Transformational Truth for Today

1
Transformational Truth for Today

• Justification by Gracethrough Faith in Christ

2
Order of Salvation

• Election (Gods choice of people to be saved)
• Effective Calling (Gods drawing through the
  proclamation of the gospel)
• Regeneration (being born again)
• Conversion (faith and repentance)
• Justification (right legal standing)
• Adoption (membership in Gods family)
• Sanctification (growing in Christ-likeness)
• Perseverance (eternal security)
• Death (going to be with the Lord)
• Glorification (receiving a resurrection body)

3
Justification

• How and when do we gain right legal standing
  before God?
• The Bible says that God justifies him who has
  faith in Jesus (Rom. 326), and that a man is
  justified by faith apart from works of law (Rom.
  328). He says, Since we are justified by faith
  we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
  Christ (Rom. 51). Moreover, a man is not
  justified by works of the law but through faith
  in Jesus Christ (Gal. 216).

4
Justification

• Justify is related to the word for righteous.
• The word for righteousness in Greek (dikaiosune)
  is related to the verb to justify or dikaio.
• Righteousfy means to declare righteous.

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Justification

• Justification is an instantaneous legal act of
  God in which He
• (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christs
  righteousness as belonging to us
• (2) declares us to be righteous in His sight
• This is COURTROOM LANGUAGE

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Justification

• Then he Abraham believed in the LORD and He
  reckoned credited it to him as righteousness.
  Genesis 156

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Justification

• David Wells From the time of the Reformation,
  justification by grace alone and received through
  faith alone has been considered the central,
  defining motif in this New Testament gospel. It
  was upon this doctrine, Luther declared, that the
  church stands or falls.

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Justification

• To justify to declare righteous
• When they heard this all the people and the tax
  collectors justified God acknowledged Gods
  justice, having been baptized with the baptism
  of John (Luke 729).
• He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns
  the righteous, both of them alike are an
  abomination to the LORD. Proverbs 1715

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Justification

• Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill
  the innocent or the righteous, for I will not
  acquit the guilty. Exodus 237
• 3 What then? If some did not believe, their
  unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of
  God, will it? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God
  be found true, though every man be found a liar,
  as it is written, "THAT YOU MAY BE JUSTIFIED IN
  YOUR WORDS, AND PREVAIL WHEN YOU ARE JUDGED."
• Romans 33-4, PS. 514 quote

10
Justification

• 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God
  is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not
  spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us
  all, how will He not also with Him freely give us
  all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against
  God's elect? God is the one who justifies 34 who
  is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who
  died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the
  right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
  Romans 831-34

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Justification

• In justification - God declares us to be just in
  his sight
• God declares that we have no penalty to pay for
  sin
• Therefore there is now no condemnation for those
  who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 81
• Romans 4
• Forgiveness makes us morally neutral, but does
  not give us favor with God
• God also declares that we are righteous in his
  sight

12
Justification

• Justification includes imputation
• Imputes God thinks of Christs righteousness as
  belonging to us (Rom. 43 1 Cor. 130 Phil.
  39 Rom. 46-8).
• God credits something to our spiritual account
• For what does the Scripture say? ABRAHAM
  BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED logizomai TO
  HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Romans 43

13
Justification

• 7 But whatever things were gain to me, those
  things I have counted as loss for the sake of
  Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to
  be loss in view of the surpassing value of
  knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
  suffered the loss of all things, and count them
  but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may
  be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my
  own derived from the Law, but that which is
  through faith in Christ, the righteousness which
  comes from God on the basis of faith Philippians
  37-9

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Justification

• If justification changed us internally and then
  declared us to be righteous based on how good we
  actually were
• A. we could never be declared perfectly righteous
  in this life because of remaining sin
• B. there would be no provision for forgiveness of
  past sin (committed before we were changed
  internally), and therefore we could never have
  confidence that we are right before God
• He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
  behalf, so that we might become the righteousness
  of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 521

15
Justification

• 320 because by the works of the Law no flesh
  will be justified in His sight for through the
  Law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart
  from the Law the righteousness of God has been
  manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the
  Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God
  through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who
  believe for there is no distinction 23 for all
  have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
  24 being justified as a gift by His grace through
  the redemption which is in Christ Jesus 25 whom
  God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His
  blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His
  righteousness, because in the forbearance of God
  He passed over the sins previously committed 26
  for the demonstration, I say, of His
  righteousness at the present time, so that He
  would be just and the justifier of the one who
  has faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is boasting? It
  is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No,
  but by a law of faith. (Romans 3)

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Justification

• 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by
  faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God
  the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of
  Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since
  indeed God who will justify the circumcised by
  faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
  Romans 328-30

17
Justification

• But to the one who does not work, but believes in
  Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is
  credited as righteousness, Romans 45
• Therefore, having been justified by faith, we
  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
  Christ Romans 51
• nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified
  by the works of the Law but through faith in
  Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ
  Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in
  Christ and not by the works of the Law since by
  the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
  Galatians 216
• The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
  the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel
  beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations
  will be blessed in you. Galatians 38

18
Justification

• Now that no one is justified by the Law before
  God is evident for, The righteous man shall
  live by faith. Galatians 311
• Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us
  to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
  Galatians 324
• for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
  of God, being justified as a gift by His grace
  through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus
  Romans 323-24

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Justification

• Why Faith? Its the exact opposite of works or
  self-merit or self-reliance
• The dividing line between Catholics and
  Protestants
• to be declared innocent
• or
• to be made innocent?
• To be imputed or credited with righteousness or
  imparted/infused with righteousness.

20
Justification

• The Roman Catholic View
• Infused righteousness At the moment of
  salvation, God infuses or weaves into you an
  actual sinless holiness. At that moment, you are
  perfectly innocent in actual practice.
• Does this sound like legal, courtroom language?
  No.

21
Justification

• The Council of Trent (1545-1563)
• The means of justification is the sacrament of
  baptism.
• Those who, by sin have fallen from the received
  grace of justification may be again justified ...
  through the sacrament of penance. (confession,
  Hail Marys, etc.)

22
Justification

• The Council of Trent
• If any one says, that by faith alone the sinner
  is justified in such a way as to mean, that
  nothing else is required to co-operate in order
  to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and
  that it is not in any way necessary, that he be
  prepared and disposed by the movement of his own
  will let him be anathema condemned. (Council
  of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9)

23
Justification

• The Council of Trent
• If any one says, that man is truly absolved from
  his sins and justified, because he assuredly
  believed himself absolved and justified or, that
  no one is truly justified but he who believes
  himself justified and that, by this faith alone,
  absolution and justification are effected let
  him be anathema. (Canon 14)

24
Justification

• The Council of Trent
• If any one says, that the justice received is
  not preserved and also increased before God
  through good works but that the said works are
  merely the fruits and signs of Justification
  obtained, but not a cause of the increase of
  justification let him be anathema. (Canon 24)

25
Justification

• If any one shall say that justifying faith is
  nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy
  pardoning sins for Christs sake, or that it is
  that confidence alone by which we are justified
  ... let him be accursed (Canon 12)
• For we maintain that a man is justified by faith
  apart from works of the Law. Romans 328
• Therefore, having been justified by faith, we
  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
  Christ Romans 51

26
Justification

• If any one says, that, after the grace of
  Justification has been received, to every
  penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the
  debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such
  wise, that there remains not any debt of temporal
  punishment to be discharged either in this world,
  or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance
  to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him)
  let him be anathema. (Canon 30)

27
Justification

• 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and
  the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you
  alive together with Him, having forgiven us all
  our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the
  certificate of debt consisting of decrees against
  us, which was hostile to us and He has taken it
  out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
  Colossians 213-14
• For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift
  of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
  Romans 623

28
Justification

• 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith
  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
  God 9 not as a result of works, so that no one
  may boast. Ephesians 28-9

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Justification
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Justification

• Summary The Roman Catholic view of salvation
  promotes an insufficient Christ, an inadequate
  Cross, a losable salvation, and a salvation that
  fails to protect you from Gods wrath against sin
  since it is based on your good works. - Joel
  James

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Transformational Truth for Today

• Justification by Gracethrough Faith in Christ