On Justification by Faith.

We live in a day where there is a lot of confusion about how one is saved. It’s not that the churches are confused, it’s that we still live in a time period where the church is still divided about Justification by faith. The reformation brought a freedom, but also separated the church, probably right until the second coming of Jesus.

Justification can be a strange doctrine depending where you are coming from. The modern argument is that if it is not by faith alone, then mankind adds to their holiness and possibly their salvation which of course would take the glory away from God, and place it on fallen man. On the other hand, if it is by faith alone, the argument is that a saved man is given too much freedom after he accepts the Lord, and is therefore given a licence to sin. Our consciences don’t want to accept the simplicity of a free gift, because we fear that if it is free, then we don’t have to change after salvation.

The division lies with man in the sense that it is true that if human beings are given too much freedom, they will abuse it. Angels are not human and therefore don’t need to be restricted by the law because they never sinned. Only sinners need access to the free grace of God to go to heaven when they die. Because men are sinners God freely offers us salvation, not because we deserve it, but because of God’s mercy and grace. To be justified freely doesn’t mean we have a license to sin, only God determines the consequences for us breaking the law, and that is why He sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. When we accept this gift of salvation we are forgiven by God.

Justification is also a part of God’s merciful gift of salvation. For God to treat me as a forgiven sinner, I must be given a righteousness that I didn’t merit. If I didn’t merit it, then it must be God who gave it to me. This is true because Jesus took my sins on the cross and by his merit, I am saved. If I add anything to this merit, it is simply my good works that will be credited to me as a reward in heaven. I never add to what Jesus did, all God asks is that I take it by faith, and keep that faith in what Jesus did for me. This of course doesn’t add to my salvation it just keeps it valid for me.

Walking with God takes faith, and it is this faith that justifies me. Faith is what maintains my relationship with God, and it is strengthened by the church. That is all I’ll say right now. God Bless, this is Mike.

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