“JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ACCORDING TO THE REFORMATION
AND ST PAUL”
(Part 1 of 2)
This means “How will you justify yourself to
God? As a sinner why would God to let you into heaven?”
Both Roman Catholics and Christians agree that a man
is justified by God’s work of grace.
But they are TOTALLY OPPOSITE as to how this
comes about.
Catholics have it happening inside of man
For the Christian it happens outside of man and
in Christ.
Roman Catholic theology has Gods’ work of grace within man and his human experience. This is the reason it is so destructive to Christian freedom. Man is a prisoner because he has become the center. He can never be free of himself. Catholicism then adds despair to grief by basing a man’s standing with God on what grace does within him. If a man’s acceptance with God depends upon God’s grace in his heart, he has to ask himself “How much grace do I need in me before I can stand justified before God? Before God will accept me how pure, loving, repentant and full of prayer must I be? This was Martin Luther’s dilemma. Did he have enough grace from God in his heart to be accepted by God. The opposite was the case - the more he looked into himself he was devastated at his own sinfulness, till he discovered he was “… justified freely through the redemption that is IN Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:24) he was made free from the bondage of himself. Till then, his acceptance with God centered on Christ Jesus being IN HIM. Rome’s Jesus is the actual wafer that must be eaten.
THE DIVISION BETWEEN ROME AND ST PAUL:
Rome declares that a man is justified by God’s work
of grace in his heart.
St Paul and the Reformation declared that a man is justified
by God’s work of grace in Jesus Christ.
HOW DO WE BECOME SINNERS BEFORE GOD?
To answer this question correctly will tell us how to
get right (become righteous) before God. We are sinners because we are
born
sinners. We did not become sinners after we were born. This did not
happen
inside of us, it was given to us because of something outside
of
us – the first man Adam. The Bible says “For
as by
one man's disobedience (Adam)
many were made sinners …” (Rom 5:19). Just as the whole
human
family of men came out of Adam, so his sin was passed down through his
following generations. It is like a virus being passed on from computer
to
computer. Paul says “…that through the offence of one many be
dead…” (Rom
5:15). This is called “The Law of Fatherhood” where children
share
the lot of the father. If a father is declared bankrupt, then the
children are
made poor because of their father’s poverty. Similarly, Satan causing
Adam to
sin, resulted in the whole human family being transferred out of God’s
kingdom into
his kingdom of darkness.
HOW
DO WE BECOME SINLESS BEFORE GOD?
God reversed the fall of Adam by giving the human race
another Father “For unto us a child is born … and his name shall be
called The
mighty God, The everlasting Father …” (Is 9:6). That’s right, Jesus
is God and Jesus is The everlasting Father! God gave his
only
begotten Son to be our everlasting Father. Just as Adam is the
father of
the whole human race, God makes it possible for his Son Jesus Christ to
be the
Father, the new head, the new representative for sinners should they so
believe
on Christ.
THE LAW OF FATHERHOOD WORKS FOR GOOD AS WELL!
If Dad buys a new car, the children say “We have a new
car!” even though the Father did all the work to earn the money
for the
car. Christ did all the work to obey and fulfil the laws of God
perfectly. When Christ appeared before God’s courtroom of justice, he
stood
their as if he were everyman. His obedience was everyman’s obedience,
as St
Paul says “…by
the obedience of one
shall many be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).
If
children damage your property, you seek justice
by dealing with their father. You may rightfully ask the father to
pay for
all the damage done by his children!
So Christ taking on himself the full amount of our sin debt before God, paid it in full. If you will believe this, Christ’s victory then becomes your victory. This is what is called the gospel – the Good News. Christ our everlasting Father has restored all that was lost in Adam.
Harley Hitchcock
This
website’s front page is:
www.
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ACCORDING TO ST PAUL
AND THE
REFORMERS
Part 2
