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Let us return to Paul's words—he says that we can only be justified by faith in the Lord JesusChrist. When he speaks of justification, he means being accounted righteous in the sight of God. This expression needs to be understood because it is dealing with the whole subject of how we are saved.We would be miserable creatures indeed if, having lived a long life in this world, someone were to ask us the way of salvation and we did not know how to respond! Many fools have feasted on the bread ofGod without knowing how to be acceptable to him. This is why we ought to be all the more attentive to what Paul is telling us here. He says that we are justified. How? Are we already righteous—are we blameless? Not at all, but God accepts us. The word 'justification' points us to that favour which God bestows upon us when we become his children and he our Father. You may ask, why do the Scriptures use the word 'justify' when it seems so inappropriate? We could just as well say that God loves us, that he takes pity on us, that he desires to be our Father and Savior—why not use these expressions instead of speaking of justification? The Scriptures do not refer to it without good reason.
If we analyze salvation in its most basic sense, we will say that we are saved by the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ. However, this does not imply knowledge of our miserable condition by nature or of the remedy that we need to apply. For in order to put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must acknowledge that by the sin of Adam, as well as by our own iniquities, we are altogether lost. We ought to have already discovered this for ourselves. We will never understand that our sins condemn us in God's sight, unless we know that we need to be put right with him. In other words, we will not be aware of the righteousness of God if we simply say, 'We are saved by grace and by faith.' For God cannot once deny himself, since he embodies sovereign justice; he is all purity and perfection and, therefore, he detests what is evil. Yet we are totally corrupt and there is only wickedness in us; it follows, therefore, that God must hate us. However, if he hates us, woe unto us, for we are damned.This is why we need to be justified before we can be pleasing to God. This means we must be cleansed from our sins and transgressions; otherwise, we could never appreciate God's mercy (as I have said).If we acknowledge that we are sinners, we will realize that God hates sin, and yet though he hates it he has nevertheless provided a way to save us—by forgiving our sins, and by cleansing and purging us from them through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us spiritual cleansing. God washes us clean in order that he might receive us, so that sharing in his love, we may be assured of our salvation. This is why the Scriptures use the word 'justification'.
Papists may debate over its meaning like foolish beasts. 'What!', they say, 'Justified by faith?Faith does not make a person perfect—how, then, can it justify us?' They do not realize that the justification spoken of in the Scriptures refers to God covering our sins (as I have been saying) and, by virtue of his sufferings and death, cancelling them in and through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.Whatever others may say, it is written that we are accounted righteous in God's sight when he remits and pardons our sins. In fact, Paul speaks of this in the fourth chapter to the Romans, where he says:'Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered'(Rom. 4:6-7; Psa. 32:1). Again, in another passage he says, 'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin'; (this means that he received all the condemnation due to us for our sins), 'that we might be made the righteousness of God in him' (2 Cor. 5:21). Thus, we, being joined and united to his person and to his body, are accounted righteous, because his obedience was so perfect that it was sufficient to cleanse and remove our sins. We have now dealt with the meaning of the term 'justification'.
Turning our attention to the expression 'faith', Paul states here that they have 'believed' in Jesus Christ. If we were to ask a fool what he considers faith to be, he might well say 'belief, but he clearly would not understand what either word means. Are we happy to be as ignorant as such fools?Let us firstly point out that the Lord Jesus is the object of both our faith and our belief. Is salvation through faith? Yes, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us consider for a moment why the LordJesus Christ is set before us as the one in whom we must rest all our faith. It is simply because we find in him all we need for our justification. We have already said that we are accounted righteous in God's sight when he has forgiven our sins and no longer calls them into account. And how does this happen, if not by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for our cleansing? By his sufferings and death, he made satisfaction for our sins and appeased the wrath of God against us. We must seek no further means of payment, other than the sacrifice made by God's only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who is called God's beloved Son (Matt. 3:17), so that we might be beloved in him; he is called theRighteous One (Isa. 53:11), so that we may partake of his righteousness; and he is called the Holy One(Luke 1:35), so that we may be sanctified in him. This is why our attention is drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ when we consider 'faith'.
However, the Papists form their own opinions on the subject, revealing by what they claim that they have never experienced what it is to believe. 'What!', they say, 'is it possible for a man to be justified by faith alone, seeing that even devils themselves believe?' This is indeed true, and James uses this argument (Jas. 2:20); however, we also see him scorning those who vainly and frivolously said they were Christians and had faith, and yet showed no fruit. The Papists have strayed even further, in that they say faith means believing in God, and that the subject of our faith is God, when by belief they mean a mere imagining that there is a God somewhere who has created the world and who now controls it. They remain at this point, asleep in their ignorance, and yet do not hesitate to call themselves good Christians and good Catholics, as they say, although they are altogether ignorant.Therefore, we should not be surprised if, devoid of discernment or intelligence, they fight against the doctrine contained in Holy Scripture, or when they deny, with incorrigible obstinacy, that man is saved by faith alone. They do not even know what faith is. How carefully, therefore, must we heed the words of Paul here which tell us that if we do not look to Jesus Christ, we cannot know what faith really is. Without him, we cannot know remission of sins, how to approach God, how to put our trust in him, or to call upon him. Neither will we know what it is to have peace of conscience, or the hope of eternal life. All this is beyond our reach until we are introduced to Jesus Christ and until we have looked to him and cast ourselves upon him. This kind of faith brings grace: when we recognize that we are wretched creatures, and abominable in God's sight, seeking the remedy in the Lord Jesus Christ.We must accept that he offered himself for us in order to redeem us from the curse under which we lived, and that he has washed us in his blood. By his obedience, he has cancelled all our transgressions so that we can be assured that God accepts and receives us as his children. This is how we can understand this passage.
If we analyze salvation in its most basic sense, we will say that we are saved by the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ. However, this does not imply knowledge of our miserable condition by nature or of the remedy that we need to apply. For in order to put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must acknowledge that by the sin of Adam, as well as by our own iniquities, we are altogether lost. We ought to have already discovered this for ourselves. We will never understand that our sins condemn us in God's sight, unless we know that we need to be put right with him. In other words, we will not be aware of the righteousness of God if we simply say, 'We are saved by grace and by faith.' For God cannot once deny himself, since he embodies sovereign justice; he is all purity and perfection and, therefore, he detests what is evil. Yet we are totally corrupt and there is only wickedness in us; it follows, therefore, that God must hate us. However, if he hates us, woe unto us, for we are damned.This is why we need to be justified before we can be pleasing to God. This means we must be cleansed from our sins and transgressions; otherwise, we could never appreciate God's mercy (as I have said).If we acknowledge that we are sinners, we will realize that God hates sin, and yet though he hates it he has nevertheless provided a way to save us—by forgiving our sins, and by cleansing and purging us from them through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us spiritual cleansing. God washes us clean in order that he might receive us, so that sharing in his love, we may be assured of our salvation. This is why the Scriptures use the word 'justification'.
Papists may debate over its meaning like foolish beasts. 'What!', they say, 'Justified by faith?Faith does not make a person perfect—how, then, can it justify us?' They do not realize that the justification spoken of in the Scriptures refers to God covering our sins (as I have been saying) and, by virtue of his sufferings and death, cancelling them in and through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.Whatever others may say, it is written that we are accounted righteous in God's sight when he remits and pardons our sins. In fact, Paul speaks of this in the fourth chapter to the Romans, where he says:'Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered'(Rom. 4:6-7; Psa. 32:1). Again, in another passage he says, 'For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin'; (this means that he received all the condemnation due to us for our sins), 'that we might be made the righteousness of God in him' (2 Cor. 5:21). Thus, we, being joined and united to his person and to his body, are accounted righteous, because his obedience was so perfect that it was sufficient to cleanse and remove our sins. We have now dealt with the meaning of the term 'justification'.
Turning our attention to the expression 'faith', Paul states here that they have 'believed' in Jesus Christ. If we were to ask a fool what he considers faith to be, he might well say 'belief, but he clearly would not understand what either word means. Are we happy to be as ignorant as such fools?Let us firstly point out that the Lord Jesus is the object of both our faith and our belief. Is salvation through faith? Yes, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us consider for a moment why the LordJesus Christ is set before us as the one in whom we must rest all our faith. It is simply because we find in him all we need for our justification. We have already said that we are accounted righteous in God's sight when he has forgiven our sins and no longer calls them into account. And how does this happen, if not by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for our cleansing? By his sufferings and death, he made satisfaction for our sins and appeased the wrath of God against us. We must seek no further means of payment, other than the sacrifice made by God's only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who is called God's beloved Son (Matt. 3:17), so that we might be beloved in him; he is called theRighteous One (Isa. 53:11), so that we may partake of his righteousness; and he is called the Holy One(Luke 1:35), so that we may be sanctified in him. This is why our attention is drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ when we consider 'faith'.
However, the Papists form their own opinions on the subject, revealing by what they claim that they have never experienced what it is to believe. 'What!', they say, 'is it possible for a man to be justified by faith alone, seeing that even devils themselves believe?' This is indeed true, and James uses this argument (Jas. 2:20); however, we also see him scorning those who vainly and frivolously said they were Christians and had faith, and yet showed no fruit. The Papists have strayed even further, in that they say faith means believing in God, and that the subject of our faith is God, when by belief they mean a mere imagining that there is a God somewhere who has created the world and who now controls it. They remain at this point, asleep in their ignorance, and yet do not hesitate to call themselves good Christians and good Catholics, as they say, although they are altogether ignorant.Therefore, we should not be surprised if, devoid of discernment or intelligence, they fight against the doctrine contained in Holy Scripture, or when they deny, with incorrigible obstinacy, that man is saved by faith alone. They do not even know what faith is. How carefully, therefore, must we heed the words of Paul here which tell us that if we do not look to Jesus Christ, we cannot know what faith really is. Without him, we cannot know remission of sins, how to approach God, how to put our trust in him, or to call upon him. Neither will we know what it is to have peace of conscience, or the hope of eternal life. All this is beyond our reach until we are introduced to Jesus Christ and until we have looked to him and cast ourselves upon him. This kind of faith brings grace: when we recognize that we are wretched creatures, and abominable in God's sight, seeking the remedy in the Lord Jesus Christ.We must accept that he offered himself for us in order to redeem us from the curse under which we lived, and that he has washed us in his blood. By his obedience, he has cancelled all our transgressions so that we can be assured that God accepts and receives us as his children. This is how we can understand this passage.
