The Critical Nature of Having A Right Focus on Justification by Faith

I Timothy 1:10-11
“And whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel …” (ESV)

The above Scriptures given by Paul underscore the importance of sound doctrine being aligned with the gospel of the glory of God.

Recently I sat listening to a few different messages presented by three different speakers. Attempting to be open and desiring to be edified in the faith I settled into the presentations. As I carefully listened to the presentations it begin to dawn on me that although I was listening to Christian themes I realized the gospel at its core was increasingly absent. I moved from being puzzled to becoming concerned? Not wanting to be critical I acknowledged that the teachers were excellent presenters and good speakers. I believed them to be sincere teachers and conveyed a desire to express their convictions based on what they believed the Bible was teaching. Scriptures and biblically sounding ideas were talked about, but there became an increasing disconnect related to the quoting of the passages and the context in which they appeared. Further, there was no connection to the related themes being presented and at other times the passages were taken from their immediate context.

I share this experience because I believe it is important to point out that one could actually be listening to Christian themes preached or taught and not hear the gospel. In fact, it is extremely likely, given today’s evangelical culture, to think you are hearing the gospel because you are listening to Christian themes but indeed it is absent. Words like justification and sanctification can even be the terms discussed while those using them have no idea of their true biblical meaning or how they are applied in the Scriptures that are referenced.

The term justification used in the New Testament is a prime example. One of the speakers stated that justification was being made righteous, which is not the truth. This statement is not even true when we add “made righteous before God” if we understand this righteousness to be something we become rather than to be residing “in Christ.” A big difference is related here. It is possible he may have not spoken in the way he intended and meant to say that “justification means being made right with God in that we are pardoned and forgiven for our sin based on the righteousness of Christ,” which is the truth. In this case there is a huge difference between the two phrases, but as the message continued he reinforced his previous statement in the way he talked about justification. The message came across basically as, through justification we are made righteous and now in sanctification (the process of growing in holiness) it is up to us to live in righteousness by making the right decisions. This might be a slight over simplification on my part of what was being taught, but not a misrepresentation. In other words, the speaker went on to basically say, God gives us initial righteousness (through Christ) and it is up us to maintain it as well as grow in it. However, is this the teaching of the New Testament or even the gospel? Not completely and one might say not even close. As stated above sound doctrine must conform to the gospel (I Timothy 1:10-11).

Justification – The Grand Doctrine of them All!

At its root the biblical idea of justification (Romans 3:21-27) is “to declare righteous” not to be made righteous. In fact the term justification is a legal term meaning “to declare.” Again, there is a huge difference.

Justification is based on the righteousness of God obtained through Christ, and herein lays the key phrase from Paul, “through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.” If we move off this foundation we wander into the self-deception that we are righteous and even doing a good job of maintaining it. In this idea the righteousness of Christ is devalued and we become in danger of being deluded by self-righteousness. We start acting like we can really do this apart from grace and God’s gift. The true nature of the gospel is hidden and Christianity is reduced to moralistic pursuits. This is not only not justification it is not even “good news.”

The Reformer of the city of Strasbourg Martin Bucer in the Reformation remarking on the dangers of doing violence to the biblical doctrine of justification and distorting it by self-righteousness stated, “Even the demands of the gospel are unobtainable unless we trust the promises of Christ and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. In other words, not only can we not do the Law of the Old Testament right, we cannot even do the commands of the New Covenant. This might shock us, but Bucer got it right. When we fail or sin, and all of us well, we must trust. We trust in that Christ’s righteousness covers our failure and sin. We gain strength by grace to repent, turn from sin and continue forward knowing we are established on the foundation of justification by faith and what Luther referred to as an alien (outside ourselves) righteousness. Bucer or Luther did not mean obedience is not possible, but can only be accomplished through grace and a right understanding justification, based on faith, which hold us and does not let us go. This means when you sin you do not fall out of salvation or lapse back into being under the old Adam. You are in Christ and need to have faith (trust) in him.

Why is this Important?

Focusing on the biblical doctrine of justification has everything to do with the outworking of the Christian message in our culture and the building of the church. When it comes to the gospel in our culture if we give sinners the impression that if you join us we will make you a better and perfect person the gospel is obscured and true righteousness is diminished. At this point peoples focus is off the glory of Christ and set instead on how they are doing in their movement toward human perfection. This does damage also to the grace needed to make real progress in sanctification. When it comes to the church we will become in danger of being a people extending less and less grace to others in a false pursuit of creating our protected community and families.

This final point about the church is expressed by the great Lutheran theologian Francis Pieper (1953) who stated, “The doctrine of the Church is of such a nature that if a person erred earlier, all his doctrinal errors will reappear in his teaching concerning the Church. Since membership in the Christian Church is established solely by faith in Christ, the Scriptural doctrine of the Church presupposes a correct understanding of justification by faith …” A-men.

Gary L. Finkbeiner