The Effects of Justification

Q: What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

The Bible teaches that justification by faith brings peace with God through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-2). Justification by faith is a central theme in Scripture, particularly emphasized in Romans. Romans 5:1 states, 'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' This signifies that through faith in Christ, believers are declared righteous before God, having their sins forgiven and being reconciled to Him. Justification is not based on human merit, but entirely on Christ's finished work.

Q: How do we know justification by faith is true?

Justification by faith is affirmed throughout Scripture, especially in Romans, where it outlines God's plan of salvation. We can know that justification by faith is true through its consistent affirmation in the Bible, particularly in the book of Romans. Paul explains that justification is by grace through faith and not based on works. Romans 3:24 declares that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Paul's arguments resonate with the theological understanding that faith is a response to God's grace and that righteousness is imputed to believers based on Christ's atoning work.

Q: Why is imputed righteousness important for Christians?

Imputed righteousness is crucial as it ensures that believers are declared righteous before God, which is essential for salvation. Imputed righteousness is a fundamental aspect of Reformed theology, highlighting that Christ's righteousness is credited to the believer's account. This doctrine reassures Christians that their justification before God is based on Christ's righteousness, not their own works (Romans 4:5). It underscores that while believers may still struggle with sin, their standing before God is secure because they are viewed through the lens of Christ's perfect obedience and sacrifice. Therefore, it is critical for understanding salvation and the role of faith in the believer's life.

Q: What is the relationship between faith and justification?

Faith is the means through which justification is received, but it is not the basis of justification before God. The relationship between faith and justification is deep-seated in Reformed thought. Justification is received through faith; however, this faith is the fruit of God's regenerative work in the believer. It is essential to understand that justification is not based on the faith itself. Romans 5:1 illustrates that while we are justified by faith, it is the righteousness of Christ that justifies us before God. Thus, faith serves as an instrumental cause — the way we receive justification — while the ground of our justification is Christ's righteousness imputed to us.

Turn to Romans chapter 5. There are so many ways to approach
this subject. But let me read our text, which
consists of two verses. Verses 1 and 2 of Romans chapter
5. Therefore being justified by
faith, There you have justification,
there you have faith. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the
glory of God. Now let's make an important connection. Go back to Romans chapter one. As we read the scriptures, we'll
go to the Lord in prayer. Verses 16 and 17. For I am not
ashamed. Paul was not ashamed of the apparent
insignificance. Watch what I'm saying. Apparent
insignificance of the gospel to the world. And I base that
on 1 Corinthians 1 beginning with verse 18. Or its apparent
failure in the churches or among religionists. Now you see why
I'm saying what I am in view of what I've been saying to you
this morning? Notice what I said. Paul was not ashamed of the apparent
insignificance of the gospel to the world. You see, the gospel
is foolishness to the world. Or, it's appearance of failure. It's appearance of failure. The
gospel never fails. I said the gospel never fails.
It is unto salvation without failure to those whom God gave
to the Son in the covenant of redemption. So don't talk about
the failure of the gospel. The gospel has never failed.
So when you look at TV evangelists like Jim Baker and Oral Roberts
and many church members whom you know, don't talk about the
failure of the gospel. There's no failure in the gospel. You see, Paul knew not only the
purpose of the gospel, but the power of the gospel. He knew both its purpose and
its power. We know that the gospel to the
world is foolishness and the failures of the churches are
individuals. Where do those failures lie?
Not in the message, but in the individuals. Not in the message,
but in the individuals. Better believe that. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Now we're looking at these four
words. We've already looked at justification and faith. Verse
17, For therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Righteousness of God's revealed
in the gospel. We dealt with this last Sunday
evening, but we're not through with it. As from faith to faith,
as it is written, the just shall live by faith, or out from the
faith, out of or from faith. Turn to the third chapter. Let's
see now Paul's description of this righteousness. It does not
refer, as we've said, to God's righteous character, but it's a righteousness wrought
out by Christ at Calvary for those whom the Father gave to
the Son in the covenant of redemption. In chapter 3, verses 24 through
26, being justified, here's the term again, freely by His grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation or mercy seat, through faith
in his blood to declare his righteousness, his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Turn
please to chapter 5 and let's read the last verses. Let's begin
with verse 17 and read through 21 before prayer. For if by one man's offense death
reign, that's by Adam, by one, much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ. Not by two, not by three, but
by one. Verse 18, therefore as by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
Even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon
all men under justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one many shall
be made righteous." Watch now the last two verses and you'll
see the climax. Moreover, the law entered That
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. That as sin hath reign unto death,
even so might grace reign through what? Righteousness. Whose righteousness? Your righteousness
or Christ's righteousness? Reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now you have all these
terms. Don't tell me, well, I'll start
teaching in a minute. Let's bow our heads for prayer.
As we go to the Lord in prayer, let's remember Brother Bill Langford.
Just got a phone call from him again yesterday. I want to preface
my message with a personal testimony. First of all, I am grateful to
God that He chose me in Christ before
the world began, and that He gave me grace in
Christ even before the beginning of time. Now what I've said is
simply a quotation of Scripture. So don't tell me I'm wrong when
I get through or I'll give you the book. Secondly, I am so grateful
to God that He has let me or allowed me to live long enough
as a Christian to come to a settled position on many great, vital,
biblical issues. I've known Christians, I've pastored
people who don't apply themselves, did not apply themselves, and
they went through life and went out of time into eternity without
having the assurance that they should have had as Christians.
Now beloved, you better stop and give the Lord thanks if you're
a Christian and He's allowed you to live a number of years
and to be exposed to truth. If you have not applied yourself,
don't blame God. Confess your own sin. Now let's look at Romans 5, 1
and 2. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. As far as I'll read for the time
being. Let me ask you a personal question.
I want to see how good a Bible student you are. What is the main, I'm talking
about the main, the leading thought of this verse. Can you pick it
out? What is the main subject and
the main predicate? English is important. The main thought of this verse
is not having therefore been justified by faith. That is not the main
thought. The main thought of this verse
is we have peace with God. Now, you could have a good time
diagramming this if you remember your English, your subject and your verb. We
have peace with God. That's the main thought. That's the leading thought. Let's look at the word therefore,
which is the first word in the King James. It is the translation
of the Greek un, which can mean either therefore or it can mean
subsequently. Now in order to understand this,
we're going to have to go back. You know, I'm of the opinion
a lot of folk don't know how to study the scriptures. In fact, I've even known preachers
who don't know how to study the scriptures. That's a good way
to test the gift. Go back please to the last verse
of chapter 4. Who was delivered for our offenses. and was raised again for our
justification. Being delivered here is an ariest,
passive, indicative verb in the Greek. Notice now, it's ariest
and it's indicative. Poet action, time passed. It's
in the passive voice. And this is talking about Christ.
So this shows that Christ was being obedient in his subjection
to the Father. He was offered up. It's true
he offered himself. But this is talking about the
Father giving the Son. And then you have the next verb.
And was raised is also an arius passive indicative verb. just
like delivered and this is for our justification for our justification now beginning
with verse 1 of chapter 5 and the chapter division really breaks
the continuity of thought therefore being justified by faith having been justified having
been therefore justified by faith is another good translation then
he says we have peace with God having been justified watch this points to imputed and imparted
righteousness You say, I don't know what you're talking about.
Well, I don't have time to go back and cover territory we've
already covered. You'll have to get the tapes. But unless you understand this,
you cannot explain or understand chapter 5, verse 1. So having been justified, having
therefore been justified, which means having therefore been declared
been declared righteous before God how by imputed righteousness
and also by imparted righteousness because now Paul is coming to
the conclusion of his subject those to whom righteousness has
been imparted have peace have peace with God. Watch closely. But they do not have peace of
conscience until, until, until when? Episteos. From faith, from faith or out
of faith, they have come to understand their justification before God. Do you see what I'm talking about?
Let me state it again. Having therefore been justified
by faith, we have peace. This peace is the result of not
only imputed righteousness before God and imparted righteousness
to oneself. But the imputed righteousness
before God precedes the imparted righteousness to oneself. The imputed righteousness before
God assures the individual of having Christ's righteousness
imparted to him in time. At God's appointed time. That's
the new birth. That's regeneration. So it was imputed before it was
imparted. Now those to whom righteousness
has been imparted have peace. Watch this please. Have peace
with God, but they do not have peace of conscience until out
of faith they come to understand that they are justified before
a righteous and holy God. I never had real peace, even
as a young Christian, watch this, until I understood from the study
of Scripture that I was justified before the righteous and holy
one as the result of the finished work of Jesus Christ being imputed
to my account. You see, it is by faith that
we understand. That's what the book says. You
can't understand without faith. Nothing irks me anymore. Nothing
nauseates me anymore than all these religions that say the
preacher should speak in a language that even children could understand.
I have news for you. Adults can't understand the truth
unless God has quickened their hearts. So unless a person has a heart
that has been prepared for the truth, he can't understand. A
child can't understand. An adult can't understand. A
college professor can't understand. A person with the highest IQ
alive can't understand. Apart from the grace of the sovereign
God. Is that true or false? So by faith we understand. All of this has come to us through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Watch this statement. The subjectivity
of faith. I said the subjectivity of faith. has meaning and significance
only as it is the product of divine grace. Now beloved, I
can talk dogmatically about these things. Now let me give you a
question. Then I want to introduce something as we go into this
further this morning. What about this statement? I
read it just this past week. Is it the duty of the preacher
to insist upon, quote, the duty of faith rather than the grace of faith? Can you answer that question?
I'm going to ask a lot of questions for the next few weeks. Is it the duty of the preacher
to insist upon the duty of faith or upon the grace of faith? Every Arminian will tell you,
and a lot of so-called grace preachers, that the emphasis should be upon
the duty of faith rather than the grace of faith. Now let me give you another statement.
that I've just come across. I believe that there is a misconception of both the purpose of the gospel
and justification. A misconception of both the purpose
of the gospel and justification. Persons who believe in gospel
regeneration, watch this, it's all come together, it has all
come together like it's never come together before. And beloved,
the reason things don't come together to you is because you
don't study enough, you don't apply yourselves enough. The
more you study and the broader your base is of the foundation,
the clearer things come and the more they come together and they
give you a solidifying testimony I said persons who believe in
gospel regeneration are forced to believe that faith is accounted
as righteousness before God you better take that down because
I will be questioning you later on it Did you know most of the Puritans
and most of the, quote, grace preachers today believe that one's faith is counted
unto Him for righteousness? And they use as their proof text,
which I have dealt with before, and turn to Romans 4 and verse
3, if you will, for what saith the Scripture, Abraham believed
God and it, that is, his faith was counted unto Him for righteousness.
Was this before God? I'm asking you a question. Was
this before God? No. Can you prove it? Yes. All you have to do is go back
up to verse 2. See, here's why people have such a problem in
reading and understanding the Scripture. They don't consider
the context. If Abraham were justified by works, he hath work
after glory, but not before God. But not before God. No person
is justified by his faith before God. But this is their proof text.
But everyone who believes in gospel regeneration is forced
to believe that a person's faith is accounted unto him as righteousness
before God. And did you know that's the interpretation
of Romans 5.1? having therefore been justified
by faith. Is Paul talking about before
God? No. Absolutely not. And I defy anyone
to contradict it. They affirm that the righteousness
of God is of faith. Listen to this, because it is
received by faith. I've given their own words. Thus
this righteousness could never be merited, they say, by man's
works. Now watch this. This is what
I'm saying now in answer to this. They correctly state that God's
righteousness in man is not without works. That's correctly stated. I said they correctly state.
that God's righteousness in man is not without works. If you
have God's righteousness, there will be righteous deeds performed
by you as a person who is in possession of God's righteousness.
He that doeth righteousness is righteous. That's scripture. But they incorrectly state how
God's righteousness is imparted to the elect. They correctly state part of
it and incorrectly state the latter part. Now this would be a good time
for me to give you 20 questions, but I won't do that. We're going
to do it a little different. And then I'm going to test every
one of you. And I'm going not to put you on the spot except
to yourself and in the presence of God. And we'll be doing that
in subsequent lessons. I said in subsequent lessons.
Now let's look at justification by faith. In the light of Romans 5, 1 and
2. Thus far, in our study of Romans,
I'm sure, and I'm assuming that you have, have seen that justification
before God is not on the basis of either, watch this, of either
imparted righteousness or faith. Now what did I leave out? What
word, what term did I leave out? Let me state it again. When we
come to Romans 5.1, I'm hopeful that we have seen
that justification before God is not on the basis of imparted righteousness or faith. I omitted
imputed righteousness. If you don't understand the term
imputed, we'll get to it later, but you've got to understand
it, biblical meaning. We're not justified by imparted
righteousness because regeneration equips us for the Christian life,
but it cannot be the basis for complete, perfect, and irreversible
justification before God. justification is not on the basis
of faith because faith is the fruit of
regeneration faith does not produce regeneration
it's the fruit of regeneration therefore it can't be on the
basis of faith When someone tells you that by his faith he was
born again, you put it down, he is as ignorant as a hottentot
when it comes to spiritual and biblical truth. Justification before God, therefore,
is on the basis of imputed righteousness. imputed righteousness. I want to give to you at this
point one of the questions that we'll
close with in that list of questions that I have. I pulled this one on Juanita
yesterday. I didn't do it to confuse her. I wouldn't do it
to you to confuse you. I do it to cause each person
to think. I've had to think and my thinking
hasn't always been correct and my thinking will never be absolutely
correct on everything because I'm imperfect. But if I cannot
prove that my thinking is correct on this particular point, I need
correction. Let me just run through some
questions and I want you to listen closely. We'll be dealing with
them in detail later. You're gonna have to think. If
you're not willing to think, you might as well be home or
on a creek bank or out in the bay fishing. Can it be said that faith righteousness is unto all and upon all them
that believe? Can it really be said that faith
righteousness is unto all and upon all them that believe? Is
that a valid question? If a person's faith is counted
unto him for righteousness, then would you say that his faith
is upon all or his faith righteousness is unto all and upon all them
that believe? That's kind of stupid, isn't
it? Listen to this one. Is the imputation
of Christ's righteousness to the elect real or judicial? Now
I'm asking you if you can answer that. Would you like me to ask for
a show of hands this morning? Let me give the question again. Is
the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the elect real or judicial? You see, I don't know the difference
between real and judicial. Maybe I need to explain it and
that's why I'm doing this at this point. Do you know the difference
between real imputation and judicial imputation? How many of you will just admit
that you don't really understand? Let's see. How many of you think
you understand? Real imputation is the imputation
of that which was antecedently the person to whom it was imputed.
It was antecedently his. That's real. Judicial imputation
is the imputation of that which was not antecedently his. Now you see we're getting into
that word imputation. You've got to understand it.
You've got to understand it. If you don't understand it, you
don't understand the gospel. You can't even understand your
own faith and the basis for it. Now having raised that question,
let's look at it again. Is the imputation of Christ's
righteousness to the elect real or judicial? Real or judicial? If faith righteousness Watch
this. If faith righteousness is imputed,
it would have to be real righteousness, your righteousness. Are you following me? Beloved,
I'm going to put it where it belongs and I'm going to do it
by the scripture. I want you to see the heresy
of a person believing that his faith is catered unto him for
righteousness before God and imputed before God. That would be real righteousness.
But see the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which has not as
yet been imparted to us, yet the Lord God of heaven. can count us righteous on the
basis of the finished work of His Son Jesus Christ. Were the elect involved with
Christ in His work? The scripture teaches me that
Christ taught the wine press alone. You didn't assist Him
in His work. Now let's go further. So you
see how important this subject is. It's on the basis of the
imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. God the Father could
do it and here's where eternal justification comes in. God the Father could do it on
the basis of his eternal purpose that determined that his son
must come and die. Could anything hinder that taking
place? Absolutely not. This justifying faith that Paul
talks about here in Romans 5.1 means to understand. So justifying
faith understands all who come to the Father are taught, are
taught. We understand as John 6 and verse
46. We receive And we keep, and we've gone into
these statements in previous studies, so it's all just falling
in place. If you've been following us.
It must be understood that justification is both constitutive and declarative. Constitutive and declarative. It is constitutive in order that
it might be declarative. The constitutive act of God in
grace means that God has the power to act in his eternal purpose. 2 Timothy 1.9. It consists in the imputation
of Christ's righteousness before the actual impartation of Christ's
righteousness to the individual. Do you know why righteousness
was imparted to me? Because it was first imputed
to my account before God. Beloved, you talk about shouting. I don't know how a person could
contain himself if he understands it, and if you don't understand
it, then you're the loser. The constituted relationship
with God precedes its declaration before either the consciousness
of the recipient of grace or before others by the works of
a person who is saved. Now faith is not a preliminary
stipulation for justification before God. Watch what I said. Faith is not a preliminary stipulation
of justification before God. And that's the way Romans 5,
1 is interpreted, but wrong. It is the regenerated person's
experience of faith. experience our faith. It is an absolute necessity that
distinction be made between what is wrought in the subconsciousness
and what is wrought in the consciousness of the elect. Christ was raised
on account of God's justification before divine justice to assure
justification by faith we're taking Romans 4 25 and 5 1 putting
them together now to the consciousness of the elect who are regenerated those who believe man's faith
justifies him before God accuse us of wrapping the truths of
God with so many explanations and that many people, having
contented themselves with their wrappings, miss the experience. What do you think about that?
Listen, our answer to the accusation is that a lasting experience,
notice what I said, a lasting experience, is the fruit of a correct, a
correct explanation regardless of the amount of wrappings, rather than a short rhetorical
statement that is false. You say, well, it's just enough
for me to say, having therefore been justified by faith, that's
enough. I don't want to wrap it with all of these other terms
like justification and righteousness and imputation and all those
things. Oh, beloved, the ignorance. And
I'm going to go further than that. The lack of grace in the
hearts of most people who sit in pews today listening to a
preacher give an eight-minute sermon. Dr. Ting told me last Wednesday night,
last Sunday night it was, his father, after Dr. Ting's mother
passed away, came back here to live and he's living in an apartment
here in Houston so Dr. Ting can look in on him. Just
recently he received a letter from some of his friends in Rockport
where they lived before he came back to Houston to live. And
in this letter, this friend stated, we have a new pastor. Oh, the
people love him. He's just wonderful. He's got
his sermons down to eight minutes. Why do they even bother about
going to church? Why don't they just stay home
to begin with? And to tell you the truth, they'd
get just as much if they stayed home. More if they read the Bible. In Romans 5, Paul deals with
the effects of justification. I'm giving the simplicity of
the passage in the light of, therefore goes back. Goes back
to Romans 1.16 and then the explanation of righteousness in Romans 3
and then in Romans 4 the illustration by the use of Abraham and David
and now he's coming to a conclusion. Therefore, Paul deals with the effects of
justification. Paul's therefore in verse one
is the conclusion of his argument on justification. The conclusion
of his argument. Paul's therefore in verse one
is not only the conclusion, but notice this, faith rests in an
accomplished justification. In an accomplished justification. declared righteous, if you please,
as far as purpose and purchase are concerned. I said purpose
and purchase are concerned. This chapter opens the door from
our past into our present realm of grace and our glorious future
with Jesus Christ and the kingdom. Now those are three points we'll
deal with tonight. Now I thought I could at least give all this
this morning and I gave the introduction to it. But let's look in conclusion
again. We have peace with God. Why do we have peace with God?
Having therefore been justified. Not only before God by imputed
righteousness, but before my own consciousness by imparted
righteousness. We, or I, or we have peace with
God. Are you listening? Listen to
the simplicity of it. Having therefore been justified
first of all before God by imputed righteousness, the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, and by imparted righteousness
before my own consciousness, so we can say we, all of us,
who are in this category, we have peace with God. Now I'll
just throw this out. I drug out some of my books this
last week on textual criticism. I won't get too far into that
this morning. I looked through many works, I don't know how
many, And all the works that I looked at, the persons who
wrote the various works that I investigated were divided about
50-50 on we have peace. Even A.T. Robertson says that this is an
imperative, let us have peace. I don't believe it for a second.
And the reason I don't believe it is because A.T. Robertson
is off on justification by faith. So with all the men that I consulted,
they were divided about 50-50, and there are discrepancies.
In other words, there is a variant reading here. The verb here is
ecumen, in the Greek. And to spell it in English, it's
E-C-H-O, and that's, in some, some believe it's a long O, omega,
N-E-N. Now that would be in the subjunctive
mood. And that's what Robertson believed,
and many others. I don't believe that. I believe it's ecumen omicron,
short O-M-E-N. It's in the indicative, we have
peace. Hendrickson believes that, and
many others. I consulted a great number. Now look at the simplicity
of it. You've got to look at the whole
context. You've got to understand the subject of justification.
Before God it's by imputed righteousness. Before one's consciousness it's
by imparted righteousness. You say it doesn't make any difference.
Oh yes it does. We have peace is in the indicative
mood I believe with all my heart. Why? Because it is based upon
imputed righteousness before God and imparted righteousness
to oneself. Now we'll look at three things
tonight as we continue our study. As to the past, faith rests in
the justifying act of God. That's as to the past. Secondly, as to the present,
faith has access into the realm of grace. The context proves,
as far as I'm concerned, the indicative mood, rather than
the subjunctive. And thirdly, we will see as to
the future, believers project themselves into the future by
hope. Now let's just read the two verses
in conclusion. Therefore, being justified by
faith, or having therefore, And you notice how I'm saying
this, having therefore, and I'm saying it because it's an arias
passive participle. And I'll explain that more tonight,
if I don't forget it. Or maybe I ought to take time
to do it now. Maybe not. Having therefore been justified
by faith. We have peace. Indicative, that's a fact. through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith
into this grace wherein we stand, and then we rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God, past, present and future. Let's stand for the
benediction.

The Effects of Justification

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

How do we know justification by faith is true?

Why is imputed righteousness important for Christians?

What is the relationship between faith and justification?

Sermon Transcript

About W.E. Best

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Effects of Justification

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

How do we know justification by faith is true?

Why is imputed righteousness important for Christians?

What is the relationship between faith and justification?

Sermon Transcript

About W.E. Best

Comments

More from W.E. Best

Same Scripture

Articles by W.E. Best

Books by W.E. Best

Suggested for You

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book