Justification by faith alone—does it matter what we believe about it? Theology may be a nice academic exercise, but it isn’t all that practical, is it?
I just wrapped up a podcast series on justification by faith, examining the doctrine historically, biblically, and practically. People commonly think that theology ought to be reserved for intellectuals and scholars and that the average Christian doesn’t need to worry all that much about theological issues. Such people see theology as disconnected from real life and are unconcerned about it. Or if they do concern themselves with it, they don’t connect the dots from theory to practice.
Yet theology in its right place is imminently practical. What is more fundamental to our daily lives than what we know about the God who made and rules the world? God is the greatest reality, the ultimate reality, the Person by whom we understand all other things. If we get God wrong, it cannot be but that our entire lives are disoriented.
That’s true in the macro of all theology, and it’s true in the micro of this aspect of theology—justification by faith. In this column, I’ve previously given a brief explanation of justification by faith (see “Justification Matters” in the December 2023 issue), and I’ve explored the doctrine more completely in a series of podcast episodes. The reader or listener may be inclined to ask, “Does justification matter? Is justification practical?” Some might say that this theological theorizing makes a nice tangent from real life, but it doesn’t matter in the end. In this article, we will be exploring practical issues where what we believe about justification makes all the difference.
I am convinced of two things. One, that understanding justification by faith is essential to understanding the true gospel, and two, that many of us do not understand justification the way God intends us to understand it according to His Word. I hope this foray helps grow your understanding and, most of all, grounds you in Scripture.
What does “Justification by Faith” mean?
It may be helpful first to review what justification by faith means. We can get a hold of it by asking and answering three simple questions.
First of all, “What is justification?” Justification is the Bible’s answer to the question, “How can a hell-bound sinner be reconciled to a holy God?” The Bible teaches that those who are enemies of God, estranged from Him and bound for eternal judgment, can be reconciled to Him through the blood of Christ. Justification is the doctrine that those who turn from self to Christ in faith are accounted as righteous before God. Sinners who receive Christ in faith are declared by God to be righteous based upon the work of Christ on their behalf. God offers us His love and acceptance based upon Christ’s perfect obedience to the Father and His substitutionary death on the cross whereby He atoned for our sins.
Second, “How is justification received?” Scripture teaches that we are justified by faith. Justification is received, not based on our actions, our works, or our obedience. We are justified by faith, which is rightly understood as full confidence in Christ alone. We, like the Apostle Paul, put no confidence in the flesh (that is, the things we are able to contribute). Rather, we put our confidence in Christ. That’s what faith is—fully trusting that Christ can save us and putting ourselves entirely in His hands.
The third question is this, “How do we know who has been justified?” The Bible teaches us that whether or not someone is justified can be seen by how he lives his life. That is, we know whether or not someone belongs to Christ by whether or not he obeys Christ. If he does not obey Christ, he does not belong to Christ. So Jesus says in John 14, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Those who love Jesus will obey Jesus. Those who don’t obey Jesus show that they don’t love Him.
That doesn’t mean that we earn Jesus’ love by obeying Him, but rather that we show Him our love by obeying. And why do we love Him? Because He first loved us. He loved us and gave Himself for us. We love Him because He saved us from damnation. We love Him because He has justified us. He was obedient in our place, and in our place condemned He stood. He obeyed the Father and endured the Father’s wrath so we can be declared righteous and saved from punishment.
Coming to our main theme, we want to think together about how this doctrine impacts us practically. Why does it matter what we believe about justification?
Experiencing God’s Love
What we believe about justification matters because it shapes our understanding and experience of God’s love. God’s love is understood most perfectly in the cross. John says in 1 John 3:16, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.” We know what love is when we understand Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. John goes on to say “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (4:9-10). How do we know what God’s love looks like? We see it in the Son of God. He came into the world to give us life, and He gave His life to save us from death. Notice John’s emphasis at the end of the verse. What is love? It is seen in God’s sending Christ to redeem us from our sins.
Do you want to know what true love is? Don’t look around at other people. Don’t look at the philanthropism, the niceties, the toleration and acceptance, the warm affections, the humanitarian aid, or the kindness and generosities of people. These actions constitute love only as they follow God’s example of love. If you want to know what true love is, look at the cross. “In this is love…that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Love is known in the cross.
How does this connect to justification? We are sinners all, and we can only be freed from our sin through Christ. He, on the cross, dealt with our sin problem so that we can be justified. Justification and propitiation are indivisibly linked in Scripture. That is, without a substitutionary Savior, there is no justification by faith. And without a substitutionary Savior, we would lack the greatest manifestation of God’s love. John says that God manifested His love in this way, that He sent His Son to die our death and bring us life. Without the cross, there is no justification. Without the cross, we would not understand the extent of God’s love for us.
If we lose track of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone—which is established upon the perfect substitutionary death of Christ—we lose track of the thing that most perfectly teaches us the love of God. Until we comprehend justification by faith alone—that Christ has done all the work necessary for our salvation and all we need to do is receive that gift by faith—we cannot comprehend God’s love for us.
Is justification practical? Does the love of God, the answer to the penultimate need of every human heart, matter? I hope you agree that there is nothing that so touches our hearts and corrects our broken lives more than an encounter with God’s love. That encounter comes as we embrace the dead and risen Savior who died our death on the cross. Love is understood when we receive Christ by faith. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.”
Within the Views
There are three basic ways people have understood justification. Some think we are justified by works, that God loves us after we’ve done what He asks us to do. In this, God’s love is conditioned based on our actions. God withholds His favor until we have proven ourselves worthy of it. This is a flimsy and cheap love compared to what we’ve seen above—God’s abundant love expressed in Christ.
Some think we are justified by faith and works: that God loves us if we are doing the best we can. We do all we can, and God’s grace makes up the difference. Though this view does include grace, it makes grace conditional based on our works. Those who try hardest are most worthy of grace; those who do not are unworthy of it. Rather than seeing God’s love as the entire explanation for redemption, this view says that we make ourselves worthy of God’s love through our noble efforts. We follow Him the best we can, and grace makes up the margin. But again, this conditions God’s love based upon our actions. God’s love is only experienced if we are trying our best.
But the Bible teaches that we are justified by faith, not by works. When we get a hold of this, we will begin to understand God’s love. There is no work we must do to earn God’s favor. His favor is already extended to us in Christ. Justification by faith means that God does not wait for us to prove ourselves worthy before He offers us His love. Rather, we must only receive what He is already offering with outstretched arms. God loves us because of what Christ has done for us. God’s love is offered based on Christ’s actions and is experienced when we receive it by faith. The condition for God’s love is Christ’s work on our behalf. We enter into that love when by faith we accept His grace.
Thus love is only understood—and experienced—as we understand justification by faith. God’s grace is given to all who will have Him. Oh, the riches of His love!