Justified Freely

(Article for publication week of 7-11-2012 AD)

     “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Last week we showed you that it is God Who justifies a poor sinner (Romans 8:33). Justification is an eternal, sovereign, gracious act of God whereby He absolves an elect sinner of all His sins and declares that sinner righteous. Our text today clearly says that God justifies a person by His Own sovereign grace, and not because of any good that He sees in that person.

     The word “freely” in our text is translated from the Greek word “dorean.” The Holy Spirit used the same Greek word in John 15:25 that is translated in our translation “they hated me (Christ) without a cause.” Most people hated Christ, just as they do today. Only His elect people loved Him, and only they love Him today. But there was not then, nor is there now any reason why anybody should hate Christ. He was and is “holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners”. People hate Christ without any cause, because they love sin and hate righteousness. So, God justifies a sinner “without a cause” in the sinner! If the Holy Spirit would enable you to believe this you would jump for joy! God saves a person without regard to anything in the person himself.

     God does not justify a person because of any righteous act that person performs. God justifies a person “by faith without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:28). “By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves , it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).We have already seen in previous articles that all our righteousnesses are filthy rags, and there is none good, no not one. God justifies a person by grace through faith, and not because of any act that person performs.

     Nor does God justify a sinner because of some goodness He sees in the sinner, for there is nothing good in any person. In us, that is in our flesh there dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18). “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint” (Isaiah 1:5).

     Nor does God justify us because of the act of believing. Now, the scriptures plainly declare that no one can be saved apart from faith in Christ, but that faith is in no sense the procuring cause of our justification. Get it now, “God justifies a sinner, and He does it freely (without a cause in the sinner) by His sovereign grace. We shall have much to say in later articles of the necessity of faith in Christ, but this week I want you to see that if you ever have a righteous standing before God, the cause must be completely outside yourself. You must look to God and the grace that is in His Son, and not to yourself for your justification.

    Justification is, again an act of God’s free grace. It is in  no sense a cooperative act between God and sinners. I pray the Lord will bless you and gift you with justifying faith that you may believe this glorious gospel. May the Lord bless you all, my dear readers.

It Is God that Justifieth

Article for publication week of 7-4-2012 AD)

       “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth” (Romans 8:33). For several weeks now we have been considering Job’s tremendous question in Job 9:2, “how shall man be just with God?” We have considered the eternal importance of the question, and shown clearly from the scriptures that man cannot be just with God by his own works or merits. We are now ready to proceed to the doctrine of justification itself.

   

    Our text for this week tells us that it is God Himself that justifies a person. Justification is an act of God. It is God Himself Who acts in justifying a person. We have already proven that a fallen man can perform no act that will give him a righteous standing before God. All our righteousnesses are but filthy rags; we have all sinned and come short of God’s glory; we are unprofitable servants; there are none righteous among the fallen children of Adam. Salvation is of the Lord, and is not a joint effort between God and man.

      Secondly, we see that justification is a covenantal act of the Triune God. Only the God of the Bible can justify a poor sinner. It is God that justifies. That is, the Triune, eternal, immutable, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign and Thrice Holy God of the Bible justifies His people. Justification is an act of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit Who are One in essence and purpose.

      Thirdly, Justification is a sovereign act of God. God is under no obligation to justify any of us. God will have mercy upon whom He will (Romans 9:15). Our text proclaims the absolute sovereignty of God in justification for it is His elect people that God justifies. Our justification rests on the strong foundation of God’s eternal decree of election.

      Fourthly, justification is an eternal act of God. Since it is God Himself who justifies, justification is something that is completely without a sinner. Indeed, there is no good thing in any sinner (Romans 7:18). Since the grounds for justification resides wholly in the Triune God, and there is no good thing in any of us, we must see that God does not justify us as a response to some act of our own. This is a vital scriptural concept that you need to embrace. Now, if justification is solely an act of God, and nothing is found in the sinner to move God to justify him, then this must be an eternal act of God.

    Finally, justification is a gracious act of God. God justifies us freely by His grace (Romans 3:24). Justification is by grace alone. This is the reason true ministers of the gospel often say “sovereign grace.” Justification is by the unmerited favour of God toward undeserving, ill deserving, hell deserving sinners. It is God that justifies!