justification by faith

it's incredible how God has been speaking to me over the past few weeks.

firstly, i was convicted of the truth of the doctrine of election, of the dynamic of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God is sovereign and man has choice. this is the cornerstone of systematic theology.

following this, i began to look at grace and faith with new eyes. just as the unwilling elect and the willing un-elect simply do not exist, there is no grace which does not result in faith, and no faith which does not result from grace. like divine sovereignty and human responsibility, grace and faith do accord with each other, but not on the same plane.

finally, as i was reading n.t. wright's new perspectives on paul, i was struck by wright's contention that justification by faith is not 'how someone becomes a christian', but 'God's declaration about the person who has just become a christian'. i think we're on to something here.

all the options

what is the real meaning of justification by faith?

a) through our faith, we are justified by God
b) through our faith, we have the assurance that we will be justified by God
c) through our faith, we reveal that we are the elect and that we will be justified by God

i had always assumed (a), but i no longer hold this to be the case. to hold that God justifies us based on our faith would be to treat faith as a condition, if not a work.

it is not enough to argue (as i used to) that faith is merely the means by which we receive the gift of God. this still leaves the justification of God dependent on our faith.

rather, it is (b) and (c) which bear out the real meaning of justification by faith.

God's big picture

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." - Romans 8:29-30 (NIV)

"But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." - 1 Corinthians 6:11 (NIV)

1. foreknowledge
2. predestination
3. calling/washing/justification by faith
4. sanctification
5. justification
6. glorification

justification and justification by faith are separate entities. while justification is from a divine perspective, justification by faith is from a human perspective. justification does not take place before sanctification, even as justification by faith does. justification takes place after sanctification, on the day of Christ when God declares the righteous to be justified in Christ.

justification by faith calls us to 'continue to work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling' (Philippians 2:12, NIV), 'run with perseverance the race marked out for us' (Hebrews 12:1, NIV) and 'be all the more eager to make [our] calling and election sure' (2 Peter 1:10, NIV).

the future of justification by faith

b) through our faith, we have the assurance that we will be justified by God

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." - Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

justification by faith is not an act of justification by God, but an act of faith by us. it is not God's just response to our faithfulness, but our faithful response to God's justness. according to n.t. wright, justification by faith is the 'anticipation in the present of the verdict which will be reaffirmed in the future'.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)

Romans 5:1-5 is about peace and joy, the hope of salvation. in this context, justification by faith refers to the present assurance that we will be justified by God in the future.

c) through our faith, we reveal that we are the elect and that we will be justified by God

God, in whom no tenses are found, has already justified the elect in Christ. to this end, we reveal that we are the elect in Christ from all eternity and that we will just as surely be justified by God to all eternity as we '[fight] the good fight, [finish] the race and [keep] the faith' (2 Timothy 4:7, NIV).

"You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone." - James 2:20-24 (NIV)

James 2:20-24 is about how faith and deeds are simply different sides of the same coin. the certainty of faith being made complete by deeds mirrors the certainty of election being made complete by faith, sanctification, justification and glorification.

ultimately, (b) and (c) bear out the real meaning of justification by faith in two unique yet mutually reinforcing ways. we have the assurance that we will be justified by God because we reveal that we are the elect, and we reveal that we are the elect because we have the assurance that we will be justified by God.

the future of justification by faith lies in the present.