The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Eternal Justification

JUSTIFIED BY FAITH


“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”. Romans 3:28



The Reformers made the expression ‘justified by faith’ the ground and pillar of their doctrine. Much of mainstream Protestantism has therefore adopted this terminology into their confessions of faith. The problem is in how most interpret this biblical phrase. There are three particular interpretations propagated, two of which are false.



1. The Reformed doctrine teaches that Christ secured the justification of the elect in His death at the cross, but that His righteousness is not actually imputed until those elect are brought to faith in Christ. Therefore they teach ‘justification upon the act of faith.’ Although they do not make faith the cause of justification, they make it the instrument for justification. This is the view of most ‘Calvinists.'



2. The Free-will Arminian doctrine teaches that Christ died to make salvation possible to all, and that those are justified who ‘make Jesus the Lord and Master of their lives and give Him first place in their lives. Then He is able to give them His righteousness, which makes them justified before the Father.’ This view teaches ‘justification because of faith.’



3. The Biblical doctrine teaches that when Christ died, God the Father then and there justified the elect once for all. He did not merely secure their justification. Justified by faith then means ‘justification REVEALED by faith,’ Romans 1:17. Faith is not the instrument of justification. It is the result.



Faith however must be understood in one of two ways, depending on the context. Sometimes it is used as a synonym of the Gospel itself, i.e. ‘the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,’ Jude 3. That is not speaking of faith as a result of the Spirit’s regenerating work, but faith whose object is Christ, and whose substance declares His blood and righteousness as the only ground of justification before God. In other words, the justification of sinners is revealed by faith (the Gospel of God’s Son). That is certainly the sense of Romans 3:28 where faith is used in opposition to the ‘law of works.’



Faith may also be used in the subjective sense, i.e. the work of grace in the heart, as in Romans 5:1. However, even there, faith is not the instrument or cause of our justification, but the fruit of it. The instrument of our justification is always the righteousness of Christ, once for all established by Christ, accepted, approved and imputed to the account of all the elect of all time there and then, Hebrews 10:10. Therefore being justified, it is by faith (the gift of faith to believe) that redeemed and justified sinners come to learn of their redemption, justification, and forgiveness of sins and enter into the peace with God in their spirits, souls, and consciences. However, it is not then that God imputes the righteousness of Christ. That was already done on their behalf at the cross! 2 Corinthians 5:21


More to follow.


Joe