Basics Series. Justification, part 2.

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley

Basics
Tuesday,
February 5, 2013

The Doctrine of Soteriology
(Salvation)

The blood of Christ – His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross – provided redemption, expiation, propitiation, and reconciliation for every man.

Redemption Price
Expiation Cancelled
Propitiation Satisfied
Reconciliation Peace
Justification Righteousness

THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION

INTRODUCTION

At the moment of faith in Christ, the perfect righteousness of God is credited to our account.

Redemption and Expiation take us out of the red;

Imputation (of perfect righteousness and eternal life) puts us in the black!

Imputation credits to our account the perfect righteousness of God.

Justification is God declaring us to be perfectly righteousness forever, as a legal matter, before the bench of God’s justice.

Justification by faith is the heart of what separates Christianity from religion.

In November, 1515, Martin Luther, a professor of sacred theology at the University of Wittenberg, began to study the Epistle to the Romans in order to explain it to his students.

Martin Luther described the doctrine of Justification by faith as the article of faith that decides whether the church is standing or falling.

This doctrine has suffered neglect in the past 100 years. We have also seen great religious apostasy and spiritual decline during this same period.

John Darby had to clear up a wrong teaching that had persisted for 300 years. It concerned the nature of the righteousness that God imputes to the believing sinner.

Darby had to go against Calvin and the Puritans and leaders and authorities in the church in his own day.

Mar 7:8
“Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

James Buchanan lived in Scotland in the 19th century.
He wrote “The Doctrine of Justification” in 1866. He treated the subject both doctrinally and historically.

The Colloquy of Ratisbon (1541):
3 Catholic theologians and 3 Protestant theologians came together to work out a “grand bargain” on the subject of justification.

This doctrine of justification by faith alone has been attacked from every conceivable direction throughout church history, so that tells you how vital it is.

Those in the evangelical community in America who are putting aside their doctrinal differences with the Roman Catholic church are compromising this doctrine.

Our study of the doctrine of justification will require us to define terms carefully.

justification
righteousness
imputation
faith

[what they are….and what they are not!]

For example, there is a vital difference between righteousness that is imputed and righteousness that is infused.

“The first principle of teaching is repetition; and the second principle of teaching is…
… repetition; and the third principle is…repetition!”

Justification means an act of vindication

To justify means to declare righteous.

Justification is the legal act of God whereby He declares the believer righteous because He has imputed to the believer His (God’s) own perfect righteousness.

Rom 3:26
For the showing forth of His righteousness in the present time – unto the being Himself righteous, and the One declaring righteous the person having faith in Jesus.

DEFINITIONS

Justification is the judicial act of God the Father whereby He declares a person to be righteous forever at the moment they exercised faith in His Son Jesus Christ …

… as a result of God’s crediting or imputing to that person the righteousness of God, on the sole grounds of Christ’s death on the cross, and not on the basis of anything good about the person.


 


© Lighthouse Bible Church of South Florida, Inc. / John Farley • lbible.org • All rights reserved.