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| Are you justified before God by the faith of Christ, or by your faith in Christ? They are vastly different. |
Let us consider the first passage, Rom 3:28.
"Therefore, we conclude that a man is
justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
What is the passage saying in its context -
what faith, whose faith?
Rom 3
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of
sin.
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:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Let's lay down some basic and self-evident
truths:
1. Sin is the transgression of the law.
- Sins bring condemnation of death, Rom 5:12.
- Righteousness brings justification of life,
Rom 5:18.
2. Justification is the reversal of
condemnation.
- Justification in God's sight requires
righteousness.
- This righteousness is either by a man's own
obedience to the whole law OR by Christ's obedience to the whole law.
- No man can obtain the needed righteousness
through his own obedience to the law, for "by the deeds of the law there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight."
3. God provided this righteousness that is
needed for the justification of His elect people in His sight.
- This righteousness of God's own provision
is by the faithfulness of Christ's obedience to the whole law.
- Righteousness is needed in the
justification of a man in his native state of condemnation. Sins bring
condemnation of death, Rom 5:12. Righteousness brings justification of life,
Rom 5:18.
- This righteousness is provided by God ALONE
through the faithfulness of Christ ALONE in keeping the whole law perfectly.
- That is the exact meaning of: "EVEN
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ." v22a.
4 The righteousness of God's provision for the justification of a condemned man is NOT NOT NOT by his faith in Jesus Christ.
Faith in Jesus Christ is NOT the
righteousness that is needed for the justification of a condemned man before
God. ALSO, a man in his unjustified, condemned state is incapable of faith;
justification by faith is an impossibility.
It is Christ's faithfulness in rendering
perfect obedience to the law that is needed, and this righteousness is by God's
own provision, i.e. by the faith of Christ.
Therefore, 'the faith of Christ' and 'your
faith in Christ' are very different. One is the good news of God providing
righteousness by Christ's faithfulness in rendering perfect obedience to the
whole law for your justification by His free grace; your act of believing in Christ is an effect and evidence of your justification by the free grace of God.
Two different gospels. No mere semantics!
Man's faith is NOT in the equation of his
justification in the sight of God - "Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
A man's faith MANIFESTS that God has FREELY
justified him - "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."
"All have sinned... and fell under the
condemnation of death. Such has no possibility of believing UNTIL justification
of life by the faith of Christ has been applied, freely by God's grace.
"All them that believe" - all the
believing ones DO SO because the righteousness of God's own provision, by the
faith of Christ, has been freely applied to them personally.
It is that elementary... but the wise and
prudent in their own eyes are blinded to it.
It is treacherous and scandalous - the
mildest adjectives I can think of - to replace the "faith OF Christ"
with "man's faith in Christ" as the ground of justification in that
Rom 3 passage!
Apostle Paul solemnly pronounced such
teachers be accursed!
Yes, let such be accursed! Amen
And remember, believing in Christ is a deed
of the law, believing in Christ is obedience to the law/commandment of God; it
is a work required by God.
John 6 KJT
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 ¶Jesus answered and said unto them, This
is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
"Believe on Christ Jesus whom God has sent" is
a work God requires of His children. The Judaistic Jews insisted on the work of
obeying Mosaic laws.
1John 3 - KJT
23 And this is his commandment, That we should
believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave
us commandment.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is obedience
to God's commandment; obedience to God's commandment is work.
