(A) The Just Shall Live by Faith
Scriptures declare that the Just shall live by faith. We are so familiar with this term that we may not realise the depth and ‘beauty’ of this truth: understanding this, appreciating this, and applying it practically in our Christian life is the basis and ground in the outworking of our life here on earth until we see the Lord ‘face to face’.
Note three points regarding justification: (Romans 3:27-31)
Justification is not earned. It is not based on keeping the law. Justification is through faith, and faith is God’s gift. Otherwise, justification would be a work. If it was a work, it would provide grounds for boasting – so, boasting is excluded.
Justification is by faith. It is not by keeping the law or circumcision. Faith can be found in either the circumcised Jew or the uncircumcised Gentile.
In justification God does not set aside His own justice. He does not close His eyes to broken law (cf Proverbs 24:24). He does not nullify the law. Rather, our faith is directed to the work of the One who fulfilled the law’s demands. The law is upheld by the provision of a perfect life offered (redemption) and God’s just wrath absorbed (propitiation).
Hence, in justification, God is seen to be central. He is the source of the faith we need to link us to the work of Christ. He is totally just and yet as justifier, He is wonderfully merciful.
Faith focused on God’s gospel is always to be the controlling factor in our lives. In Romans 3, Paul demonstrated that Abraham is our father in this, because for him, as for us (Jews and Gentiles alike), God spoke and man believed. Here are God and man in right relationship. Abraham’s faith is a model for ours. Its object was the promise of God,. Faith has no inherent value apart from its object.
A strong faith in a weak bridge will not bridge the gulf, but a weak faith in a strong bridge will get you to the other side.
The focus of Abraham’s faith (and also our faith) was and is God’s ability to do what He promised. Abraham was not put off, because he was convinced of God’s promise. The blessing that flowed was righteousness, credited to him graciously through faith.
Just as Abraham believed in the promise of God, so we are to believe in the work of Christ as the basis for our justification – note the intimate relationship between faith (believe) and the object (Christ and HIs work). Just as Abraham believed God could bring an heir from one as good as dead, so we trust in the God who brought His own Son from death to life.
The death of Jesus was because of our sin. His resurrection was like God’ confirmation that Jesus’ work on the cross had been accepted. Therefore our justification is sure.
Abraham’s life was one of great blessing. He had known persecution and harassment, yet God blessed him, and today there are approximately 1.5 billion living spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham (all those who are justified by faith in God) – he is indeed our father, our model and our pattern.
So we need to remember that as we encounter suffering, persecution, setbacks in our Christian life, the just shall live by faith. It is our faith in Christ and His completed work at the cross, faith in God’s promise in His Son, faith in God’s assurance of our future hope and inheritance (Like those in Hebrews 11) which is our basis and foundation for the outworking of our walk with God, despite the ‘unfavourable circumstances, despite the evil and evildoers that surround us, despite the seemingly ‘hopeless’ situation we perceive in our lives today. It is not faith in ourselves, it is not self-righteousness’ the object is not the quality of our spiritual live and our confidence in it – it is always God, His unchanging character and attributes, His mercy and grace, and His wondrous persevering, longsuffering love for us His beloved (the Son).
(B) Romans 3: 21-26
In the first few chapters of Romans, Paul painted a bleak, yet realistic news of the terrible state of humanity – all have sinned and there is no one that is righteous following the ‘Fall’ – there are no exceptions, we are all worthless. Although we have been created to have a relationship with God our Creator, after the fall, none of us has this relationship or displays any sign of seeking it.
It is important for us to be convicted about our hopeless state if we are to appreciate fully the wonder of the good news of salvation.
The good news: a right standing with God, apart from human performance, has been revealed. It comes to all who believe in the faithful work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-22).
Paul used three words to explain such a relationship:
JUSTIFIED: This is a legal word whereby God, the judge, declares the guilty sinner to be in the right with Him. How can God do this and remain just? He does it on the basis of the death of Jesus which has fully paid our penalty and given us acquittal.
REDEMPTION: This is a word from commerce. It is what Jesus’ death means to us. Jesus buys us back for God, paying the ransom price of His own perfect life (Rom.3:24).
SACRIFICE OF ATONEMENT or PROPITIATION: This is a religious word (Rom. 3:25). It explains what Jesus’ death means to God. Through His death, Jesus absorbs the wrath (anger of God at sin) due to our sin so that we do not have to take the ‘punishment’ we deserve.
Thus God the Father, in the death of the Son, makes His attitude to sin patently clear. God also demonstrates His justice (3:26). His perfect Son gives His life to set us free, in that He absorbs God’s just wrath against human sin. God in His love satisfies His own justice, the penalty of sin is paid, and the law is upheld. God is just and able to be the justifier by declaring us to be in the right because of the work of Jesus.
We are not set right because of our faith. We are set right through faith (v22) and by faith (v28). Faith links us to the work of Christ which is the foundation of right relationship. The foundation of this relationship is the unchanging work of Christ. God is always satisfied with the work of His Son. Hence, our relationship with God is unchanging and stable because it is based on what Jesus has done.
So we who have believed, by faith, are now in the right with God. But never forget ‘where we came from’ – we were wretched sinners, deserving of death and punishment from God – yet by grace, we are saved through faith. This faith is not our own contribution and it does not come from within us; otherwise it could become a ground for our boasting. So when we become angry and displeased with unbelievers, remember that we were exactly like them, but for the grace of God. We were no better than them – we probably would behave like them or even worse, we are currently saved sinners. We still live in a fallen world; we still have to struggle to overcome the power of sin although this power has been broken at the CROSS; we still have to deal with the presence of sin, in this world, in unbelievers and also in our lives – for there is no perfection here on earth but God assures us that in the new heaven and the new earth, when we ‘arrive’, there will be no sorrow, no more pain, no more death, and no more sin – instead the presence and glory of God will reign among His people.
JUSTIFICATION is such a treasure that Apostle Paul now outlines the three blessings that flow from it.
God is at peace with us because His justice has been satisfied; He holds nothing against us – hence the angels declare – “peace on earth and goodwill to men” – this was achieved by the Son for all those who believe.
Not only do we have a relationship with an absence of anger; we have access to a gracious relationship – an unconditional, undeserved relationship without prerequisites from God’s point of view. We can now come into the presence of the holy God without fear and without trepidation – we can now call Him “Our Father, Abba”.
We have the certain expectation that, in the future, we will share in the glory of God (Rom.8:18). But we not only rejoice in hope, we also rejoice in suffering. Why? Because suffering leads to perseverance, which leads to character. Perseverance in the face of opposition shows the authenticity of our commitment. Such an experience leads to a freshening or new yearning for the fulfilment of our hope (Rom.5:4).
How can we be sure our hope will be fulfilled?
Paul gives three reasons:
God has given us the Holy Spirit who reminds us of God’s love. God’s love will not allow the hopes of His children to be disappointed (Rom. 5:5).
The objective ground or proof of God’s love is the cross where Jesus died for our sin (vv6,8). Jesus’ death is gracious because those for whom He died are described as sinners, helpless and enemies. This demonstration of God’s love lies at the very core of Christianity which is about the death of the innocent Son for His undeserving people. Paul argues that our hope will not be dashed because God reconciled us when we were yet His enemies. Now that we are His friends, He will surely save us. Having done the greater thing, He will do the comparatively lesser, the fulfilment of our hope. Therefore we can be sure that our hope of glorification will not be dashed.
So when non-believers treat us as ‘enemies’ and we feel like ‘hitting back’ and wish the worst for them, we need to remember that God reconciled us when we were yet His enemies – what will happen if God has truly treated us as enemies and refused to reconcile us because we were vile and undeserving?
Remember that humans were created in the image of God and this includes all of humanity, including non-believers. All have the potential to be made right with God, even the very worst, immoral, abominable human beings. It is no wonder that God calls us to share the gospel with all – even those we feel are beyond hope and beyond saving – it is God who truly desires all to be saved but not all will be saved.
God’s anger at the rebellious people is not temper or rage at times: it can be an appropriate, measured response of grief, disappointment and turning away. Just as they did not see the worth of having God in their knowledge, so God gave them up to a worthless mind, to inappropriate behaviour (Rom. 1:28). The worst thing that can happen to us when we do wrong is for God to do nothing; God gives us over to our evil ways and doings and we go further and further away from Him and more unreachable to His grace and mercy, and further and further into becoming ‘evil monsters and abominable creatures’ that are destined to be sent into the dark pit and burning pit of hell with their master, the evil one.
(C) Faith and Security
There is much in the world that appears to contradict God’s promises, and tends to undermine our faith. Abraham had been promised a son, but, since he was nearly one hundred and his wife ninety, it was obvious that he had missed out. Nevertheless, he kept believing because it was a promise God had made. Christians are promised eternal friendship with God in a renewed universe, but it is a hard promise to hang on to, and it becomes difficult to exercise faith in God when all things and circumstances seem to point to the absence of God’s intervention, and when He seems so be so far away, apparently oblivious to our struggles.
Faith is directed partly to an event which is over and done with (the death of Jesus), partly to a Lord who is invisible, and partly to a future which seems beyond hope. Nevertheless, believers again and again refresh their faith and hope by reminding themselves of the power and goodness of God and the impossibility that He should prove a liar. In this we give glory to God (Rom.4:20) because we take Him at His word and are assured against all contrary indications.
If God has promised it, it is surely not presumptuous to be certain about God’s future acceptance of us; rather, such confidence glorifies God. So we learn that faith and security for the future go hand in hand. Life presents us with many uncertainties, but we can anchor our souls to the promises of God and know that, whatever else may fail, God will never fail to honour what He has pledged. “No one who trusts in him will ever be disappointed” (Rom. 10:11).
Truly, the heart of true spirituality is faith and that faith is the way we receive the gift of righteousness which allows us into the presence of God, and it is the same faith that shows us the future focus and assurance that flows from knowing and believing the promises of God. This true spirituality (based on living by faith) has such potential to secure and stabilise a person’s life, bring him/her happiness even in hopeless circumstances, and equip the person for robust living.
We need to remember that God’s plan embraces not only the particular scheme or situation in which we are engaged in, but also the development of our person. The discipline of hardship is intended to build a tried and tested character into us, one which knows how to hand on and determinedly continue with our God-appointed tasks as we are drawn on by the promised future. Where others despair at the senselessness of things going wrong, the Christian is renewed by looking towards the ultimate goal, and soldiers on with a song in his or her heart, rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer for the Name of Jesus (Acts 5:11).
Such a demeanour is not possible without the assurance that, whatever the present may deal us, there is a good and great future. Hope is an essential element of Christian spirituality, the key to our being able to remain joyful in trying circumstances. We can endure the present because of our confidence in the future, just as the promise of a child can sustain a woman through childbirth.
Our hope cannot be dashed because God has already placed his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit and proved it by the death of his Son. Our final translation into glory will be easier for God than the death of his Son and the lifelong struggle for holiness which he engages in for every one of his children.
The ultimate object of joy and boasting for the Christian is God Himself. Great as the Christian’s gifts are, they must never be allowed to eclipse the greatness of the Giver. For all our shortcomings we are loved by God to the degree that He has done for us infinitely more than human beings would normally dare to do even for their nearest and dearest.