Justification by Faith – Adult STS Lesson 232

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Romans 4:5 (Memory Verse)

Introduction

Apostle Paul, in the previous chapter, had argued that justification could neither be attained by the deeds of the law nor through circumcision of the flesh (Romans 3:20). If you missed it, read Adult STS Lesson 231: The Sinfulness of Mankind. In this study, he provides an analogy between the New Testament believer’s justification and Abraham’s experience in the Old Testament to show the basis of the believer’s justification through faith in Jesus Christ.

The words “justification” and “justify” are legal terms in Greek, which mean to acquit or vindicate someone who stands accused of a crime. It ascribes or imputes innocence or virtue to the person being accused. In the context of Scripture, justification is the act of God’s grace through which a sinner receives forgiveness and remission of sins and is counted righteous before God, through faith in the atoning blood of Jesus.

Having thus been cleared of every guilt of sin, the justified soul stands before God as though he had never sinned. This is not on the basis of any personal merit but in the light of what Christ had accomplished for mankind by His substitutionary death on the cross at Calvary (Psalm 32:1,2; Isaiah 1:18).

COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM AND HIS RESPONSE OF FAITH

Romans 4:1-22; Genesis 12:1,2; 15:6; Psalm 32:1,2; Genesis 15:1,2; Hebrews 11:8-10; Genesis 17:1,10; Galatians 3:17; 5:6

In assaying to show how a person may be counted righteous before God purely on the basis of faith, the apostle cites the case of Abraham as an example. “What shall we say then, that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God” (Romans 4:1,2).

He posits that Abraham obtained that high honour and privilege of being counted righteous before God, which others had failed to receive, by faith only. God had called him to leave his idolatrous kinsmen and come over “unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing” (Genesis 12:1,2). Abraham’s response to this call, and subsequently to whatever God told him, was in total belief (faith) in His ability to make good His promise.

At age seventy-five, Abraham was still childless when the word of God came to him saying, “This (Abraham’s servant) shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:4-6).

Abraham’s faith in God was, by God’s own sovereign will, taken or imputed to him for righteousness. The imputation of righteousness because of faith is purely an act of God’s grace. It pleased Him to count Abraham’s faith as righteousness and set a pattern for God’s dealing with man in Christ.

It thus becomes clear that Abraham’s righteousness before God (or justification) could not be the result of his being circumcised as the Jews wrongly assumed, because Abraham was counted just and righteous long before he was circumcised. His circumcision was only a sign or “seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised” (Romans 4:11).

Because of the Jews’ misconception about the place of circumcision in Abraham’s justification, they sought to exclude the Gentiles from the gracious benefits of the Abrahamic covenant of faith. Apostle Paul shows, on the basis of the Scripture, that neither the Jew nor the Gentile is justified by any merit of theirs. “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6).

“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (verse 8). The greatest blessing a sinner can receive is to be justified or acquitted by God. David, in one of his psalms (Psalm 32:1,2), described a justified man as truly blessed. He described such a man as one to “whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). That is to say that the sinner saved by grace attains righteousness which he does not merit; his “iniquities are forgiven” (Romans 4:7).

This describes the status of the justified man before God. He is as though he had never sinned because the record is no longer available against him. Though he had sinned before, God would no longer hold him guilty because his sins have been erased. This is justification which can only be attained by faith. It is not because of what a man does but a free gift. This was Abraham’s experience long before the law was given. In the same way, any repentant sinner is justified by faith in Christ Jesus.

“And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also” (Romans 4:11). Abraham was not justified because of circumcision; rather, the circumcision of the flesh was commanded after he had attained justification as a sign or seal of God’s covenant with him. He did not work for it; he simply believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. This is what the Scripture calls “the righteousness of faith” (verse 13).

The Scripture records many other men who walked with God by faith and it was also imputed unto them for righteousness (Hebrews 11). By faith, Abel obtained witness that he was righteous because he “offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4). Enoch “was translated that he should not see death… for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). He experienced the rapture in the Old Testament era. Noah “found grace in the eyes of the LORD… and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Genesis 6:8; Hebrews 11:7). “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not…” (Hebrews 11:31). Therefore, justification comes neither by works nor by circumcision but by faith in God’s promises.

CHRIST’S SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION

Romans 4:24,25; Isaiah 53:3-5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 3:20-26,28; Romans 5:1; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21

Apostle Paul aimed at showing why justification and acceptance with God could not be an exclusive preserve of the Jews. Abraham’s justification was neither the result of his circumcision nor of his obedience to the law of Moses, which was at the time non-existent. “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).

He proves that God could go outside the law of Moses to justify anyone as evidenced in the Scripture (the law and the prophets). What is necessary is “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference”, whether one is Jew or Gentile (Romans 3:20-22). The faith that saves is in Christ.

The world today, Jews and Gentiles alike, is guilty before God because “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). As sinners, we were all condemned to death, but the Paschal Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, came into the world to save us. He who had no sin was crucified at Calvary (1 John 3:5). He died a painful vicarious death. He “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:25).

God imputed unto us the righteousness of Christ just as our sins were imputed to Christ when He was on the cross. As it is written, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

What Christ Procured for Us Through His Death

• Forgiveness and full justification (Luke 23:33,34)
• Sanctification and holiness (Hebrews 13:12)
• Mansions in heaven (Luke 23:43)
• Healing and health (Isaiah 53:5)
• Deliverance from and defeat of principalities and powers (Colossians 2:14,15)
• Cancellation of every curse (Galatians 3:13)
• He made us kings and priests unto our God (Revelation 5:10)

No amount of works of so-called righteousness by ourselves could atone for our sins; neither would any self-inflicted pain purchase our justification. Only the blood of Jesus can make full and final settlement for the debts of sin we owed.

CHRISTIANS’ JUSTIFICATION BY OBEDIENCE OF FAITH

Romans 4:5,16,23-25; 3:20-25; 5:1,2; 10:4,9,10; Galatians 3:11; Romans 1:17; 1 John 3:6,8-10

“But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:24,25). The God of Abraham is the God of all flesh. He has made provision for all men who seek to inherit the blessings of Abraham to receive pardon, not through personal struggle. Our standing before God is not dependent upon personal merit, achievement, keeping of the laws and good works (Romans 4:5).

All sinners can be justified from the guilt and condemnation of sin. They can be transformed from the depths of defilement to become specimens of the grace that comes by faith. That grace enables the justified person to live a life of holiness and righteousness. God accepts only those who believe, not because of any good thing He sees in them; not even because of their ability to keep the law but solely on the basis of Christ’s righteousness reckoned to their account. It is this unmerited righteousness of God, imputed to man through Christ Jesus by faith that forms the basis for the Christian’s justification.

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16). Christ’s atonement on the cross guarantees universal provision of salvation for all. This could only be appropriated on personal basis through faith in Christ. The sinner who seeks salvation must take the necessary step of exercising faith in the blood of Jesus. Such must confess and repent of their sins and accept Christ Jesus as personal Lord and Saviour.

Having been saved through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the redeemed soul should have evidence to show after justification. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Before being justified, the sinner was plagued by such works of the flesh as adultery, fornication, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, etc. (Galatians 5:19-21). After justification, he/she becomes born of the Spirit; the new life is now characterised by the fruit of the Spirit, namely: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness; faith, meekness, goodness and temperance (Galatians 5:22,23). They become more like Christ in lifestyle, speech, conduct and disposition.

Obedience to the word of God comes naturally by faith, not by mechanical works. The new-born believer becomes a partaker of a new nature. The Lord says, “…I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10). A saved soul does not continue in sin.

David referred to this state of the new man as a state of blessedness. He says, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile” (Psalm 32:1,2). It is this blessed state of mind that produces the unspeakable peace and joy in the heart of a new creature. Through the imputed righteousness, the new believer becomes naturally disposed to obeying the requirements of the moral law which is now written in the heart. He puts on the righteousness of God which reflects in good works.

Christians must cherish and guard jealously this great experience of salvation. They must appreciate its cost and totally yield themselves to live for Christ all the days of their pilgrimage on earth. Sinners on the other hand must stretch their hand of faith and receive the gift of salvation in Christ Jesus.

Questions for Review

1. What is justification by faith?
2. From our text, how did David describe the sinner who has now been justified by faith?
3. How is Abraham’s experience of justification different from circumcision of the flesh?
4. Mention other Bible figures who demonstrated faith for justification.
5. State some of the benefits of justification in Christ.
6. What is the basis for Christian justification by faith?
7. How can we know that a sinner has been justified?