Life Precedes Faith -- Part 4

It was never intended for the gospel to be proclaimed apart from the absolute sovereignty of God and His chosen ones. Paul said, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thess. 2:13-14). (Read I Thess. 1:1-6.)

God, who is Spirit, describes the nature of the Godhead. There are two ways of knowing and describing God. Affirmatively, we ascribe to God whatever is perfect. He is perfect without quality, great without quantity, everywhere without place, powerful without numbers, and understanding without ignorance. Negatively, we separate from God whatever is imperfect. Love cannot be considered apart from holiness. Grace cannot be separated from truth. Righteousness cannot reign apart from the satisfaction of justice. Images and pictures can never represent God, who is Spirit, and therefore, invisible.

Religionists make faith a distinct point in the plan of salvation. Salvation includes everything from election to glorification. One who understands the Biblical way of salvation will not emphasize one aspect of truth while neglecting others. To them, faith is only one step from being lost to being saved. These are statements that are used: “By repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ, one can be born into the family of God.” “Get smart and make your peace with God now.” “Cease your sinning and come to the Savior.”

No sinner, in himself, ever moved Godward. The movement has always come from God. Faith is not the cause of justification before God. There is nothing in the sinner that could be the condition of his justification before the righteous and holy God. Saving faith is the gift of God. It is defined by its content, which is found in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. If human faith were a condition of justification, then the sinner would possess a subjective quality that satisfies God. There is no more value in human faith to justify than there is value in animal blood to redeem (Heb. 10).

Justification is not merely the declaration of imputed righteousness; it is to be realized in the elect by faith. The elect are taught by God. Christ said, “It is written in the prophets, AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me” (John 6:45). Forensic (declamatory) is objective; its realization is subjective. Faith which justifies does not precede grace, because it originates in grace. “And when he [Paul] wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ” (Acts 18:27-28).

Persons who embrace the aforementioned view of justification have come under heavy attack for closing their eyes to the significance of faith. They are accused of stressing Christ’s righteousness to the extent that faith gets very little recognition. With an air of confidence, the opposers ask, “Was not Abraham’s faith credited to him for righteousness?”

In Romans 4, Paul continued his subject of gratuitous justification by using Abraham as an example. “For what does the Scripture say? ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Rom. 4:3). “But to the one who does not work, but believes [present active participle dative masculine singular of pisteuo] in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Rom. 4:9).

We will make a study of the inflected forms of “believed” (v. 3)—episteusen, aorist active indicative third person singular of the Greek verb pisteuo, meaning to have faith in, or believe in, God or Christ. It was the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, not the faith of Abraham, which justified him before God. Was it Abraham’s faith, or his life of faith, that was credited to him for righteousness? If faith is accepted “as” righteousness before God, what about “baptism” being accepted “as” forgiveness of sins? Thus, Abraham was not justified either by his works or by his faith before God. He was justified before God on the basis of Christ’s redemptive work which was retroactive for the Old Testament saints. (Read Heb. 10:1-18.)

In Romans 4:5, it was the life of faith that was entered in God’s Book of Life. Abraham was not justified before God on the basis of his faith, but he was justified before God on the basis of Christ’s redemptive work at Calvary. The participle pisteuonti is present active dative (personal interest) masculine singular of pisteuo.

Justifying faith presupposes previous dishonor, complete satisfaction, and perfect restoration as to standing, but not as to state. After Abraham was justified, he lied about his wife (Gen. 20:5). After Paul was justified, he said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…” (Rom. 7:18). Eternal life is first in Christ before it is in us. Death for sin in Christ precedes death to sin in us. Justification from our imputed sins was first experienced in Christ before it was experienced in us.

There is a lot of misunderstanding and misapplication of faith in Romans 4:3, 5, and 9, and in I John 5:1. Arminians believe faith is the antecedent of justification. It is very common to misunderstand how serious it is to be wrong on soteriology. The elect who have been regenerated have nothing in themselves that was not derived from Jesus Christ.

Justification by God, by faith, and by works are declarative acts. God, in justifying the elect, does not make them righteous. They are declared righteous on the foundation of God’s purpose and purchase. Faith, out of which the elect are justified, no more cleanses the unregenerated persons from sin than circumcision cleansed Abraham, or baptism cleanses sinners today. Works, in justifying believers before men, no more gives them a standing before God than dead works can make dead people alive.

To make a mistake about justification leads to gross errors concerning other truths of Scripture. God is properly honored only when one has the proper concept of justification. For example, many religionists talk about justification by faith, but they make a distinction between objective and subjective sides which cooperate with each other. They make Divine grace and redemption the objective side, and the freedom of man’s choice as the subjective side of salvation. Thus, we have such heresies as Pelagianism, Arminianism, and Roman Catholicism.

Pelagianism is represented by an English monk and theologian who taught that God gives equal ability to every person who wants to become a Christian. Arminius taught that God gives equal ability to all, but some become Christians and some do not. Roman Catholics teach two justifications: (1) The sinner comes to the Catholic Church and receives the sacrament of baptism, by which spiritual life is infused into the soul. This is the formal cause of justification which renders the soul inherently holy. (2) After regeneration by baptism, the believer exercises his faith by which he becomes entitled to eternal life. This is the second justification.

The “Reformers” are known for their defining, defending, and diffusing the Biblical subject of justification. There are, in fact, only three great systems of teaching worth mentioning on the subject of justification. They are Romanism, Remonstrants, and Reformers. Before the Biblical subject of justification can be either defended or diffused, it must be defined. Therefore, let us begin by giving what the three major systems of interpretation say concerning the meaning justification. This will continue in the next lesson—Part 5.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.