Lessons # 111 and 112
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Doctrine of Justification (Rom 3:24)
and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
We continue with our consideration of the doctrine of justification that we started in our last study. Recall, we defined justification as follows:
Justification is a judicial act of God in which on the basis of the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning death He declares that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner.
An alternative definition is well put by Grudem in his systematic Theological book as:
Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight. We asserted in our last study that Justification is linked to two negative facts in connection with God. The first is the forgiveness of our sins. The second is rescue from the wrath of God. We defined divine forgiveness as “that work of God motivated solely by his character whereby the guilt or punishment resulting from man’s sin is removed based on the death of Christ on the cross resulting in man’s restoration into fellowship with God.” We stated that there are at least three negative results that forgiveness implies. First, forgiveness means that punishment is removed. A second negative result of forgiveness of sin is the removal of guilt. We ended our last study by stating that there is a third negative result of forgiveness of sin and that it is with this that we will continue our study this morning.
The third negative result of forgiveness of sin is that God no longer remembers that sin, it is forgiven. We can see this in the promise of the new covenant to Israel in Jeremiah. 31:34:
No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
I want you to notice what this passage does not say. It does not say that “God forgets their sins.” You may ask: Why did the translators not use a more Modern English? After all, “not to remember” should better be translated by the word “forget’ but this was not used. It is very significant that the word used here is not “forget.” There is a Hebrew word (nāšāh) that means “to forget” but it equally means “to ignore or neglect.” Forgetting involves a temporary loss of memory about something. To say that God who is omniscient has forgotten something will be blasphemous. If, of course, you see a passage that implies God forgot, you should carefully note how it is to be interpreted to avoid implying that God ever suffers a temporary memory loss. A good example is the psalmist question to Yahweh in Psalm 13:1:
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
Here “forget” has the sense of “abandon” so that the psalmist questions Yahweh if He would abandon him forever. That aside, God cannot ignore or neglect sin. But what we have in Jeremiah 31:34 is “not to remember.” When it comes to our sins, the appropriate expression is “not to remember.” This is the way it is used in Isaiah 43:25:
“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
The word “remember” is translated from a Hebrew verb (zāḵǎr) with the meaning “to remember, to recollect or call something to mind.” It has the further meaning of bearing something in mind either for the advantage or disadvantage of the object. Therefore, when God says that He will no longer remember the sins of His people, He means that He would not hold them accountable for their sins. We can put it another way, to mean that He would never use the fact concerning His people’s sins against them. He, in true sense, cannot forget but once any sin is forgiven God puts it in a place in His mind, humanly speaking, where it cannot be used against us.
Be that as it may, the fact that justification is a one-time act of God raises a question as to how we should understand the forgiveness of sins involved in justification. There are at least two facts that make this concern or question valid. First, believers continue to sin after they are justified; it is for this reason that our Lord taught the need for believers to seek continuous forgiveness of their sins. Second, there are several examples in the Bible where God forgives sins of an individual or the nation Israel and yet they suffered punishment in connection with that sin. For example, God forgave the sins of Israel when Moses requested; but Yahweh continued His punishment by not allowing those who doubted Him to enter the Promised Land as we read in Numbers 14:19-23:
19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now." 20 The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.
Another example is David. God forgave him his sins of murder and adultery, but He continued to punish him as we read in 2 Samuel 12:13-14:
13 Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die."
Here Yahweh clearly states that David’s sins have been forgiven him but the son that resulted from his adultery died. Furthermore, the rape of David’s daughter Tamar by Amnon, the murder of Amnon, and the rebellion of Absalom and his death, all were part of David’s punishment because of that famous adultery of David. Again, Yahweh had declared that David’s sin had been forgiven him, but he still suffered. The two facts that we have stated illustrate the problem of how forgiveness of sin is to be understood in the context of justification. Recognition of this problem has resulted in different kinds of explanation. One scholar stressed that the justified believer remains a sinner, though a justified sinner. Others seeking to alleviate this problem state that justification is a repeated act of God. The Roman Catholic Church, in particular, insists that believers must in some way atone for their sins committed after baptism, which means that they teach incremental justification. The Antinomian groups, eager to maintain that God’s forgiveness is unlimited in justification, teach that the sins of believers are not accounted to the new man but only to the old man. The implication is that they say that it is unnecessary to pray or seek for forgiveness of sins after salvation. Some Reformed theologians because of the position of the Antinomian groups teach repeated or daily justification. Of course, the usual position of the Reformed theology is that in justification God removed the guilt but not the culpability (blameworthiness) of sin. This is to say that God removes the sinner’s just amenability to punishment but not the inherent guiltiness of whatever sins he may continue to commit.
In any case, the truth that we must assert in connection of forgiveness of sins with justification is that forgiveness applies to all sins, past, present and future. Justification means that all our sins have been forgiven once and for all. However, we need to explain what this statement means. To understand the completeness of forgiveness in justification, we should distinguish between temporal and eternal consequences of sin. The completeness of forgiveness of sins refers to eternal consequences of sin. When a person is justified the eternal consequences of sin are canceled so that the person is forever free of the wrath of God as it relates to individual’s eternal destiny. But the temporal consequences of sins are not necessarily removed. It is for this that we still suffer death, sickness, and all other aspects of the curse pronounced on humanity when Adam sinned. So, it should not surprise us that under temporal consequences of sins, God would forgive us and still allow some temporal consequences of that forgiven sin to continue. Sometimes, God would allow the associated punishment of a given sin to continue for at least two reasons. First, to use that punishment to bless us. Second, to ensure that His word never fails. In other words, the fundamental principle or the spiritual law of sowing and reaping would never fail. Let me illustrate this with things that are vivid in our times. Suppose a person chooses to fornicate or to commit adultery and the person contracts a sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS. This may have been a onetime action on the person’s part, then the person confesses that sin to God; obviously He will forgive that person’s sin; but that does not mean that the individual would be free from that disease. This is not to say that He could not heal that person if that is in His plan. Another illustration is that of an individual who has committed murder and was sentenced to death. However, while in prison the person becomes saved, should the individual be freed because the person has become a believer? Absolutely not, the spiritual law of sowing and reaping as well as requirement that a murderer must atone for murder through the individual’s death still apply. Hence, the individual should be executed as demanded by the Law although the person will now go straight to heaven, in contrast to going to Hell. The point is this; although God forgives us our sins, we must be careful in what we do simply because most of our actions are irreversible. Therefore, we should not make impulsive decisions or take impulsive actions; we should always consider the consequences of our actions before we take them. This brings us to another concept associated with justification which is restoration to favor with God.
Restoration to Favor with God
Justification, as we have noted, consists not only of forgiveness of sin, but also restoration into favor with God. This restoration into favor is based primarily on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the one justified. Those who deny the imputation of Christ righteousness to the believer (such as the Arminians) deny also this restoration to favor. Instead, they teach that justification leaves a person without any claim to eternal life but simply places the individual in the position of Adam before the fall, though according to them under a different law, the law of evangelical obedience. Consequently, they teach that man is left to merit acceptance with God and eternal life by faith and obedience. But it is clear from the Bible that justification involves more than forgiveness of sins, as we have already demonstrated. Justification implies other things such as peace with God as we previously mentioned and glorification according to Romans 8:30:
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
However, our concern here is to demonstrate that justification involves the positive element of restoration. One indication of this restoration into favor is the fact that God adopted us as His children.
Adoption
Adoption, as a positive element of justification, is the transfer from a status of alienation from God and hostility to God to one of acceptance and favor. There are several passages in the NT that refer to the adoption of believers as sons of God. Some of these are:
Romans 8:23:
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Ephesians 1:5:
he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-
Apostle Paul links adoption to justification in Galatians 4:4-7:
4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
The phrase the full rights of sons in verse 5 of Galatians 4 is literally adoption as sons since the Greek word (huiothesia) used means “adoption, placed in a position and rights as one’s own child, sonship.” Among the Greeks, this word is used in a legal sense for adopting heirs when a man does not have any heir. Adoption was only available to citizens of legitimate descent and usually does not involve a change of name. When adoption is associated with a will, then adoption includes the duty of providing for the adopting parents. In the NT, it is only Apostle Paul that used this word. He used it in at least two ways. First, to denote the relationship that God was pleased to establish between Himself and Israel in preference to all other nations. Second, to describe that the sonship of believers in Christ is conferred by divine act instead of a natural one. This word could refer either to the act or the result.
The fact believers are adopted sons of God has several implications. First, it implies that our status before God has changed. Paul indicates that we are no longer slaves because of adoption as he wrote in verse 7 of Galatians 4 you are no longer a slave, but a son. The implication, of course, is that we do not live in fear as a slave lives with respect to his master. Instead, we are in a loving relationship with our heavenly Father. Our motivation for serving and honoring God is not fear but love because our status has been changed. Because we do not live in fear we enjoy liberty in Christ. However, it is important to remember that liberty in Christ is not in any sense license to sin as the apostle cautions in Galatians 5:13:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Second, unlike the legal adoption that may not involve any previous relationship between the adopted child and adopting parents, the adoption of believers involves restoration to favor or their actual relationship with God. This fact is suggested in the word “receive” that Paul used in Galatians 4:5. This word “receive” is translated from the Greek verb (apolambanō) that means “to receive, to receive in return, to recover, to get back, to take aside (of persons), to welcome, to receive anyone hospitably.” Please notice that one meaning of this word is “to recover or to get back.” So, the adoption of believers imply that they are now restored to favor with God that was lost in the Garden when Adam sinned. It is true that scholars often debate whether all human beings are God’s children. In truth, every human being is a child of God because of creation but only believers are restored into favor with God so that they have the true relationship with Him. That all human beings are children of God in a sense is implied in Acts 17:29:
"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill.
The word “offspring” is translated from a Greek noun (genos) that in Acts 17:29 has the sense of “descendant” and so may mean “posterity” or “offspring.” Hence all humans belong to God because He created them.
Third, adoption gives certain rights and privileges to believers because we belong to the family of God in Christ. We have right to eternal life because we are God’s adopted children. As adopted children of God we have the Holy Spirit as Apostle Paul asserts in Galatians 4:6:
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father.
The possession of the Holy Spirit is also in view in Romans 8:15:
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."
This possession of the Holy Spirit is one thing that distinguishes believers from other human beings that are God’s children, in a general sense, because of creation. We have inheritance with God because we are adopted sons. The possession of inheritance is implied in Acts 20:32:
"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Because of adoption we are entitled to special care of our heavenly Father as part of the privilege we enjoy in Christ. We can be assured that our adoption places us in a position where we are the objects of the watchful eyes of our heavenly Father both in terms of blessing and discipline. Many of us think of God only in terms of blessing but never in terms of discipline. Nonetheless, the Bible is clear that if we are God’s children, we should also expect discipline from Him, as the writer of Hebrews states in Hebrews 12:5–11:
5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
If God does not discipline us when we go astray, we have the right to ask ourselves if we are indeed His children. The point is that part of the privilege we have because we are adopted children of God is that our heavenly Father would discipline us according to His own choosing.
Fourth, our adoption makes us joint heirs with Christ. Apostle Paul in Galatians 4:7 states this in the phrase God has made you also an heir. Among the ancients, it is usually the first son that is the heir to the father’s estate. Thus, being a son does not mean automatically that a child is an heir. But in our adoption God made us heir, only that we are joint heirs with Christ as the apostle states in Romans 8:17:
Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Fifth, our adoption is a declarative act of God that does not change our inner person. We know that when a family adopts a child that does not mean an inner change in the child in that child’s relationship with the adopted family. Of course, through training the adopted child could acquire the family values. In the same manner, as adopted children of God we are not changed in our nature or morally because of adoption. These are taken care of through regeneration and sanctification. It is true that we separate regeneration and adoption logically but in God’s dealing with us both are inseparable. Recall that in legal adoption, among the Greeks, not every child that lives in Greece who is available for adoption can be adopted, only children of certain descent. In other words, a person must be qualified before the individual can be adopted. In the same way, God could not adopt us as children unless we are eligible for adoption. The eligibility for adoption is achieved through regeneration. Logically, we could say that regeneration took place first before adoption, again, we cannot separate these works of God. The fact that regeneration, which makes us eligible for adoption, is inseparable from adoption in God’s work is implied in John 1:12–13:
12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The fact of adoption is stated in phrase of John 1:12 he gave the right to become children of God. While the fact of regeneration is given in verse 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. With this, we conclude our consideration of adoption as it relates to justification and move to consider how justification is received.
Justification by Faith
The Bible indicates that justification is by faith only. Apostle Paul quite early in his preaching ministry indicated that justification is by faith as when he spoke to the Jews in Pisidian Antioch as we read in Acts 13:39:
Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.
In this passage, justification is linked with believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. So, it is, as a person believes in Christ that the individual is justified. However, when we say that a person is justified by faith, this assertion in of itself can cause a problem that needs clarification. The problem is how we should understand the meaning of by associated with faith. Is it the means or instrument of justification? Or is faith the reason for justification? The relationship between faith and justification is not as simple as it is often portrayed because of the questions we have raised.
There are two Greek prepositions that are used in describing the relationship of faith to justification. The first preposition is the Greek word (ek) that means “by, by means of, because of, from, result of” so that this preposition denotes not only means of something but also the cause of something. The other preposition is the Greek word (dia) that means “through, after, by, because, for the benefit.” It is used in many ways that include means, cause or agency. The form in which it is used in all the passages that this word appears in connection with justification has the sense of “means’ or “instrument” of something. These two prepositions are used in connection with justification in Romans 3:30:
since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
The word “by” is a translation of the Greek preposition (ek) while the word “through” is a translation of the Greek word (dia). In this passage, faith has the sense of instrument that God uses. But there is a problem because we do not know how God uses faith as the instrument of justification. Of course, it is not for us to know because justification is God’s work hence it is not important for us to know. So, the relationship of faith to justification is something that we cannot fully comprehend because justification is behind the scenes work of God. All that we know is that God requires us to exercise trust in Christ as our Savior in order for us to be justified. It is for this reason that the Bible simply indicates that it is as we believe in Christ that we become justified as stated in several passages, such as, in Galatians 2:16:
know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
It is important to recognize that faith that we exercise in Christ Jesus could in no way be construed as meritorious on human’s part. For even the very faith that we have in Christ, is also the work of God as we may gather from Ephesians 2:8–9:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
It is the whole concept that includes faith, grace, and salvation that we receive from God as gift. In effect, we should understand that justification is in no way man’s work. Nevertheless, God works in the unbeliever in such a way that the unbeliever exercises faith in Christ resulting in justification. We can assert, from the available biblical information that faith is both the means and the instrument that God uses in justification process. However, the Bible has not given us the full detail as to how faith is an instrument and means that God uses in the justification process.
Again, the Scripture does not give us a clear picture of how God accomplishes our justification. Instead, it gives the clear picture that all that is required of us to be justified is to exercise faith in Christ, even though aided by God Himself. The reason God justifies us is that when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ His righteousness is credited to us and on that ground, we are justified. Several passages allude to the fact that we are credited with Christ’s righteousness. For example, let us cite 2 Corinthians 5:21:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Consider another passage in Philippians 3:9:
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
It is true that the Bible does not directly state that Christ’s righteousness is the basis of justification but the mere fact that justification is a legal term implies that the basis for our justification is Christ’s righteousness. For there must be a basis for declaring a human righteous, that basis is the work of Christ on the cross that makes it possible for God to impute Christ’s righteousness to us as He imputed our sins on Christ on the cross. The point we seek to stress is that the relationship of faith to justification is not simple because justification is behind the scenes work of God. The complexity of the relationship between faith and justification is even noticeable in the manner in which Apostle Paul continued to relate justification to other works of God. Justification is said to be by faith but then it is also by grace as it is clear from the following passages:
Romans 3:24:
and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Titus 3:7:
so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
If we are justified by faith in Christ and also by God’s grace, it must mean that faith and grace are also connected in justification. The connection is that both come to us from God, that is, God gives grace and faith. To further show the complexity of the various works of God in justification, the Bible declares that it is by the death of Christ that we are justified in Romans 5:9:
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
The word “by” could be translated also “because of,” since we have the Greek preposition (en) that has several meanings, one of which is “because of.” The point being that justification is by or because of the death of Christ represented here as His blood.
The fact that the Bible relates justification to several factors is to say to us that we are not capable of understanding the fullness of justification as God accomplishes it. We have noted the expression that have been used in connection with justification such as “justified by faith,” “justified by grace,” and “justified by his blood.” Hence, the point that God the Holy Spirit wants us to understand is not the behind-the-scenes detail of God’s work in justification but that we accept it by faith. In fact, God wants us to realize that the only thing that is required of us is to believe in Christ and from that point God does the rest. It is our human curiosity or even arrogance that leads us to want to explain the behind-the-scenes work of God in justification and as a result many go into error that implies that humans work towards their justification. In the final analysis, all that God wants us to understand is that because of our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that we stand justified before him. To this end, we should remain mindful of what Apostle Paul wrote about our present status compared to our past status in 1 Corinthians 6:11:
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Please note that the word “in” is from the Greek preposition (en) that could also mean “by, because of.” Also, the phrase name of could also be translated person of since the Greek word (onoma) used means “name, title, person, authority, power, status.” The use of “name” is not just a title but a power which is very closely associated with the bearer, and which discloses the nature. Therefore, we can say that “name” is used for everything which the name covers, everything the thought or feeling of which is aroused in the mind by mentioning, hearing, remembering, the name. This would include one's rank, authority, interests, pleasure, command, excellencies, deeds etc. The point being that justification is because of the person and the works of Jesus Christ on the cross. We should not waste time trying to figure out something that is beyond us but stay within the limits of what the Bible teaches. Our statement does not mean that we should not try to understand what God has revealed to us in the Scripture, but we caution against too much speculation when the Bible does not provide detail as in the case of justification. The Bible simple tells us how it is to be obtained but not all the details of what God does in connection with justification. Of course, it gives us the basis for it or the reason for justification but not the full detail of how God implements justification.
One more problem that is raised in connection with justification is the relationship of faith and work. Some argue that there is a conflict between what Apostle Paul taught about justification and what James taught, both being the only two writers of the epistles of the NT that mentioned justification. They based this conflict on the assertion of James 2:24:
You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
There are several factors to consider in resolving this apparent conflict. First, Paul and James wrote with different perspectives. Paul wrote to address the legalists who want to base their justification, at least in part, by observing the law. While James wrote to deal with those Antinomians whose faith seems to be merely intellectual as is implied from what he wrote in James 2:18-19:
18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
The individuals James addressed represent those who say that they know they are justified by faith but then their lifestyle is inconsistent with the Christian teaching. Second, Paul was interested in establishing the basis of the doctrine of justification while James was concerned with the manifestation of the doctrine itself. Third, Paul was concerned with justification before God while James was concerned not only with justification before God but also justification before humans. This is clear with the illustrations that James used. Abraham was declared righteous by God and before God, then several years later he obeyed God to offer Isaac. His obedience is the evidence of his faith to humans that he was indeed justified. It is for this reason that James speaks of the fulfillment of the Scripture that declared Abraham righteous as we read in James 2:21-23:
21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
The crucial expression in using Abraham as an example is in verse 22 his faith was made complete by what he did. The expression “made complete” is translated from the Greek word (teleioō) that means “to complete, to perfect.” The sense of this word here is that of fulfilling or carrying out through completely. Abraham’s obedience gave a clear indication that God’s justification of Abraham was true as can be observed by human beings as well as angelic beings. His faith in God was brought to completion because of his obedience or work. James’ second example was the former prostitute, Rahab, who saved the Israelites’ spies according to James 2:25:
In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
Why did Rahab jeopardize her life to save these spies? It is because she believed that Yahweh would destroy her people. Her faith in Yahweh led her to the action of hiding the spies. Her explanation of faith in Yahweh is given in Joshua 2:9-13:
9 and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. 10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below. 12 Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign 13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and that you will save us from death."
Rahab proved that she truly believed Yahweh’s work among the Israelites by hiding the spies. For if she did not have complete trust that Yahweh would destroy her people, she would not align herself with the enemy of her people. So, it is her work that confirmed what she believed. The emphasis of James is that when there is faith there should be evidence of it through one’s lifestyle. Fourth, Paul’s emphasis is with the justification of the sinner while James’s emphasis is on the sinner that has already been justified. Abraham had already been justified before he offered his son, so James could not have been emphasizing justification associated with salvation. James confines his justification examples to specific actions of the individuals he used so we realize that it is not that ultimate justification that comes by faith that he was concerned with. Note that the justification of Abraham or Rahab was confined to specific actions. James never indicated that justification of the sinner is by work. But that a particular work led to concluding that the persons he mentioned were righteous within a specific context.
It is important to emphasize that the perspective of James in the matter of justification is one that is of concern to the human mind. In effect, the emphasis of James helps us to have a practical manifestation of the work of God in justification. We have indicated that justification is not an action that changes the inner person, but it is God’s work that changes our standing before Him. However, justification is a part of a complicated process in our salvation. Justification is a part of our salvation package, which includes forgiveness of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and receiving of eternal life. Because justification is a part of this salvation package, we can never have justification without, for example, regeneration that deals with our inner nature. Therefore, James’ perspective is a practical guide to the confirmation of justification in the believer’s mind. In other words, if a person believes that the individual has been justified and there is no evidence of the good works that God has ordained in that person’s life, then the individual has the right to ask self if indeed the person has been saved. We are saying that because our hearts can deceive us, it is important we have an external God given confirmation that we are indeed His children. For it is hard to understand how a person who has been justified would go on living a lifestyle that is inconsistent with the truth. Of course, it is possible that a person out of ignorance would live a lifestyle that is inconsistent with truth, but once the person has been corrected and continues to live in disobedience that is a cause for concern. My point is that people may be deluding themselves when they simply utter the word that they know that they are saved and justified when they live in a manner contrary to the truth. It seems to me that the safest position to be in when there is doubt about a person’s salvation is the one that James advocates, that is, that we should show our faith by our lifestyle as he stated in the passage we cited previously, that is, James 2:18:
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
If a person is saved, the individual has the Holy Spirit that enables the individual to do things that naturally the person is not disposed to do. So, if there is never any evidence of the life of Christ in a person, two things could be true. Either the person has not been justified to begin with or that such a person has not understood how to operate under the control of the Holy Spirit. For, if a person knows how to operate by the power provided by the Holy Spirit, the person will be living in accordance with the truth. This is one implication of what Paul writes in Romans 8:12–14:
12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
The perspective of James regarding justification has given us one measure of confirming that which is invisible, our justification. Again, it is that our lifestyle should confirm that we are justified. There is one more piece of evidence that should help us to realize that we are justified. It is the peace of God in our soul. Remember what the apostle stated in Romans 5:1:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Justification results in our having peace with God; therefore, it would not make sense if we have peace with God and do not have a personal sense of that peace. In other words, the God with whom we have peace must certainly somehow communicate to us that we have peace with Him. One way He communicates it is that we would have a sense of relief in our souls that we are no longer God’s enemy. This peace, He communicates to us through the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if a person has never experienced that peace that confirms that the individual is no longer hostile to God, there is the possibility that such a person may not be saved. Those who have been justified must at least once in their life have had the sense of no longer being under God’s condemnation. The peace that Holy Spirit provides when He controls the believer is another indication of peace with God. The point is that it is impossible to be justified without having at least once the sense of peace in the soul as regards one’s standing before God. Peace is that state of tranquility between our soul and God’s demands. When we have this peace, we should have a sense that our heavenly Father has forgiven us our sins, that is, we have a sense of relief. However, in normal living under the control of the Holy Spirit we should experience that tranquility of soul that is known as peace, which is never affected by our environment as our Lord declared in John 16:33:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
True peace of God is not affected by the troubles that we experience in this life. In any case, we insist that if a person has never known the peace of God that there is every reason to question the person’s relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, hence the individual’s justification. We have considered the doctrine of justification, so we understand that we are no longer under God’s condemnation once we believed in Christ. It is therefore a doctrine that is designed to give us assurance that we are indeed God’s children. However, we have also given practical tests to help us evaluate ourselves to be sure that we have indeed been justified. The tests given are reduced simply to the test of determining whether a person is saved. If you know with certainty that you are saved, you should rest assured that you are justified. You should not be concerned with all the details of how justification took place as scholars spend their time doing. We have to simply accept by faith that when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ that God the Father justified or declared us righteous because of the works of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
05/01/26