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"The
reason why any are justified
IS NOT because they have faith;
but the reason why
they have faith
IS because they are justified."
This was the universal belief among the Old School Baptists.
Justification
by faith alone is a fable.
Both
the Westminster CoF and the 1689 CoF repudiate
the fiction.
Let
me show you what your WCF.11.1 says:
"Those
whom God effectually calleth, He also freely justifieth: not by infusing
righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and
accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done
by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of
believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness;
but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they
receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith; which faith they
have not of themselves, it is the gift of God."
=========
Note
the negatives carefully:
i.
"... NOT by infusing righteousness into them..."
- the
righteousness needed in the justification of a condemned man is IMPUTED; it's
by imputation, not infusion.
- a
condemned man has no righteousness; it is the perfect righteousness of God's
own provision in Jesus Christ.
-
Romans 3:10 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
- Romans
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."
- The
righteousness of God's own provision is through the faithfulness of Christ in
executing His work of redeeming His people.
ii.
"...NOT for any thing wrought in them":
-
Faith is a saving grace wrought in them. (WCF 14.1).
- Gal
5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith..."
iii.
"... NOT for anything done by them...":
-
Faith/believing is a work done by the justified.
-
It's "the just shall live by faith," it's NOT "by faith the
condemned (unjustified) is justified." But that's how many read the words.
The latter is a popular fable.
-
John 6:29 "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."
iv.
"... not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing...":
- No,
Gen 15:1-6 is NOT about justification of a condemned man.
- It
is about how a justified man experienced the blessedness of his justified
state, i.e. by faith only, WITHOUT observing any ceremonial law as the
stiffnecked Judaizers insisted.
v.
"... or any other evangelical obedience to them..."
-
Faith is an evangelical obedience to God's commandments.
- 1
John 3:23: "And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the
name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us
commandment."
-
Faith "is ever accompanied with all other saving graces" worked in a
child of God. Only a child of God (an elect already effectually called out of
his native state of sin and death to that state of grace and salvation in Jesus
Christ) can exercise the grace of faith already worked in him by the indwelling
Holy Spirit. (1689.14.1)
Conclusion:
Justification by faith alone is a fiction clearly REPUDIATED by your own WCF.
What about the next paragraph, I can hear you scream! Let's take a look then.
WCF.11.2 - "Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love."
Faith...
is the alone instrument of justification.
Faith in Christ (i.e. receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness) is the alone instrument to MANIFEST, EVIDENCE one's justified state.
WHY? Because the BASIS of his justification is the righteousness of Christ.
The
MANNER of his justification is FREELY by the grace of God.
A voltmeter is the alone instrument to manifest the voltage in the circuit; the voltmeter, as an instrument, DOES NOT produce the voltage in the circuit; it makes manifest the voltage already in the circuit. Even so, faith manifests the justified state by the free grace of God.
Rom
3:24 "Being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus."
- the
BASIS of justification: "through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus."
- the
MANNER of justification: "freely by his [God's] grace."
"Receiving
and resting on Christ and His righteousness" is the only instrument to
experience the BLESSEDNESS of that FREE GRACE justification based on the
righteousness of Christ.
May
the Lord grant you understanding.
You are right; faith
is indeed AN effect of regeneration.
But
do you know that spiritual life (quickened, regenerated) is the effect of the righteousness applied, i.e. justification by grace?
Sin
is the transgression of the law, and brings death.
Righteousness
is obedience to the law and secures life.
Rom 5:18 "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."
"He also freely justifieth... by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them..." WCF 11.1
With
the imputation of righteousness, there is justification of life; THAT IS,
regeneration logically follows the justification of life
With life, there is faith worked within the justified, which is drawn out by the ministry of the word. (Romans 10:17.)
There
are different and distinct aspects of justification:
-
DECRETAL: Justification was PURPOSED by God in eternity,
-
LEGAL: Justification was ACCOMPLISHED by Christ at the cross,
-
VITAL: Justification was APPLIED to each elect at his effectual calling
-
PRACTICAL: Justification is EXPERIENCED by faith at initial conversion and
throughout life. and
-
FINAL: Justification shall be CONSUMMATED at Christ's second coming.
WCF
11.4
"God
did, from all eternity, decree to justify the elect; and Christ did, in the
fullness of time, die for their sins and rise again for their justification;
nevertheless they are not justified personally - until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time,
actually apply Christ unto them."
[The all-important word "personally" added in the 1689 CoF]
This
paragraph declares THREE distinct aspects of justification:
- God
decreed to justify the elect,
-
Christ accomplished the justification for them,
- the
Holy Spirit applied it to each elect personally. [What was legal is now made vital by the free grace of God. Rom 3:24)
The
APPLIED aspect is stated in 11.1
The
EXPERIENTIAL aspect is stated in 11.2
Faith is the effect of justification:
"The just shall live by faith" - this is biblical. This is a DESCRIPTIVE statement about the justified.
"By faith, the condemned shall be justified" - this is the popular sola fidei. This is a PRESCRIPTIVE statement on how the condemned (the unjustified) is to be justified by God.
May the Lord give you understanding and save you from the popular fable.
2Timorhy
4 KJT
3 For
the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their
own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And
they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto
fables.
