"The
first thing that impresses us about the call of God is that it comes to the
whole man, not to one part of him. The majority of us are godly in streaks,
spiritual in sections; it takes a long time to locate us altogether to the call
of God. We have special days and religious moods, but when we get into contact
with God we are brought in touch with Reality and made all of a piece. Our
Lord's life was all one reality; you could never cut it into two--shallow here
and profound there. My conception of God must embrace the whole of my
life." –
Oswald
Chambers
I’ve just started to read a book called , “ Follow Me” by David
Platt, David quotes this in the above book, it’s from “ My utmost for His
Highest” by Oswald Chambers.
Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your
common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back?
If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every
time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And
the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what
Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing,
until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we
tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . .
?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my
common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those
who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person
is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk
everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ
demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common
sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately
find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.
By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but
when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit
with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in
God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to
you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an
entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
Oswald Chambers
It
is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when
nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so
attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will
not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of
a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the
choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to
do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to
allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit
yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the
world more human and more fraternal.”
Pope Paul John 11
What
the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations
or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of
prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but
through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint
plans, but men -- men of prayer.”
― E.M. Bounds, Power
Through Prayer
Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of
waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God's Holy
Name let us arise and build! 'The God of Heaven, He will fight for us', as we
for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of
Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should
such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm,
faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will
venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and we will do
it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand
times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man. And when we
come to this position the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious
campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff
of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine
Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ.
C T Studd
“Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”
— extra stanza —
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.”
SOVEREIGN
GOD,
Thy
cause, not my own, engages my heart,
and I appeal to thee with greatest
freedom
to set up thy kingdom in every place
where Satan reigns;
Glorify
thyself and I shall rejoice,
for to bring honour to thy name is my sole
desire.
If Jesus
Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to
make for Him.
Should such men as we fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy,
lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our
God, we will venture our all for Him, we will live and we will die for Him, and
we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a
thousand times sooner die trusting only our God, than live trusting in man.
“Some want to live within the sound Of
church or chapel bell;I want to run a rescue shop, Within a yard of hell.”
C T Studd
Not called!' did you say? 'Not heard the call,' I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear him bid you go and pull sinners out of
the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity,
and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and
hear the damned entreat you to go to their father's house and bid their brothers
and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ
in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell him whether you
will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish his
mercy to the world." William Booth.
“While women weep, as they do now,
I'll fight
While little children go hungry, as they do now,
I'll fight
While men go to prison, in and out, in and out, as they do now,
I'll fight
While there is a drunkard left,
While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets,
While there remains one dark soul without the light of God,
I'll fight-I'll fight to the very end!”
William Booth
The Church is a movement for change and transformation but for many of
us The Church has become a monument to our spiritual forefathers who were a
movement for change and transformation !.
We, the Church are the visible representation of
God’s Kingdom Rule and Reign here on Earth, we are his messengers of hope, love
and compassion, salvation & restoration, the people we see every day are
the people for whom Jesus died on the Cross for, we are the ones who are to
bring hope and healing to our communities.
Blair Humphreys." The last two quotes are my own, and have been previously posted on V3, I want to be more than an echo of other christian writers."
Romans
6 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
Dead
to Sin, Alive to God
6
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By
no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that
all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order
that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we
too might walk in newness of life.
5
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self[a] was
crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing,
so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been
set free[b] from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we
will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead,
will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death
he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ
Jesus.
12
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but
present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life,
and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have
no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Slaves
to Righteousness
15
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no
means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient
slaves,[c] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads
to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to
God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart
to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been
set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in
human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once
presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more
lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to
sanctification.
20
For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21
But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are
now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have
been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads
to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death,
but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Redeemed,
by the Blood of the Lamb, Fanny J Crosby
Redeemed,
how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed
through His infinite mercy,
His
child and forever I am.
Refrain
Redeemed,
redeemed,
Redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed,
redeemed,
His
child and forever I am.
Redeemed,
and so happy in Jesus,
No
language my rapture can tell;
I
know that the light of His presence
With
me doth continually dwell.
I
think of my blessèd Redeemer,
I
think of Him all the day long:
I
sing, for I cannot be silent;
His
love is the theme of my song.
I
know there’s a crown that is waiting,
In
yonder bright mansion for me,
And
soon, with the spirits made perfect,
At
home with the Lord I shall be.
Reformation
Study Bible
6:1–14
Paul’s insistence that the increase of sin is met by the increase of grace
(5:20) leads to the question he now raises. So great was his emphasis on the
freeness of God’s grace in the face of sin that his preaching had been accused
of antinomian tendencies, or ignoring the ethical requirements of the law
(3:8). Now he makes the point that to continue in sin would involve a
contradiction of the Christian’s new identity in Christ. In view of this new
identity (v. 11), Christians are to refuse to allow sin to usurp authority in
their lives, and instead are to yield the whole of life to God (vv. 12, 13) in
the assurance that since they are under grace, not law, as the means of their
salvation, sin is no longer their master.
6:15–23 That the Christian is not under
law but under grace might appear to provide license for moral carelessness.
This Paul denies, since under the reign of grace Christians have become slaves
of God. The freedom of grace is therefore freedom for obedience and service,
not for license.
Matthew
Henry's Commentary
Verses
1-23
The
apostle’s transition, which joins this discourse with the former, is
observable: “What shall we say then? Rom. 6:1. What use shall we make of this
sweet and comfortable doctrine? Shall we do evil that good may come, as some
say we do? Rom. 3:8. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Shall we
hence take encouragement to sin with so much the more boldness, because the
more sin we commit the more will the grace of God be magnified in our pardon? Isa.
this a use to be made of it?” No, it is an abuse, and the apostle startles at
the thought of it (Rom. 6:2): “God forbid; far be it from us to think such a
thought.” He entertains the objection as Christ did the devil’s blackest
temptation (Matt. 4:10): Get thee hence, Satan. Those opinions that give any
countenance to sin, or open a door to practical immoralities, how specious and
plausible so ever they be rendered, by the pretension of advancing free grace,
are to be rejected with the greatest abhorrence; for the truth as it is in
Jesus is a truth according to godliness, Titus 1:1. The apostle is very full in
pressing the necessity of holiness in this chapter, which may be reduced to two
heads:—His exhortations to holiness, which show the nature of it; and his
motives or arguments to enforce those exhortations, which show the necessity of
it.
[2.]
Our conformity to the resurrection of Christ obliges us to rise again to
newness of life. This is the power of his resurrection which Paul was so
desirous to know, Phil. 3:10. Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, that is, by the power of the Father. The power of God is his
glory; it is glorious power, Col. 1:11. Now in baptism we are obliged to
conform to that pattern, to be planted in the likeness of his resurrection
(Rom. 6:5), to live with him, Rom. 6:8. See Col. 2:12. Conversion is the first
resurrection from the death of sin to the life of righteousness; and this
resurrection is conformable to Christ’s resurrection. This conformity of the
saints to the resurrection of Christ seems to be intimated in the rising of so
many of the bodies of the saints, which, though mentioned before by
anticipation, is supposed to have been concomitant with Christ’s resurrection,
Matt. 27:52. We have all risen with Christ. In two things we must conform to
the resurrection of Christ:—First, He rose to die no more, Rom. 6:9. We read of
many others that were raised from the dead, but they rose to die again.
But,
when Christ rose, he rose to die no more; therefore he left his grave-clothes
behind him, whereas Lazarus, who was to die again, brought them out with him,
as one that should have occasion to use them again: but over Christ death has
no more dominion; he was dead indeed, but he is alive, and so alive that he
lives for evermore, Rev. 1:18. Thus we must rise from the grave of sin never
again to return to it, nor to have any more fellowship with the works of
darkness, having quitted that grave, that land of darkness as darkness itself.
Secondly, He rose to live unto God (Rom. 6:10), to live a heavenly life, to receive
that glory which was set before him. Others that were raised from the dead
returned to the same life in every respect which they had before lived; but so
did not Christ: he rose again to leave the world. Now I am no more in the
world, John 13:1; 17:11. He rose to live to God, that is, to intercede and
rule, and all to the glory of the Father. Thus must we rise to live to God:
this is what he calls newness of life (Rom. 6:4), to live from other
principles, by other rules, with other aims, than we have done. A life devoted
to God is a new life; before, self was the chief and highest end, but now God.
To live indeed is to live to God, with our eyes ever towards him, making him
the centre of all our actions.
The
Bible Panorama
Romans
6
V 1–4: CONTINUE SINNING? Paul picks on the
objections of some by asking if we are already justified, shall we sin more to
show how great that justification is? He exclaims dogmatically, ‘Certainly
not!’ Spiritually we were buried into Christ in His death. His resurrection
life has become ours. If we are truly born again, we will want to walk in
newness of life. Baptism echoes that meaning.
V 5–7:
CRUCIFIED SELF Just as we share in Christ’s resurrection, we share in His
crucifixion. Our position, as those risen with Christ, is therefore that our
‘old man’ (our unsaved self) is crucified with Christ. I cannot claim the one
without the other.
V 8–14: CALCULATED
SEQUENCE
We are to reckon ourselves to be ‘dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in
Christ Jesus our Lord’. That reckoning is based upon the knowledge that we are
both crucified with Christ and also risen with Him in our status before God.
God never asks us to make false calculations! This reckoning results in the
sequence of logic and holiness that if we are dead to sin and alive to Christ
we must not let sin reign in our bodies, but we must present our bodies as
alive from the dead to be instruments of righteousness to God. We are no longer
under the dominion of sin and death caused by the law, but we are under God’s
grace.
V
15–19: CONSECRATED SLAVES We are not now the slaves of the broken law,
fearing judgement and death, but we present ourselves as slaves of ‘righteousness
for holiness’ having been set free from one tyrannical master, and become the
willing slaves of another Master who is gracious.
V
20–23: CHRIST’S SALVATION Previously, we faced death and produced fruit of
which we were ashamed. Now we have God’s gift of ‘eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord’ and, as joyfully consecrated slaves, seek to produce holy fruit for
our loving Master who has saved us.
Dictionary
of Bible Themes
6617
atonement, in NT
In
dying for the sins of the world, Jesus Christ fulfilled and replaced the OT
sacrificial system, so that all who believe in him are restored to fellowship
with God. Christ is the true high priest, who finally liberates his people from
the guilt of sin, by offering himself as the supreme sacrifice.
The
atoning purpose of Jesus Christ’s death
Jesus
Christ’s death on behalf of others Jn 10:11 See also Jn 10:14-18; 2Co 5:15; Heb
2:9; 1Jn 3:16
Jesus
Christ’s atoning death for sin 1Co 15:3 See also Ro 4:25; Ro 8:3; Gal 1:4; 1Pe
3:18
The
atoning significance of Jesus Christ’s death is expressed by references to his
blood Ro 5:9; Rev 5:9 See also Eph 2:13; 1Pe 1:18-19; 1Jn 1:7; Rev 7:14
Jesus
Christ’s atoning death is commemorated in the Lord’s Supper 1Co 11:23-25 See
also Mt 26:26-28 pp Mk 14:22-24 pp Lk 22:19-20
Explanations
of the atonement
Jesus
Christ’s death as an atoning sacrifice Ro 3:25 See also 1Co 5:7; Eph 5:2; 1Jn
4:10; Rev 5:6
Jesus
Christ’s atoning death as redemption Mk 10:45 pp Mt 20:28 See also Ac 20:28;
Gal 3:13-14; Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-14
The
atonement is effective because of Jesus Christ’s sinlessness
2Co
5:21 See also Heb 4:15; 1Pe 2:22-24; 1Jn 3:5
Jesus
Christ’s death fulfils and replaces the Day of Atonement
Jesus
Christ makes atonement as the new high priest Heb 7:26-28
Jesus
Christ is the mediator of the new and better covenant Heb 8:6-7; Heb 9:15
Jesus
Christ has made atonement in the true heavenly sanctuary Heb 8:1-2; Heb 9:24
Jesus
Christ’s atoning blood brings effective cleansing Heb 9:12-14
Jesus
Christ’s single sacrifice replaces the many required under the old covenant Heb
10:11-14
Access
to the heavenly sanctuary is now open Heb 10:19-20
By
dying with Christ, believers are released from this age into the life of the
age to come
Ro
6:1-7 See also Ro 7:4-6; Gal 2:19-20; Gal 6:14; Eph 2:6-7; Col 2:11-13
God
the Father and the atoning death of his Son
God’s
sending of his Son to make atonement 1Jn 4:14 See also Jn 3:16; Ro 8:32; 2Co
5:18; Gal 4:4-5
God’s
grace displayed in making atonement for the ungodly Eph 2:4-5 See also Ro
5:6-8; Eph 2:8-9; Tit 3:4-5
The
worldwide scope of Jesus Christ’s atoning death
1Jn
2:2 See also Jn 1:29; 2Co 5:19; 1Ti 2:5
The
appropriate response to the atonement
The
response of repentance Ac 3:19 See also Ac 2:38; Ac 17:30; Ac 20:21
The
response of faith Ac 10:43 See also Jn 3:14-15; Ac 16:31; Ro 3:22; Gal 2:16
The
response of baptism Ac 22:16 See also Ac 2:38; 1Pe 3:21
The
atoning purpose of Jesus Christ’s death
1.Jesus Christ’s death on
behalf of others
Romans
4:24-25 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
24
but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from
the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised
for our justification.
2.Jesus Christ’s atoning
death for sin
1
Peter 3:18 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
18
For Christ also suffered[a] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive
in the spirit,
Explanations
of the atonement
3.Jesus Christ’s death as
an atoning sacrifice
1
John 4:9-15 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
9 In this the love of God
was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that
we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but
that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so
loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we
love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him
and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and
testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in
God.
4.Jesus Christ’s atoning
death as redemption
Galatians
3:10-14English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
The
Righteous Shall Live by Faith
10
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written,
“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the
Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by
the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”[a] 12 But the law is not of
faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for
us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that
in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we
might receive the promised Spirit[b] through faith.
5.The atonement is
effective because of Jesus Christ’s sinlessness
2
Corinthians 5:21English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
21
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.
1
Peter 2:22-25English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
22
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled,
he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but
continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our
sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying
like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1
John 3:5English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
5
You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
Some
thoughts on Atonement from Christian Answers,
By
the atonement of Christ, we generally mean his work by which he expiated our
sins. But, in the Bible, the word denotes the reconciliation itself, and not
the means by which it is effected. When speaking of Christ’s saving work, the
word “satisfaction,” the word used by the theologians of the Reformation, is to
be preferred to the word “atonement.” Christ’s satisfaction is all he did in
the room and in behalf of sinners to satisfy the demands of the law and justice
of God. Christ’s work consisted of suffering and obedience, and these were
vicarious, i.e., were not merely for our benefit, but were in our stead, as the
suffering and obedience of our vicar, or substitute. Our guilt is expiated by
the punishment which our vicar bore, and thus God is rendered propitious, i.e.,
it is now consistent with his justice to manifest his love to transgressors.
Expiation has been made for sin, i.e., it is covered.
The
means by which it is covered is vicarious satisfaction, and the result of its
being covered is atonement or reconciliation. To make atonement is to do that
by virtue of which alienation ceases and reconciliation is brought about.
Christ’s mediatorial work and sufferings are the ground or efficient cause of
reconciliation with God. They rectify the disturbed relations between God and
man, taking away the obstacles interposed by sin to their fellowship and
concord. The reconciliation is mutual, i.e., it is not only that of sinners
toward God, but also and preeminently that of God toward sinners, effected by the
sin-offering he himself provided, so that consistently with the other
attributes of his character his love might flow forth in all its fullness of
blessing to men.
The
primary idea presented to us in different forms throughout the Scripture is
that the death of Christ is a satisfaction of infinite worth rendered to the
law and justice of God (q.v.), and accepted by him in room of the very penalty
man had incurred.
Easton's
Bible Dictionary
Justification
a
forensic term, opposed to condemnation. As regards its nature, it is the
judicial act of God, by which he pardons all the sins of those who believe in
Christ, and accounts, accepts, and treats them as righteous in the eye of the
law, i.e., as conformed to all its demands. In addition to the pardon (q.v.) of
sin, justification declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied in
respect of the justified. It is the act of a judge and not of a sovereign. The
law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the
strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all
the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law (Rom.
5:1-10).
It
proceeds on the imputing or crediting to the believer by God himself of the
perfect righteousness, active and passive, of his Representative and Surety,
Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:3-9). Justification is not the forgiveness of a man
without righteousness, but a declaration that he possesses a righteousness which
perfectly and for ever satisfies the law, namely, Christ's righteousness (2
Cor. 5:21; Rom. 4:6-8).
The
sole condition on which this righteousness is imputed or credited to the
believer is faith in or on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is called a
"condition," not because it possesses any merit, but only because it
is the instrument, the only instrument by which the soul appropriates or
apprehends Christ and his righteousness (Rom. 1:17; 3:25, 26; 4:20, 22; Phil.
3:8-11; Gal. 2:16).
The
act of faith which thus secures our justification secures also at the same time
our sanctification (q.v.); and thus the doctrine of justification by faith does
not lead to licentiousness (Rom. 6:2-7). Good works, while not the ground, are
the certain consequence of justification (6:14; 7:6)
Encyclopedia
of The Bible
JUSTIFICATION
(δικαίωσις, G1470, justification; δικαιοῦν, to justify). In
Christian theology justification is that act of God by which the sinner, who is
responsible for his guilt and is under condemnation but believes in Christ, is
pronounced just and righteous, or acquitted, by God the judge (Rom 3:28; 4:25;
5:16, 18; 8:28-34). In the Scriptures God justifies by grace, for Christ’s
sake, through faith.
4.
Justification and the righteousness of God. In the broader concept of
justification in both OT and NT, the idea of the righteousness of God
(dikaiosyne theou) is closely related to God’s judicial act of salvation. At
times the terms justification by faith and righteousness of God can be used
interchangeably. Paul speaks of this righteousness in Romans 3:21, “Now the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, namely the
righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” The
revelation of God’s wrath in the first part of Romans (1:18) is answered by the
revelation of God’s saving righteousness in Romans 3. The word for
righteousness in Paul is dikaiosyne which is a derivative of dikaio, “to
justify.”
The
well-known phrase “righteousness of God” as Paul uses it in 1:17, however, is
not an attribute of God but the activity of God in saving man. The term is
found again and again in the OT where God’s salvation in Christ is “witnessed
by the law and the prophets” (3:21). Especially in the Psalms and in Isaiah the
term pictures God’s grace in rescuing and delivering His people from sin and
the oppressor. Psalm 98:2 (KJV), for example, has this message: “The Lord hath
made known his salvation; his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight
of the heathen.” In Isaiah 56:1, the words occur: “Thus says the Lord: Keep
justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come and my
deliverance be revealed.” Paul teaches that this righteous activity of God,
this saving act of God, is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. God saves men through the
atonement of Christ and His merit earned on the cross is appropriated by faith.
To have this righteousness is to be justified. The teaching is clear in Romans
3:22-26, esp. in the passage “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ,” and in the words “Whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood,
to be received by faith.” All human righteousness and justification are
excluded. God’s righteousness revealed in the Gospel is that act of grace by
which He cancels the condemnation of His wrath upon man. It is not the
attribute of God’s divine justice or holiness, but that righteousness which is
the justification of man in Christ, by which He bestows salvation upon man, for
Christ’s sake, through faith. Therefore, it is also faith-righteousness since
it is God’s righteousness. Faith receives the righteous saving act of God and
renounces and looks away from self to find its all-in-all in Christ.
5.
Justification and the atonement of Christ. If God’s righteousness is the saving
act of God in Christ for man’s salvation, then justification is closely related
to our Lord’s atonement. In fact, Christ’s atonement is the grounds for
justification. Christ’s person and activity is the justification or
reconciliation with God and the basis of all individual justification. It is
the only basis upon which God can and does justify the sinner (Rom 3:24; 8:1; 2
Cor 5:18-21). The atonement of Christ answers the question: “How can a just God
acquit a sinner; yes, one who remains sinful even after he is justified?”
Justification does not mean God “overlooks sin” or acts as if man were not a
sinner. The sentimental view which conceives of God as a gracious old
“grandfather” who winks at the sins of His “children,” denies the integrity of the
true God and destroys any concept of justification. God’s justice and holiness
demand payment for sin, and this penalty Christ paid in the atonement on the
cross. Thus in justification God devised a plan whereby both His attributes of
justice and His love manifested in grace for salvation of sinners are given
full meaning.
By
making Christ a substitute for man, God preserves His own justice and the same
time achieves salvation for the sinner (Rom 3:26). It is un-Biblical,
therefore, to speculate whether God could or does forgive without Christ.
Sinful men “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which
is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as an expiation by His blood.”
God
is involved in the justification-atonement syndrome in three ways: (1) He is
the Initiator, who first loved man. (2) He is the Instrument or Means, who gave
Himself in the incarnate Christ as the once-for-all sacrifice for man’s sin.
(3) He is also the Object of His saving work, who satisfied His wrath and justice
over sin through Christ’s all-atoning sacrifice. At one and the same time God
satisfies Himself and forgives the sinner. Therefore, only in Christ does God
justify the sinner by imputing Christ’s perfect righteousness to the sinner who
has none of his own (2 Cor 5:21). The Scriptures teach plainly that the wrath
of God is visited upon by sinful man or else the Son of God must die for them.
Either man dies or Christ dies. But God “shows his love for us in that while we
were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
