| Back to Home Page | Back to
Book Index |
Justification
Justification
Merlin Carothers
author of the book
Prison to Praise
had firsthand experience of what it is like to be declared
righteous. During World War II
he joined the army. Anxious to get into some
action
Carothers went AWOL
but was caught and sentenced to five years in
prison. Instead of sending him to prison
the judge told him he could serve his
term by staying in the army for five years. The judge told him if he left the
army before the five years ended
he would have to spend the rest of his term
in prison. Carothers was released from the army before the five-year term had
passed
so he returned to the prosecutor’s office to find out where he would be
spending the remainder of his sentence. To his surprise and delight
Carothers
was told that he had received a full pardon from President Truman. The
prosecutor explained: “That means your record is completely clear. Just as if
you had never gotten involved with the law. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Believers’ Righteousness
If we look through a piece of red
glass
everything is red. If we look through a piece of blue glass
everything
is blue. If we look through a piece of yellow glass
everything is yellow
and
so on.
When we believe in Jesus Christ as our
Savior
God looks at us through the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees us in all the
white holiness of his Son. Our sins are imputed to the account of Christ and
his righteousness to our account. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Believers’ Righteousness
The Chinese character for
“righteousness is most interesting. It is composed of two separate
characters-one standing for a lamb
the other for me. When “lamb is placed
directly above “me”
anew character-“righteousness” is formed.
This is a helpful picture of the grace
of God. Between me
the sinner
and God
the Holy One
there is interposed by
faith the Lamb of God. By virtue of his sacrifice
he has received me on the
ground of faith
and I have become righteous in his sight. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Personal Righteousness
Blackmailers once sent C.H. Spurgeon a
letter to the effect that if he did not place a certain amount of money in a
certain place at a certain time
they would publish some things in the
newspapers that would defame him and ruin his public ministry. Spurgeon left at
that station a letter in reply: “You and your like are requested to publish all
you know about me across the heavens.” He knew his life was blameless in the
eyes of men and
therefore
they could not touch his character. ──
Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Quest for Righteousness
He who would gain righteousness by
faith and works is as the dog who runs along a stream with a piece of meat in
his mouth
and
deceived by the reflection of the meat in the water
opens his
mouth to snap at it
and so loses both the meat and the reflection.— Martin
Luther
My friend Dr. Roy
Gustafson has the finest illustration of justification I have ever heard. It
seems that there was a man in England who put his Rolls-Royce on a boat and
went across to the continent to go on a holiday. While he was driving around
Europe
something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce
people back in England and asked
"I'm having trouble with my car; what do
you suggest I do?" Well
the Rolls-Royce people flew a mechanic over! The
mechanic repaired the car and flew back to England and left the man to continue
his holiday. As you can imagine
the fellow was wondering
"How much is
this going to cost me?" So when he got back to England
he wrote the
people a letter and asked how much he owed them. He received a letter from the
office that read: "Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that
anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce." That is justification.
Did Christ finish His
work? How dangerous it is to join anything of our own to the righteousness of
Christ
in pursuit of justification before God! Jesus Christ will never endure
this; it reflects upon His work dishonorably. He will be all
or none
in our
justification. If He has finished the work
what need is there of our
additions? And if not
to what purpose are they? Can we finish that which
Christ Himself could not complete? Did He finish the work
and will He ever
divide the glory and praise of it with us? No
no; Christ is no half-Savior. It
is a hard thing to bring proud hearts to rest upon Christ for righteousness.
God humbles the proud by calling sinners wholly from their own righteousness to
Christ for their justification.
John Flavel.
"The question is
asked: How can justification take place without the works of the law
even
though James says: 'Faith without works is dead'? In answer
the apostle
distinguishes between the law and faith
the letter and grace. The 'works of
the law' are works done without faith and grace
by the law
which forces them
to be done through fear or the enticing promise of temporal advantages. But
'works of faith' are those done in the spirit of liberty
purely out of love to
God. And they can be done only by those who are justified by faith.
"An ape can cleverly
imitate the actions of humans. But he is not therefore
a human. If he became a
human
it would undoubtedly be not by virtue of the works by which he imitated
man but by virtue of something else; namely
by an act of God. Then
having
been made a human
he would perform the works of humans in proper fashion.
"Paul does not say
that faith is without its characteristic works
but that it justifies without
the works of the law. Therefore justification does not require the works of the
law; but it does require a living faith
which performs its works."
Martin Luther.
I do not come because my
soul is free from sin and pure and whole and worthy of Thy grace;
I do not speak to Thee because I've ever justly kept Thy laws and dare to meet
Thy face.
I know that sin and guilt combine to reign o'er every thought of mine and turn
from good to ill;
I know that when I try to be upright and just and true to Thee
I am a sinner
still.
I know that often when I strive to keep a spark of love alive for Thee
the
powers within
Leap up in unsubmissive might and oft benumb my sense of right and pull me back
to sin.
I know that though in doing good I spend my life
I never could atone for all
I've done;
But though my sins are black as night
I dare to come before Thy sight because
I trust Thy Son.
In Him alone my trust I place
come boldly to Thy throne of grace
and there
commune with Thee.
Salvation sure
O Lord
is mine
and
all unworthy
I am Thine
for Jesus died
for me.
Martin Luther.
What is justification? It
is the declared purpose of God to regard and treat those sinners who believe in
Jesus Christ as if they had not sinned
on the ground of the merits of the
Savior. It is not mere pardon. Pardon is a free forgiveness of past offenses.
It has reference to those sins as forgiven and blotted out. Justification has
respect to the law
and to God's future dealings with the sinner. It is an act
by which God determines to treat him hereafter as righteous--as if he had not
sinned. The basis for this is the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ
merit that we
can plead as if it were our own. He has taken our place and died in our stead;
He has met the descending stroke of justice
which would have fallen on our own
heads if He had not interposed.
Albert Barnes.
JUSTIFICATION.
Ⅰ.
Self-judgment is its fore-runner. “ This man went down to his house justified”
(Luke 18:14)。
Ⅱ. God is its
Author. “God that justifieth “(Rom.8:33).
Ⅲ. Grace is its
Spring. “Justified freely by His grace”(Romans 3:24).
Ⅳ. Blood of
Christ is its Purchaser. “Justified freely by His blood”(Romans 5:9)
Ⅴ.The
resurrection is its Proclaimer. “Raised again for our justification”(Rom. 4:25)
Ⅵ.Faith is its
Accepter. “Being justified by faith” (Rom.5:1)
Ⅶ. Union is its
Confirmation.”He that is dead is freed ( margin
justified )from sin”(Rom.6:7)
Ⅷ. The Holy
Spirit is its Effector .”Justified…. by the Spirit”(1.Cor.6:2)
Ⅸ. All things
arc in its Scope . “ justified from all things” (Acts 13:39)
Ⅹ. Works are
its Evidence. “By works a man is justified” (James 2:24)
── F.E. Marsh《Five Hundred Bible Readings》