When a man is justified before God, he is declared not guilty with reference to the sins he has committed against God. Amazingly, God's "not guilty" verdict does not relate to just one crime, but to every sin the justified man has ever committed or will commit. Paul declares that we have no penalty to pay for sin, which includes past, present or future sins that we may commit. Those who have been justified by faith, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). Therefore, if we are justified there is no penalty to pay for sin and we are free to any charge of guilt or condemnation.
Douglas Moo writes it beautifully, “Because we are justified by faith in conjunction with our union with Christ, we escape the sentence of spiritual death that out sins have justly earned. Transferred into the new regime of life, we no longer fear that our sins will ever condemn us.”
Justification by faith also occurred in the Old Testament. Psalm 37:5-6 says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.” No believer in God had a righteous nature in Christ during the Old Testament. Justification and righteousness was expressed by their faith in God.
Psalm 34:22 says, “The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned” and Psalm 64:10 says “Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult.”
In Genesis 3:15 it states, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Here God ...
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...ker Academic, 2001.
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
Grudem, Wayne, and Elliot Grudem. Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005.
Luther, Martin. “Martin Luther’s Definition of Faith.” Ligonier Ministries. Accessed May 5, 2014. http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/martin-luthers-definition-faith/.
Moo, Douglas. Romans: The Niv Application Commentary Series. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Piper, John. “God Credits Faith as Righteousness.” http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/god-credits-faith-as-righteousness. August 1, 1999. Accessed May 5, 2014. http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/god-credits-faith-as-righteousness.
Schreiner, Thomas. Romans: Baker Exegetical Commentary On the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998.
Carson, D. A. New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.
Justification by faith alone is an important point of Paul in Romans, however the matter of whose faith is less clear. Faith, as basis for justification, can be viewed in one of two ways: the faithfulness of Christ or the human response of faith. Greathouse and Lyons suggest that perhaps it is both. As they write, “If Law as the system of salvation by human achievement is rejected as the means of being made righteous, faith as the system of trusting the crucified Christ alone for salvation includes both aspects of faith as used in Romans.”6 Consequently, justification by faith must be first understood as the display of Christ faithfulness to which humans can then respond to the divinely initiated act as an invitation to participate in the life of God. In other words, the faithfulness of God, displayed in the faithfulness of Christ that bring justification to all who believe, is an invitation of response to participate in the life of God through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to live lives of
Drane, J. W. (2000). Introducing the Old Testament (Completely rev. and updated.) (46). Oxford: Lion Publishing plc.
Above all, faith is the crux of Bultmann’s of the thesis and followers of Christianity. Hence, the core of devotion for all Christians is Jesus suffers death by crucifixion in order to redeem mankind. More importantly, he conquers death after God resurrects him on the third day. Specifically, it is the spirit which is redeemed not so much the physical body. Granted, because of the fall of Adam all suffer physical death; man’s spirit is preserved thru faith in Jesus.
The Old Testament law is seen as irrelevant by most modern Christians today. Christians are now under the blood of Jesus Christ which is said to abrogate the Law. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” The law of Christ is to love God and your neighbor as yourself. This does not mean, however, that the Old Testament Law does not apply to Christians today. Author J. Daniel Hays expounds on this topic in his article, “Applying the Old Testament Law Today,” and focuses on the hermeneutical approach of Principlism. This approach allows the Old Testament Law to be viewed in light of the New Testament.
The result of sin, then, would be considered a blurring of the image of God and a barrier between God and man. In addition, salvation is a process not of justification, but of reestablishing man's communion with God (Ware 155-161).
Metzger, B.M. & Coogan, M.D. “The Oxford Companion to the Bible”. Oxford University Press. New York, NY. (1993). P. 806-818.
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:1-2). Paul believes if you are in Christ Jesus, then you will be saved. Because of Jesus' selflessness, he has freed us from sin and death. God had created the world through wisdom and with Adam we then were under the reign of sin. Then, with the resurrection of Jesus, He freed us from the law and we entered into a period of grace with God. We are living by the Spirit in an era of grace, so therefore we should be dead to sin. Paul explains this in greater detail in the beginning of Romans in 3:9.
Class notes. Man’s Desperate Need of Righteousness and God’s Glorious Provision of Righteousness. Faith Christian University. Orlando, Florida. August 2011.
... is faith, which is to “return to what took place at salvation.” Faith and obedience are keys to spiritual victory as we are called to pursue holiness and be sanctified (Col. 2:11-12).
“imparts to the sinner the live of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God."7 He who
In Romans 10:9 Paul says, “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Salvation is the promise of God for those who receive Christ. Again, in Romans 5:1 Paul speaks of a peace that comes with assurance when he says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Redemption as a theme in the bible is one that seems to go through a transitional phase. The idea in this case is a representation of freedom, setting free from bondage or exchange of something that one has in their possession for another that is in another person’s possession. The concept in this case can best be defined as a sort of ransoming or trade off. Both the writers in the Old Testament as well as those in the New Testament differently interpret and expound on this theme. The concepts adopted by both sides remain the same to date; however, the events that surround the interpretation from both sides bring out two very different interpretations of the same concept.
...when any and every contribution towards his salvation on the part of the believer or on the part of the Church is absolutely and unequivocally shut out. Justification must be seen and received as a blessing dependent wholly and exclusively on Christ alone, on what he is and what he has done—a blessing enjoyed simply through being joined directly to him, through finding one's all in him, through drawing one's all from him.” "Justification by Faith: the Reinstatement of the Doctrine Today," Evangelical Quarterly, July, 1952, p. 166.
To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments. Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel. It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our own merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe.