Justification is by Faith

“but now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known…

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace

through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” Rom 3:21, 23-24

God the Father sits in His courtroom behind the bench.  The bench is so elevated you cannot even see Him.  His credentials hang on the bench in front of you.  Nervously you begin reading: Perfect in Holiness (Lev 11:44; Ps 145:17; Mt 5:48; Rev 4:8, 15:4; 1 Pet 1:15-16; Isa 6:3), Righteous Judge (2 Tim 4:8; Ps 11:7, Jn 17:25, Isa 45:21; Jer 23:6), Just Judge (Ge 18:25; Isa 30:8; Job 34:12; Ps 103:6; 146:7), the Truth (Ex 34:6; Nu 23:19,\; Rev 16:7), Omniscient (Ps 147:5, 139:1-4; Heb 4:13, 11:36; 1 Jn 3:20), Omnipotent (Ps 115:3; 135:6; Lk 1:37; Jer 32:17), Omnipresent (Ps 139:7-8; Heb 13:5; Mt 28:20; Deut 31:6), Good (1 Chr 16:34; Nah 1:7; Ps 25:7, 34:8, 100:5, 145:9), Impartial ( 2 Chr 19:7; Dt 10:17; Acts 10:34-35; Rom 2:6, 2:11)  and on and on it goes.  Your eyes begin to blur and you cannot even begin to take it all in.

It slowly begins to dawn on you that you are seated in the presence of ABOSOLUTE PERFECTION.  There is a distinct sinking feeling from deep inside you.  Your own soul which seemed almost white to you before now is fading to a deep gray and then to utter blackness as you realize the incredible holiness in front of you.  Suddenly you remember your utter wretchedness; the deeds of your childhood come flooding in on you and then your adult life as well—and these were deeds for which you “knew better.”  The certainty of your sentence begins to weigh on you.  There is no way—no hope—that you could even begin to compare to His holiness.  You are, without-a-doubt, a law-breaker.  And you are very aware that it is His law you have broken. 

The Attorney’s door opens and in walks Jesus, alone (Rom 8:33-34; Isa 50:8-9).  Wait a minute, this cannot be right…isn’t Satan supposed to be the prosecutor?  Jesus walks over to your table and sits with you.  You rise to your feet as the bailiff announces the case, your case, he utters your name and then chimes in, a little too happy for your liking, “ vs. the Law of Almighty God.  Most Highly Exalted Father God, Creator of all that is, Sovereign Ruler over all, Omnipotent Potentate¸ and Righteous Judge presiding.” As Father God enters, your heart sinks as does your posture, in fact, you feel very week in the knees.  As you collapse into your seat and the trial starts, Jesus looks at you with a smile and then approaches the bench.  “Father this one is written in the book of life for this one has believed in me.” (Ex 32:32; Dt 29:20, Da 12:1; Mal 3:16; Lk 10:20: Rev 3:5, 20:12, 15)  The book is opened and your name is found.  You’ll never forget the Father’s next words as He makes pronouncement on the case—you have been justified by belief in Jesus Christ who has given you His own righteousness…You have been pronounced Righteous.  Praise the Lord!

In order to understand justification, we must first understand what is meant by the word “righteousness.”  “The NT [New Testament] uses righteousness in the sense of conformity to the demands and obligations of the will of God, the so-called ‘righteousness of the law.’”¹  “Righteousness is conceived as judged by the standard of God’s holy law, which is derived from His holy character…”²  So righteousness is the absolute conformity to God’s law and character (His holiness); it is to be faultless or guiltless.³

Interestingly, the Greek root word “dik” conveys “the essential idea of righteousness, or rightness.”⁴  Several Greek words use this same root. The Greek word for “righteousness” is “dikaiosyne” which means “the quality of rightness or justice”⁵  The Greek verb “dikaioo” means “to justify.”⁶  The Greek noun “dikaiosis” means “the act of making right, or justification.”⁷ So we seek the ideas of justification and righteousness are tied closely together.  The verb “dikaioo” is commonly used when speaking of justifying and it means “to acquit,” “to vindicate” or “to pronounce righteous.”⁸  In Romans, Paul evokes a scene from a courtroom in which God sits as judge on the judgment seat of God and makes the case for justification by faith. 

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  – Rom 3:21-26

The tenants of the case are as follows: (Please look up these Scriptures.)

1. God is just.  (He always does what is right.)  – Rom 3:26
2. The law makes us conscious of our sin.  – Rom 3:20
3. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (no one conforms absolutely to God’s law and character—no one is faultless or guiltless).  – Rom 3:23
4. No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.  – Rom 3:20
5. God is righteous.  – Rom 3:21
6. Man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.  – Rom 3:28
7. God is the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.  – Rom 3:26
8. God gives His righteousness to those who through faith in Jesus Christ trust in His atoning sacrifice as payment for their sins.  – Rom 3:22; 4:5; Phil 3:9

So justification is the process by which—through God’s redemption, freely by His grace—righteousness is imputed (or credited) to those who believe in Jesus Christ as a sacrifice of atonement for their sins.  – Rom 3:22,24-25; 4:21-25; 2 Cor 5:21

“Justification is the judicial aspect of the conversion experience in which the believer is viewed from God’s perspective.  God the Father, because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, imputes, or credits the righteousness of Christ to the believer. Paul says this “credited righteousness” is not really our own, but is Christ’s (Php 3:9).  God the Father sees believers wrapped in the perfect righteousness of Christ.  This is what allows God to accept mortals in his heaven—since no one can ever be good enough to merit heaven.  The term justification is best understood in the analogy of a courtroom.  Jesus Christ is our advocate, or attorney, who is able to present us before the Father as being credited with his righteousness.”⁹

Footnotes

¹ Milne, B. A. "Rigtheousness." The New Bible Dictionary. Second ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962. 1031. Print.

² Buswell, JR., James Oliver. "Rigtheousness." The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1967. 723. Print.

³ Leitch, A. H. "Righteousness." The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Vol. 5. Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, 1976. 104. Print.

⁴ Buswell, 723.

⁵ Buswell, 723.

⁶ Ryken, Leland, Jim Wilhoit, Tremper Longman, Colin Duriez, Douglas Penney, and Daniel G. Reid. "Romans, Letter to the." Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998. 735. Print.

⁷ Buswell, 723.

⁸ Richards, Larry. "Justify/Justification." Expository Dictionary of Bible Words. Grand Rapids, MI: Regency Reference Library, 1985. 373. Print.

⁹ Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. "Biblical Words for Salvation." Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. 1733. Print.

References

All Scriptures not otherwise specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

God is Omniscient

“Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”

Psalm 147:5

Here again is another attribute of God which only He can posses – perfect knowledge.  He knows all there is to know.  There is not a fact, statistic, law, principle, detail, which He does not fully know and understand.  God cannot learn or discover anything.  Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy points out, “Because God knows all things perfectly, He knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well.  He never discovers anything.  He is never surprised, never amazed.  He never wonders about anything nor (except when drawing men out for their own good) does He seek information or ask questions.” ¹  Nothing is hidden or unknown to Him.  He knows thoughts as well as actions.  He must in order to be a fair judge.  Hebrews 4:13 states, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to we must give account.”

Tozer writes further, “God perfectly knows Himself and, being the source and author of all things, it follows that He knows all that can be known.” ²  There are no mysteries to God.  He knows perfectly all cause and effect, all laws that govern an object and make it be what it is.  He can account for everything that has ever happened, is happening and is yet to happen.  He cannot forget anything and does not have to call things into recollection.  He simply exists there.  He simply has all the knowledge.   “From him and to him and through him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.” – Hebrews 11:36

God knows the “Why?” –  something science can never tell us.  C S Lewis reminds us in Mere Christianity that science tells us only what happened in a specific setting when something was tested.  Science shows us the pattern of behavior objects, animals, or plants obey – but never really why they obey.  If science knew all there was to know in the universe, it could still not answer the question “why.”  Science mostly answers the question “What happens when…,” but God knows why those things happen because He is the source and author of all things.  Interestingly, this implies that the Bible (God’s written word) is a better source of explanation about why we exist or why the universe was created than science will ever be able to offer.  Science also struggles to answer the question of “How” when applied to the origin of things.  How did the universe come into being?  How did all the plant species and animal species come into being?  How did humans come into being?  Science is held up in time always trying to answer the question after the fact of something happening.  God lives outside of time and as C S Lewis points out in Mere Christianity, He has the ability to see all points in time at the same time.  He can and does interact with all points of time simultaneously. 

Herein lays the problem with discussing the doctrine of predestination, for God no such thing can exist as pre or post a given point in time.  He lives in the eternal now and already knows perfectly what is going to happen for us in time because He is already there.  So for God there is no foreknowledge there is only knowledge – perfect knowledge of all things.  Now if we look at it from man’s point of view, then God foreknows everything about everything, but here we have lapsed back into treating God as if He were captured in time, which He is not.  He knows all things before they happen, so from our point of view, we say he foreknows.  See Romans 8:28-30 I Peter 1:1-2, and Ephesians 1:3-5.

Tozer points out the great fear or wonderful anticipation of mankind with the fact that God knows all the thoughts of a man before the man has them.   “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” - Psalm 139:1-4   For the evil, unregenerate man this is a terrifying thought.  For the regenerated man this is an extremely comforting thought for God knows all my wrong doings and His judgments are suspended in Christ.  For the unregenerate man, the terrifying thought of his impending judgment becomes too much to bear.  “This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” - 1 John 3:19-20

God knows us better than we know ourselves.  He knows the number of hairs on our heads, the thoughts inside our heads before we think them, our actions before we carry them out.  He alone knows all the mysteries of the universe and the unsearchable riches of Christ – and He wants to share them with you.  He wants to make known the deep mysteries of God.  “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:15

Oh Great and Mighty God, Source and Truth are found in only in You.  Help us to embrace you whole-heartedly.  Help us by Your Spirit to understand the deep things of God (1 Cor 2:9-16) and to marvel again at whom You are.  Oh that One so highly exalted would willingly, lovingly choose to sacrifice for us and call us Your children and share with us Your secrets.  Help us to understand the treasure we have in You – the very source of life, truth, knowledge and all that is good. Amen!

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” - Romans 11:33

Footnotes

¹ Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. 56. Print.

² Tozer. 56.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. Audio.

Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy: the Attributes of God, Their Meaning in the Christian Life. New York: Harper & Row, 1961. Print.