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| Faith is simply the instrument through which Christ's righteousness and merit are applied to us. OR Faith is simply the instrument which manifest that Christ's righteousness and merit have been applied to us. |
September 25, 2021
"Faith
has never saved anyone. Jesus saves us. Faith is simply the instrument through
which his righteousness and merit are applied to us. This is why Christ is our
assurance, not our faith."
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There
are serious theological errors embedded in the bosom of the third sentence,
which is needless to say, expresses popular Calvinistic notions.
1.
It presupposes that a man to whom the righteousness and merit of Christ have
NOT BEEN APPLIED is capable of exercising faith, therefore already regenerated.
Do you see the plain error?
2.
A man to whom the righteousness and merit of Christ have NOT been applied is a
man still in his native state of sin, condemnation, and death, i.e. unjustified
state. Do you understand this basic truth?
The
Calvinists rightly believe that regeneration precedes faith. However, they
wrongly, and ignorantly believe that regeneration by the Holy Spirit logically
precedes the justification by God, i.e. before the application of Christ's
righteousness and merit. It is stupidity, i.e. lacking common sense, to believe
that regeneration unto life is possible without the prior application of the
righteousness of life; it's a classic example of putting the cart before the
horse.
The
simple truth is: justification (i.e. the application of righteousness and merit
of Christ to an elect personally) LOGICALLY PRECEDE regeneration.
Sins
brought condemnation and death; righteousness secures justification and life.
The application of Christ's righteousness and merit LOGICALLY PRECEDE
regeneration.
Romans
5:18 KJV — Therefore as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all
men unto justification of life.
Justification
freely by God's grace, i.e. the application of Christ's righteousness and merit
- is a justification of life. Have you ever noticed this simple and obvious
truth???
The
Calvinists openly repudiated the plain statement of the Scriptures that
justification, i.e. the application of Christ's righteousness and merit to a
sinner, is solely and wholly by the free grace of God alone, and not through
the instrument of faith.
Romans
3:24 "... Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus."
Titus
3:7 "That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life."
The
Calvinists, in their pride and ignorance, have perverted and twisted the
justification APPLIED freely by God's grace into the justification applied on the condition of man's faith!
At
the heart of the problem is the Calvinists' ignorance of the multifaceted
nature of the Bible's teaching on justification. Therefore they confuse and
confound the justification applied freely by divine grace with the
justification evidenced/experienced through human faith.
Scriptures
speak of distinct aspects of justification:
-
there is the justification purposed/decreed for ALL the elect in eternity,
-
there is the justification secured/accomplished for ALL the elect on the cross,
-
there is the justification applied to EACH elect personally at his effectual
call, and
-
there is the justification experienced and evidenced through faith in Jesus
Christ.
The
righteousness and merit of Christ are freely applied by the grace of God when
an elect is still in his native state of sin, death, and condemnation. This
enables a child of God (a regenerated elect) to exercise the grace of faith
worked in him by the indwelling Spirit; in believing the Lord Jesus Christ, his
faith is evidence of his justified state.
All
these distinct aspects or facets of justification are summarized and stated
clearly in chapter 11 of the 1689CoF. Check them out yourself.
Take
a peep here:
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-doctrine-of-justification-as.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2016/10/righteousness-imputed-legally-and.html
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-distinct-sets-of-contrast-in.htm
