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[Author of Salvation] [Man is Sin] [James and Righteousness] [Paul and Justification] One of the most difficult truths of the Bible for many to
accept is that God is the one who saves them.
It is not that God simply provides a way for man to be saved, but rather
that God actually provides salvation for sinners. This is in distinction to the much more common kind of gospel
message that might say, "God wants to save sinners, tries to say sinners,
but in the final analysis is only able to save those sinners who help him do
it." That is one of the most
basic differences between biblical Christianity and religions of man; all
man-made religions, in one way or another, teach that man is somehow
"getting" to God through his own efforts.
These religions only differ as to just how man is supposed to accomplish
this goal; some present elaborate systems of religious ritual and works, while
others command in her reflection and meditation as a way to approach the
infinite. Still others teach us to
dissolve our own selves so that we can be "dissolved" into the
unknown. But in each and every
instance, God is seen as the goal of this human action and achievement, while
salvation is seen in some form as the work of man whereby he struggles and
strives to please God. This fallacy is even seen in some forms of evangelical
Christianity. Namely, God is
presented as the all-loving Father who has provided a way for man to come to
Him. In other words, using this
theology, God said his Son to die for all men so that, if men so choose, they
might take advantage of this plan income to Him.
Therefore, God does not actually save anyone before in the final
analysis, outside of human initiative in man's choosing, God is utterly hopeless
to save even a single individual. Even
if a person believes that God provides 99 percent of the plan, that still leaves
the entire process up to man. This
is true because of man refuses to provide this extra 1 percent of the total
effort required, thence God's purpose is stymied, and he is utterly able to
accomplish his desired goal of saving man. God saves sinners.
What a tremendous truth is revealed in this simple phrase.
God brings man to himself-not the other way around.
God is not thwarted by his small, simple creations; if he intends to
bring a soul to salvation, he can accomplish the desire of his heart without
having to ask the permission of his creation.
God is no impotent sovereign waiting helplessly for man's response to his
promptings. But as the creator of
all things he brings to pass his will in each and every life. Note that it is God who does this and not his creation.
The Lord is the one who “works all things after the council of his
will" (Ephesians 1:4). God is the author of the plan to salvation from beginning to
and, and God is in charge without having to ask the permission of man. God, the Author of Salvation
While many would agree on one level that the Bible teaches
God's sovereignty, on another level they denied this truth by believing that
when it comes to man salvation, for some reason God abandons His sovereignty to
allow man to call the shots. It is
though they believe in a God who tries real hard to save man but in the majority
of cases it seems that he fails at His goal. One of the classic sections of Scripture on a topic of
salvation is to be found in holes letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1, versus 3
through 12:
Let's look at the major aspects of this tremendous passage
of Scripture. Notice first that
several times the Scripture uses the phrase, "in Christ" or "in
him." If anything can be said
about salvation other than that is the work of God, it would be that it is the
work of God in Christ. The
salvation is wrapped up in the work of Jesus Christ, centered on a person of
Christ. Outside of Christ, there is
no salvation. Secondly, take notice
of the verbs in this passage-examining them closely, it is seen that God is the
one who is active in this passage. God
is the doer, man is the receiver; the person who is acted on. Paul begins by asserting that God chose us his people in
Jesus Christ "before the foundation of the world."
In other words, the whole process of salvation is God's choice and not
man's. Because we were chosen
before the foundation of the world, God was not simply reacting to a decision
made by man that he could foresee in the future.
Rather, God chose us in Christ and determined to make us wholly and
without blame, to make us like Christ. Additionally,
the apostle clearly uses the word "predestination" and not simply
"foreordination"-God chose a people in Christ and then predestined
them to adoption as sons. He did
not predestine a plan but a people, the people of God. Furthermore, God's decision regarding man’s salvation is
not based upon what works he knew man would do.
Paul clearly spells us the basis upon which God chose certain men and
women "according to the good pleasure of his will" (verse 5).
That is certainly not a politically correct doctrine that whole
illustrates, but it is clearly what is in Scripture; the basis of God's
predestined grace is simply the good pleasure of his will.
God's choice is not based upon man's actions, man's works, man's
worthiness, or man's talents. Rather,
it is based solely upon his will, his mercy, His grace.
In verse 6, Paul tells us the outcome of God's eternal predestination:
the praise of the glory of His grace. That
is why God chose to save sinners. When
God saves a sinner, the glory of His grace is praised.
If salvation was in the least bit "of man," if were based even
the slightest upon man's obedience to various rules and regulations, then God's
grace would not be praised for the salvation of sinners.
The Bible will have none of this-God saves by his grace and mercy, and
therefore the glory of His grace is praised when men are brought to salvation. There is nothing that we need to do to obtain that
forgiveness, that redemption: such things as repentance, faith, baptism, or
obedience to certain gospel ordinances and principles throughout the time of
your mortal probation. Paul says
that we are redeemed, forgiven of our sins, solely on the basis of the riches of
God's grace. God's riches do not
need the addition of mankind's works. The
treasury of God's grace is large enough that he can accomplish its purposes
without additional good works of mankind. We
have instead God's forgiveness solely and completely on the basis of grace-this
is not to say that we have access to a "plan" whereby we might obtain
forgiveness for ourselves by God's grace, but rather we have forgiveness on the
basis of God's grace alone. There
is a vast in eternal difference between the two. Paul then goes on to assert that we have obtained "an
inheritance" not on the basis of our worthiness or upon the characteristic
of our works, but simply because we have been predestined "according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the council of his will" (verse
11). An inheritance in the kingdom
of God is not given on the basis of works or upon our own perceived
righteousness. It is not given only
to those who passed a certain kind of past or reach a certain goal.
Rather, an inheritance in the kingdom of God is the gift of God given to
undeserving man simply because it is God's purpose to demonstrate his love and
his mercy in doing so (Ephesians 2:7).
When Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, he said,
God chose these "beloved brethren" for salvation
from the beginning. God brings
about their salvation through "sanctification of the spirit" and
"believe in the truth." Guide
has chosen certain means whereby he brings about the salvation of his people-the
elect. God has not chosen to save
man outside of Jesus Christ. He has
decided to save them through the sanctifying work of the spirit (the spirit sets
us apart, makes us wholly, and works in the lives of those who follow him so
that we will see God's will, do good works, all those things that are part of
being obedient child of God) and through believe in the truth.
No one is saved in false good. God
does not bring people to salvation through air or analyze but through faith,
believe, in the truth. God calls us
to this sanctification and truth by the gospel of Jesus Christ (verse 14). There are additionally to further things that need to be
understood about this doctrine of grace. First, all those who are saved are sanctified by
the Spirit. The Spirit works in the
lives of all those who are redeemed to bring about their holiness, and obedience
to God. It is not the other way
around; namely, it is not that works of obedience are necessary to bring about
salvation. Rather, these works of
obedience are the work of the spirit and those who are saved.
This is the critical error of many cults that assert that certain works
are necessary to bring about our salvation.
Certainly, there are many good works in the Christian life-but every
single good work in every obedient act by a child of God is accomplished through
the power in the work of the spirit of God as he is working out our
sanctification. Secondly, many people when faced
with the biblical teaching of the eternal predestination and election of God's
people onto salvation will then ask, "then why should we go out and
proclaim the gospel to anyone if God has or decided who he is going to
save?" However, God has
decided that he is going to bring about the salvation of his people in a
particular way in this way is through the proclamation of the gospel of Christ
and the exhortation to repent from their sins and return to God.
Those who accept the Bible's teaching about God's sovereignty should not
as a result stop sharing, witnessing, and working to bring about the
glorification of God. Jesus Christ also has a few words to say on this subject, All things are delivered unto me by my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. (Matthew 11:27) The Lord Jesus Christ here clearly states that in order to know the Father, one must go through the Son (John 1:18). No man can bypass Jesus Christ in coming to know the Father, for the Father has chosen to reveal himself only through the Son. Christ here claims exclusive right as "revelator" of the Father. But does the Father chose to reveal the Son to all men? In John chapter 6, beginning with verse 37 we read,
And then in verses 44-45,
The absolute sovereignty of God comes to the surface in these two passages. The Father is pictured as the "owner" of all man, and he "gives" to the Son a particular people. Indeed, all that the Father gives to Jesus Christ will come to him-there is no doubt, there is no hesitation, no contingency. He does not say, "I hope that all the Father gives me will come to me," nor "I will try my best to make all those who are given to me by the Father come to me." However, he does state to all those who are given by the Father will come to the Son. Additionally, the believer who comes to Christ as a result of the Father having given him to the Son, will never be cast out. No one who comes to Christ will be lost. God is able to save all of those who trust in Jesus Christ. The Lord goes on to describe just why the believer in him is secure in his faith. Jesus says that he came down from heaven in order to do the will of his Father. The will of his Father is that all whom he has given Jesus will stay with him, and that he should lose no one but raise them all up at the last day. The will of the Father for the Son is that he should lose nothing of what the Father has given him. Instead, the Son will raise up those who are he is at the last day-a synonym for "eternal life," as is seen in the next verse. This is tremendous security for those who outlook to Christ in Christ alone for salvation. This means that the believer's relationship with Jesus Christ and God is a sure as the Son's obedience to the Father. That is to say, it is eternally secure. Jesus further describes the will of the Father by saying that everyone who sees, or who looks upon the Son, and believes in him, should have the eternal life. What does it mean to look upon Jesus and believe in him? Is this an action of freewill of which everyone is capable? The does this require a supernatural agency of the spirit of God? In verse 44, Jesus answers these questions by saying that no man is even able to come to him unless the Father draws him. Outside of the work of the Father in drawing man to him no one would ever believe in Jesus. This clearly points to God's absolute sovereignty in salvation. It also makes the concept of man's adding anything to his own salvation by works in utter impossibility. If we're not even able to come to Jesus Christ for salvation outside of our being drawn to him by the Father, how can we possibly say that we will have to do this work, or undergo that religious action, prior to our own personal salvation? As we have seen, the Bible is clear on the fact that God is the one he saves, and he does so only through Jesus Christ. God enables man to believe in Christ, and draws them to himself. God is the power behind it all. When Paul wrote to Timothy he asserted the same truth with
reference to the salvation he and Timothy and all Christians share.
This salvation is described as "a holy calling." Christians are called solely upon the basis of God's own purpose and grace-nothing more. And wind was this grace granted to us? Was a granted to us in response to anything we did it? No, it was granted to us in Christ Jesus "before the world began." Because we were not present then, we necessarily come to the conclusion that this mercy was given to us not on the basis of anything that we have done, or are doing, or might do in the future. Rather, this grace was given to us even before God's people entered into existence! From God's perspective, the actual salvation of his people has been an internal reality. It is a completed work. Certainly, we experience are salvation in time-before God by his spirit regenerated us causing us to be born again; we were a "child of wrath" just as anybody else (Ephesians 2:1-3). However, are eternal salvation has never been doubt, not in question, even before we were born. God has willed it and therefore it will take place. This is what Paul meant when he wrote to the Romans,
Some have called this the golden chain of redemption. This chain goes like this: Redemption – Predestined – Called – Justified – Glorified Each link in the chain leads inexorably to the next link. Notice also that all of this has been done in the past. From God's viewpoint, this is a finished process, and he did it all. There is therefore no room for the boasting of man. God has decided to save his people, and therefore predestined them, calls them, justifies them, and glorifies them. It is God's work from beginning to end. God is truly the author of our salvation. Paul goes on to expand further upon this principle in Romans chapter 9, verses 10 through 24. This is not an easy verse slight first passage, and it needs to be read slowly and carefully,
Man has, over the centuries, devised a number of ways to get around the clear meaning of this passage, but most have found it more convenient just to ignore what Paul clearly asserts. Maybe it is because we did not like being compared to a lump of clay-this God is so far above us that we can't even begin to question his dealings and his motives. However, almost every single objection that is raised against God's sovereignty in salvation is raised, and answered, by Paul in this passage. For example, some would say that guide is not righteous for not saving every body. Or, some might question how God could hold man responsible for the rebellion against him when he has eternally decreed what shall come to pass. God is sovereign in the matter of salvation. He is not dependent upon the works of man, the striving of man, nor the choice of man. Rather, it is God's work. Now he must discuss the nature of man. Man is SinThe total sovereignty of God in the salvation of man implies the total inability of man to achieve salvation by himself. The two concepts go hand-in-hand for the one who hates God's sovereignty will almost certainly have a very high view of his own capabilities and status. Few people enjoy being told how evil and depraved they are, or how helpless they are with respect to their own salvation. But the Bible is plain and clear on this topic is well. Paul's epistle to the Romans does not start out in chapter 1 with tremendous truths of God's election in predestination; instead, Paul waited until chapters eight and nine. He had something to deal with first and that was the inherent sinfulness of man. He asserts in that passage that man everywhere is without excuse; that God has given all mankind sufficient revelation in his nature to hold man responsible to worship Him and give Him thanks (Romans 1:20-21). Man suppresses the truth about God by ignoring the clear revelation from nature of God's existence, and instead worships created things rather than who created all things. He engages in idolatry; the worship of anything other than a true God by worshiping practically anything else including birds, reptiles, beasts, money, power, position, and status. As a result of this rebellion against God, God gives man over to his sin. The catalog of sinful actions and attitudes provided by Paul in Romans 1:24-31 is depressingly accurate as can be attested to buy the front page of any of our city’s newspapers. We are told that since men do not like to “retained God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind” (1:28). This mind is the common property of all men, every single person who has not been made a new creatures in Jesus Christ has this degenerate sinful mind. While it may manifest itself in different ways through different people, and in different levels of evil, this mind is still there and is set against submitting to the true and living God. After pointing out the sin that is inherent in all the world, Paul then moves on to deal with the Jews, who through their religious attitudes and possessions of the commandments of God, considered themselves to be different and superior than the rest of the world and inherently blessed by God and his grace. But Paul showed the Jews that they too, just like everybody else, were condemned as sinners, transgressors of the law, totally without hope. In fact, Paul pulls together a string of quotations from the Old Testament into a single sweeping condemnation of the sinful nature of man. He writes:
Paul says that there are no inherently righteous people, none who truthfully understands and practices the will of God all of the time and in every situation. In fact, man is so blinded by his greed and sinful nature that he is blinded to and enslaved by evil. Indeed, there is not even one single person who seeks after God. Certainly, there are many who are seeking after truth, but the Bible teaches they are in reality only seeking after their own selfish hands and not truly after God. It is one thing to seek after “truths" so as to find comfort, peace or happiness, but it is quite another to seek the true God and to worship him and give him control over their lives. Jeremiah has also given a penetrating look into the character of man. He asked,
Jeremiah understands that the Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin, and neither can the leopard change the character of his spots. So, neither can those who are accustomed to doing evil do good. Certainly men are accustomed to doing evil, so outside of God spirit making them new creations how can they do good? And if you continue to believe that man must use certain “good works" before they are saved, before they are regenerated or justified, this biblical passage must somehow be explained. Unless God changes the heart, we cannot truly do good works. The salvation must come first, then we can do good works so as to glorify God, and not try to earn what is in fact a free gift from God-full. Jeremiah noted the depravity of man's condition when he said,
In other words, the human heart is in rebellion against God and therefore cannot be trusted. Until the light of the spirit shines in that heart it remains in darkness. Paul describes the situation of man is like this,
Man is dead in sin. Paul does not say that man is simply “sickened" by sin, or “weakened" by sin, but that he is the dead in sin. This distinction is very important because if the man is just weak or sick, he can call out for help and then he work and try to move toward that assistance. Sometimes, the illustration of a drowning man is used. The person in the water struggles fiercely to keep from going down while waiting frantically to a ship seeking a life preserver or her other assistance. This is how man in his sin is viewed by man, but this is not how he is viewed in Scripture. A dead man does not have these options. He cannot call out for help because he is dead. He cannot move toward assistance for he is dead. Medicine or surgery cannot help him because he is dead. Man is not struggling in the water yelling for help; rather, he is at the bottom of the ocean dead as a doornail. It's however, Paul says, God who has “made us alive." While most people did not have any difficulty with the idea that only God can make someone alive, or in this sense raise someone from the dead, they might have some difficulty with the practical application of this image relating to our salvation. It means that God must act first in our salvation, for man is dead in trespasses and sin and is not able to initiate his own resurrection to life. Therefore, any religious system that says that man must do something before God regenerates (causes to be born again) or before God responds in salvation, has missed that point on both the sovereignty of God (thereby making God depended upon the actions of man) and in the inability of sinful man who is dead unto his sin. That is why Jesus himself said that no man is able to come to him unless the Father draws him, or as he said in John 6:65, unless “it were given unto him of my Father." If man is dead unto sin then he is utterly dependent upon God to bring him to spiritual life. Therefore, it follows that both faith and repentances must be gifts from God, and this is exactly what we find illustrated in Scripture. Both faith and repentance can only be undertaken by men and women who are no longer spiritually dead as both are spiritual activities. So not only are we dependent upon God for spiritual life but also for our faith and repentances well. This is referred to in Romans 2:4,
It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance and our own desires or works. Furthermore, reread in 2 Tim. 2:25,
And in Acts 5:31,
But the most clearly presented argument again in the eighth chapter of Romans verses 5 through eight:
In other words, either one is spiritually minded, or carnally minded; there is no middle ground. Paul teaches that such a carnal person is an enemy of God, at war with him. Such a person's mind is not subject to the law of God, and cannot please God. Until one is made “spiritually minded" by the spirit of God, one cannot please God. Since it is impossible for a natural or carnal man to do that which is pleasing to God, and since repentance pleases God, then it follows that man must be made spiritually minded before he can repent. This same can be true of saving faith; man must be spiritually minded (regenerated) before he can receive saving faith. Faith is plainly said to be the work of God; a gift of His Spirit, and is called a “gift of God" in Ephesians 2: 8-9. 1 John 5: 1 indicates that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has already been born again; that is, that regeneration precedes faith. Galatians 5:22 speaks of “faith" as one aspect of the “fruits of the spirit." A saving faith is a supernatural gift from God that causes a person to believe, trust, and cling solely to Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior. This is not merely some acknowledge of God’s presence or a brief intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel, but a life changing, disciple making faith that radically alters one's personal outlook and life. Only God can give that kind of faith; sinful man is incapable of such a spiritual activity. And it is on the basis of that kind of faith that God freely justifies sinners. The Greek term of “justification" as used by Paul in the new Testament was borrowed from the Roman legal system. When a prisoner was found “not guilty" he was said to be “righteous.” Justification referred to a person having a right relationship with the court through the law. It speaks of a whole relationship, one in which there is no sin or transgression. In English, the term has been translated in different ways. We can use the term “justification" or its verbal form “to justify," or we can use the term “righteousness" or its verbal form “to make righteous." There is no difference between the two terms as they are found in the New Testament since both are translating this same Greek word. To be just is to be righteous, and to have justification is to be made righteous. A person who is righteous in God’s sight is one who has a right relationship to God. If one has been justified, then one has been forgiven for the presence of unforgiven sin would preclude the possibility of being called just or righteous. All the impediments to a proper relationship with God have been removed; this is what it means to be justified. Another term is frequently used in conjunction with justification that is probably the most beautiful term in the entire Bible. It is the term “grace." Grace is favor that is granted without any reference to the worthiness of the recipient. In fact, grace is not just “unmerited favor," it is in fact “demerited favor" in the sense that not only do we not merit God's mercy and love but we instead merit his anger and wrath for our sins. But despite what we are really worthy of, God's grace gives a something else. Grace is free by definition. If the object of grace did something to deserve it then it with no longer be grace. Grace cannot be traded, purchased, or demanded. Grace to be grace at all must be given by God solely because He wants to give it and for no other reason. Grace is the opposite of merit, the opposite of works. As Paul said in Romans 11:6, “and if by grace, then it is no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace." True grace and works cannot be mixed. Grace plus works is dead, being meaningless. The idea that grace is granted in proportion to some standard of personal righteousness is the opposite of the truth, for grace is not at all related to personal righteousness or worthiness. Instead, grace produces righteousness in the life of the believer. As in all his salvation, first is the work of God (grace), then the response of man (personal righteousness that comes as a result of God’s work). Paul’s epistle to the Romans has been a frequent source of quotations for this paper. The reason is that the letter is a well thought out, reasoned presentation on the means by which God takes on righteous, guilty sinners and through his mercy and grace creates righteous saints who have eternal life. Paul’s letter provides us with some of the clearest arguments concerning salvation, and we would do well to keep the warnings found there. We will first go to Romans chapter 3 and just step through the book to allow the apostle Paul to present this doctrine. He first presents his indictment of sinful mankind in Rom. 3:10-18, and concludes the first section of this book by stating,
The first and most foundational concept that Paul is presenting here is that by deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in the sites of God. The law Paul teaches, was not meant to provide a way of salvation-indeed, it was rather meant to give us a knowledge of our sin and to point out to us are needed for a Savior (Galatians 3:10-11). So, no amount of legalistic keeping of rules and regulations can possibly bring about our justification before God. The law is unable to man to our broken relationships with God, because it only shows us how far short we are of being truly righteous. A person can perform good deeds forever and still not be righteous before God for those deeds have no merit in God's site. So this being the case, that we are unable to "work" our way back to God, what are we to do? How can we be made righteous? Paul continues,
What is this righteousness of God that is apart from the law? It is the righteousness of God given to man by their faith in Jesus Christ. God is not give men righteousness because of their good works, or on the basis of any saying they might have said. God gives men righteousness on the basis of their faith in Christ Jesus. Yes, God gives them this faith, and on the basis of that faith that he gives them He justifies those who believe in Christ. All men have sin, and all men have come short of the glory of God. There is no difference between one man and another with respect to the fact that all our sinners. So the way of salvation is the same for all as well; anyone who ever stand in the kingdom of God will stand there on the same ground. Each and every one will have been "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Not justified because they believed, repented, were baptized, did good works, tithed to their church, served on a mission, or remained faithful to the end of their mortal probation; no, they were justified freely and solely by God's grace through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ! Paul also said,
If I were to "earn" the highest rewards from God, then I can boast of my accomplishments. But Paul here says that boasting is excluded. Why is excluded? Because righteousness does not come by works, it comes by faith in Jesus Christ. That is how he can conclude that man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Are you made righteousness? Or are their certain works that you must do in order to gains God's grace and mercy or to achieve the highest rewards from God? Paul moves on from the great declaration of God's free grace to an example from the old Testament-Abraham. The entire fourth chapter of Romans is an argument for the priority of faith over works based upon the example of Abraham, the "Father of the faithful." Paul opens his argument by saying,
Every Jewish listener knew the story of Abraham very well. How, then, was Abraham made right before God? Was it by works of the law? Was he made righteous by some form of works that he performed in order to merit his own righteousness? If he were, Paul asserts, he would have something in which to glory. But Paul clearly states that that is not what happened. Instead, he quotes Genesis 15: 6, and shows that it was Abraham's faith that made him right with God. All that is on the say,
Paul starts off by stating his premise: if we work for something, the wages given to us for our work is not considered a "gift" but simply what is owed to us. In other words, if he went to work on Friday and your boss came up to you and handed you your paycheck and said, "here is a gift for you" you would probably be offended and say, "that's not a gift-I earned every penny of it!" So the same way, if we have to work for our salvation, or work for our righteousness, then it is not a gift but simply a payment of what we have earned. On the contrary, Paul asserts the one who does not work, but instead believes on him that makes the ungodly righteous, that man's faith is counted for righteousness. That is how one is justified, by faith and faith alone. A faith plus works system is simply not biblical. That is not real faith. Faith is either totally and completely in Christ and not in any works, or it is not a Christian faith. Paul emphasizes this in Rom. 4: 5 by contrasting the one who works with the one who believes-one trusts in works, the other trusts in Christ who is the one who did the work in our place! You can't hold onto works and claim faith in Christ. It just doesn't work that way. God imputes righteousness apart from works as David of old said (4: 6). Paul then moves on to demonstrate his next point. When Abraham was made righteous before God in Genesis 15: 6, where was the law? The law had not been given yet. In fact, this sign of circumcision had not even been given; indeed, Abraham was uncircumcised when he put his faith in God. When he did receive this sign of circumcision it was but a seal of "the righteousness of the faith which he had" previously (4: 11). Paul continues through this chapter showing the priority of the promise to the law, faith to works, and concludes by saying,
Paul is saying that if we want to have Christ righteousness imputed to us, we will never find it by working for it. We may be sincere, and we may work very hard and be very "zealous" for our beliefs, but we will never be made righteous with God as long as we are relying in any form or fashion upon our own works. Why? Paul then goes on to say, What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness switches of faith; but Israel, who followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith but, as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone; as it is written, behold I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense; and who so ever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Brethren, my hearts desire in prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a seal for God, but not according to knowledge. For day, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believed. (Rom. 9:30-10: 4). Until those who are living by the law, or who depend in some fashion upon their own works to achieve any merit before God, stop attempting to add to what Christ has already done, they will never find the peace of God. Paul spoke of that peace right after his discussion of Abraham,
The Greek text is very expressive in that it is plain that we have been justified by faith and by faith only. In other words, those who have faith are already justified, and all that we do it our Christian life is based upon the fact that we are already justified before God. As a Christian, we have been justified by faith in Jesus Christ solely on the basis of the free grace of God. That faith in Jesus Christ-which was the gift of God himself-is the sole basis for our justification. The life that we live after this justification is empowered by the spirit of God. We seek to do good works not to gain any justification, extra status in the hereafter, or any glorification or exaltation before God. This simple formula of justification and salvation before God is as follows, Justification leads to God and is demonstrated through good works and obedience. Therefore, believing in the all sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God imputes the righteousness of Christ to us. We will not someday have to stand before God hoping upon our own actions and self-sufficiency, but rather we will stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We will stand before God in the spotless robe of righteousness given to us as a free gift of God's grace that was woven upon the cross by Jesus Christ 2000 years ago. Because of this, we have peace with God. We cannot be condemned for our sins because we have been justified-the enmity that existed previously between myself and God has been erased by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This is the only way to find peace with God. The Apostle James and RighteousnessOne of the favorite passages of those who would insist that faith is required for our own justification is the passage of James 2:17-24. I place it here simply because both Paul and James referred to the same as their example (Abraham) even to the point of quoting the same passage from the Old Testament (Genesis 15: 6). Some have felt that Paul and James simply disagreed on this issue and that their teachings are contradictory. A close examination of James words reveals another story. He said, Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone. Yes a man may say, they'll has to faith, and I have works; show me die faith with outside works and I will show the might faith by my works. They'll believe best that there is one God; now dost well. The Devils also believe, and tremble. But well down 0,0 plain man, that faith without works is Dade? Was not Abraham, our Father, justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed to God, and what it was imputed unto him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. Ye see, then, that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. Does this first teach that God's grace is insufficient without man's works to bring about full incomplete justification? Just what does James mean here? As always, we need to examine the context in which James spoke these remarks. First, James is not discussing how one is made righteous before God, how one finds forgivenesses sins. The whole book of James is not written to unbelievers, nor is its purpose to discuss how believers are made believers. In instead, James is book is primarily moral and ethical in nature. It is an exhortation to Christian living directed solely to people who already name the name of Christ. We read in James 1:18-21, Of his own will be God he us with the word of truth, that we should be a friend of first fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let everyman be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. James is talking to Christian's (1: 19) and calling them to a holy life. Additionally, he also notes that just like Paul, he believes that salvation is the work of God only. It is God who start quoting be got us with the word of truth" and it is the word of God that “is able to save your souls.” This is exactly what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2: 13,
The whole point of James’ discourse is that when God saves someone, they will be changed and become a new creation that will live the life that will demonstrate they are truly Christians. This is exactly what Paul taught us as well. The famous passage is the second chapter of Ephesians,
Therefore, we are saved by grace through faith. This salvation, and this faith which we have received, is not of ourselves, but it is a free and undeserved gift of God. Our salvation is not of works. For if it were of our own accord, then we would have something about which to boast. This would remove glory from God and place it all upon ourselves where does not belong. But Paul does not stop there. God saves us, but he does not leave us there. God has a plan and purpose for our life, for we are the workmanship of God created in Christ Jesus unto good works. God has before ordained that we should walk in these good works thereby bringing glory to God, and not to ourselves. That is God's purpose for us. Those good works do not bring about our salvation but rather they flow from our salvation. Our salvation comes first-before we are justified. Then, we do the good works, but only those who are right before God can even do good works! This is exactly what James will be arguing for in his book as well. James is addressing Christian and exhorting them to do good works just as Paul did in his letters. Note hold word to Titus:
Never do we find the Bible saying “since God saved you, you can not go and have a good time.” That kind of thinking is utterly foreign to the Christian, and is directly contradictory to the word of God. In fact, many people have made that very accusation against the gospel of grace. These same people are normally taken back when this passage is quoted to them: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer in it? (Romans 6:12). A person who has died with Jesus Christ is a new creature. We had died to sin, and therefore we cannot continue to live under the dominion of sin. The desire of our heart should not be to bring grief to God, but to bring honor his name by trying to live a life that is as sinless as possible. Paul and James are teaching precisely the same thing. Next, we she that James does not believe that the law can bring a man unto salvation. In fact, he began incomplete agreement with Paul. James right to, For whatsoever shall keep the whole law, and yet the end in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2: 10). James here asserts that it is not enough merely to obey some of the law, the time, or to obey all of the law all of the time. Rather, he said that nothing but perfection will do, and since none of us keep the law perfectly, obviously that if not delay of justification just as Paul taught. Now we come to the second chapter of James where he discusses the relationship between faith and works. In verse 14, James tells us what kind of “faith" he is discussing.
The faith that James is talking about is a type of faith that does not produce works. If a kind of faith without fruit, and shows no change in the life of the believer. This is not the faith about which Paul talked about in Romans. Rather, James is talking about a "head faith", a kind of faith that has nothing more to do with the gospel than merely an intellectual acknowledgment of certain facts. It is not a heart changing, saving faith that if the work of spirit of God. Since Paul asserts that justification is based solely on true, saving faith, and denies that this kind of faith can exist without the resulting change in a person's life, then James’ whole discussion here is directed not against Paul’s teaching, but rather against a different kind of belief - a belief that is still around with us today. James is attacking the idea that says that a person can at one point in their time simply acknowledge the life of Jesus Christ and be saved, but then go on to lead a life of debauchery. James denied that this is a saving faith, and Paul denies that as well. But the important thing to understand is that James is discussing a totally different concept than we have seen in Paul. In chapter 17, James asserts that faith that does not result in good works is dead. This means that mere intellectual assent to certain facts is not saving faith, and is certainly not the work of spirit of God. James goes on to show the foolishness of this kind of head faith in verse 18, and in doing so gives us another very important aspect of his discussion regarding faith in this chapter. James speaks of showing our faith, proving our faith before man. How can one show your faith to other man? You can't do it without good works. The faith is a matter of the heart, so cannot be seen by man other then in the facts that has upon one's life. Why is this so important? Because when James talks about Abraham being justified by his works, he does so in the context of demonstrating his faith before other man, not before God. The justification of which James speaks then is in a wholly different context then Paul’s discussion in Romans or Galatians. Paul here says that no man can be justified in the sight of God by works; James says that the only way a man can be justified into sight of man is by works! Again, we see that the topics under discussion differ between Paul and James, and that in reality there are in perfect harmony with each other. James also asserts that while the demons “believe" and tremble, this does them no good, for the “faith" that is theirs is hardly the faith that is the work of the spirit of God, but is just a simple recognition of the fact of God's existence. This kind of intellectual faith is of no use to them, and is a result of faith without works instead. James is not saying that true, saving faith which always results in good works is not sufficient to save. Unfortunately, this is what many who believe in a works gospel try to say they James is teaching; but he simply is not. James then gives us an example, Abraham. He asks if Abraham was not justified by works when he offered Isaac upon the altar. We must remember that the readers of James letter would know the Old Testament story of Abraham by heart. How would they have understood his words? We know that Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" in Genesis. This was at least twenty years before the offering of Isaac of which James speaks. James knew, as did his readers, that Abraham's faith had brought him righteousness before the act of sacrificing his son upon the altar two decades later. But has we have already seen, James is not talking about how one becomes righteous in the sight of God, but how one demonstrates one's faith and God. So Abraham's act of obedience did not make him righteous, but instead showed the reality of his faith in God. His works "perfected" his faith, demonstrated his faith, and more importantly, sprung from his faith. In each instance, faith is illustrated prior to, and is foundational to, works. James is saying what Paul said in different words in Romans chapter 12 and in Ephesians chapter 2. Therefore, Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith alone is not being denied James when he said that a man is “justified” by works and not by faith only. Rather, James is speaking of a justification that is before men and not before God, while he still keeps before us the truth that real, saving faith will not be without works. James’ next example bears this out, for when he speaks of Rahab being "justified" by her works, we know that the reason Rahab did what she did was because of her faith. She told the spies in Jericho then she knew of the true God Jehovah, and infect says, "for the Lord your God, he is a God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." Since she really believes that, she acted upon her faith and hid the servants of Jehovah. Her actions showed the reality of her faith. So we see that James and Paul are not contradicting one another. When the context of James and his whole teaching is taken into consideration, we see that he is emphasizing the importance of the demonstration of our faith by our works. He is not teaching us that our works bring about our salvation before God, nor does he deny the fact that faith is foundational to, and indeed gives rise to, real works of righteousness. So we see that Paul's doctrine of justification is not contradicted by James. Paul and JustificationNow the teaching of justification by God’s grace is hardly limited to his discussion in Romans. In Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, we see the same argument presented even in more rough terms. In fact, Paul is so adamant about the truth of justification by faith alone that he condemns any and all teachers who would in anyway contradicted this truth, so basic is this truth to the entire gospel. He opens his letter by saying, but though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you then that which we have preached and to you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you then that we have received, let him be accursed. These are very strong words indeed, and those who preach justification with any complement of works must take this passage very seriously. He goes on the state,
This was Paul's gospel; the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are no laws or ordinances that must be obeyed; there are no good works that must be performed, in order to gain salvation. Christians should thank God daily that they do not have to stand before God to be judged for their own righteousness. Rather, Christians will stand before Christ with the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We do not have to trust a single meritorious action, a single act of obedience, because we know that no such act, nor any good works, could add to the work of Jesus Christ that was accomplished on the cross at Calvary. This does not mean that will not to be obedience to God. Certainly, we will continue to do good works but our motivation is not that of attaining justification or to in any way add to our own righteousness. We cannot add to our own righteousness through our own good works as we have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Rather, we do good works because God has already saved us, justified us, and adopted us into his family. Motivation for doing good things is shifted entirely from ourselves to Christ and other men. We love God and wish to show our love for all that He has done for us freely by His grace. We cannot imagine what it would be like if we had to gain our own justification, to gain God's approval, through anything that we would have to do. Furthermore, we would be under God's continuous inspection and potential disapproval and censorship, and would worry that we might lose God’s grace by something that we might do. Rather, we should exchange the burden of continuously striving after our own "worthiness" for the gift of the perfect worthiness of Jesus Christ. Let us close by examining one more passage, Titus 3: 5-7,
Justified by his grace, saved by his mercy, and washed and regenerated by the spirit of God, all through the work of Jesus Christ. That is the essence of Christian salvation and is what the gospel is all about. We can only pray that those who are still struggling under the mistaken belief that they must somehow do some good works to earn their own justification will recognize their error and believe the Bible when it says that Christ has already earned our perfect justification for us. There is nothing that we need to do, or indeed could do, that would in anyway add to that which has already been bought for us by Jesus Christ upon the cross. |