How is justifying faith brought to you? By the word

We've been going through an old list of questions and answers contained in the Westminster Larger Catechism published in the 17th century. We've seen that the mediation of Jesus brings justification, which is a legal declaration that you are right before God, despite your sinfulness. We also saw that this justification only happens by faith in Christ. But how are people brought to this justifying faith?

 

The faith that justifies is brought about in the heart of a sinner by the Word of God. Paul explains in his letter to the church in Rome:

 

'4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.  
 
5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: "The man who does these things will live by them."  6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?' " (that is, to bring Christ down)  7 "or 'Who will descend into the deep?' " (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  8 But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:  9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  11 As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."  12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  13 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." 

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"  
 
16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?"  17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.  (Rom 10:4-17)'

 

Notice what Paul says in verse 4, righteousness is available through Christ for everyone who believes. And then after speaking about the way this faith is demonstrated, Paul says in verse 17 that such faith comes from hearing the word of God.

 

So without the word of God, no one can believe in Jesus. Which makes sense. You can't believe in something if you've never heard of it. For example, you can't believe that the Prime Minister exists if you've never heard of him. So it is with Jesus, you can't believe in Jesus unless you hear about him.

 

So the word of God is essential to having justifying faith. It is only in the Word of God that we can truly know about Jesus and put our faith in him.

 

Sadly many people do not hear about Jesus and so do not believe and are not justified.

 

Will you listen to the Word of God, believe and be justified?

Joel Radford

What is justification? A legal declaration that you are righteous

We've been going through an old list of questions and answers contained in the Westminster Larger Catechism published in the 17th Century. Today I want to begin looking at the communion the church has with Christ and the mediation he brings. We'll start with the justification God gives.

What is justification? Justification is a legal declaration that someone is in the right. If I say something and my wife doubts the truth of my statement, then I may seek to justify my words by showing evidence that I am speaking the truth.

So when God justifies us, he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight. Paul says: '…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them' (2 Corinthians 5:19). God has reconciled us to him by not holding our sins legally against us.

But how could God be a just God and let sinners be counted as righteous? It is only by the work of Jesus Christ that we can be counted righteous. If we believe that Jesus Christ died for us, his death pays the penalty for our sins and his righteous life is imputed to our account. Paul says: 'But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's  abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' (Romans 15:15-21).

So God is not unjust in deeming us righteous. If you commit an offence and receive a fine from the police, it is perfectly reasonable for someone else to pay your fine for you. Justice is still met. So it is with God. Jesus has paid your debt and you can go free. You no longer need to suffer in hell for your sins, Jesus has suffered on your behalf.

So how can you have Christ bring justification to your life? You must trust in him. Paul writes: 'So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified' (Galatians 2:16).

This is marvellous news! If you trust in Christ, God no longer sees you in your sinfulness, he sees us in Christ's righteousness. You are justified.

Won't you trust in Christ today and be justified?                      

Joel Radford

Justification: forgiveness and righteousness

Last week we saw that one of things that happens when we are converted is that we are justified before God – we are legally right before him. But the question is then raised how can God say that we are right before him when it is clear that our sin makes us wrong before him? If a corrupt judge is one who lets people off the hook, isn’t this what God is doing? No, God is allowed to let us off for two reasons.

The first reason that we can be justified is because our sins are forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus died the death that we were supposed to die. He took our sins upon himself and died as our substitute: ‘…so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people’ (Hebrews 9:28). Therefore when God justifies us at our conversion it is not as though God is letting us off the hook without any punishment being made. Instead of us paying the price, God has paid the price through the blood of his son. This is what Paul is speaking of in Romans 5:8 when he says: ‘…we have now been justified by his blood’.

The second reason that we can be justified is because Christ’s righteousness is imputed to our account. Grudem writes: ‘…if God merely declared us to be forgiven from our past sins, that would not solve our problems entirely, for it would only make us morally neutral before God. We would be in the state that Adam was in before he had done anything right or wrong in God’s sight – he was not guilty before God, but neither had he earned a record of righteousness before God.’ Therefore when we are justified before God, he not only forgives us our sins through Christ, but he also accounts Christ’s righteousness to us – we become law abiding citizens. The Bible says this in a number of places and no more clearly than in the book of Romans: ‘righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe’ (Romans 3:22).

So for these two reasons God is not a corrupt judge turning a blind eye when he justifies sinners. The payment for our sins is met in Jesus’ death and the good works we are required to do are met in Jesus’ righteousness. God is therefore ‘just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26). If you want to be justified before God there is no other way except through Jesus Christ. Any other means would make God a corrupt judge. Are you legally right before God because of Jesus?

Joel Radford

Justification: a legal declaration

For the last two weeks we have seen that in order to go to heaven we must repent and have faith in Jesus. But what has happened if we have repented and believed? One of the ways the Bible describes conversion to Christianity is justification: ‘And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified’ (Romans 8:30). If we are to be glorified by God at the last day we need to be justified. But what does it mean to be justified?

Justification is a legal declaration that someone is right. We understand this usage in our day when we try to ‘justify’ ourselves after being accused of doing something wrong. When Jill asks why I forgot to take the rubbish out, I automatically come up with a large number of reasons that justify why I didn’t do it, rather than simply accept that I did the wrong thing in forgetting to fulfil my promise to take it out.

There are a number of clear examples in the Bible that show this legal understanding of the word justify. For example, Elihu is angry with his friend Job for justifying himself: ‘But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God’ (Job 32:2). Elihu is upset because he believes Job is in the wrong, not the right, whereas Job believes he is in the right. In Psalm 51:4 David speaks of God being justified in his judgements: ‘Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.’ God is a lawful judge, not an unlawful one and therefore is known as justified. Finally, Jesus refers to a legal justification in the New Testament when he confronts the Pharisees for their actions: ‘He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts’ (Luke 16:15). The Pharisees were justified and declared right in the eyes of the people by their actions (but not justified in God’s eyes).

Therefore when we have saving faith in Jesus we are declared right before God and inherit those blessings that come with being in the right and not in the wrong. Romans 5:1 speaks of this: ‘Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’. How do you have peace? By being in the right with God. How do you get right with God? By being justified through faith. If you’re not a Christian, you are not legally right with God. Put your faith in him today so that you will be justified!

Joel Radford