The Gospel According to Galatians
Scripture Text: Galatians Chapter 2
Justification by Faith Alone in
Christ Alone
Rev.
Happy 489th
Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation!
Remember:
“Christ will do all for you, or nothing for
you.”
–J.
This month is
the 489th anniversary of the Reformation of the Sixteenth
century. Has the Church today forgotten
the truth of justification by faith alone that God in his grace allowed his
people to fully recover and boldly preach in the Reformation? Do Christians
today even know what the biblical importance of the Reformation was all about?
Do Christians today care?
Beating a Doctrine into Our Heads?
In the next two
studies, we want to consider the important doctrine of Justification by faith
alone. In part one, we will consider
Paul’s doctrine in the context of Galatians 2, and then we will look at the doctrine
from more of a theological point of view derived from Scripture, exegesis, and
the Church’s historical and faithful reflection on this important doctrine in
part two.
Justification by faith alone in Christ alone is the heart or truth
of the gospel;
it is what makes the “good news” so good!
Martin Luther wrote this about justification by faith
alone in his Commentary on Galatians: “[Justification] is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal
article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness
consists. Most necessary it is,
therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and
beat it into our heads continually.”- pg. 101 (quoted in
Stott).
There is no greater truth of
Scripture which all people need to understand and know than the Biblical
teaching of justification by faith alone.
Yet many in today’s churches, even in Bible-believing, evangelical
churches, have a difficulty defining the gospel.
For many evangelicals today,
the Reformation is “old news” not necessarily “good news”! We live in a time when Bible believing,
evangelical churches have all but forgotten their great heritage!
What the Holy Spirit is
doing in the present “today” has been unnecessarily and disrespectfully placed
in a tension with what the Holy Spirit has been doing in building up and
teaching the Church in the past! You may
ask:
Why
are many evangelicals today simply not interested in the work of God’s Spirit
in the Reformation where the doctrine of justification by faith alone was
recovered by God’s grace?
Professor Gary Johnson
writes and tries to answer this question: “The Protestant Reformation was…first
and foremost, a theological revolution. The present-day evangelical attitude
toward the place and importance of theology in the life of the church is a
major reason why the Reformation has been eclipsed in the evangelical church.
Theology is either considered a necessary evil or something that is,
practically speaking, irrelevant to the concerns of ministry and church
growth.” Quoted in ‘Whatever Happened to
the Reformation?’,
edited by Johnson and White.
Dr. Michael Horton comments
on this eclipse of the Reformation and its teachings in evangelicalism by
pointing out that in many ways evangelicals are more influenced by the ‘spirit
of the age’ rather than by the Spirit of God:
“This eclipse [of the teaching of the Reformation, particularly justification by faith alone in Christ alone] is tragic not because it represents a break with a ‘golden age’ that we recall with sentimental nostalgia. Rather, it concerns us because it indicates a break with the authority, sufficiency, and in many respects even the content of Scripture – gains that were made by the Reformation at enormous cost. Like the prodigal son, the evangelical movement has preferred the excitement of the culture to the privileged life of an heir in the Father’s house. It is not difficult to discern that our churches by and large are increasingly less shaped by Scripture than by the managerial, pragmatic, marketing, entertainment, therapeutic, and technological values of our day.” Quoted in ‘Whatever Happened to the Reformation?’, edited by Johnson and White.
We
truly need to heed Martin Luther’s words and to beat this important doctrine
into our heads continually!
The doctrine of
Justification by Faith Alone was called the hinge on which true religion
turns. The doctrine of justification by
faith alone is the door that opens up (or closes!) for us a right standing
before God. Calvin wrote:
“[Justification by faith
alone] is the main hinge on which religion turns, so that we devote the greater
and attention and care to it. For unless you first of all grasp what your
relationship to God is, and the nature of his judgment concerning you, you have
neither a foundation on which to establish your salvation, nor one on which to
grow in grace and piety toward God.” (Institutes
of the Christian Religion, 3.11.1)
For Martin Luther the
doctrine of justification was literally and seriously the foundational doctrine
upon which the Church stands or falls!
Justification by faith alone
is the truth of the gospel that the Apostle Paul explains clearly in Galatians
3 and Romans 4, and we need to make sure that we fully understand it.
It
is upon this teaching of justification by faith alone, that the whole Christian
life is built!
Test yourself! What is the
meaning of justification by faith alone? (Take a moment to answer this for
yourself before continuing to read). Do you know how to answer this question?
Asking this question is as important as asking ‘How can a person be right with
God?’ In fact, the answer to the first
question is the true answer to the second question.
Justification by faith alone
does NOT mean “to justify one’s sins before God”- -whatever that means! It does NOT mean “clean oneself up and work
hard to do well by going to church and being nice to people and God will reward
you by justifying you!” To be justified does not mean to cooperate by faith
with God, by attempting to do works of the law.
What justification by faith
means is that when we believe upon Jesus Christ by faith alone, his perfect
merits and works that he earned by loving God with all his heart, soul, mind
and strength, are given to us!
God
declares sinners righteous based on Christ’s works alone!
Salvation
is by works - -but not the works of sinful man (John 3:11-13; Rom. 3:23; 6:23)…
…Salvation
is by the works of Christ alone!
I realize that justification
can be a difficult teaching of the Bible to understand. Some think if Paul pushes grace alone apart
from any works, it might produce people who trust in heaven, but live like
hell. To many, justification by faith
alone sounds like “Let us keep on sinning so that grace may increase.”
But this is an incorrect
understanding of Paul’s gospel, and we must do what we can to understand it to
the best of our ability because this doctrine of justification by faith alone
in Christ alone is the heart of the gospel.
W. Robert Godfrey has written on how the doctrine can be difficult and
misunderstood by some when justification by faith alone is preached:
“If Paul in his own day was
not always understood by his own churches on the doctrine of justification, we
should perhaps not be surprised that the churches since that time have so often
failed to get it. The true doctrine of
justification always strikes some as antinomian, even though it is not. Paul must often have faced the question:
‘Shall
we go on sinning so that grace may increase?’ (Rom. 6:1). A doctrine of justification that does not
from time to time evoke that question is not the biblical doctrine of
justification.”- Quoted in ‘The Pattern of Sound Doctrine’, edited by VanDrunen,
pg. 129.
Although it can be somewhat
misunderstood, it is imperative for Christians that we understand this teaching
because this is the heart of the gospel!
The good news (and what makes the news really good!) is that in the
Person and Work of Jesus Christ in his perfect life, substitutionary death,
resurrection, and ascension, we are justified, or declared righteous before God
based on what Christ has done for us!
Salvation is not, and never has been by
the works of man! Even our best works
are unacceptable before a Holy God.
Jesus Christ’s works for us in his life, death, resurrection and
ascension become our perfect works before God in our justification.
We are justified before God, or declared righteous,
because in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, he was justified, or vindicated
as righteous before the whole world, so that all those who believe in him would
be vindicated or justified before God!
The Apostle Paul
writes in Romans 4:
ESV Romans 4:23-25: But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his
sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe
in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered
up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Faith was “counted” or
reckoned to Abraham for believing God.
Abraham was declared righteous by God, and we are declared righteous by
God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.
“Christ will
do all for you, or nothing for you.”
–J.
Justification by Faith Alone “in
Context”: Galatians 2
What was the
context in Galatians 2 where the Apostle Paul first teaches this important
doctrine in the Epistle to the Galatians?
Let us read
Galatians 2 for the context
ESV Galatians 2:1-14: Then after fourteen years I went up again to
Judaizers and Circumcision
The Judaizers were
teaching the Churches of Galatian that all Greeks ought to be circumcised
according to Law ‘and’ believe in Jesus in order to be **fully** Christian (an
early proto-“full gospel movement”!). Paul calls the Judaizers “false
brothers” who slipped in to spy out the freedom the churches had in Jesus
Christ, with the purpose of bringing them back into slavery.
Yet because of false brothers secretly
brought in- who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus,
so that they might bring us into slavery- 5 to them we did not yield
in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be
preserved for you.- Galatians 2:4-5
Paul was bold in
the face of this opposition and possible persecution, and Titus stood bravely
with him by not being circumcised “though he was a Greek”.
Paul wrote:
ESV Galatians 2:3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not
forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.
So Paul was
being brave, courageous and understanding what he would later tell Timothy:
“God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind
(2 Tim. 1:7).
Augustine wrote
concerning Titus: “It was because of the intrigues of false brethren that Titus
was not compelled to be circumcised. It was not possible to require
circumcision of him. Those who had crept in to spy on their liberty had a
vehement expectation and desire for the circumcision of Titus. They wanted,
with Paul’s testimony and consent, to preach circumcision as necessary to
salvation.”-Augustine, Epistle to the
Galatians II, IB.2.3-5.
Now, the reason Paul
opposed Peter publicly here in this passage is because although he knew Peter
affirmed that the Gentiles should not be circumcised, Peter was afraid or
fearful of speaking up (according to Paul’s earlier meetings with Peter, and
perhaps to the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15).
Peter had
received the same gospel as Paul from the Lord Jesus (cf. Gal. 2:16: “We
know…”), but he was not walking in the truth of this gospel; he was
“play-acting” or being the hypocrite.
Paul had
apparently previously spoken to Peter about his hypocrisy or fear prior to this
event because he would have taken seriously the teaching of Jesus on how to
approach, rebuke, and/or correct a brother and elder who is in sin (cf.
Matthew 18). The public sin of Peter
could have also been a reason to publicly rebuke him.
We must
understand that Peter was not adding something to the gospel, or approving of
what the Judaizers were teaching the Galatian churches, but neither
was he polemically and vigorously opposing them! Why? Because
apparently he was scared that his reputation might be tarnished like the
Apostle Paul’s among the Jews or the circumcision party.
This was NOT Peter’s teaching or doctrine, but he was fearful of
standing up to those who were part of the “circumcision party”.
Paul was brave, and Peter was cowardly (again!?).
ESV Galatians 2:12-13: For before certain men came from James,
he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and
separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And
the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas
was led astray by their hypocrisy.
“The
circumcision” would normally refer to the Jews (see Romans 2), but more
specifically here “the circumcision party” within the churches at
The Judaizers
were a forceful party and as Galatians 2:12 says, Peter was scared of
them. We do not know why he feared. Perhaps he was frightened of losing his reputation
with some of his kin folk, or losing honor in the Jewish eyes, or perhaps some
were friendships he wanted to keep, or maybe he thought Paul had taken his
theology a bit too far? Whatever it was,
we are only told that he feared them (Unfortunately, this sounds a lot like
some ministers of the gospel today!)
Peter was the
“Apostle to the Circumcision” as Paul was the “Apostle to the Uncircumcised”
and this position was important to set the right example to the people of God,
particularly the babes in Christ, the new believers at these churches. It
seems that Peter eventually learned this truth by God’s grace, because he
writes to other elders later in his life:
ESV 1 Peter 5:1-6: So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of
the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to
be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you,
exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have
you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over
those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And
when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all
of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but
gives grace to the humble." 6 Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…
Peter’s position
as “Apostle to the Circumcision” placed him in a position of influence, and we
see that Barnabas who helped Paul establish the churches had begun to “play
act” or to be a hypocrite also by not eating with the Gentiles, and withdrawing
because of fear of the Judaizers.
Paul is
**consistent** with his attitude toward the Judaizers in response to this
hypocrisy, rebukes Peter to his face and splashes the scalding water of the law
in Peter’s face in order to shake him from his hypocritical slumbers. Paul then masterfully declares the good news
of the gospel to Peter!
Galatians 2:14-19 is a fascinating Pauline passage for its balance
of law and gospel: the law threatens and condemns, and the good news of the
gospel of justification by faith alone in Christ holds out hope!
ESV Galatians 2:14-19: But when I saw that their conduct was not
in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all,
"If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you
force the Gentiles to live like Jews?"
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not
Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of
the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ
Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,
because by works of the law no one will be justified. 17 But
if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners,
is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild
what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For
through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.
Paul rebukes and
reminds Peter that he lives in all the freedom of a Gentile (not under Mosaic Law)
now that he is a Christian (Peter understands theoretically that there is
“neither Jew nor Gentile, but all are one in Jesus” because he was taught this
by the Lord himself).
Yet because of
fear, he sees the powerful party of the circumcision, and realizes that they
not only require for Gentiles to undergo circumcision, but that they also have
Mosaic dietary laws they must following (read: kosher) in order to partake in a
meal.
Peter goes
through the cafeteria line, comes out into the dining hall at Antioch and sees
the stern looks of the Judaizers to the left of the kitchen enjoying their
Mosaic dietary requirements, not “saving places” for any Gentiles unless they
will eat the Old Covenant way (and of course, if you sit at their table, you
better be circumcised!).
Peter decides
that he will eat with them because he fears the persecution of the Judaizers if
he sits to the right with the Gentiles at their table (OK, ‘one in Christ sometimes!’).
Peter thinks:
“Well, I’m not endorsing what the Judaizers believe; I just want peace, and not
doctrinal conflict.” And then others follow him in his bad example (including
the leaders and church planters of these congregations!!), and this implicitly
undermines the Apostle Paul’s authority because he is taking a stand against this
false teaching and calling it “another gospel”, and so he rebukes or ‘opposes’ Peter
publicly for this- -just because the gospel “IS” at stake (anthistemi, Gk.- oppose, withstand
forcefully; cf. 2 Tim. 3:8; 4:15).
Paul says in
essence to Peter: “Peter, you’re born and bred a Jew, not a “Gentile sinner”,
and you have found freedom in Christ not under law, so why are you suggesting
the Gentiles become Jews under Law when you yourself fully know and understand
the bondage that we were under? Although
the Law is good, holy, and righteous, it was powerless to change sinners,
because it was weakened by the flesh! (Note: “Gentile sinner” was a term used
for non-Jews who did not have God’s Law to teach them, as in the Gospels where
“tax collectors and sinners” are designated as a specific group not under the
Mosaic Law as a tutor)…”
Paul goes on to
say to Peter: “Even though you know that all people are declared righteous
before God based on grace and nothing else, whether they are Jew or Gentile
sinner (whether they are born under the revelation of Mosaic Law, or whether
they are born “strangers to the covenant”, outside the revelation of Mosaic
Law, cf. Eph. 2:11ff). Peter, you know the
Law condemns all, and so the only hope of any person, whether Jew of Gentile,
is found in the gospel- -not the Law.”
As Paul writes in more detail in Romans 2-3:
Romans
2:25-29: For circumcision indeed is of
value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes
uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps
the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as
circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps
the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break
the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is
circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and
circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His
praise is not from man but from God…..
Romans
3:9-10, 19-24: What then? Are we
Jews any better off? No, not at all. For
we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10
as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God….
…Now we know that whatever the
law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be
stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For
by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since
through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the
righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law
and the Prophets bear witness to it- 22 the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus…
The good news of
the gospel is:
ESV Romans
8:3-4: For God has
done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the
flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to
the Spirit.
We are justified,
or declared righteous based on Christ and his righteousness alone- -plus
nothing, so let us all partake and eat together as Jews and Gentiles, united to
Jesus Christ by faith as children of the living God, heirs of the inheritance
to Father Abraham, and the True Israel of God (Gal.. 3:26-:4:7; 6:16).
As Paul writes
in Ephesians 2, the dividing wall or partition of hostility between Jew and
Gentile had been broken down by faith in Christ alone; he was not going to
rebuild that “Law wall” (cf. Galatians 2:17-19).
Ephesians 2:11-16: Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in
the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the
circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands- 12 remember that
you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of
Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far
off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For
he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his
flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of
commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in
place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to
God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
Summary of
Peter’s predicament and Paul’s passionate response:
1) Peter was fearful of standing up for the
gospel (“peace over doctrinal conflict”).
2) Peter’s hypocrisy was influencing other
brothers (because of his great prominence and importance), including Barnabas.
3) Paul rebukes Peter because the truth of
the gospel is Justification by Christ
alone!
Perhaps you can
ask yourself: “How far are you willing to go to defend, believe, and live
the gospel against threats, persecution, loss of reputation, or your
very life?” There is a time to speak for
the truth of the gospel. There is a time
when silence is a sin because we are NOT speaking the truth in love when we
hear the gospel taught improperly.
Paul is rebuking
Peter severely for acting like he believes in the gospel of Christ plus
nothing, and acting a different way in the face of persecution, slander, or
tough times! Both Jews and Gentiles are
one in Christ Jesus, and both are saved by faith alone in Christ alone!
A Brief Note on the New Perspective on
Paul
It
is important to note against the teaching today on the New Perspective on Paul
that the issue in Galatians 2 is an ecclesiastical situation, but it is foundationally
a soteriological problem. The NPP
teaches concerning this passage that the issue is unity in Jesus Christ for
Jews and Gentiles, and so their main emphasis is on this passage as an
ecclesiastical-ecclesiological issue.
It
is true that part of the passage does indeed address the
ecclesiastical-ecclesiological importance of Jews and Gentiles being one in
Jesus Christ. But the soteriological
issue at stake, namely justification by faith alone is the foundation of this
passage, and thus the basis for any unity in Jesus Christ. Contrary to what the NPP thinks about the
Reformation getting Paul wrong, we can be absolutely confident that the
Reformers did indeed get Paul “right” (not “Wright” as in N. T.).
The
context of Galatians 2:11-21 teaches us that there should be an
ecclesiastical-ecclesiological unity between all Jews and Gentiles “in Christ”,
but the point of the passage is that justification is by faith alone in Christ
alone, and the foundational issue is one of soteriology.
We
should not think we must eclipse justification by faith alone (the
soteriological issue) by the importance of the unity of Jews and Gentiles in
Jesus Christ (the ecclesiastical-ecclesiological issue). The latter is grounded in the former. You cannot have ecclesiastical-ecclesiological
unity in anything other than the gospel of Jesus Christ and his righteousness
alone!
Note: For more reading on this, I highly
recommend Dr. Guy Prentiss Waters’ book Justification
and the New Perspective on Paul: A Review and Response,
especially chapter eight!
Titus and Timothy: “For the Gospel’s Sake!”
There is one
important note that we need to understand, so as to appreciate Paul’s wisdom
with regard to Titus and Timothy, and not think that Paul was somehow
inconsistent because he did not circumcise Titus (Gal. 2:3), but did circumcise
Timothy (Acts 16). Paul did indeed have
Timothy circumcised in Acts 16:3 (whose mother was Jewish, so he was
half-Jewish).
ESV Acts 16:1-3: Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A
disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a
believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the
brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany
him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those
places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
Unlike the
Judaizer situation in the
Paul circumcised
Timothy for more of a cultural reason in order to proclaim the gospel (that
required nothing added to it, but the Jewish people who had not heard the
gospel still lived, moved and had their being in an Old Covenant context or
milieu).
Paul here was
not being inconsistent because it was not considered a way to be righteous
before God, but to enter into the Old Covenant milieu of the Jews through the
preaching of God’s grace by a half-Jew. Paul insists in Gal. 5-6 that
circumcision or uncircumcision counts for anything with regards to salvation,
so we know clearly where Paul stood on this matter!
Let me put it
this way for contrast: the situation at
In contrast to
this situation in
By circumcising
Timothy, Paul was accommodating to the redemptive-historical milieu in which
these people lived in order for them to know a radical shift had indeed
occurred with the coming of Christ and circumcision was just merely a sign that
pointed to a greater reality in the gospel and the coming of Christ- -the very
circumcision of Christ- - made without hands, on the cross.
In him also you
were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the
body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ… (Colossians 2:11ff)
ESV Colossians 2:11-16: In
him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by
putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in
baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful
working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, who were
dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive
together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by
canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This
he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and
authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Galatians 2:14-16:
Justification by Faith Alone
So what is the
gospel that Paul reminds Peter and the others at
14 But when I saw that their conduct was not
in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them
all, "If you, though a Jew, live
like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like
Jews?"
15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and
not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified
by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed
in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works
of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
In our passage in Galatians
1:16, Paul uses the verb dikaioo
(Gk.) “justified” in the passive, third person singular verb form.
Pastor
John Stott in his Commentary on Galatians writes about the word “justified”:
“In these verses an important word occurs for the first time in Galatians. It
is central to the message of the Epistle, central to the gospel preached by Paul, and indeed central to Christianity itself. Nobody
has understood Christianity who does not understand this word (emphasis mine,
pg. 58).
In an effort to better
understand this word, let us look at the word in verb
and noun form.
Verb: “To Justify” (v. 16, 3x)- The verb dikaoo, or “to justify” means to be considered,
declared, or reckoned as righteous (cf. Romans 4).
The
passive verb form of “justified” is also used by Luke in Acts 13:38-39 in a
summary of the gospel found in Christ alone apart from the Mosaic Law, and later in Paul’s letter to the Galatians in 3:11:
ESV Acts
13:38 Let it be known to you
therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to
you, and by him everyone who believes is freed (“Justified”) from everything 39
from
which you could not be freed (“Justified”) by the law of Moses (I am
not sure why the ESV translators translated the passive “justified” to “freed”
but the word “freed” here in the ESV is “justified” in the Greek). The ASV translates the word more accurately:
ASV Acts
13:39 …and by him every one that
believeth is justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by
the law of Moses.
ESV Galatians
3:11 Now it is evident that no one
is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by
faith."
In
all of the passages above, justified is in the passive. Lutheran scholar and theologian R. C. H.
Lenski in his superb commentary on Galatians wrote: “The passive dikaioutai (passive form of dikaioo) has God as the agent. The verb,
the noun, and the adjective are always forensic; so are the opposites; so are
the synonyms, in Hebrew, in Greek, in the Old Testament, in the Apocrypha, in
the New Testament. The sense is, “to declare righteous” and never, “to make righteous.”
Lenski continues: “This is the sense in even secular statements. Always a judge is involved who pronounces a verdict. When the judge is God, the verdict establishes a relation to God and to his judgment, to his…norm of right…the passive is to be understood… ‘to be pronounced righteous,’ and is never converted into the middle ‘to become righteous.’ ”- Lenski, Galatians, pg. 105 (more on the forensic aspect below in our study).
Noun: “Justification” (v. 21)- Righteousness from
God given by faith in Christ (cf. Romans 1:16-17), and thus a righteous person. This is a right standing before God based and
being justified.
To
be justified before God is to be counted, declared, or reckoned as really and
truly righteous, because a righteousness from God has
been received by faith alone in Christ alone!
In
the gospel, a righteousness of God is revealed in Christ alone. We receive his righteousness as our own, and
we stand declared, reckoned, or counted as righteous before God! This is justification by faith alone in
Christ alone!
For Paul, justification by
faith alone IS the good news- -it is the heart of the gospel! Paul calls Justification by faith alone “the
Truth of the Gospel” (vv. 5, 14- Justification by Faith alone in Christ alone)
ESV Galatians
2:5 to them we did not yield in
submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be
preserved for you.
ESV Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the
gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew,
live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live
like Jews?"
In order to better
understand justification, or the truth of the gospel, or the good news as truly
good news, we must first understand what the Apostle means by the works of the
Law. For the Apostle Paul, salvation is
by works – but only by the works of Christ’s alone. For only Christ has performed the works of
the Law perfectly, which is what God requires.
For the Apostle Paul in
Galatians 2:14-16 (and particularly in Romans 4), justification by works of the
law and justification by faith alone are mutually exclusive categories, two
ways to God, one wide that leads to destruction, and one narrow that leads to
life and few find it!
In
the Reformation and today, the reason why the word “alone” tied to faith, as in
“faith alone” is so important is because Paul had been under a system of faith
plus works of the Law, and had miserably failed time and again (Phil.
3:3-14).
Paul
knew that our only hope was in Christ’s perfect law keeping for us, and this righteousness that he earned was to be received
by faith alone.
Remember from
our previous studies that Judaism of Paul’s day was not full blown
“Pelagianism”, but rather ‘Semi-Pelagianism” (see last study).
Judaizers were
teaching Semi-Pelagian cooperating with God’s grace by doing “works of the
Law”. “Works of the law” in Paul do not
refer simply to Pelagianism or striving to work one’s way into heaven apart
from God’s grace in the covenant (notice how he calls ‘Gentile sinners’ because
they were outside the covenant and outside the teaching and preaching of the
law- -which was a gracious situation, or a situation of grace sometimes called
“covenantal nomism”). This was not full
blown Pelagian-Legalism, but cooperation with grace in the covenant to produce
“works of the law”.
“Works of the
Law” are the attempted obedience to the Law with hopes that one will be
justified (“the Law” refers to the Mosaic teaching in all its totality). The “works of the law” as a way of
justification for the Apostle Paul could be summarized in this way (this would
describe Paul’s former life in Judaism, the religion of his fathers (cf.
Galatians 1:13-15), that he now considered “rubbish” (Phil. 3:4-8):
1) Keep the Ten Commandments by loving God
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength in word, thought and deed.
2) Obey the ceremonial aspects of the law
such as certain dietary laws and circumcision.
3) Do all these things, cooperating with God’s
grace, and you will hopefully be justified or
pronounced “not guilty” by the “works of the law”.
The problem with this way of justification is that the Law damns
and condemns sinners (whether Jew or Gentile).
Whether we have the Law or we do not have the law, we are condemned if
we do not keep God’s holy and perfect law- -perfectly! The Law was to be a
tutor to lead us to Christ (Gal. 3:19ff).
It is important
to take note of Paul’s doctrine of faith plus “works of the law” (cooperation
with God) versus faith alone in Christ alone in Romans and Galatians:
ESV Romans
3:20 For by works of the law no human being will
be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of
sin.
ESV Romans
4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a
gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but
trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness…
ESV Romans 9:30-33: What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness
have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but
that
ESV Romans 10:1-3: Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may
be saved. 2 I bear them witness that they have a
zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For,
being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to
establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness.
ESV Romans
11:5-6: So too at the present time
there is a remnant, chosen by grace. 6 But if it is by grace, it is
no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
ESV Galatians
2:16 yet we know that a person is
not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ,
so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ
and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be
justified.
ESV Galatians
3:2 Let me
ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with
faith?
ESV Galatians
3:5 Does he who supplies the Spirit
to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with
faith-
ESV Galatians 3:10 For
all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is
written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in
the Book of the Law, and do them."
J. Gresham Machen wrote
wisely and poignantly on Galatians 2:16, pointing out that our faith is not a
work, but a gift of God, an instrument whereby we receive the righteousness of
God in Christ (cf. Eph. 2:4-9):
“A man is not justified by
the works of the law except through faith in Christ Jesus”, and that would mean
that if a man has faith in Jesus to help the works of the law out, he can be
justified by the works of the law after all; it would mean that, while a man is
not justified by works alone, he is justified by works and faith taken
together. Thus faith would become merely the means by which a man’s works
become effective for salvation.” –Galatians, pg. 147.
Paul is clear about
justification by works of the law and justification by faith in Christ alone as
being mutually exclusive in both Romans and Galatians, and he summarizes this
in Galatians 2:16-21!
1) A person is NOT justified by works of the law…
2) …But “through faith” or “by faith” in Jesus (the
“alone” added here because it is not “faith plus works of the Law” but faith in
Christ alone)….\
3) …NOT by works of the Law
You
are either saved by faith plus something you add, or you are saved by faith
alone, knowing that nothing you add would be acceptable to a holy God, and that
you would nullify or make void the cross of Christ if you tried to add anything
to what Christ has already done for you (cf. Galatians 2:19-21)!
“…Faith in Christ Jesus is the opposite of all works
of law; they exclude each other: to be justified ‘as the result of faith’ = to
be justified NOT ‘as a result of works of
the law.’ The two will not mingle. He who would put one foot on faith and the
other on such works plunges into the gulf. Make Christ the bridge, all save the
last inch, use works of law for that, and the bridge crashes the moment you
step on it.”- Lenski, pg. 107
“Christ will do all for you, or nothing for
you.”
–J.
Theologian Louis Berkhof
defines justification carefully and helpfully: “Justification is a judicial act
of God, in which He declares, on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus
Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the
sinner” (L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, p. 513).
What the Apostle Paul and
theologian L. Berkhof are teaching is that our being declared, reckoned, or
considered righteous before God based on faith alone in Christ alone is that
God sees us as if we have never sinned and that we are as perfect as his
beloved Son. It also means that God sees
us as if we have perfectly kept the law because Jesus has done this for us on
our behalf!
Paul writes that Jesus
became sin for us (cursed for our failure to perfectly to works of the law) so
that we might be the righteousness of God in him (blessed in Christ because his
righteousness is our righteousness!):
ESV 2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no
sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
ESV 1 Corinthians 1:30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom
and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31
Therefore, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the
Lord."
John Calvin defined
justification by faith alone in his ‘Institutes’ (1509-64): To be justified in the sight of God, to
be Justified by faith or by works. A man is said to be
justified in the sight of God when in the judgment of God he is deemed
righteous, and is accepted on account of his righteousness...Thus
we simply interpret justification, as the acceptance with which God receives us
into his favor as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification
consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of
Christ (Institutes, 3.11.2).
The Westminster Larger
Catechism teaches us that justification is an act of God’s free grace…
WLC 70 What is
justification? A. Justification
is an act of God's free grace unto sinners,(1) in
which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons
righteous in his sight;(2) not for any thing wrought in them, or done by
them,(3) but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by
God imputed to them,(4) and received by faith alone.(5) (1)Rom. 3:22,24,25;
Rom. 4:5
(2)2 Cor. 5:19,21; Rom.
3:22,24,25,27,28 (3)Tit. 3:5,7; Eph. 1:7 (4)Rom. 5:17-19;
Legal Declaration: Justification is
Forensic
We
have learned from our study that “justify” means to
“declare righteous,” or “pronounce righteous,” and not to “make
righteous.” It is expedient that we
understand justification as forensic or legal. J. Gresham Machen wrote: “God’s
act in “justifying the sinner” is- - if we may use a theological term- -a
“forsensic” act. That is, it is an act that is analogous to the act of a judge
in pronouncing a sentence of acquittal upon a prisoner at the bar.” –Galatians,
pg. 146.
Justification
is the opposite of condemnation (cf. Romans 8:31-34). Those who are justified are not
condemned. “There is no condemnation for
those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1) could be said oppositely: “There is
justification for those in Christ” which is why it is important to understand
justification as being legally declared by God the Judge as righteous in his
sight. Paul writes later in Romans 8:
ESV Romans 8:31-34: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for
us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but
gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all
things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's
elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ
Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was
raised- who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Notice
Paul’s contrast between condemnation and justification. God justifies (or pronounces “not guilty” in
Christ- v. 33), so who can bring a charge against God’s elect? God condemns (or
pronounces “guilty” for not believing in Christ but trusting in one’s own
righteousness).
Do
you find justification before God in Christ alone? Or are you condemned before
God’s judgment throne because you have not believed in the only Name given
whereby a person can be saved?
Condemnation: Pronounced “Guilty” and “Unrighteous”
Justification: Pronounced “Not Guilty” and “Righteous”
“How
then can man be righteous before God?” –Job 25:4
John Calvin. To justify therefore, is nothing else than to
acquit from the charge of guilt, as if innocence were proved. Hence, when God
justifies us through the intercession of Christ, he does not acquit us on a
proof of our own innocence, but by an imputation of righteousness, so that
though not righteous in ourselves, we are deemed righteous in Christ (Institutes,
3.11.3).
Justification as a forensic
or legal category is rejected by the mind of modern man and even many
evangelicals.
Why? Because God is often
thought of as a loving Father before He is considered our judge before the
Law. God as Father rather than
first God as Judge is given the priority.
What happens perhaps
unintentionally for some is that not only is justification and sanctification
confused in today’s teaching and preaching (Roman Catholicism and
Evangelicalism more on this in our next study, DV), but our adoption is focused
upon before our justification.
Professor J. Gresham Machen
states this eloquently in the 1930s: “The reason why the forensic aspect of
salvation is so distasteful to the ‘modern mind’ is perfectly plain. It is distasteful because it involves a
profound view of sin as transgression of the law of God. Men no longer believe
today in a law of God; the only law that they will recognize is a law that a
man imposes on himself.
Sin they regard—if they are
willing to use at all the antiquated word—as merely imperfection. They will
have nothing to do with the idea of guilt. It is no wonder that they will not
think of God as Judge.” –pg. 146.
But understanding the
biblical view of law as the means through which we are to realize we are
sinners, condemned before God’s throne (Romans 3:20ff; Galatians 3:19ff), is
how we come to look somewhere else- -rather, to SOMEONE ELSE for our
righteousness and salvation.
In
fact, it was Martin Luther’s high regard for God’s holiness and the great and
impossible demands of God’s Law for sinners to achieve, that kept Luther
tossing in his bed at night, frightened by the reality that his sins would damn
him! It was Martin Luther’s revelation
from Scripture that even our best works are tainted by sin and therefore cannot
be meritorious before God’s Holy Tribunal!
But then by God’s grace, Luther realized that Christ the Judge was also
Christ the Savior!
As
a Roman Catholic priest, Luther knew that all the cooperation with God that he
could muster would only end up damning him!
Luther studied the Book of Romans and realized that a
righteousness apart from him, found in Christ alone,
received by faith alone, was his only hope to be saved and declared
righteous!
In
the Reformation of the 16th century, Roman Catholic theology was
essentially the same way of salvation as the first century Israelite. Martin Luther was taught by the Roman
Catholic Church that men were saved “by grace”, but this “grace” was understood
as man’s cooperation with God in order to achieve salvation
("synergism")- -it was not grace received by
faith alone in what God has done fully in Christ. Martin Luther’s struggle to find God’s grace
and to have his wrath appeased in the Person of Christ, led to a reformation of
the Church and rediscovery of the gospel!
Luther wrote:
“Night and day I
pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the
statement that ‘the just shall live by faith.’
Then I grasped that the justice of God is that righteousness by which
through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith.
Thereupon I felt
myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on new meaning,
and whereas the ‘justice of God’ had filled me with hate, now it became to me
inexpressibly sweet in great love. This passage became to me the gate of
heaven.” –Here I Stand, Roland
Bainton
For Luther, God
had declared him righteous (extrinsically, or outside of himself) rather than
what he had been taught in Medieval Roman Catholicism that a person was made
“just” or “righteous” (intrinsically), then justified by God.
It
is important to consider that Roman Catholics (during the Reformation and
today!) would have disagreed that salvation-justification was by grace alone,
received by faith alone! (This is still the great problem today and why
Evangelicals and Catholics need to be truly honest with one another rather than
merely uniting without any consideration of this important doctrine!).
Calvin: “Man is
not made righteous in justification, but is accepted as righteous, not on
account of his own righteousness, but on account of the righteousness of Christ
located outside of man.” Quote from McGrath’s Iustitia Dei, 2:36.
David
says in Psalm 32:1-2- “Blessed
is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed
is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit
there is no deceit.
Justification is NOT transformative, or being
made righteous.
Justification is a legal declaration of righteousness
received by faith.
“Christ will do all for you, or nothing for
you.”
–J.
Justification by Faith
Alone in Christ Alone to be continued next week in Part Two (Deo volente)!
[Imputation, Faith,
Justification and Sanctification, and Paul and James will be considered].
CRB
Sermons available at www.sermonaudio.com/kcpc
©
Bibliography for Further
Bruce, F. F. Paul:
Apostle of the Heart Set Free.
_________. The Epistle to
the Galatians (New International Greek Testament Commentary)
Calvin, John. The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, and Colossians, trans. T. H. L. Parker.
Fung, Ronald Y. K. The Epistle to the Galatians (New International Commentary
on the New Testament-New Edition).
Gaffin,
Richard B., Jr. By Faith, Not
by Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation.
Hendriksen, William. Galatians and Ephesians (Baker New Testament Commentary).
Lenski, R. C. H. The Interpretation of
Lightfoot,
J. B. The Epistle of
Luther, Martin. A Commentary on
Machen, J. Gresham. Notes on Galatians (Edited by John Skilton).
Ridderbos, H. N. The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of
________. Paul: An
Outline of His Theology.
Stott, John R. W. The
Message of Galatians (The Bible Speaks Today)
Ancient Christian
Commentary on Scripture, Volume
VIII: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians (edited by Mark J. Edwards).