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| The devil deceives you by telling you that God will accept your sweet potatoes and count them as pure gold, since you have no pure gold of Ophir to give Him for your justification before Him! |
Ro 4:3 "For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and
it was counted unto him FOR righteousness."
Abraham believed God, and
it was counted unto him FOR righteousness."
Let me state something which is obvious - the pronoun 'it' refers to Abraham's act of believing. However, many teachers of God's word teach that 'it' refers to righteousness. There is no accounting of righteousness to Abraham in this passage, but so many teach so! Please get this simple fact clear.
And where there is no accounting of Christ's righteousness to a guilty and condemned man, there is no justification. PERIOD. Accounting of Christ's righteousness to the condemned is at the heart of justification by God. So many, the reformed as well as the non-reformed, are fixated with the idea that Abraham was justified by God at this point, i.e. Gen 15:1-6. Shame!
With the obvious stated (to spare misguided notions), let me ask, what does "it was counted unto him for righteousness" mean?
Please give your thoughts. Thanks.
(I post the above on the wall of "Calvinism Fellowship, Debate, and Discussion" and it was removed promptly by the administrator. I wonder why?)
Sing F Lau
It is a standard and common belief among the 'reformed' and calvinists that God justifies a man when he believes... i.e. a man is not justified by God UNTIL he believes. And they will point us to Abraham as the proof of their notion.
Such notion is a fable. It necessarily implies the following:
- that Abraham in Gen 12-14 was still an unjustified man, i.e. a man still under the just condemnation of sin and death.
- that an unjustified man is able to believe. But a man not justified by God is still in his native state of sin and death. Period.
- that the regeneration by the Holy Spirit (since they do admit that regeneration precedes faith) precedes the justification by God! But how can there be regeneration without the PRIOR justification of life.
- that in Gen 15:6, there is the accounting of Christ's righteousness whereas the Scriptures repeatedly say it was Abraham's act of believing, that was accounted.
- that God justifies the believing, whereas the Scriptures plainly declares that God justifies the UNGODLY, and it is the believer's faith that justifies (i.e. testifies, vindicates) him.
I wonder what would be their response. When I brought these points to the RBs in Malaysia in 2004, they just keep their elegance silence! What do they do with such implications of their view?
The way God justifies a condemned man, and the way the believing in Christ justifies a believer are entirely different. And if the elitist calvinists can't see the difference, what hope is there for the Arminians despised by them?
Rightly dividing the word of truth is the essence of sound theology.
Sing F Lau
Another common view I come across is this:
- God accepts the 'faith' of condemned sinners in the place of righteousness for their justification. Since they have no righteousness, God accepts their faith in place of righteousness for their justification. If that be the case, the righteousness of Christ has just been declared redundant and needless!
It is like saying, since you don't have pure gold for your freedom, some sweet potatoes will do! It is added that such condescension of God magnifies His love.
If that be the case, Jesus lived in vain to secure the righteousness that we do not have, but which is absolutely necessary for our justification. Christ's righteousness is made redundant!
Sin is transgression of the law of God.
Sin brought condemnation.
Righteousness is perfect obedience to the law of God.
And the righteousness of Christ alone, of God's own provision, is necessary for the justification a sinner from the just condemnation he is under.
Sing F Lau
It is obvious that there a vast difference between these two:
"... faith was counted unto him FOR righteousness"
and
"... righteousness was counted unto him for justification."
The reformed and calvinists read the first, and understand it as saying the second!
They imagine that righteousness is the thing counted!
They imagine that justification by God is the issue here!
This is why I said this is a MASSIVE theological blunder by the elitist reformed and calvinists...
See here: http://pruning-deformed-branches.blogspot.com/2008/01/massive-theological-blunder.html
Sing F Lau
It is very helpful to distinguish the different aspects of justification. I will express the different aspect like this:
Justification PURPOSED by the decree of God before time... DECRETAL. The old baptists called this eternal justification. But so many accused the old baptist of believing actual justification in eternity! What travesty!
Justification ACCOMPLISHED by the faith/blood/righteousness of Christ at the cross...LEGAL. Christ's righteousness was IMPUTED to all the elect.
Justification APPLIED by the grace of God when righteousness is APPLIED to an elect personally... VITAL/PERSONAL
Justification EXPERIENCED by faith in Christ Jesus... the blessedness of the justified state is experienced personally by faith, and justification is EVIDENCED by works of righteousness... PRACTICAL
Justification VINDICATED at the last day by Jesus Christ.
That's my present understanding.
Sing F Lau
Rom 3:
21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Prior to verse 21, Paul conclusively proved and demonstrated that all are justly condemned and have no righteousness whatsoever.
Verse 21 declares the provision of righteousness by God Himself for His people.
Righteousness comes by obedience to the law... either by man's own obedience or by the obedience of a substitute. By man's own obedience, there is only condemnation.
The righteousness by God's own provision is by the obedience of Jesus Christ... THAT IS 'by faith of Jesus Christ'.
This phrase 'by faith of Jesus Christ' refers to His faithfulness in rendering perfect obedience to the law in order to secure the righteousness necessary for the justification of His people. That is the context.
We are absolutely sure that that is the meaning because in verse 24 we read, "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus..."
The phrase 'by faith of Jesus Christ' by which God justifies condemned sinners is "the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
The two phrases refers to the same thing... and in the context of God's provision of righteousness in the context of justifying condemned sinners.
Nearly everybody is OBSESSED with their fickle and feeble faith IN Christ... hardly any knows and boasts of the faith OF OF OF Christ.... even though the Scriptures speaks of it so many times.
Of course that truth is OBLITERATED in all the modern translation. KJ Bible alone preserve the truth of 'by the faith OF Jesus Christ.'
May the Lord open the eyes of many
Sing F Lau
It is "The faith of... faith of... faith of... faith of..." and NOT NOT "The faith in... faith in... faith in... faith in..."
Look at these passages, from the KJT of course.
Ro 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is BY FAITH OF Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
Ga 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but BY THE FAITH OF Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified BY THE FAITH OF Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Ga 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live BY THE FAITH OF of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Ga 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise BY FAITH OF Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Eph 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence BY THE FAITH OF him.
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is THROUGH THE FAITH OF Christ, the righteousness which is of God BY FAITH [i.e. of Jesus Christ]
Please don't be deceived by those who tell you that 'by faith of Jesus Christ' means by the faith that comes from Jesus Christ, the faith that Jesus gives to you.
Faith is a grace worked within a child of God by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
