I want to begin this study this
morning by using three of the most important verses that those
who are opposed to eternal justification refer to constantly in support
of their belief. The first verse is Romans 5,
verse 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now turn, if you will, to Romans 8. We'll read verses 29 and 30,
but it is the 30th verse to which I shall call attention. For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Now verse 30, "...moreover whom
he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
I want you to notice where the word justified is situated within
the text. It comes between the word called
and the word glorified. Those who are opposed to eternal
justification say that justification, according to Paul's statement,
comes between one having been called and his being glorified. Therefore, they say, justification
takes place in time and it cannot be referred to as being the eternal
act of God. That argument may sound good
to a lot of people, to uninformed Christians, but in the light
of all the scriptures, that statement will not hold up. Once again,
I want to point to the tragedy of taking isolated verses of
Scripture and building a doctrine without studying the subject
in the light of all the revelation of God's mind. Beginning last
Sunday evening, we use the text, Romans 8 and verse 33, it is
God that justify it. There are three
things that I gave last Sunday evening that I want to review
briefly before we go any further. Remember now, we have already
given the definition of justification. It is a legal term. A legal term. It simply means that God declares
one just in his sight But in declaring one just, God shows
respect to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ because
it is the finished work of Jesus Christ which is imputed to the
account of one whereby God declares him to be just in his sight. God therefore is said to be just
and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus Christ. Romans 3 and verse 26. In discussing the first point, justification is sovereignly
declared. We sought to show last Sunday
evening that God does not justify sinners as sinners. but sinners
for whom Christ died. And then we gave three points
that are very important. And we will be referring to these
as we continue our discussion of this subject. First of all,
I stated that God's covenant reconciled justification with
his wisdom. When we refer to the covenant
of God, what are we talking about? We're talking about the eternal
covenant, Hebrews 13, 20, and 21. This was a what kind of a
covenant? Was it a bilateral covenant?
Was it a covenant that God made with man? No. It was a unilateral
covenant. made by the triune God in eternity
past. Jesus Christ is part of that covenant. The
Holy Spirit is part of that covenant relationship. So, God's covenant
reconciled justification with His wisdom. Number two, Christ's
ransom, that is, the redemptive work which Jesus Christ accomplished
on the cross 2,000 years ago. Reconcile justification with
God's justice. The only way that a holy God
can justify an unholy man and remain just in the justification
of that person is through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
That's the meaning of the statement in Romans 3 verse 26. God is
just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus Christ. And then three, the Spirit's
regeneration reconcile justification with God's holiness. So you see,
all three persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit, play an important part in man's salvation. So God's covenant reconciles
justification with His wisdom. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ
reconciles justification with His justice. God is just. God is righteous. And three,
the Holy Spirit when he regenerates a person, in other words, when
he applies that which has been planned by the Father and purchased
by the Son, reconciliation is made in the area of God's holiness. So justification is reconciled
to God's holiness. Now we come to the second point
of this major point justification sovereignly declared. Can one
doubt that God is the sovereign one of the universe? Now the time of God's justification
is of great importance. Now one who believes in justification
by faith, but denies eternal justification, is warped, is
minus something in his understanding of the biblical truth of justification. Now, there are two extremes of
this subject, and let me give them to you. I said, I think
it was two weeks ago tonight, that antinomianism believe, in
other words, the antinomianists believe in an eternal justification
but do not believe in a justification by faith in time. I can have
no part with that belief. That's antinomianism. And there
are many today who hold to that particular view. I'm not going
to take the time to name them. Now the other extreme is Arminianism. Arminians believe in a justification
in time but deny an eternal justification. I can't have any part with that
particular view. So you see, there are two extremes
in this particular area of justification. And in Omnians, who believe in
eternal justification, but deny justification by faith and time.
Arminians who believe in justification by faith in time, but deny eternal
justification. Now you ask the question, where
do you stand? I stand where the Bible stands.
You might say, well, don't these other people have scripture for
what they believe? Yes, they can quote scriptural
texts, but they do not quote all the texts that are related
to the subject of justification. Thus, they get an isolated view,
and they will isolate one point of justification and exclude
it from the other biblical point of justification. I believe in
eternal justification, I would establish myself at the beginning,
and I also believe in a justification by faith in time. Now, I've declared
myself. For the belief, now, concerning
those who hold to justification by faith in time and deny eternal
justification. I'm going to give to you now
the seven major arguments which they use. First of all, they
affirm that scripture does not speak of eternal justification. Well, beloved, the Bible does
not use the word eternal in connection with justification. But anyone
who understands anything about the sovereign God, anyone who
knows anything about the attribute of omniscience, would have to
say that the very thought of justification is as eternal as
God Himself. In other words, there can be
no new thought in the mind of God. Whatever he thought, he
thinks. Whatever he thinks, he will ever
think. All one has to do is simply to
study the subject of justification in the light of the basic and
fundamental truths of God, the theology or the science of God,
and he will come up with, they believe, that justification is
an imminent Act of God. And notice how I stated that.
An imminent act of God. And the word imminent means an
inherent act of the omniscient mind of God. You wouldn't be
foolish enough, would you, to say that God never thought about
justification until the person is regenerated by the Holy Spirit? thus applying the salvation provided
by Jesus Christ. And then after that, then God
says, well, I guess I better justify it. The thought is an
eternal thought with God. Why? Because it is related to
the eternal covenant of God. Now think about the Lord Jesus
Christ for a moment. Yes. Jesus Christ actually died
2,000 years ago on the cross. But there are many references
in the Word of God which state that He is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. There never was a time in the
mind of God when Jesus Christ was not the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. You can't read Revelation 13,
verse 8. You can't read 1 Peter 1, verse 20, without believing
this. And there are other references.
So Jesus Christ is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation
of the world. It was in the mind and purpose
of God that Jesus Christ should die. His death actually took
place, however, 2,000 years ago. Well, the same thing is true
with the subject of justification. I just used that as an illustration.
It all goes back to the eternal covenant of God. Those, however,
who reject eternal justification say that the word eternal is
never used in connection with justification. And then they
try to establish that by saying, it would be as foolish, they
say, to speak of eternal creation as it would be to speak of eternal
justification. They go on to say, it would be
as foolish to speak of eternal incarnation as it would be to
speak of eternal justification. It would be as foolish to speak
of eternal calling as it would be to speak of eternal justification. It would be as foolish, they
say, to speak of eternal regeneration as to speak of eternal justification. You can see now, the uninformed
Christian would sit and say, that makes sense, doesn't it? And from the standpoint of human
reason, that does make sense. But that's only one aspect. Now
let's go to the second argument. Scripture presents justification
in connection with faith. It is true that justification
is connected with faith. Therefore, being justified by
or through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. And there are many other references
that we could quote in connection with that thought. But Romans
5, verse 1 will suffice since we're simply using it as an illustration
that they are always bringing up to establish what they believe
to be justification in time, and such justification in time
denies any eternal justification. They even stress the Greek preposition
dia, and I'll not go into that this morning. They also emphasize
the Greek preposition ek, but we'll not spend time to go into
those prepositions because it will not be necessary. Now the
third, They say God decreed from election to justify. But the
decree is not justification per se. Before regeneration, they
say the elect are the children of wrath, and that's true. That's
true. I do not deny that, and you do
not deny it, who have a biblical understanding of justification.
They go on to say, how can the elect sinner, be declared just
before he is made just by the imputed righteousness of Jesus
Christ. Well, in the first place, they
used the wrong word there, but I won't take time to go into
that because this will be explained later on. Now, the fourth argument
is Christ's resurrection, they say, and they base this on Romans
4, verse 25. I've already given to you all
the references in the book of Romans where the word justification
is used. And you're acquainted with them,
I'm sure, by this time. Now they refer to Romans 4 and
verse 25, that He was raised for our justification. Their argument is this, built
upon this particular text, guilt did not terminate, they say,
when Christ rendered satisfaction to the Father. Then they make
a distinction between a penal death and what they call a pecuniary
death. Now what do they mean by that?
They say even after the removal of the penalty of sin by ransom,
the guilt is not removed immediately, and there are certain conditions
which must be met before the guilt is removed. Well, certainly
there's truth in that statement, but not all the truth. So once
again, they're looking at the subject only from man's side,
and they're completely ignoring this great biblical principle
from God's point of view. But doesn't that make sense today
in the light of religionists? Everything they present is only
from the human point of view. In fact, their religion is strictly
a humanistic religion. They cannot see beyond what man
does. For instance, that's why they're
always saying, Won't you believe? Won't you believe? Recently my
wife and I were listening to a program One who is very close
to us in the flesh was sitting in our living room as we listened
to this particular program before we retired. This was on Friday
night of this past week. And so the man who was talking
and making some comments between a quartet that is a real good
quartet and usually sings some real good songs, Harbor Lights
Quartet, that originates in California. This man made this statement.
Won't you let Jesus in? Won't you let Him in? And so
I wanted to see just how much this person, who is very close
to us in the flesh, has learned. My wife and I have witnessed
to this person for 30 years and more. And much material has been
put into her hands. Many tapes have been given to
her to listen, to which she has listened. So I wanted to see
just how much, really, that she has learned. So I said, does
that man mean that the sovereign God can't do anything until the
sinner opens the door? In other words, the sinner opens
the door, not God? And I said, what a person, what
a man, to be strong enough to just open the door to the Sovereign
God, and what a puny God! The Sovereign God, which I love
and worship and adore, this God is very puny in the estimation
of this man because He can't do anything until the sinner
lets Him. And so I saw the look on the
face, and I was watching out of the corner of my eye. I sat
there, and I knew something was coming, and I wanted it to, but
I wanted this person to declare herself. And she said, Well now,
what about the person who rejects Christ? God can't do anything as long
as a person rejects Christ. And so then I turned to the person,
and I started in once again. I said, do you mean that the
sinner is more powerful than God? And then I kept pursuing that
thought, and I showed the truth of it. that the grace of God
is irresistible, and God calls whom He pleases, and when God
calls, the sinner hears. And it is God who opens the door
of the heart, enabling the sinner to hear and understand. And then
the person came around to use the same language that I was
using. But you see, that doesn't mean
that that was the real belief of that person's heart. You see what I'm talking about? Now listen to the next argument.
Faith is not a mere manifestation of what was done in eternity. So they say faith is not a manifestation
of what was accomplished in eternity. And here are some of their thoughts
in connection with this. There is neither spending nor
access without faith. And then once again, they go
back and quote Romans 5, 1 and 2. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. And it's by faith that we
have access into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. And we'll be teaching those two
verses. In fact, we'll spend one whole
message on those two verses later. But I can't do it this morning.
So they say it is not a pardon in the governor's hand. Listen
to the illustration now. It is not a pardon in the governor's
hand. It is not a pardon in the secretary's
office. It is not a pardon in the messenger's
word. It is not a pardon in the malefactor's pocket. that will set the criminal
free in the eye of the law. It must be produced and pleaded
in court. Representation and union are
different things than to go on to say faith is more than manifestation. It is more than manifestation.
Now listen to this argument, and it's a cleverly presented
argument. A man by the name of Bragg, more than a hundred years
ago, I have his work, has presented in his work against eternal justification. And yet this man is a grace man.
When I say he's a grace man, he believes in the grace of the
sovereign God. But he says, I do not, for one
moment, accept eternal justification. And here is his argument. He
says faith is more than manifestation. Because you see, if it isn't
more than manifestation, then one believer might be more justified
than another person. Now what did he mean by that?
He meant by that argument that the person who knows more about
the Word of God is more justified than the person who doesn't know
that much about the Scriptures. So he comes up with the argument,
and this is it. Faith is more than manifestation,
because one believer might be more justified due to what? His more complete understanding
than another. Now I said last Sunday evening,
and we have proved from the Scriptures, that there are no degrees in
justification. There are degrees in sanctification,
And I'm talking now about progressive sanctification. I'm talking about
practical Christian living, not positional sanctification. There
are no degrees in justification. The person who stands justified
and declared just by the sovereign God is as much justified today
as he will be thirty years from now, regardless of how much he
learns about the subject of justification. There are no degrees in justification.
because he stands before God in the perfect and complete work
of Jesus Christ. Therefore, he doesn't stand in
his own merits, but in the merits of Jesus Christ. That's important. Now, here's another argument.
Distinction must be made between righteousness designed, purchased,
and applied. Well, I'm glad that they at least
go that far because distinction should be made between righteousness
designed by God, purchased by Christ, and applied by the Holy
Spirit. Now listen to the illustration.
And their illustration breaks down even though they think it
justifies their position. Listen to it. God had a purpose from everlasting. But that does not mean the elect
were regenerated, justified, and sanctified from eternity
as if they were co-eternal. Now for the illustration. Notice now, an estate may be
designed for an unborn child, yet the heir does not actually
possess the estate. Now think about that illustration
for a moment. In other words, they say, here are some parents. The man and the wife get together
and they want something for the children. And so they have a
will drawn up. And they have a deed drawn up.
And this deed is made out to one of the children. that at
a certain age, this property will become the property of that
child. And so the illustration is, an
estate may be designed for an unborn child, or for that matter,
one that is born but has not reached the age that the parents
want for the child to receive the inheritance. The heir does
not actually possess the estate. Now I want to raise this question,
since this illustration is used. Was it an estate when the deed
was drawn up? I'm asking you a question. Was
it an estate at the time the deed was drawn up? It was as
much an estate at the time the deed was drawn up and the seal
was given as when, as when, the children actually possess the
estate. As far as the parents were concerned,
it was an estate to be given at a certain period in that child's
life. and that before it was actually
inherited. That goes back once again to
the eternal covenant of God. Our estate, so to speak, our
salvation, was no afterthought with God. It was planned in eternity
past. Provision was made by the death
of Jesus Christ and all of that. was in God's eternal plan. And
then came the time when the Holy Spirit of God regenerated my
soul, and that salvation which was planned by the Father, purchased
by the Son, was applied to my heart. Was it known to God beforehand? Yes. Planned by God. Because salvation is of God. Not of man. And finally, they say that Paul's
statement in 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 11, But ye are justified,
proves that the Corinthians were not justified before positional
sanctification. That's their final argument. in seven arguments that are given
against eternal justification. Now let's look at the other side
of the picture. I would like to spend time in going to each
one of these, but I don't have that time this morning. It isn't
necessary. We will, before we have finished studying this subject,
have covered every one of these objections. So just rest, easy,
until we get to it. Now, for the arguments in favor
of eternal justification, and I for one believe in eternal
justification as well as I believe in justification by faith in
time. Number one, as regeneration precedes
conversion, and I'm sure you've learned that much, So justification
in eternity precedes justification by faith in time. It is just
that simple. In other words, justification
by God in eternity does not nullify the justification by faith in
time. And those who say that it does
are a long way from the truth of Holy Scripture. Number two. Proclamation of justification
must be distinguished from the imminent act of justification. I'm talking about the proclamation
of justification. I'm emphasizing the word proclamation. Must be distinguished from the
imminent act of God. From the inherent act of God. Justification is an act of divine
sovereignty. But the act of sovereignty does
not contradict the fact that in the act of justification,
God shows respect to the satisfaction of divine justice, to which we
have already referred and have proved from the Scriptures. Yes,
beloved, there is order in the counsel of God. Number three,
in the correlation of faith and justification, the latter does
not originate through faith. Now, I asked some of you to comment. In fact, I asked all of you to
comment, and some of you did comment on some of those verses
I gave to you last Sunday morning. Now, you'll know before we have
gone very far whether your comment was scriptural or not. But that's
good. It's good for you to see just
how much you know concerning this subject. Now I said in the
correlation of faith and justification, the latter does not originate
through faith. Justification is only accepted
in and through faith. Notice what I said. Justification
is only accepted in and through faith. All faith does is to believe
it. That's all faith does. What's
the basis of one's justification? Is it his faith? No. I'm answering
something. No. Faith is not the foundation
of justification. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the foundation of one's justification. You say, well, what about those
verses? We'll study them. We'll study each one of them.
You'll not be left in doubt as to what the Scriptures teach
concerning this great subject of justification by faith or
through faith. I'd like to give to you a quotation
by Thomas Goodwin. There are many men of the past
who embraced eternal justification as well as justification by faith
in time. And Thomas Goodwin, along with
Abraham Kuyper, John Gill, and many others, believed in justification
not only in time, but also eternal justification. I want to give
you a brief statement by Thomas Goodwin. I think it's great.
He has one whole volume of some 600 pages just on this subject. But listen to this statement,
and I quote, "...justification is attributed as much to free
grace as to Christ's work." Why? For both are joined. Isn't
that the truth of Romans 3, 24 and 25? Listen to it now. being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier
of him that believeth in Jesus." Now, listen to him. He says,
"...justification is attributed as much to free grace as to Christ's
work, for both are joined." Therefore, faith looks as much to free-ordaining
and imputing as to Christ's performing. Beloved, that's great. You see, that's giving God the
honor and the glory. That's not just being one who
says, well, I'm satisfied with Christ's work on the cross. It's
going even beyond Christ's work on the cross and saying, the
Father had a hand in Christ's work on the cross. And isn't
that what John 3.16 says? God so loved the world that he
gave. Look how he stated this. So he says, therefore faith looks
as much to free ordaining and imputing as to Christ performing
in a word. God's free grace is the original. I like that. God's free grace
is the original. Now he doesn't stop. It gets
better the further we go. Then he goes on to say, Christ's
righteousness is instrumental to the manifestation of free
grace and faith is the instrument of apprehending all. And then
he quotes some verses of scripture, which we do not have time to
give, and then he makes this statement, and yet God still
is in all, and Christ is all in all, quoting verses of scripture
now, and then closes this brief paragraph by saying, and faith. as it is our act. You see, God
doesn't believe for you, God doesn't repent for you, but God
enables you to repent, God enables you to believe. And now he says,
and faith as it is our act is nothing at all in our justification. Faith is nothing at all in our
justification. but only as it apprehends all,
as it embraces all. That is, as it embraces the work
of Jesus Christ and the sovereign will of God the Father. Beloved,
that's great. That will harmonize with all
the Scriptures. And anything short of that will
not harmonize with all the Scriptures. I like an illustration that Abraham
Kuyper gives in his work on the Holy Spirit. Let me give to you
a statement by him. Abraham Kuyper said, quote, justification
has already been prepared for us before it enters our consciousness. Listen to this. Through faith, justification
is appropriated. in our consciousness and accepted
in its eternal validity. Oh, beloved, you can't beat that. You can't get ahead of that.
Listen to this. Here's an illustration. Bread
does not become bread by eating it. Listen now carefully. Listen
to his analogy. Bread does not become bread by
eating it. It must be bread in order to
be eaten. What is he saying? Justification
must already exist before faith can apprehend it. That's what
it means. Then he goes on to say, bread
does not become bread by eating it. It must be bread in order
to be eaten. Eating only involves the perception
and appropriation of it. That's why, beloved, I believe
in eternal justification, but I also believe in justification
by faith in time. But my faith simply apprehended
my eternal justification by God the Father through the redemptive
work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, let's make it even clearer.
Justification by God before time? nullifies the Arminian idea of
faith being a meritorious human act. Now the reason I cannot
embrace Arminianism is because Arminianism makes the faith of
man a meritorious act by which he's justified. And that's the
reason some say that man's faith is accepted in lieu, as they
state it, of righteousness. I'll not accept that. I'll not
accept that. My faith is not to be accepted
in lieu of righteousness. My faith simply embraces the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. Faith is of no value whatsoever. without the objective work of
Jesus Christ before it. But I do say that justification
by God before time nullifies the Arminian idea of faith being
a meritorious human act. Now listen to this. Thus, there
is a justification before time or before faith Unto faith. Believe me, if you'll get that
one statement, you'll have the gist of the whole truth that
I've been trying to portray to you. What did I say? Listen to
it again. There is a justification before
faith unto faith. Now those two prepositions, before
and unto, are very important, and please observe the order
in which they are given. Faith is not the cause, but the
effect of God's act of justification. Does that make sense? We know
that faith is the fruit of divine election, Acts 13, verse 48. All that God has ordained to
eternal life If they have not believed, they shall believe
according to that text. Faith, therefore, is the fruit
of divine election. And as faith is the fruit of
divine election, so we could say that faith is not the cause
but the effect of God's imminent act of justification. So the moving cause is the free
grace of the sovereign God. and the meritorious cause is
the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Justifying righteousness is the
cause of faith, and faith is not the cause of justifying righteousness. Since faith is not the cause
but the effect of God's act of justification, then as every
cause is before the effect justification must be before faith. Does that
make sense? All you have to do is simply
put into practice the great principles which you have learned. Now let
me use a very simple illustration taken from Hebrews 11 verse 1.
Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Now think about this for a moment.
Faith, faith, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. Now let me raise a question.
How are we to understand faith in the light of this text? Faith
is the evidence of things not seen, but it is not the evidence
of something, beloved, that does not yet exist. Does that make
sense? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, but not the evidence of things that do not yet exist.
Does that make sense? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen, but not the evidence of things that do not yet exist.
Doesn't that make sense? Justification is a complete act
in the eternal mind of the sovereign God. And as the eye beholds sensible
objects, but does not produce them, so faith beholds justification,
but does not produce it. You do not produce justification
by your faith. Your faith simply embraces the
declaration of God that you are just upon the foundation of the
finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ. So the objects of election are
those whom God justifies on the merits of the land that was slain
from the foundation of the world, 1 Peter 1, verses 18-20. And then this in closing. No
person is evidentially justified until he believes. There can
be no interest in justification until one believes. Just as there
can be no interest in divine election until one believes. So the same thing can be said
concerning the subject of being declared just before the tribunal
of God to the merits of Jesus Christ. You must first have faith,
which is the gift of God, before you have any interest whatsoever
in justification. And I think I can sum it up like
this. The Father justifies the ungodly, not as ungodly, but
as ungodly persons who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. And in preparing the means of
this justification, we know that the Father gave His Son as an
offering for sin. Christ's surety here fulfilled
the condition of the Father's justification. That makes sense,
does it? Finally, the Holy Spirit reveals
this justification to the hearts of all of those in whom the Spirit
of God has wrought a work of grace, thus producing faith in
them which embraces their justification by God through the merits of
Jesus Christ. Beloved, that will harmonize
with the Scriptures. That will harmonize with all
the Word of God. So don't go off on a tangent
and say, well, since I believe in eternal justification, it
doesn't make any difference about justification by faith in time.
Oh, yes it does. Justification through faith in
time is the fruit of that eternal justification. And through justification
by faith in time, one simply apprehends, he embraces His justification
by the Sovereign God upon the merits of His Son, whom He gave
as an offering for sale. So your faith leads you outside
of yourself, and your faith embraces Jesus Christ and even goes beyond
the death of Jesus Christ. both as blessed person and work,
and says, the Father in eternity past justified me upon the basis
of the sacrificial work which his Son accomplished in time. Therefore, my salvation is no
afterthought. My salvation is ever God's forethought. He loved me with an everlasting
love. Never has been a time when He
didn't love me. Therefore, there has never been a time when I
was not justified in the eyes of the Sovereign God, because
all of it is wrapped up in His eternal covenant. But just as
there is eternal justification, that eternal justification is
revealed in time through faith that has been wrought in the
hearts of all who are redeemed. You see, when a person has this
understanding, he isn't going to make his faith a meritorious
work by which he stands just before God. Beloved, you're not
justified by looking at your faith. Are you following me?
You're not justified by looking at your faith. You're justified
by looking through faith to the finished work of Jesus Christ. That makes sense, doesn't it?
That's in harmony with the scriptures. Now you can know whether your
faith is genuine or not. You say, well, doesn't faith
give assurance? Yes, faith gives assurance. But
assurance doesn't come by me looking at my faith. But assurance
comes by looking at Jesus Christ because my faith directs me ever
to Jesus Christ and His finished work. And I quote these verses
again in closing. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. whom God has set forth to be
what? A mercy seeker. A propitiation. Through faith in His blood. Where does your faith lead you?
If your faith leads you to your faith, then your faith is human
faith. It's natural faith, not supernatural.
But through faith in His blood. Saving faith leads you to the
redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Through faith in His blood.