Written for: Romans & Galatians
Date Written: 2/17/2009
What is
Justification by Faith?
Ryan Watters
God’s Bible School & College
What is Justification by Faith?
Perhaps you
have heard something about this concept called
justification, but still really don’t know what it
means. Preachers seem to use it a lot in their sermons,
but maybe everything still seems like a big mystery.
That’s really a shame because justification is so
important to understanding what Jesus Christ did for us
as human beings. Let me assure you that it is possible
to understand, and if you carefully read the following
paper, you will be much farther up the road in your
understanding of this very important doctrine.
Introduction:
Let’s start
off with the basics. There is an absolute standard by
which all of our actions, attitudes, and thoughts are
measured. God uses this standard as a measuring stick
by which to judge us. If you meet the standard, you’re
are called “righteous.” If you don’t, you are
considered “unrighteous.” This standard is found in the
teachings of Bible called the “law.” Now, we all have
fallen short of this standard. Romans 3:23 says, “all
have sinned” (NASB). So we are all considered at some
point in time to be “unrighteous.” That’s where
justification comes in.
Here is a simple overview of what justification is.
Justification is something like a presidential pardon.
It doesn’t
mean you
didn’t do the crime, it just means you don’t do the
time. And the reason you don’t do the time is because
someone else did it for you, Jesus Christ. That’s what
Romans 3:24 means when it says, “being justified as a
gift by His grace through the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus” (NASB). We are “justified” when Christ
gives us the “gift” of His “redemption” (what He did
when He died on the cross). But why did Christ have to
die? Couldn’t God have simply declared us forgiven and
leave it at that?
Here’s the problem, according to God’s standard (the
“law”) every sin (wrong) must be punished. Why? Because
God is just. It’s not fair for a wrong to go
unpunished. Why is it unfair? That’s the way God
designed it. Take it up with Him. So God can’t just
ignore the standard He set up. Evidence for this is
found in Romans 3:25, which says, “God displayed him
[Jesus] 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” (NIV). I know that sounds a
little confusing at first, but stick with me. When Paul
says “God displayed him as a sacrifice of atonement” he
simply means that Jesus died and was offered as a
sacrifice for sin. The next part tells us why, “He did
this to demonstrate his justice.” God can’t just sweep
things under the rug and forget they’re there. Every
wrong must be punished.
So, that created a problem. Here we are in quite a mess
because we have sinned, and that means that we’re
separated from God, which means we’re going to be
eternally punished by Him. Even though God loved us He
couldn’t just say, “You’re forgiven” and that’s it.
That would contradict all that He stood for (Rom.
3:25). He couldn’t just abolish the law (His standard),
but God already had a plan to solve the problem (1 Pet.
1:18-21). If He couldn’t just declare us forgiven and
forget about it, then He would pay the cost for us, and
take our punishment in our place. That’s what Romans
3:26 means when it says, “He [God] would be just and
the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus”
(NASB). God is “just” because he didn’t
throw away
the law, but rather he met the requirements of the law
(His standard) by taking our punishment, and thus
becoming our “justifier.” It would be like a judge who
declares that a crime we committed must be punished,
but instead of inflicting the punishment on us (as
should happen), He instead comes down from his podium
and takes the consequences of our crime for us. That’s
what He did over 2,000 years ago when He died on the
cross in our place.
II.
Four Elements of Justification:
That’s an
overview of what justification is, but to help you
understand it better, and to help you explain it to
others, let’s dig a little deeper into the nature and
makeup of justification. There are four elements, or
parts, that make up justification. They are 1) Pardon
of sins; 2) Penalty removed; 3) Verdict of
righteousness given; 4) By faith alone. They each play
a vital role, so we will look at each of them
individually.
A.
Element Number One
First,
justification involves pardon. That simply means that
the judge (God) has forgiven us. Some good verses to
back this up are Acts 13:38, 39 and Romans 3:25, 26,
which we looked at earlier. Let’s quickly look at Acts
13:38, “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that
through Jesus the forgiveness
of sins is
proclaimed to you. Through him [Jesus] everyone
who
believes is
justified from
everything you could not be justified from by the law
of Moses” (NIV). Notice how it connects “forgiveness of
sins” with being “justified.” Pardon involves the idea
of God forgiving our sins.
Pardon means that God looks at all of our sins, and
then He looks and sees that Christ has paid the
punishment for us, and because of what Christ did, He
says, “You’re forgiven because Christ already paid the
cost for you.” A Wesleyan theologian named Ralston put
it this way, “A person may be arraigned at the bar of
justice, tried and condemned for a crime; yet the
executive power of the government may remit [cancel]
the penalty: here he is justified on
the principle of pardon.”
As you can see, it’s not as though we’ve never sinned
or that God somehow overlooks our sin. Not at all. That
would mock what Christ did for us when He died.
Instead, it’s just like when a criminal’s record is
wiped clean. It doesn’t mean that he never
actually
did the crimes;
it just means that according to a court of law, he’s
been forgiven and can’t be held guilty any more. Just
because you’re forgiven, and your record’s wiped clean,
doesn’t mean your being or character are changed. That
is the work of the Holy Spirit through something called
sanctification, which I will discuss later. Ralston
says it very well, “Pardon releases from
punishment, but does
not change either the character of the crime or of the
criminal. A
pardoned sinner is still viewed as having sinned,
though saved by grace. His sins, considered in
themselves, still deserve the wrath of God; but for
Christ’s sake that punishment is remitted [cancelled].”
B.
Element Number Two:
Second,
justification involves a release from penalty. This
naturally follows the concept of pardon. If you are
declared to be forgiven because your crime has already
been paid for by the death of Christ, then how can you
still be punished? That would be double jeopardy. Good
Scriptural evidence for this is found in Romans 4:7-8
(which actually quotes Psalm 32:1-2) which says,
“Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man
whose
sin the Lord will never count against
him” (NIV).
There is only a hair’s breadth of difference between
this concept of release from penalty, and the concept
of pardon. The two really go hand in hand, because we
are forgiven, we are released from punishment (Rom.
4:7-8).
But just what are we released from? From the just
punishment we deserved when we sinned against an
eternal God, eternal punishment. Because we are
justified, we don’t have to go to hell. However, you
need to understand the difference between our being
released from eternal punishment (which is what Christ
did for us), and being released from the earthly
consequences of our sin. The first is true, the second
is not. While it’s true we don’t have to go to hell if
we’ve been justified, that doesn’t mean we won’t ever
have to suffer any of the consequences of our sins. For
example, a person may be justified, but still suffer
from an STD they picked up while living in sin. A
person may be justified, but still suffer from lung or
liver cancer from years of hard living involving
drinking and smoking. It’s always
best to
avoid sin at any cost!
C.
Element Number Three:
Third,
justification involves a verdict by God that we are
declared to be forgiven and accepted as righteous
before Him. This naturally flows with the first two
elements. You are first pardoned or forgiven of your
sins, then your penalty is removed, because you have
been forgiven, and you are also declared to be
righteous. This means that you are in good standing
with God. Because you are considered “righteous” you
are no longer under His wrath. As you remember from the
beginning of this paper, “righteous” means that you
measure up to God’s standard.
Now, fasten your seatbelts, because here is where the
ride gets interesting. We are now about to enter a war
zone. A theological battle ground if you will. There
are multiple factions fighting in this war, but we will
focus on the main two: Wesleyansim, and Calvinism. Here
is the theological turf that both sides are fighting
over, how are we declared “righteous”? We will be fair
and present the opposing argument in complete honesty,
and do our best to objectively seek the truth.
Definition
of Terms:
Before we
begin, let’s define a few of the terms that you meet
when talking about these concepts. One of these is
“active obedience” (or “active righteousness” as it is
sometimes called), which is just a big term for saying
that Christ completely obeyed the law (the Bible) in
every way, and lived a perfect life.
Another
term you often see is “passive obedience” (or “passive
righteousness,” which means the same thing), which
refers to Christ’s submission to the Father’s plan to
come and take our punishment for us, and suffer and die
in our place. Christ’s passive obedience/righteousness
was clearly shown when He died on the cross in our
place. So, active righteousness is Christ’s perfectly
meeting the standard of God’s law by obeying it, and
passive righteousness is Christ’s perfectly submitting
to God’s plan by paying our debt and dying in our
place.
One last term that you will see quite often, and is
really at the heart of the whole battle, is the term
“imputed.” The dictionary defines this as, “[to]
ascribe to someone by virtue of a similar quality in
another : Christ’s
righteousness has been imputed to
us.” Sounds
confusing, I know, but here is the gist of it. Christ
acted as our representative, and what He did is
ascribed or accredited to us. It’s kind of like you do
all the work, and your boss gets all the rewards. But
in our case, Christ did all the work, and we get all
the rewards. Now that we have a few of the terms
defined (feel free to look back here if you need to),
we can now move on to the battleground.
Views
of Imputed Righteousness:
First,
Calvinism. There are really two camps within Calvinism
that share much in common, but they are distinct enough
to warrant us to look at each separately. The first
group in the Calvinism camp that we will explore are
often nicknamed “High Calvinists.” Here is the basic
thrust of what they believe: Christ came to Earth,
lived a perfect, and sinless life, and was “actively
righteous” (met the standard by obeying God’s law in
every way). Here’s where it gets a little heavy, but
take it slow, and you’ll get it. This “active
righteousness” (perfect obedience to the law) is
“imputed” (accredited to us) as our very own. In other
words, what Christ did is accredited to us personally.
It’s as if we ourselves
have
perfectly kept the law in every respect. Ralston points
out that this group, “reject[s] faith, and everything
else, as having any thing to do in justification.” They
believe that when God looks at you, He only sees the
perfect life that Christ lived for you on your behalf.
To back up their claims, they list Jeremiah 23:6, which
states, “This is the name by which he [Christ] will be
called: The Lord Our
Righteousness” (NIV).
They also list 1 Corinthians 1:30, which says that
Christ “became to us wisdom from God, and
righteousness
and
sanctification, and redemption” (NASB).
Now for the Wesleyan answer to this claim. Let’s begin
by looking at their proof texts. Ralston points out two
things: 1) “There is no evidence that Christ’s personal
[active] righteousness is here referred to at all—it is
rather ‘his obedience unto death,
even the
death of the cross.’” In
other words, this camp simply assumes that the
Scriptures are talking about Christ’s active obedience
(obedience to the law), and not his passive obedience
(submission to death on the cross in our place). 2) “It
is neither here asserted that Christ’s righteousness
shall be ours, nor that it shall be imputed to us.”
That at first glance seems to contradict the simple
truth, but not when you look deeper into it. As you can
see, it is only stated that “the name” (Jer. 23:6)
which He is called is “Our Righteousness”, and He has
become for us “righteousness.” This simply means that
Christ is the source of our righteousness. It is from
Him (our source) that we obtain justification.
Further, when you say that when God looks at you He
only sees Christ’s perfect obedience (active
righteousness), it’s kind of like saying that God is
partially blind or hallucinating. It’s as if God
doesn’t see that you are actually sinful. God’s
judgments are always according to truth (Rom. 2:2). God
judges according to reality, according to what really
is. Wesleyan’s believe that when God judges you, He
doesn’t simply see the perfect life that Christ lived,
but rather He sees that your punishment has already
been paid by the death Christ, which leads us to our
next rebuttal.
If Christ’s perfect obedience to the law (active
righteousness) was all that was required for us to be
justified, then why did Christ have to die? He could
have simply went on living a perfect life until He died
a natural death at an old age, and completely bypassed
death on the cross. If all that is required is a
perfect life, then there is no need for a painful
death. But that’s exactly what Paul is fighting against
in Galatians 2:21 when he says, “I do not set aside the
grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained
through the law [through Christ perfectly keeping the
law], Christ died for nothing!” (NIV). Given this
evidence, I am inclined to reject this first camp
within Calvinism.
We will now move on to the second camp within
Calvinism. This is the model that John Calvin himself
held to, and the one that most modern day Calvinist
still accept as true. It is very similar to camp number
one, except that it combines the active and the passive
righteousness of Christ and makes no distinction
between them (I will explain that a little later). So
the thrust is this: Christ came down from heaven, lived
a perfect life (active righteousness), and submitted to
the Father’s plan by suffering and dieing on the cross
for our sins (passive righteousness). Christ’s active
and passive righteousness combined (Calvin does not
separate them) were accredited to us personally as our
very own, and when God looks at us, He only sees the
perfect life Christ lived for us, and the perfect death
He suffered for us. It’s as though we have never
sinned.
Wesleyans differ only a hair’s breadth from this
definition, but it is a fairly significant hair’s
breadth. Here it is in simple terms. Calvin believed
that Christ’s righteousness was imputed or counted to
us as our very own, and when God looks at us, He sees
the righteousness of Christ instead of our sin. Wesley
believed that Christ’s righteousness was imputed or
credited to our debt of sin. So, for Wesley, Christ’s
passive righteousness (His death on the cross) is what
paid our debt, and grants us justification. So,
according to Wesley, when God looks at us, He’s sees
that we are sinful, but He also sees that Christ has
already paid the debt for our sin, and He then says,
“You’re forgiven (justified) because My Son (Christ)
has already paid your debt.” So for Calvin, Christ’s
righteousness is personally ours, and we are thereby
justified. But for Wesley, Christ’s righteousness pays
our debt, and we are thereby justified. In Wesley’s own
words, “believers are forgiven and accepted
[justified], not for the sake of any thing in them, or
of any thing that ever was, that is, or ever can be,
done by them, but wholly
for the sake of what Christ hath done and suffered for
them.”
Ralston points out three problems with the Calvinist’s
position. 1) Calvin’s view of imputation “blends the
active and passive righteousness of Christ.” This
creates two problems: (a) The idea of imputation either
mixes the active and passive righteousness of Christ
together in a way that goes against Scripture, or (b)
It implies that Christ paid the same debt twice. Let me
explain. In reference to the first point (a) Let’s use
a sharper scalpel, and cut a little deeper into the
difference between Calvin and Wesley. For Calvin, the
active righteousness of Christ meant that we no longer
had to keep the moral law, because when Christ kept it,
it was imputed to us as our very own. But for Wesley,
the active righteousness of Christ was only important
because it was essential for the passive righteousness.
Fly over your head? Think of it this way, in the Old
Testament, animal sacrifices had to be done following
certain guidelines. The animal to be sacrificed had to
be just right. It couldn’t be too old, or too young. It
couldn’t have a single
blemish anywhere on
it. If it did, it would be disqualified, and another
sacrifice must be found. It was only a perfect animal
that was allowed to die in place of a human being, and
thereby satisfy God’s judgment. But notice that the
really important thing wasn’t that the sacrifice had to
be perfect. That was only the prerequisite or condition
for the sacrifice, the real importance came in the fact
that it died, and shed its blood on behalf of the
person offering it. That’s the way it is with Christ.
Christ was our sacrifice offering for sin, and as such,
He had to be absolutely spotless, and pure. There
couldn’t be any blemish from sin in him (Heb. 9:14). So
while it is essential that Christ live a pure life in
complete obedience to God’s standard (the law), it is
only important because it is necessary for Him to be
without blemish as our sacrifice for sin.
In reference to the second point (b) Ralston points out
that, “to say that Christ kept the moral law [active
righteousness] in place of our keeping it, and also
suffered in our place [passive righteousness] the
penalty for having violated it, implies that we were
required perfectly to keep the law, and then to suffer
the penalty for its violation also, which is absurd.”
The law doesn’t require perfect obedience
and
suffering
both. You only get suffering if you don’t have perfect
obedience. So to say that Christ’s active righteousness
(perfect obedience to the law) is imputed to us as our
very own, then it’s like saying we have never sinned.
And if that’s the case, then why did Christ have to
die?
2) A strict, Calvinistic understanding of imputation
demands a partially blinded or hallucinating God. This
has already been refuted in the argument against the
previous camp, so I will simply state that God always
judges according to truth and reality (Rom. 2:2).
3) There is no Scriptural evidence to support Calvin’s
view of imputation. Each time it is used in Scripture,
it refers to “something possessed or performed by the
person to whom the imputation is made.” For example,
“Abraham believed God, and it [the faith of Abraham]
was imputed
to him for
righteousness.” God didn’t impute something
to
Abraham,
but rather Abraham believed God, and his faith (belief)
was imputed
or
accredited
to him as
righteousness. The faith came from within Abraham, not
from God.
D.
Element Number Four:
Let’s now
move on to element number four of justification.
Justification is by faith alone. Wesley pointed out the
absolute importance of faith when he stated, “it
[faith] is the only thing without which none is
justified.” Here again is where it may get a little bit
heavy, but stick with me. Faith is a condition for
justification, which means we must have faith in order
to be justified. Romans 4:5 states, “However, to the
man who does not work but trusts [has faith in] God who
justifies the wicked, his faith is
credited as righteousness” (NIV).
Now, faith is not
the
cause
of
justification, meaning that faith does
not
wipe our
record clean and declare us righteous. Far be it! But
rather we are to have faith in
what Christ did for us when He
died on the cross. We are to have faith that what He
did for us that day paid our debt, and that we
are only
justified
by the death of Jesus Christ as He died for our sins.
Here are a couple of Scriptural proofs to back up this
concept: 1) Acts 13:39 reads, “Through him [Christ]
everyone who believes is justified from everything you
could not be justified from by the law of Moses” (NIV).
Notice that it says to everyone who “believes.” This
clearly implies that faith must happen first before
justification. 2) Romans 3:26, 28, 30 read, “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.” “For we
maintain that a man is
justified by faith apart from
observing the law.” “since there is only one God, who
will justify
the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through
that same faith” (NIV).
These Scriptures lend strong support to the belief that
justification comes by faith in the sacrificial work of
Jesus Christ on our behalf.
Some object that other things are necessary for
justification such as works or baptism. While certain
Scriptures do seem to imply at a surface level that
they are prerequisites or conditions for justification,
a deeper study will reveal that it is not always
“justification” in the same sense that we have
discussed to this point. There is also a justification
that will occur on the final Day of Judgment, in which
each justified believer will receive a “just” reward
for his actions upon this earth. For example, Matthew
12:37 states, “For by your words you will be acquitted
[justified], and by your words you will be condemned”
(NIV). This verse has the future judgment of God in
mind when we will all stand before Him and be “judged”
for how we have lived our lives. So it is not referring
to justification in the sense of God paying our debt,
but in God assessing how we have lived our lives and
conducted ourselves upon this earth. We will be justly
rewarded for how we lived.
III.
Justification and Sanctification:
Now that we
have established what justification is we need to point
out one final thing. As stated earlier, while
justification does indeed pardon us, and forgive us of
sin, it does not purify us, or change our character.
Ralston is worth quoting again, “Pardon releases from
punishment, but does
not change either the character of the crime or of the
criminal.” What
then? Are we left to live on forever in this state of
sinfulness? I answer with Paul “God forbid! How shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?” (Rom.
6:2). But what is it then that brings about this
change? It is the gracious working of God in us called
sanctification.
Brown defines sanctification as, “That gracious and
continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He
delivers the justified sinner from the pollution and
power of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of
God, and enables him to perform good works.” He goes on
to give a few quick statements that are quite helpful
in understanding the distinction between justification
and sanctification: 1) Justification = to
declare
righteous;
Sanctification = to make
righteous.
2) Justification = what God does for
us through
Christ by faith; Sanctification = what God does
in
us through the
Holy Spirit by faith. 3) Justification =
imputation
of
righteous – put to my account; Sanctification =
impartation
of
righteous – made part of my life. 4) Justification =
granting of pardon and release from penalty of sins;
Sanctification = being made a new creature in Christ
Jesus.
Our personal sanctification is provided for according
to Romans 6:1-10. Sanctification begins the moment we
are justified (Romans 6:1-5; 1 Cor. 1:1-3). Let’s break
it down. Justification and sanctification are two
separate things as we have already established in the
previous paragraph. However, they go hand in hand
(because sanctification begins the moment you are
justified). And so when you have one, you have the
other.
It’s kind of like a dollar bill. It has two sides, a
front and a back. We will call the front side
“justification,” and the back side, “sanctification.”
What would happen if you received a dollar bill and
only the front side had any printing on it? You would
then know that you had a counterfeit. Likewise, you
couldn’t have a dollar bill with just the back having
printing on it. It’s the same with justification and
sanctification. Yes, they are indeed quite separate,
but they go hand in hand. You cannot have one without
the other.
Summary:
Let me summarize everything into one, nice neat little
package in conclusion. We have all been found sinners
in relation to God’s perfect standard (His law). We
could not meet His conditions on our own, so He sent
His Son to this earth to live a perfect life (active
righteousness), which allowed Him to be our perfect sin
sacrifice (passive righteousness). With His death on
the cross, He paid the debt that should have rightfully
been ours to pay. That’s what statements such as,
“Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us” means.
Through His death, we have been 1) pardoned, which
means our sins are forgiven, 2) freed from the penalty
of our sin, which means we are no longer under
condemnation or guilt for our sins, 3) declared
righteous, because of the death of Jesus Christ in our
place on the cross, and 4) we receive all of this
through faith that what He has done is sufficient for
our salvation, and that He paid the debt we could never
pay. But it doesn’t end there, at the moment of
justification you begin a life long journey called
sanctification, which is simply God working with you to
continually mold you into the image of His Son, Jesus
Christ. May we all bow in grateful adoration for the
gift of God in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who
brought the gracious gift of justification to each and
every one of us.
Reference
Brown,
Allan. (n.d.). Justification
and sanctification. In class
materials.
Brown, Allan. (Feb. 16, 2009). Personal communication.
Ralston, Thomas. (2002). Theology:
elements of divinity. Wesleyan
Heritage Publications.
Wesley, John. (1746). Justification
by faith.