38-39) and his devotion and spiritual life (2 Corinthians 5:13-21; Philippians 3:4-14)
Justification is a judicial act of God pardoning sinners (Romans 4:5; 3:9-24), accepting them as just, and so putting permanently right their previously estranged relationship with Himself. This sentence of justification is God’s gift of Righteousness (Romans 5:15-17) as well as His bestowal of a status of acceptance for Jesus’ sake (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Both the 1689 London Confession and the Westminster Confession of Faith clearly deny that justification involves an infusion of righteousness. Instead, they make it clear that Justification by Faith does not change a person directly. It is a sentence or declaration of a person’s change of status. Justification involves the forgiveness of the sins of those who are called, as well as “accounting and accepting their persons as righteous.” Justification is a declaration on the part of God relevant to the believer. It is a judicial or forensic proclamation about the person’s relationship with God.
If Justification is wholly outside of the believer, meaning it is simply a declaration of righteousness, how is that beneficial to believers in the here and now? Let’s look at some scripture. I placed a passage from Romans at the top of the article. Here it is again.
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2 (LSB)
What can we learn from these two verses? First, our justification is based on our faith. Is this faith that we generate or is it part of the gift of salvation?
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (LSB)
The Greek grammar of these two verses tells us that the antecedent of “gift” is “faith.” Grace can’t be the antecedent because the word essentially means gift. It isn’t the faith that saves us. We are saved by grace through faith and that is not our doing, instead it is the gift of God. Look at the next two phrases. This gift of faith cannot be earned. Why? Our salvation is a work of God and He has structured it in such a way that there is no possibility of any of us taking credit for it. We cannot boast because we are saved. Why? God saved us by His good work.