Aug 15
22
Justification by Faith
It has been said that a church either stands or falls by the blessed truth of justification by faith and their view of it, and their stand on it. Faith is the opposite of works, faith is not doing but believing, faith has to do with resting in Christ and His obedience and His righteousness.
Faith is the means of our justification. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Faith receives the truth of the gospel the merits of Christ. Faith receives the doing and dieing of the Lord Jesus Christ. “We conclude that a man is justified without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
Faith is not its own object; those who have been given faith do not look to their faith but to Christ who is the object of their faith. We know there is no merit in our faith but in our Savior. Christ is faiths object and it is based on knowledge. “For whosever shall call on the Lord shall be saved. How then can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher” (Rom. 10:13-14).
Faith is based on God’s word, it is believing with the heart. Faith is based on trust, on commitment. We don’t trust our faith we trust the Lord Jesus. We don’t trust our feelings, we trust our Master who lived for us as our representative before God, and who died as our substitute bearing our sin away to a place where God doesn’t see it. We don’t trust our knowledge or our intellect, we trust Him who has infinite knowledge of us.
Oh, what comfort in knowing He knows us, that all is open and naked with him and that even though He knows us as we are our Justification is sure and secure, because it is what He did for us. We change, but not Him, our faith sometimes is so weak and feeble but He is our strength. Listen, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by THE FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the Faith Of Christ” (Gal. 2:16). Don Bell.