The Doctrine of Salvation
How
"Righteousness by Faith"
Really Works
"Righteousness by Faith"
Really Works
Transcript of Lesson 9
Welcome back to our study on The Doctrine of Salvation - How “Righteousness by Faith” Really Works
Let’s pray before we begin: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your Word that explains Your great plan for our salvation. Please bless these studies by sending to us Your Holy Spirit. We want to understand Your Word, to draw closer to You and to be sanctified by your Truth. We ask this in your Son’s precious name. Amen.
We are beginning Section C: What Are Justification and Sanctification?
And this is Lesson 9: Justification Declared
And this is Lesson 9: Justification Declared
We are all sinners. Not by birth or by inheritance or by bad luck, but by our own choices to do things our way instead of God's way, which is the only way for peace and happiness.
This means that all of us, no matter how cultured or educated we may be, we are guilty, condemned, lost sinners. It is only when we recognize this basic fact of life in a fallen world that we have any hope of anything better.
By our own choices we deserve to be excluded forever from the life that was originally planned for the human race. It is only when we realize our desperate situation that we will reach out to God for deliverance from our hopeless plight.
In the next four lessons we will explore God's solution to our very serious problem. God has provided a way out of our dilemma, and we want to be sure that we find and follow His remedy, rather than a humanly devised one that might make us feel good as we proceed on our merry way to destruction.
The Bible has warned us: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) So, let’s honestly assess our situation:
How many have sinned? Romans 3:23 tells us: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” All have sinned.
The Bible tells us in many ways that every human being is a sinner. All have sinned and justly deserve eternal separation from God, which means destruction (death). None of us can claim to be good or righteous, no matter how morally acceptable our lives may appear, because deep within our characters is the root of selfishness, which we have nurtured all our lives. We live for self, which is exactly the opposite of God's way.
Although our way feels right to our fallen nature, our way leads to self-destruction. The only comfort that we can take is that all of us are in the same predicament together. So now, we must ask ourselves:
What must I do to be saved? Acts 16:31 explains: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” We are saved by believing on Jesus."
Since we have no way to solve our problem on our own, God has provided a way out. He has made His solution clear and simple, so that no one is excluded from His solution because of a lack of education or money. Every human being, no matter what his or her circumstances may be, can turn to Jesus for their salvation.
If we believe that Jesus lived and died to save us, then we have taken the first step out of the hopeless situation in which we all find ourselves. Some people ask: Is there any other way to be saved? Acts 4:12 tells us: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (authority) under heaven given among men, whereby we must (can only) be saved.”
Salvation is possible only through the life and death of Jesus. The Bible is very exclusive about the way of salvation. Over and over again, the Bible says that only through God's provided way – the life and death of His Son – is salvation possible.
No human teacher, no philosophy, and no religion can save us. No matter how many millions may follow another way of salvation, there is no hope of escape unless we follow God's way. All other solutions to the problem of sin are dead-ends – leading only to destruction (death).
What about those who don't know about Jesus? Acts 17:30 explains: “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” God does not hold us responsible for what we do not know.
While the only way of salvation is the life and death of Jesus, God does not hold individual sinners responsible for the ignorance of their age or culture. He will take into account the circumstances of a person's life, especially regarding the light (truth) available to that person. We serve a very merciful and fair God.
If a person responds to God and obeys God with limited understanding of Him, Jesus' atoning blood will cover that person, as long as there is a sincere and complete yielding to God in response to the moral promptings of His Holy Spirit.
This brings us to the teaching of Justification. What is justification? Romans 4:6-8 tells us: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
Justification is forgiveness. Justification is righteousness imputed to us.
The first thing to understand about justification is that God forgives our sins. Since we can do nothing to change our past choices, God simply forgives or pardons us. He is able to do that because Christ paid the penalty for our sins. We are no longer guilty of our sins. This is the declarative aspect of justification.
To be justified is to be pardoned, to be acquitted, to be counted righteous. God declares us forgiven and pardoned, without us having to perform any works to earn our forgiveness. This is what the Bible teaches. Let’s consider an example:
How was Abraham justified? Romans 4:2-3 says: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
A braham was justified by believing God. Abraham was counted as righteous. Doing good works, even the best of works, does not provide or earn justification. Justification is a gift of God's grace, undeserved and unearned.
When we believe in God's promises and accept Christ's life and death for us, we are counted righteous. We are justified (forgiven) and declared to be righteous. After all, He just forgave us for the sins that made us guilty.
Why are we able to be saved? Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (given us life) together with Christ – by grace ye are saved.
Salvation is totally by God's grace. The only chance any of us have for salvation is the fact that God is love. Only because of His mercy and grace toward us do we have any hope of an escape from destruction.
No matter what we learn about justification and sanctification, we must never forget that salvation is by grace, totally undeserved and unmerited. We can cooperate with God's justification, but we can never contribute to our justification. Nothing we do can justify us.
What is the result of justification? Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God.
The great gift of justification provides for us what no good deeds or valiant effort can provide: Peace with God. Guilt is gone, fear is gone, uncertainty is gone. They are replaced by peace and joy, because we are counted righteous for Christ's sake.
Here is how the SDA Bible Commentary explains it: “Pardon (forgiveness) and justification are one and the same thing. Through faith, the believer passes from the position of a rebel, a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal subject of Christ Jesus, not because of an inherent goodness, but because...Christ receives him as His child by adoption. The grace of Christ is free to justify the sinner without merit or claim on his part. Justification is a full, complete pardon of sin. The moment a sinner accepts Christ by faith, that moment he is pardoned. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him, and he is no more to doubt God's forgiving grace.”
(SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1071)
Justification by faith is the most basic principle of the gospel. It is the bottom line of salvation. If we do not experience justification, we have no hope of salvation. Justification is adoption into the family of God. God declares me righteous.
This means that all of us, no matter how cultured or educated we may be, we are guilty, condemned, lost sinners. It is only when we recognize this basic fact of life in a fallen world that we have any hope of anything better.
By our own choices we deserve to be excluded forever from the life that was originally planned for the human race. It is only when we realize our desperate situation that we will reach out to God for deliverance from our hopeless plight.
In the next four lessons we will explore God's solution to our very serious problem. God has provided a way out of our dilemma, and we want to be sure that we find and follow His remedy, rather than a humanly devised one that might make us feel good as we proceed on our merry way to destruction.
The Bible has warned us: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) So, let’s honestly assess our situation:
How many have sinned? Romans 3:23 tells us: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” All have sinned.
The Bible tells us in many ways that every human being is a sinner. All have sinned and justly deserve eternal separation from God, which means destruction (death). None of us can claim to be good or righteous, no matter how morally acceptable our lives may appear, because deep within our characters is the root of selfishness, which we have nurtured all our lives. We live for self, which is exactly the opposite of God's way.
Although our way feels right to our fallen nature, our way leads to self-destruction. The only comfort that we can take is that all of us are in the same predicament together. So now, we must ask ourselves:
What must I do to be saved? Acts 16:31 explains: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” We are saved by believing on Jesus."
Since we have no way to solve our problem on our own, God has provided a way out. He has made His solution clear and simple, so that no one is excluded from His solution because of a lack of education or money. Every human being, no matter what his or her circumstances may be, can turn to Jesus for their salvation.
If we believe that Jesus lived and died to save us, then we have taken the first step out of the hopeless situation in which we all find ourselves. Some people ask: Is there any other way to be saved? Acts 4:12 tells us: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (authority) under heaven given among men, whereby we must (can only) be saved.”
Salvation is possible only through the life and death of Jesus. The Bible is very exclusive about the way of salvation. Over and over again, the Bible says that only through God's provided way – the life and death of His Son – is salvation possible.
No human teacher, no philosophy, and no religion can save us. No matter how many millions may follow another way of salvation, there is no hope of escape unless we follow God's way. All other solutions to the problem of sin are dead-ends – leading only to destruction (death).
What about those who don't know about Jesus? Acts 17:30 explains: “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” God does not hold us responsible for what we do not know.
While the only way of salvation is the life and death of Jesus, God does not hold individual sinners responsible for the ignorance of their age or culture. He will take into account the circumstances of a person's life, especially regarding the light (truth) available to that person. We serve a very merciful and fair God.
If a person responds to God and obeys God with limited understanding of Him, Jesus' atoning blood will cover that person, as long as there is a sincere and complete yielding to God in response to the moral promptings of His Holy Spirit.
This brings us to the teaching of Justification. What is justification? Romans 4:6-8 tells us: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
Justification is forgiveness. Justification is righteousness imputed to us.
The first thing to understand about justification is that God forgives our sins. Since we can do nothing to change our past choices, God simply forgives or pardons us. He is able to do that because Christ paid the penalty for our sins. We are no longer guilty of our sins. This is the declarative aspect of justification.
To be justified is to be pardoned, to be acquitted, to be counted righteous. God declares us forgiven and pardoned, without us having to perform any works to earn our forgiveness. This is what the Bible teaches. Let’s consider an example:
How was Abraham justified? Romans 4:2-3 says: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
A braham was justified by believing God. Abraham was counted as righteous. Doing good works, even the best of works, does not provide or earn justification. Justification is a gift of God's grace, undeserved and unearned.
When we believe in God's promises and accept Christ's life and death for us, we are counted righteous. We are justified (forgiven) and declared to be righteous. After all, He just forgave us for the sins that made us guilty.
Why are we able to be saved? Ephesians 2:4-5 tells us: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us (given us life) together with Christ – by grace ye are saved.
Salvation is totally by God's grace. The only chance any of us have for salvation is the fact that God is love. Only because of His mercy and grace toward us do we have any hope of an escape from destruction.
No matter what we learn about justification and sanctification, we must never forget that salvation is by grace, totally undeserved and unmerited. We can cooperate with God's justification, but we can never contribute to our justification. Nothing we do can justify us.
What is the result of justification? Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peace with God.
The great gift of justification provides for us what no good deeds or valiant effort can provide: Peace with God. Guilt is gone, fear is gone, uncertainty is gone. They are replaced by peace and joy, because we are counted righteous for Christ's sake.
Here is how the SDA Bible Commentary explains it: “Pardon (forgiveness) and justification are one and the same thing. Through faith, the believer passes from the position of a rebel, a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal subject of Christ Jesus, not because of an inherent goodness, but because...Christ receives him as His child by adoption. The grace of Christ is free to justify the sinner without merit or claim on his part. Justification is a full, complete pardon of sin. The moment a sinner accepts Christ by faith, that moment he is pardoned. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to him, and he is no more to doubt God's forgiving grace.”
(SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 6, p. 1071)
Justification by faith is the most basic principle of the gospel. It is the bottom line of salvation. If we do not experience justification, we have no hope of salvation. Justification is adoption into the family of God. God declares me righteous.
God declares you righteous when you believe and accept the life and death of His Son, Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins. Are you willing to take this first step for your salvation?
for the forgiveness of your sins. Are you willing to take this first step for your salvation?