There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "…truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity–it is simply true and that is the end of it" – Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” – Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Self-righteousness can lead to unrighteousness. Our conviction about how good we are can lead us to do evil things.
After all, we reason, I am a good person; therefore, what I do must be good. A good end justifies evil means.
This has to be one of the most twisted phenomena of our fallen condition, that our very virtues can lead us to sin.
The thought came to me while reading John Noonan’s essay The Guillotine of Goodness. Writing in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder, Noonan is complaining about the voices on social media that celebrated his killing on ostensibly moral grounds. The same thing happened with the hero-worship of Luigi Mangione, murderer of the United Health Care executive. This is the thinking that motivates terrorists and the people who approve of them. Noonan writes,
Progressives have become prone to replacing the moral vacuum created by the departure of religion and civic allegiance with politics. They have become drunk on righteousness, high on their own ideological supply. They have assigned moral value to their political ideals, which can best be summarized as “my beliefs make me a good person and all behavior in pursuit of those beliefs is justified.”
This is nothing new, of course. Noonan cites the wielders of the guillotine during the French Revolution:
The joyful exaltations of Too Online leftists, delighted by the violence and assured in the sanctity of their beliefs, invoke the Jacobins’ cheers that drowned the Place de la Révolution at each thump of the French guillotine. A mortified Englishman observed, “When the knife has done its work, they cry out, ‘Vive la République!’ as if some great victory had been won.”. . .
“Terror,” lectured Maximilien Robespierre after sending 1,300 people to the guillotine in a month, “is nothing other than prompt, severe, inflexible justice; it is therefore an emanation of virtue.”
They are all, Noonan says, “drunk on their own virtue.”
But progressives and left-wing revolutionaries are not the only ones guilty of this. Conservatives sometimes slip into this mindset. So do Christians.
This happens not just in the dramatic cases of killing people and approving of murder. It is even more common in our everyday relationships, our virtue signaling, and our constant self-justifications. Self-justification can indeed lead to our approval of oor participation in horrendous crimes, but it more normally leads to petty rationalizations and stupid arguments with people we care about.
The antidote to self-justification is, of course, justification by grace through faith in Christ and His atonement. That kind of justification begins by acknowledging ourselves as a lost and desperate sinner. Thus broken by the law, we can cling to the gospel, that Christ bore our sin and the sin of our adversaries, covering them with His blood.
In his book Living by Faith , Oswald Bayer, writes about our constant habit of self-justification. From a post I wrote ten years ago on that book:
Bayer begins by showing that the concept of “justification” is not an arcane theological concept. Rather, it’s something we are preoccupied with all the time. We are always engaged in trying to justify ourselves. We are always maintaining that we are right, particularly when other people say that we are wrong. At work, in our casual conversations, in our relationships with others, we are always defending ourselves, making excuses, scoring points, and seeking approval. . . .
Underlying the need to be justified, Bayer says, is our yearning for approval, for affirmation, for thinking that our existence matters in some positive way, for our need to think that our life is worthwhile.
That we all are engaged in justifying ourselves is an understandable, normal facet of being human. Of course, we are not always right and are often wrong–though we continue to justify ourselves–creating all kinds of inner turmoil. The problem, though, is that we are trying to justify ourselves.
. . . .What if, instead of having to justify ourselves, we are justified by Christ? What if Christ gives us approval, affirmation, assurance that our existence matters, that our life is worthwhile?
The grace of God–in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ–forgives our wrongdoing and makes us “right.” Thus, on the deepest level, we do not have to justify ourselves because Christ has justified us. Believing in His Word of justification is faith. And living in that realization is what it means to live by faith.
This short essay is a real gem. It was originally published in The Christian Irishman, Dublin, on May 1911. It is republished in Selected Shorter Writings, Vol. 2 , 283-284. An online version can be found here.
Sometimes we are told that justification by faith is “out of date.” That would be a pity, if it were true. What it would mean would be that the way of salvation was closed and “no thoroughfare” nailed up over the barriers. There is no justification for sinful men except by faith. The works of a sinful man will, of course, be as sinful as he is, and nothing but condemnation can be built on them. Where can he get works upon which he can found his hope of justification, except from another? His hope of justification, remember—that is, of being pronounced righteous by God. Can God pronounce him righteous except on the ground of works that are righteous? Where can a sinful man get works that are righteous? Surely, not from himself; for, is he not a sinner, and all his works as sinful as he is? He must go out of himself, then, to find works which he can offer to God as righteous. And where will he find such works except in Christ? Or how will he make them his own except by faith in Christ?
Justification by faith, we see, is not to be set in contradiction to justification by works. It is set in contradiction only to justification by our own works. It is justification by Christ’s works. The whole question, accordingly, is whether we can hope to be received into God’s favor on the ground of what we do ourselves, or only on the ground of what Christ does for us. If we expect to be received on the ground of what we do ourselves-that is what is called justification by works. If on the ground of what Christ has done for us-that is what is meant by Justification by Faith. Justification by faith means, that is to say, that we look to Christ and to him alone for salvation, and come to God pleading Christ’s death and righteousness as the ground of our hope to be received into his favor. If justification by faith is out of date, that means, then, that salvation by Christ is out of date. There is nothing, in that case, left to us but that each man must just do the best he can to save himself.
Justification by faith does not mean, then, salvation by believing things instead of by doing right. It means pleading the merits of Christ before the throne of grace instead of our own merits. It may be doing right to believe things, and doing right is certainly right. The trouble with pleading our own merits before God is not that merits of our own would not be acceptable to God. The trouble is that we haven’t any merits of our own to plead before God. Adam, before his fall, had merits of his own, and because he had merits of his own he was, in his own person, acceptable to God. He didn’t need another to stand between him and God, whose merits he could plead. And, therefore, there was no talk of his being justified by faith. But we are not like Adam before the fall; we are sinners and have no merits of our own. If we are to be justified at all, it must be on the ground of the merits of another, whose merits can be made ours by faith. And that is the reason why God sent his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. If we do not believe in him, obviously we must perish. But if we believe in him, we shall not perish but have everlasting life. That is just justification by faith. Justification by faith is nothing other than obtaining everlasting life by believing in Christ. If justification by faith is out of date, then is salvation through Christ out of date. And as there is none other name under heaven, given among men, wherein we must be saved, if salvation through Christ is out of date then is salvation itself out of date. Surely, in a world of sinful men, needing salvation, this would be a great pity.
(The following blog post was orginally published in December 2020)
Scripture teaches that a sinner is justified by faith alone apart from works (Gal. 2:16). This means our obedience, prayers, good deeds, or spiritual disciplines do not contribute to our standing before God’s throne. Instead, we receive Christ’s work with the open hand of faith (Romans 3:28). His obedience becomes ours by faith. We are washed by his blood when we believe in him. And so we are justified by faith alone in Christ alone. Here’s how Louis Berkhof stated it so well in talking about the ground of justification.
One of the most important points of controversy between the Church of Rome and the Reformers, and between Reformed theology and the Arminians, concerned the ground of justification. With respect to this the Reformers taught:
1. Negatively, that this cannot be found in any virtue of man, nor in his good works. This position must also be maintained at present over against Rome and the Pelagianizing tendencies of various Churches. Rome teaches that the sinner is justified on the basis of the inherent righteousness that has been infused into his heart, and which, in turn, is the fruit of the co-operation of the human will with prevenient grace. This applies to what is called the first justification; in all following justification the good works of man come into consideration as the formal cause or ground of justification. It is impossible, however, that the inherent righteousness of the regenerate man and his good works should constitute the ground of his justification, for (a) this righteousness is and remains during this life a very imperfect righteousness; (b) it is itself already the fruit of the righteousness of Christ and of the grace of God; and (c) even the best works of believers are polluted by sin. Moreover, Scripture teaches us very clearly that man is justified freely by the grace of God, Rom. 3:24, and that he cannot possibly be justified by the works of the law, Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16; 3:11.
2. Positively, that the ground of justification can be found only in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is imputed to the sinner in justification. This is plainly taught in several passages of Scripture, such as Rom. 3:24; 5:9, 19; 8:1; 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 6:11; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9. In the passive obedience of Christ, who became a curse for us (Gal. 3:13) we find the ground for the forgiveness of sins; and in His active obedience, by which He merited all the gifts of grace, including eternal life, the ground for the adoption of children, by which sinners are constituted heirs of life eternal. The Arminian goes contrary to Scripture when he maintains that we are accepted in favor by God only on the ground of our faith or evangelical obedience.
Justification by faith—it’s central to the Bible’s message— means that God reinstates us in his favor not because we earn it but because Jesus earned it for us. We stop trying to get God’s attention, proving ourselves to him, persuading him. We give up on our strengths and attainments. We finally see that trying to buy God’s approval is like using Monopoly money in a real-world economy. All we do, all we can do, is receive, with the empty hands of faith, what Jesus is worth. Then, instantly, we’re back in good standing with God, as if we had never even sinned. Such grace! And that’s justification by faith.
Here is why justification by faith matters to us lonely people. This doctrine does not hang in midair as a bare abstraction. It creates a new experience of community here among us. We all come in the same way—with the empty hands of faith, which God fills with the rich merit of Christ. Our shared grace is why the Bible says, “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Rom. 15:7). The welcoming heart of Jesus creates a welcoming heart toward one another. So, my brokenhearted friend, welcome! You belong—yes, you! You belong as much as I do. Jesus says so. Yes, we may be at rock bottom. But we sure don’t have to be lonely down here.
His grace bringing us in—and not the spiffy us but the embarrassed us—his grace gathers together a ragtag band of surprised, grateful, hopeful sinners. Under the covering of justification by faith, equally shared, we enter real community. Would we want to be anywhere else? God’s grace rules nowhere else.
But justification by works destroys community. Navigating reality by clawing our way upward, proving our superiority, we inevitably step on people and stoke the fires of resentment in return. And isn’t that our world today—a merciless meltdown? It intensifies loneliness.
Jesus saw our merciless comparisons in his own time. It grieved him. He told a story about it “to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt” (Luke 18:9). Those two dynamics always go together—trusting in our own righteousness and treating others with contempt. It’s when we look at someone else and think, “Well, I might not be perfect, but I’ve never sunk that low!”
In fact, the phrase translated “treated others with contempt” can be paraphrased “nothing-ized others.”[1]That is, “You don’t count. You might as well not even exist—not in my world. So I will ignore you and keep chasing my self-idealizing dreams.” No wonder loneliness is spiking. Self-justification is all about shaming the unworthy, excluding the unwashed.[2]
But in a healthy church, how different our experience is! We walk in and sense the difference immediately. The vibe, the tone, the atmosphere—it’s honest, merciful, relaxed, encouraging. Why? Because everyone comes in on the same terms—not the clenched fists of demand, but the empty hands of faith. Justification by faith means there is no elite riding up in first class, with prior boarding and extra leg room, while the ordinary folks are crammed back in the coach section. Everyone is in first class, flying home by God’s grace in Christ. That doctrine of grace creates a culture of grace: “Therefore welcome one another, as Christ has welcomed you” (Rom. 15:7). Welcome, friend.
Our hyper-individualistic culture doesn’t understand. It pressures us to “be true to ourselves.” Can we see how bizarre that is? How can George McFly flourish under the frown of Biff Tannen?[3] How can we “be true to ourselves” while being indoctrinated by the fashionable intimidation of our culture? As one man put it, “Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”[4] That’s why a healthy church is such a relief. It’s an oasis of gentle belonging. We can come in, let our guard down, and rest for a while. Jesus himself creates it by his doctrine of justification by faith alone. He welcomes us, and he makes the rules!
[1] This line of thought is suggested by A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 2, Luke (Nashville: Broadman, 1930), 232.
[2] C. S. Lewis analyzes the poisonous recipe of this cocktail in his essay “The Inner Ring,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd mans, 1974), 55–66.
One would be hard-pressed to find a doctrine more treasured and jealously defended in Reformed theology than the doctrine of free justification. It was, after all, Martin Luther who said that justification is the article by which the church stands or falls.1 If sinners are not made righteous before God, they stand condemned before God. Justification is a matter of eternal life or eternal death.
The Federal Vision’s (FV) definition of justification is notoriously difficult to pin down. Proponents all tend to agree that the historic Reformed definition is deficient, or that the Presbyterian and Reformed today are latently Baptistic in their conception of the covenant; yet, there is no one “FV definition” of justification to which they all subscribe.2 There is, however, one definition that is shared, whether fully or in part, by many FV proponents that demands special attention—that formulated by Norman Shepherd.
The FV and Reformed both agree that man must be justified before God and that the Westminster Standards teach that man’s justification is rooted in the federal head of the covenant of grace, Jesus Christ (WCF 11.1–4). Christ came, lived, and died in order to satisfy the debt of God’s justice on behalf of all the elect. Christ did what fallen man could not do. He suffered all the penalties due to the elect for their sin and positively satisfied all the terms of the covenant of works.3 It is this full righteousness, Christ’s active and passive obedience together, that the Reformed say is imputed or credited to the sinner for his justification. And this justification comes to the sinner through the instrument of faith alone. Faith is the instrumental cause of salvation, not the principle/material cause. Justification does not come from faith but through faith. The righteousness of Christ alone is the principle/material cause of justification. Christ’s righteousness justifies, and faith is the channel by which the believer accesses the justifying righteousness of Christ. Venema references a beautiful analogy used by Luther where faith is said to be the valueless ring that holds an invaluable jewel.4 The value is not in the ring itself, but in what the ring is united to. Faith is said to justify because it is united to the justifying one, who is Christ.
The issue with the FV is that adherents blur the above distinction and speak of faith as though it were both the instrumental and material cause of salvation. Calvin wrote, “Faith, which is only the instrument for receiving justification, is ignorantly confounded with Christ, who is the material cause, as well as the author and minister of the great blessing. . . . I admit not the tortuous figure of the sophists, that faith is Christ; as if a vessel of clay were a treasure, because gold is deposited in it.”5 This is precisely the mistake that the FV makes; it makes the clay of faith part of the gold of justification.
By justification, a number of FV proponents do not mean the imputation of Christ’s active and passive obedience to the sinner as articulated in the Westminster Standards; only Christ’s passive obedience, they claim, is imputed in justification. The issue with this view is that the conditions of both covenants require that man not only be free from guilt but that he be positively righteous before God. It is not enough for God to be merely propitious, he must be favorably disposed, “well pleased” with the sinner. Taking away the guilt and removing the penalties of sin is only half the work of justification. If man is not given the active obedience of Christ, it prompts the question as to where the Christian gets this “second half” of justification. Norman Shepherd’s answer—through covenantal faithfulness. Our personal, faithful obedience is how we become positively righteous before God.
Shepherd taught that faith must produce thankful, non-meritorious works. The Reformed agree with this wholeheartedly; we believe that faith alone justifies but that this faith will never be alone—it will be accompanied by good works. Shepherd, however, takes this one step further and argues that the non-meritorious works that are produced by the Christian’s faith are part of the grounds upon which he is deemed righteous before God. Shepherd defines meritorious works as those which are done with an aim toward justifying oneself. These, he says, will not do for justification. For a good work to be good it must be done out of thankfulness for the imputation of Christ’s passive obedience and all of God’s graces. Again, we agree at this point (WCF 16.2–3). For a good work to be good (i.e., pleasing to God), it must be performed in faith, done in a right manner (according to the Word), and to a right end (the glory of God; see WCF 16.7). But this is where Shepherd parts ways with the Westminster Confession. Venema writes of Shepherd:
Rather than distinguishing between faith as instrument of justification and the works that faith produces, Shepherd insists that faith justifies by virtue of the obedience it produces. The “works” that are excluded, when we speak of justification by “faith alone,” are only those works that are performed in order to “merit” acceptance and favor with God. Once the whole idea of ‘merit’ or ‘meritorious’ works is rejected, we may speak of one “method of justification” that holds for Adam (and all men in Adam) before the fall, for Christ himself, and for all believers. The one method of justification in the covenant relationship before the fall and after the fall involves God crediting the believer’s obedient faith for righteousness.6 (emphasis mine)
In short, the fruit of the believer’s faith (viz. his obedience) within the covenantal relationship is made the grounds of justification, not Christ’s sacrificial death and obedient life![7] Christ’s positive obedience was enough to qualify him as the perfect high priest and sacrifice upon the cross (i.e., to passively obey), but that is as far as it went.8 The best that justification has to offer the Christian is the removal of God’s wrath and restoration to the original state that Adam enjoyed with God, pre-fall—a covenant of works wherein life is obtained only by perfect obedience to God’s law. If Adam, who was perfect and disposed to all good, fell in the covenant of works, how much better do the FV proponents think fallen man will fare if restored to that same covenantal status and in a world fallen in sin?
Rich Lusk also has a novel way of speaking of justification, particularly when he speaks of “final justification.” Lusk writes:
Again, we find the Bible teaching that future justification is according to works. Final justification is to the (faithful) doers of the law (Rom. 2:1ff) and by those good works which make faith complete (Jas. 2:14ff). Justification will not be fully realized until the resurrection. In fact, the main reason justification comes up at all in the Scriptures is because someday we will all stand before God’s judgment seat and answer for our deeds done in the body.9
He goes on:
In James 2, “justification” cannot be referring to a demonstration of justification, e.g., justification does and cannot mean something like “show to be justified.” Rather, James has in view the same kind of justification as Paul—forensic, soteric justification. Good works justify persons in James 2, not faith or one’s status as a justified sinner. James is not telling his readers how to “justify their justification” or how to “give evidence of a true and lively faith.” Instead he says their persons will not be justified by faith alone, but also by good works of obedience they have done. The use of the preposition “by” is important since it indicates a sort of dual instrumentality in justification. In other words, in some sense, James is speaking of a justification in which faith and works combine together to justify. Future justification is according to one’s life pattern. No one dare claim these works to be meritorious, but they are necessary. There is congruence between the life we live and the destiny we will receive.10
According to Lusk’s reading, there is not one justification of the sinner, but two. While I might hesitate to say that works “justify our justification” simply to avoid confusion, the standard Reformed reading of James 2is that our works are corroborating evidences of saving faith and not, alongside faith, the dual instrument of justification. In so stressing that the faith which alone justifies the sinner is not alone, that is without good works, Lusk incorporates those faith-inspired works into the grounds of justification. Lusk’s reading is, quite frankly, closer to the Roman Catholic understanding of James 2 than to the historic Reformed view. Like Shepherd, Lusk’s system makes the Christian’s active obedience (i.e., their covenant faithfulness) part and parcel of what makes the sinner right with God.
In summary, the FV teaches that Adam enjoyed a covenantal relationship with God before the fall. It was not a merely legal, mechanical relationship, but a filial one characterized by grace.[11] The FV is content to say that as long as Adam rendered faithful, imperfect obedience to God as a son does to a Father and did not commit covenantal adultery, that he would have inherited eternal life. And if, as Shepherd reasons, there is “one ‘method of justification’ that holds for Adam (and all men in Adam) before the fall, for Christ himself, and for all believers,” then the believer today is justified by simply not apostatizing from the covenant community. If the covenant is, objectively, union with Christ, and the quality of the righteousness that God requires in order for a sinner to be fully justified is imperfect obedience within the covenantal context, the sinner’s salvation, therefore, depends upon his own works of obedience or “faithfulness” throughout life. The ultimate responsibility to persevere lands squarely upon man’s shoulders. In a 2017 article, R. Scott Clark writes, “Recently I received an email from an evangelical, Protestant pastor, who identified himself as a Calvinist, who wrote that he believes, “under the new covenant” we enter “by faith” but that “we must maintain our place in the covenant, i.e. justification via faithfulness to the moral law.”[12] The faithfulness here described is no different than that described by Shepherd or Lusk. Man is justified—he is kept—by his own good works. This denigrates the holy character of God and his law and robs Christ of the glory due his name as the justifier of all those who have faith in him (Rom. 3:26).
Conclusion
By reducing covenant down to a one-size-fits-all relationship between parties, the FV makes all those in covenant with God recipients of the promised grace of salvation. All in the covenant are effectually called, adopted, and in union with Christ. In their attempt to assure believers of their salvation by virtue of their objective inclusion in the covenant community, FV proponents will go as far as to say all who are in covenant are in saving union with Christ. To explain how it is that some covenant members apostatize and finally fall away, the FV speaks of two types of election and of a union with Christ that persists only for a time. What then becomes the ground of the believer’s assurance? That they have a faith that is actively working through love. The basis of our assurance turns ever so subtly from the infallible grounds of assurance that we have in the person and work of Christ to the fallible grounds of our personal obedience to God’s commands. The FV makes more of our works than the Bible and the Reformed confessions ever do.
The same goes for the FV understanding of justification. The logical end of Norman Shepherd’s view and its offshoots is that the believer’s justification is only as secure as his works are faithful. How faithful is faithful enough? How do you know if your non-meritorious works were not just meritorious works masquerading in non-meritorious clothes? No one knows. Making faith-inspired works the ground upon which man is finally righteous is no different from the externalism of Rome and its doctrine of progressive justification. How faithful does our faithfulness need to be? Man is left with no real answer or assurance.
The Federal Vision is alive and well and, at least for the foreseeable future, shows no signs of going away. As more and more men and women are attracted to churches whose program is undergirded by the FV, we would do well to sound the alarm about what lies beneath the surface—a theology that is out of step with the Reformed confessions and undermines the peace and joy that the gospel promotes in the lives of God’s people.
Notes
Justin Taylor, “Luther’s Saying: “Justification Is the Article by Which the Church Stands and Falls,” The Gospel Coalition, August 31, 2011.
As an aside, I find it ironic that NAPARC ministers are so often called Baptistic or Bapterian by men who hold to the FV. Last I checked, in my denomination (PCA) there are zero ministers who subscribe to the 1689 London Baptist Confession. The same cannot be said, however, for the CREC (See Confessional Statements of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches).
It is at this point, however, that the FV and the historic Reformed tradition differ significantly in their understanding of what was actually required of Adam in the covenant of works (e.g., Norman Shepherd, Rich Lusk) and whether the active obedience of Christ is or is not imputed to the believer in justification. My only point in highlighting these areas of linguistic agreement is to demonstrate that one needs to dig deeper than the mere language of the Confession and ask what one understands those confessional words to mean. The FV and Reformed both agree that Christ actively obeyed the law—but why did he obey the law? Did his active obedience only qualify him to be the mediator and nothing more, as some FV proponents claim? Or is his active obedience imputed to us in justification as the Reformed confessions teach? This is the nub of the issue.
Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians 1535 (St. Louis: Concordia, 1963), 89, 134, as quoted in Cornelius Venema, Christ and Covenant Theology: Essays on Election, Republication, and the Covenants (Phillipsburg NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 2017), 339.
Jean Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008), 479.
Venema, Christ and Covenant Theology, 356–7.
The distinction between “meritorious” and “non-meritorious works” in Shepherd’s system is, quite frankly, trivial. What the motivation behind the good work is makes no difference. If man-wrought works of any type are considered as the grounds upon which God deems the sinner righteous and acceptable at the Last Day, then such a salvation is according to works and contrary to that salvation that Paul describes so clearly in Ephesians 2:8–9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
See Waters’s discussion of Lusk in The Federal Vision and Covenant Theology: A Comparative Analysis, 79.
Rich Lusk, “Future Justification to the Doers of the Law,” Theologia, 2003. Lusk has two footnotes for the above quotation that are not included here. To my mind, the qualifications that he makes in those footnotes in no way get him out of the hole he has dug for himself. Lusk’s making justification an ongoing work and not a punctiliar act (Westminster Shorter Catechism [WSC] 33, 35) puts him more in line with Rome’s understanding of justification than Reformed Orthodoxy’s.
Lusk, “Future Justification.”
Later on in the article Lusk uses the illustration of calling his 5 year old son “obedient” though he is not sinlessly perfect. This, he argues, is the same type of “obedience” that God expected from Adam—a pattern of obedience, not sinless perfection.
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Debate concerning the doctrine of justification is nothing new. In fact, it is because of wrong views of justification that the apostle Paul wrote statements like these:
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Gal. 2:21)
Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith. (Gal. 3:11-12a)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 4:24-25)
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? (Gal. 3:1)
As sinful creatures, the gospel does not come naturally to us. We need to be reminded over and over again of the fact that God’s grace is lavish. It comes as no surprise that a biblical conception of justification would cause offense, for justification is the very heart of the gospel. That is precisely why justification is so important. “Because if this article stands,” said Luther, “the church stands; if this article collapses, the church collapses” (Weimarer Ausgabe 40/3.352.2-3).
Now that you know that justification is important, here are seven things you need to know about it and why.
1. God justifies sinners.
In Romans 3:22b-24a Paul says, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift.” A few verses after this he asks, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded” (v. 27a). Have you ever felt like you sinned too gravely to be forgiven? Have you ever questioned your salvation because you really messed up? Maybe you struggle with certain sins that you can’t seem to master, and you wonder how God can possibly accept you. You are a sinner—but there is good news for you: God only justifies sinners.
The “righteous” do not need a savior; it is for sinners that Christ died. By living a perfect life in your place, dying on the cross, rising again on the third day and ascending into heaven, Christ enacted a great exchange: where he deserved life, he received your death; and in his resurrection, which proved him righteous, you are declared righteous. If you believe this, then your truest identity is no longer sinner; rather, whatever can be said about Christ with regard to righteousness can now be said about you.
2. Christ’s righteousness is your justification.
Before Luther had his breakthrough in understanding justification, he felt deeply troubled over Romans 1:17, which says, “For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” This last part of the verse is from Habakkuk 2:4. “But how can one be righteous in relation to God’s righteous law?” Luther asked. He thought he had to be inwardly righteous himself to be justified.
When Luther came to realize that it is an alien righteousness received through faith that justifies, and not one’s own righteousness, he had the breakthrough that led to the Reformation. “I am not good and righteous, but Christ is,” Luther said. And the same is true for us.
3. It is received through faith alone.
Let’s be clear: faith is a gift, an instrument through which you receive Christ—not a work of your own. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” You are saved through faith, not on the basis of your faith. The focal point is Christ, the object of your faith, not faith itself.
Misunderstanding this distinction can lead to much emotional pain in regard to assurance. Doubts such as “But what if my faith is not good enough?” or “My faith feels weak right now” could potentially trouble the mind. Faith is the instrument through which you behold Christ. It is a gift from God, and thus it is Christ alone who saves you. Don’t look to yourself or even to your faith to save you but to Christ who is your righteousness and who has already said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), concerning what needs to be done for your salvation.
4. You can’t lose your justification.
Christ’s death was efficacious. He shed his blood for actual people. This means that none for whom he died can be lost—ever. Rather, just as surely as he has been raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, you also have been raised and are already, in Christ, seated with him in heaven (Eph. 2:6).
Nothing can alter the finality or efficacy of Christ’s blood. His resurrection is your resurrection. In him, salvation is not merely possible, but actual. This means that you can take great joy in knowing that you are truly safe in God’s mighty hand. It also means that there is no need to fear future judgment, but rather, that you can with great peace await your Savior’s return.
5. Justification is apart from your good works.
Luke 23:39-43 recounts Christ’s death beside two criminals:
One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
This criminal himself said his sentence of death was just—by his deeds he deserved death. Yet, Christ told him that very day he would be with him in Paradise. Rather than a mere word of encouragement, this was a pronouncement—Christ was preaching this word to this criminal. As Isaiah 55:11 says,
“so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Do you think the criminal had any time to merit paradise for himself after this pronouncement? What good works would he have accomplished while nailed to a cross? Yet, the Lord received him with no less love and joy, because Christ’s work was the only work that could justify him.
6. Justification is not sanctification.
Justification is a legal declaration regarding your state before God, the judge of all. Sanctification is an inward renewal and process through which you grow in godliness. Justification happens once; sanctification happens throughout your life as a believer. Justification is prior to sanctification, logically speaking (not in terms of importance). What this means is that sanctification flows out from the life of a justified person, and not the other way around.
These are important distinctions. Get this wrong, and you fall into error in your understanding of the gospel and may end up thinking you can contribute in some way to your justified state through sanctification, or that there is something left for you to earn through your own works. As John Murray wrote,
If justification is confused with regeneration or sanctification, then the door is opened for the perversion of the gospel at its center. Justification is still the article of the standing or falling church. (Redemption Accomplished and Applied[Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2015], 128)
7. Our justification is not a license to sin, but a reason to express gratitude.
You are already justified in Christ. Yet, this is not a license to sin. There tend to be two main responses to the gospel: 1) sin, or 2) gratitude. There are some who, after hearing the good news of the gospel, say, “Well, if that is true, why not sin all the time?” or “Tell someone that and they’ll have no reason not to sin.” These responses come from a heart that has not yet understood what Christ has done. They have not heard the gospel.
Yet, there are others who, having been weighed down by the burden of their sin and knowing they cannot defeat it, hear the words of the gospel and with great peace, say, “I’m free.” This person does not respond with statements of doubt or sin, but with faith and gratitude; this person does not turn back to the filth in which she was enslaved, but looks to Christ over and over again, moved by the lavishness of his grace (Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 86-87). And truly, his grace is lavish.
This article was originally published on March 19, 2018.
I have found that the best way to kill a temptation that is attempting to entice me to sin is to present myself totally to God in my helplessness. I fall before the throne of grace presenting my body, my members, to Him as instruments for righteousness. I pray. I study my Bible, specifically things in the area under attack. Sin can exercise control once it passes through the will, but it does not have to reign there.
21 For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, 22 WHO DID NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. 24 Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His WOUNDS YOU WERE HEALED. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:21-25 (LSB)
The Lord gave the Church a wonderful gift when He knocked Saul of Tarsus off his horse and effectually called Him to be His Apostle. His Epistle to the Romans is a huge piece of the doctrinal foundation of the Church. In Romans 3:20-5:21 he covered the doctrine of justification. This is God’s declaring the believing sinner righteous. In Romans 6:1-8:39 he covers the practical ramifications of this justification. This is the doctrine of sanctification, which is God’s producing actual righteousness in the believer. Many take missteps in their theology by confusing these two aspects of our salvation. Justification is a legal term referring to a judge declaring a person charged with a crime to be not guilty. When a sinner believes the Gospel by God’s grace through faith, He justifies them. This is His monergistic work, His alone. On the other hand, sanctification is the synergistic work of God and the believer in “working out the believer’s salvation with fear and trembling.” This is the work of transforming the believer into one who bears Christ’s very character.
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. Romans 6:1-4 (LSB)
All whom God has justified will experience personal holiness (1 Corinthians 6:9-11a; 1 Timothy 1:12,13). This is true regardless of the believer’s life before justification. I had a “discussion” with a person not long ago who was convinced that she had committed the unpardonable sin. When did she do this? It was long before her “salvation” as she called it. Justification is beyond the understanding of the unregenerate mind. Many will read what we teach about God declaring sinners to be righteous by His grace through faith and say that our “religion” actually encourages us to sin since the level of our sinlessness is no factor in it. Paul addresses this objection in these first four verses of Romans 6 (above).
The fact is, it is just the opposite of what the naysayers claim. Paul asks, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ” He is saying that the one declared righteous by God also died and was reborn in Christ. This is our regeneration. All in Christ are New Creations. This one-time event immediately precedes the one being effectually called by God to Christ believing and repenting. Every one of them are “in Christ” (6:11; 8:1), and He died in their place (5:6-8), therefore, they are counted dead with Him.
What does it mean that all who are “in Christ” have been baptized into Him? All genuine believers have been spiritually immersed into the person of Christ. This means that they are united and indentified with Him. This is the result of their placing saving faith in Him (1 Corinthians 6:17; 10:2; Galatians 3:27; 1 Peter 3:21; 1 John 1:3). This baptism or immersion into Christ is actually into His death. What does that mean? All in Christ are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection.
The law of God does not help us in the realm of justification. A sinner does not need the law or obedience to the law to be justified before God. God justifies a sinner by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Our works play no part in that equation. This is a freeing and comforting truth! Christ has set us free from the demands of the law for justification. We are not under a covenant of works: Do this and live! Instead, it’s a covenant of grace: Christ has done it all; rest in his work. This reality is the foundation of Christian liberty. Here’s how John Calvin explained it in The Institutes:
Christian freedom, in my opinion, consists of three parts. The first: that the consciences of believers, in seeking assurance of their justification before God, should rise above and advance beyond the law, forgetting all law righteousness. For since, as we have elsewhere shown, the law leaves no one righteous, either it excludes us from all hope of justification or we ought to be freed from it, and in such a way, indeed, that no account is taken of works. For he who thinks that in order to obtain righteousness he ought to bring some trifle of works is incapable of determining their measure and limit but makes himself debtor to the whole law. Removing, then, mention of law, and laying aside all consideration of works, we should, when justification is being discussed, embrace God’s mercy alone, turn our attention from ourselves, and look only to Christ. For there the question is not how we may become righteous but how, being unrighteous and unworthy, we may be reckoned righteous. If consciences wish to attain any certainty in this matter, they ought to give no place to the law….
How is a person justified before God? That was the question that ignited the Reformation. Beyond that foundational question, theologians have debated additional questions, such as “What is the importance of justification in relation to the other benefits of salvation?” and “Where does justification fit logically in relation to saving faith?”
To answer these questions about justification, we must first explore the exact nature of justification. Theologians have held two main positions: infusion and imputation.
Roman Catholic Position: Infusion
At the time of the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants differed greatly in their understanding of justification and grace. The Catholic position defined justification to include all of the benefits of salvation, making it a process. Grace was understood as a God-given ability to do good works which was infused into the person. This Catholic view is sometimes described by the words, “Christ IN us.”
The Council of Trent, the Catholic council that dealt with Reformation issues, stated in its canons on justification:
Canon 9: If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise 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.1
Canon 11: If any one saith, that men are justified, either by the sole imputation of the justice of Christ, or by the sole remission of sins, to the exclusion of the grace and the charity which is poured forth in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, and is inherent in them; or even that the grace, whereby we are justified, is only the favour of God; let him be anathema.
Canon 24: If any one saith, 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 thereof; let him be anathema.
The Catholic teaching on justification has not changed. The 1994 edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Article 2: “Grace and Justification”) states:
The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” and through Baptism (#1987).2
The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. By giving birth to the “inner man,” justification entails the sanctification of his whole being (#1995).
The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, “since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we might will it” (#2001).
Lutheran and Reformed Position: Imputation
In contrast to the Catholic view, the Lutheran position (Augsburg Confession, Article IV: “Of Justification”) states,
Also they [the Lutherans] teach that men cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, who, by His death, has made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God imputes for righteousness in His sight. Rom. 3 and 4.3
Notice in the Lutheran view that righteousness is imputed, or credited, to one’s account. This position is also true in the Reformed view. The Heidelberg Catechism (a Reformed catechism published in 1563) states in Question and Answer 60,
How are thou righteous before God? Only by a true faith in Jesus Christ; so that, though my conscience accuse me, that I have grossly transgressed all the commandments of God, and kept none of them, and am still inclined to all evil; notwithstanding, God, without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace, grants and imputes to me [emphasis added], the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ; even so, as if I never had had, nor committed any sin: yea, as if I had fully accomplished all that obedience which Christ has accomplished for me; inasmuch as I embrace such benefit with a believing heart.4
This Protestant view is sometimes described by the words, “Christ FOR us,” because a righteousness not our own, an “alien” righteousness, is credited to our account.
Biblical Teaching
What does the Bible teach? Justification is a change in God’s records in which all our sins are forgiven and the righteousness of Christ is credited to us. Romans 4:4–8 declares,
Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
Verse 8 explains one aspect of justification: God no longer imputes, or credits, our sin in His records—they are blotted out and forgiven. Verse 6 explains the other aspect: God credits, or imputes, righteousness, apart from works, to our account. Since this righteousness is apart from works, it is not our own righteousness that is credited to us but rather the righteousness of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul stated, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Forgiveness of sins is not based on Christ IN us but upon Christ’s work FOR us on the cross. The Biblical truth is imputation, not infusion.
The Primary Benefit of Salvation
Justification is one of the benefits of salvation, but is it the primary benefit of salvation? I believe it is. Furthermore, I believe the other benefits of salvation flow from it.
Justification and reconciliation.Romans 5:9 and 10 tell us that we are justified by Christ’s blood and reconciled to God by Christ’s death. These verses point out two distinct benefits of salvation: justification and reconciliation. Both occur when we trust Christ as Savior. Romans 5:1, however, says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Justification, therefore, logically comes before reconciliation.
Justification and regeneration. Is this order true of regeneration as well? Some think regeneration comes before faith and is the cause of faith. After all, we are dead in our sins and need to be enabled to trust Christ. Also, one of the verses of that great gospel song, I Know Whom I Have Believed, seems to convey this idea. “I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him.”
Scripture, however, seems to teach that although both justification and regeneration occur when we trust Christ as Savior, justification logically precedes regeneration. Notice how Paul described these two benefits of salvation in Colossians 2:13. “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” Being made alive is regeneration and is dependent upon having forgiveness, which is justification.
In this discussion of justification and regeneration, we recognize the special work of God that precedes faith and is the cause of faith. That work has often been described as the “effectual calling” and is what enables us to trust Christ. The GARBC Articles of Faith state:
that the new creation is brought about by our sovereign God in a manner above our comprehension, solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life.5
Some have thought this statement means regeneration precedes faith and is the cause of faith. In Scripture, however, God’s effectual calling precedes faith and is its cause. The “holy fruits of repentance, faith and newness of life” are the first evidences of spiritual life within a person.
Justification and calling. Another reason for the priority of justification is the logical order in God’s purpose, or plan, as described in Romans 8:29 and 30.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
In terms of time God foreknew and predestined us before creation (Eph. 1:4, 5) while He called and justified us during our lifetime (1 Cor. 1:9; Rom. 5:1). This calling always results in our voluntary acceptance of the gospel because those whom He called, He also justified, and God does not justify people when they reject His offer of salvation.
Justification and glorification. Our glorification, which is actually future, is spoken of in the past tense because foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification and glorification describe God’s purpose or plan. Our glorification will occur when Christ comes for us (Phil. 3:20, 21), so glorification also flows out of justification.
Some may ask, “How can I be certain that I am one of those whom God has foreknown, predestined, and called?” No verse in the Bible can directly answer that question. But if I ask whether or not I can know that I have been justified, the answer is a resounding YES! Romans 5:8–10 states,
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
And if I know I am justified, I also know I have been foreknown, predestined, and called. Furthermore, I also know I am eternally secure because, “whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). The key to knowing that we are included in God’s plan is justification. Therefore, justification is the primary benefit of salvation which ties forgiveness of sins and Christ’s imputed righteousness to the cross of Christ and to our security in Him.
A Modern Dilemma
When confronted with the Catholic view of justification and grace, the Reformed faith clearly sides with the Biblical view. But when some of the Reformed leaders insist that regeneration precedes faith and is the cause of faith, they come dangerously close to agreeing with the Catholic view that grace is a God-given ability to do good works which is infused in a believer! Isn’t that what regeneration is? Romans 8:13, for example, states, “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” And just a few verses earlier Paul said, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Rom. 8:9).
Regeneration is one of the benefits of salvation but it is not the primary benefit or the basis of our salvation. Christ for us, i.e., Christ’s death and resurrection for us, is the basis of our salvation.
From Faith Pulpit, Summer 2012. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:17 (LSB)
The Protestant Reformation was used by God to restore the lost doctrine of Justification by Faith. Also, all of the reformers were adamant that the Bible be available to all people in a language they could read and understand. The Roman Catholic Church of that era was apostate and taught a corrupt gospel based on works. The Bible was kept locked up and away from non-scholars. It was always read verbally to the people in Latin, which few understood.
As the Bible was translated from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into German, English, French, etc. the doctrine of Justification by Faith became central. Why would our enemy and his seed seek to bury this doctrine within religion? <Continue reading post>
In his 1535 Commentary on Galatians, Martin Luther wrote, “The doctrine of justification is the solid foundation and the foremost principle of Christian teaching, encompassing the essence of all godliness.” For Luther and the Reformers, justification by faith alone—Sola Fide—was the bedrock of the Gospel. Without it, the church’s understanding of salvation crumbles. This truth—justification by faith alone—was central to the Protestant Reformation and remains essential for the Christian life today.
But what does it mean to be justified by faith alone? For those exploring the depths of Reformed theology, understanding Sola Fide is more than a historical curiosity—it’s the foundation of salvation. Justification before God isn’t earned by works, which sets Christianity apart from every works-based religious system.
If you’re new to the Solas of the Reformation, you can refer to our previous article on Sola Scriptura to understand how Scripture alone stands as the ultimate authority for the Christian life.
Theological Foundation: Declared Righteous by Faith Alone
At the core ofSola Fide is this biblical truth: We are declared righteous before God by faith, not by anything we can do. This doctrine isn’t just pulled from church history; it’s firmly rooted in Scripture. In Romans 3:28, Paul writes, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Paul doesn’t mince words—justification is through faith alone, not faith plus works.
Justification before God isn’t earned by works, which sets Christianity apart from every works-based religious system.
Likewise, Ephesians 2:8-9 reiterates this truth: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Salvation is a gift, and faith is the means by which we receive it. There is no room for human effort or merit in the process of being declared righteous before God.
As the London Baptist Confession of Faith (LBCF) emphasizes,
“Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies… not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness, but by imputing Christ’s active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in His death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith” (LBCF 11.1).
This idea encapsulates the essence of Sola Fide: Justification is based on Christ’s righteousness, not ours. Faith is simply the instrument by which we receive that righteousness.
Historical Background: The Battle Between Faith and Works
During the Reformation, the most contentious issue between the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church was the doctrine of justification. The Catholic Church taught that faith, while important, was not enough. Works, sacraments, penance, and indulgences were seen as necessary components of salvation. The sale of indulgences—a fluctuating practice where individuals could buy reduced punishment for sins—was a particularly egregious abuse.
In response, the Reformers stood firm on Sola Fide. Martin Luther famously wrote, “The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification… nothing in this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls.” (Smalcald Articles, Part 2, Article 1).
John Calvin was equally clear when he stated, “Man is said to be justified in God’s sight when, in the judgment of God, he is deemed righteous and is accepted on account of his righteousness; and we say that this justification consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.11.2). Calvin was unwavering—justification is by faith alone, based solely on Christ’s righteousness.
Faith alone doesn’t nullify good works; rather, it produces them as evidence of genuine belief, but those works never add to our standing before God.
The Puritans also defended this doctrine with vigor. John Owen said, “The foundation of our acceptance with God is not in ourselves, but wholly in the righteousness of Christ.” (The Doctrine of Justification by Faith).
This battle over justification wasn’t just theological—it was pastoral. The Reformers saw how the people were crushed under the weight of trying to earn God’s favor through works, when faith in Christ’s completed work was all that was required for salvation.
Practical Application: Freedom from Guilt and Legalism
While the theological debate over Sola Fide might seem like a distant historical issue, it has deep relevance for Christians today. Many believers still struggle with the idea that they need to “do more” to earn God’s favor. This performance-based mindset is the very thing that Sola Fide refutes.
In his book, Faith Alone: The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification, R.C. Sproul encapsulates this idea well:
“Justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls… When works enter the picture as a ground or an element of our justification, they destroy the gospel and turn it into bad news.” p.65
Sproul’s words hit at the heart of the issue. Sola Fide liberates us from the bondage of thinking that our works contribute to our salvation. We are justified by faith alone—not faith plus our effort, not faith plus our moral record, but faith alone in Christ.
Living out this truth means resting in Christ’s finished work, not constantly striving to add to it. As believers, we can have assurance that our standing before God is secure because it rests on Christ’s righteousness, not our own. This doesn’t mean we ignore good works, but it means those works flow out of a heart transformed by faith, not as a means to earn salvation.
Sola Fide offers freedom from guilt and legalism, fostering a deeper relationship with Christ based on trust in His completed work rather than our own efforts.
Some may point to James 2:17—“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead”—to suggest that works play a role in justification. However, James is not teaching that salvation is by works but rather explaining that true faith will naturally produce good works. James emphasizes that faith without the fruit of works is an empty profession, a “dead” faith. In this sense, James is complementing Paul’s teaching, not contradicting it.
Paul clearly teaches in Romans 3:28 that “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law,” affirming that we are declared righteous before God solely by faith in Christ. John Calvin addresses this apparent tension by stating, “Faith alone justifies, but the faith which justifies is not alone.” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.11.20). In other words, the good works James refers to are the evidence of saving faith, not the basis for it.
As the Westminster Confession of Faith similarly states, “Faith… is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love.” (WCF 11.2). In other words, while good works are the fruit of a genuine faith, they are not the root of our salvation.
Call to Action: Live in the Freedom of Faith Alone
Sola Fide calls us to trust entirely in the finished work of Christ, not in our efforts to earn God’s favor. For many Christians, this is a freeing and transformative truth. Our justification doesn’t waver based on how well we’ve performed spiritually. It rests on Christ, whose obedience and sacrifice are perfect and complete.
The challenge for believers today is to live out their faith with confidence in what Christ has done. As Paul reminded the Galatians, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Galatians 2:21). We cannot add to Christ’s work—our faith in His completed work is enough.
Let us reject the legalistic mindset that creeps into our spiritual lives and embrace the freedom that comes from justification by faith alone. As the Puritan Richard Sibbes once said, “There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.” (The Bruised Reed). This is the beauty of Sola Fide—it points us away from ourselves and directs our gaze to Christ, our perfect Savior.
Conclusion: Faith Alone Is Enough
Sola Fide answers the question, “Is faith alone enough?” with a resounding yes. The Reformers, the Puritans, and countless faithful theologians have defended this truth because it is the very heart of the Gospel. As theLondon Baptist Confession of Faith declares, “Faith… receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification.” (LBCF 11.2).
We stand justified before God by faith alone, not by works. This doctrine gives us assurance, peace, and freedom in the knowledge that Christ’s righteousness is sufficient. As R.C. Sproul so aptly stated, “We are justified by faith alone, but the faith that justifies is never alone.” (Faith Alone). Faith anchored in Christ is enough.
“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”
Romans 3:28
✧✧✧
Being dead in sin, man is unable to save himself.
As we’ve seen this month, the most serious problem facing the human race is not the destruction of the environment, crime, or the threat of nuclear war; it is sin. The former threaten us with physical death, the latter with spiritual death. Thus it follows that the greatest news ever known is that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15). Hell may be the destiny of man, but that is not the desire of God’s heart. Peter notes that the Lord “is patient … not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Because of His great love for sinners, God sent His Son “to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Since God’s gracious gift of salvation is appropriated by faith, it is not surprising that justification by faith is the theme of Romans (see Rom. 1:16–17). The apostle shows that all men are guilty before God and in need of justification (chaps. 1–2). He then describes justification in chapters 3–4. Then he presents the results of justification in chapters 5–6.
Two key words are associated with justification in Romans: grace and faith. In Romans 3:24 Paul declares that we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,” while in verse 28 he says, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” The promise of justification to Abraham, Paul notes, was “by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace” (Rom. 4:16). Faith and grace are both linked to justification again in Romans 5:1–2: “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.”
In this day of doctrinal vacillation, I pray that you will stand firm in your commitment to the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone.
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Suggestions for Prayer: Thank God for His mercy and love in saving you when you were dead in sin (Eph. 2:4–5). ✧ Ask Him to help you walk worthy of your salvation (Eph. 4:1).
For Further Study: Read Romans 1–6, noting what it teaches about man’s lost state and God’s gracious provision of salvation.1
Theologians have often considered justification by faith alone to be “the heart of the Gospel” for the simple reason that justification is a legal declaration of pardon and righteousness–a once-for-all judicial act of God toward believers. Justification is judicial not transformative in nature. The justified believer has been acquitted before the divine tribunal and declared righteous “only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone (WSC 33).” Nevertheless, there is a real joy produced in the heart of the believer on account of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Just as Jesus experienced sorrow on account of the imputation of our sin, believers rejoice in the fact that God has clothed us in the righteousness of another. Hugh Martin, in his book The Shadow of Calvary, explained:
“The believer’s own unworthiness ought not to avail to impair His joy, because a true righteousness is imputed to Him, and he has the blessedness of Him to whom the Lord imputes not his sin. The Surety’s own unspotted holiness cannot avail to prevent His sorrow, because sin is imputed to Him and He has voluntarily therefore assumed what misery must belong to Him to whom the Lord imputes–not His holiness–to whom the Lord imputes nothing but sin.
The fact that the righteousness which the believer rejoices in is not his own, not only does not diminish his joy, but on the contrary adds to it an element of wonder, a thrill of unexpected and surprising delight. To be exalted from a relation fraught with guilt and wrath and fear and death, and to be brought at once, on the ground of another’s merit, into one of favor and peace and blessedness and eternal life–to have the angry frown of an incensed avenging judge turned away, and all replaced by the sweet smiles of a Father’s love–this, the fruit of the imputation of another’s righteousness, hiding all my sin, quenching all my fear, wondrously reversing all my fate, this is not only joyful but surprising–wonderful, the doing of the Lord and marvelous in our eyes!
And so, for Jesus to be accounted a sinner by imputation must have added a pang of amazement to the sorrow and humiliation which ensued. In point of fact, this very element in His sorrow is pointed out. He began to be “sore amazed.” Not but that He fully expected it. Yet when it came, the change was in its nature “amazing.” To pass from a state of unimpeached integrity to one in which He was chargeable with all grievous sins–from a state in which His conscious and unsullied love and practice of all things that are pure and lovely and of good report caused Him to obtain the announcements to his Father’s complacency and love– (“I do always those things that please Him”)–to a state in which that love and practice still unimpaired, He nevertheless justified his Father’s justice in frowning on Him in displeasure by the very horror and the struggle in which He would, but for His Father’s will, have refused to be plunged: this must have struck into the very heart of all His sorrow an element of amazement amounting to absolute agony and horror. If an ecstasy of wonder thrills through the believer’s joy in the Lord His righteousness, there must have been a deeply contrasted paralyzing amazement when the Holy One of God realized Himself as worthy, in the sins of others, of condemnation at His Father’s tribunal.”
The Alliance is pleased to offer these free, God-glorifying resources as an encouragement for you to use and share with your family and friends.
Justification – It Matters!
In this episode from 2016, Dr. Schreiner offers a compelling exploration of justification, a doctrine that has been pivotal since the Reformation. As he explains, the fundamental question of whether we are right with God is one that every believer must grapple with. Justification by faith alone is not merely a theological concept but a foundation upon which the Christian life is built.Throughout the episode, they discuss various aspects of justification, including the holiness of God, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, and the balance between faith and works. Dr. Schreiner emphasizes the importance of understanding justification as a forensic declaration by God, where we are deemed righteous not by our merit but through Christ’s sacrifice. The conversation also focuses on contemporary issues, such as the critiques posed by scholars like NT Wright, and the potential pitfalls of misunderstanding justification within the Protestant church.Listen at MortificationofSpin.org
The Joy of Justification Nick Batzig
Theologians have often considered justification by faith alone to be “the heart of the Gospel” for the simple reason that justification is a legal declaration of pardon and righteousness–a once-for-all judicial act of God toward believers. Justification is judicial not transformative in nature. The justified believer has been acquitted before the divine tribunal and declared righteous “only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone (WSC 33).” Nevertheless, there is a real joy produced in the heart of the believer on account of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Just as Jesus experienced sorrow on account of the imputation of our sin, believers rejoice in the fact that God has clothed us in the righteousness of another. Read more at reformation21.org.
Does Romans 4:3 Teach that Our Faith Is Our Righteousness? Jeffrey Stivason
For those who believe that God does not accept and account a person righteous by imputing to them faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience, as the Westminster Confession contends, a passage like Romans 4:3 is hard to understand. Not because of the grammatical construction. We see it in Genesis 15:6, from where Paul derives the quote, and we see the same construction in other places like Psalm 106:31. There we read that Phinehas’s killing of an Israelite man and Midianite woman was “counted to him as righteousness.” So, were the Westminster divines simply oblivious to something so plain as Romans 4:3 when they wrote chapter eleven or is there something that we might be missing? Read more at placefortruth.org.
The Order of Salvation: Justification Stephen Unthank
Westminster divine, Anthony Burges, contended that “of all points of Divinity, there is none that with more profit and comfort we may labour in, then in that of Justification, which is stiled by some articulus stantis & cadentis ecclesiae, the Church stands or fals[sic], as the truth of this is asserted.” The Biblical doctrine of Justification is indeed a foundational pillar within Christ’s church, a doctrine which, if misunderstood, could wreak havoc and certainly cause a church to fall. In an earlier post I’ve examined the ways in which this doctrine has been misunderstood. Where do we find this doctrine in Scripture? Well, as with all doctrines, but especially this one, we begin with God. Read more at placefortruth.org.
• Albert Mohler • John Nunes • Michael Horton • R.C. Sproul • Philip Ryken
These messages from the 2002 National Pastors Conference will assist you in your attempt to faithfully attend to the call of the true worship of God and zealous outreach to those who have yet to hear the liberating good news of Jesus Christ.
Every human being is a son of Adam or a daughter of Eve. Therefore, everyone enters this world already at war with God. For men and women to be reconciled to God, God must take the first step. He has to take the initiative. And He does. The place where the war against heaven ends is at the cross of Christ.
Download this free booklet today and share it with those who long for the peace of the cross.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:17 (LSB) 
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