Justification By Faith, Free Online Course 1, Lesson 1
Justification By Faith, Free Online Course 1, Lesson 1
What is Justification By Faith
We humans have an inherent tendency to justify ourselves. No sooner someone points to a real or alleged mistake on our part, the defenses go up and we pile reason upon reason to demonstrate why we were wrong. We all wish to justify ourselves. Ask any parent if you need additional proof!
The word Justification commonly refers to the act of declaring that a person is not guilty. It is somewhat in the same sense that this word is used in the Bible also. The major difference is that the doctrine refers to justification in front of God (and not man ) and that also in the matter of sins (and not everyday omissions or failings).
Man’s inherent need for justification in front of others is seen among people of all languages, cultures, and time. But much greater than that is man’s perceived need for justification in front of his Creator. This is why people of all religions and all times invented their own varied methods to get a clean chit from God. But, obviously, no man-made method can bring lasting justification. In all justly constituted human courts, a guilty person is deemed worthy only of punishment and not of vindication or justification.
Because of human conscience every person knows that he is a sinner who deserves only punishment. He also knows that the Omnipotent Divine court is infinitely more powerful and objective than the fallible human courts. This is why there is a life-long yearning in his heart to get right with God. The origin of all man-made religions and rituals can be traced to this fear and this yearning.
Man-made religion and ritual can offer, at the most, only a temporary satisfaction. It cannot save, and it cannot justify in the final reckoning. Thus God in His infinite mercy opened and offered a way of justification, the divinely ordained way for getting declared not-guilty. He also chose a succession of people to carry this message unadulterated to humans. It was transmitted from Seth to Noah and from Noah to Abraham orally and also through the written word. God also spoke directly with people in this chain. Finally He made Israel the custodian of this message. They were both to preserve the message from adulteration, and were also supposed to spread this message to people of all the world. And there are plenty of archeological and historical indications that they took this responsibility seriously.
As world population began to explode, even Israelites became so numerous that mere oral communication the essentials was not sufficient, and some sort of written and codified communication became necessary to get the message of divine justification to all. This is the time when God raised Moses to leadership.
Moses was a highly learned person, and since he was trained in the palaces of Egypt upto the age of 40, he was proficient in more than one language, was able to write in more than one kind of script, and had access to papyri and other writing material. God used him to write six books in in the Bible: the first five books, plus the book of Job. He also wrote many psalms. This was the first time when the divine message of justification was codified down in writing.
From here the exposition of this doctrine kept on becoming increasingly clear as God kept adding more books to the Canon, with unusually detailed descriptions of salvation and justification being given in the last portion of the book of Isaiah. In His three and a half years of public ministry, Lord Jesus repeatedly spoke about justification, and even illustrated it with stories. A classic incident is the parable of the arrogant Pharisee and the repentant Publican who went to the Temple. The Pharisee did not have an assurance when he left the temple after his prayers, though the followed the law to the letter. The penitent Publican, on the other hand, went away justified on the basis of his faith in God, though he probably had broken all the stipulations of the Law. Such is God’s compassion, but many in the Old Testament times failed to recognize it.
The special activities of the Holy Spirit from Pentecost onwards, the writing down of the doctrinal books of the Bible (Romans to Judah), and the never-before seen but the newly-given filling and indwelling of the Spirit ensured that Divine Truth and the Divine Plan of the Ages are explained orally and also in writing to the people of God with unusual clarity. The message of Justification By Faith was spelt out in detail in the Epistles, specially and emphatically in the Epistle to Romans.
That Justification is an act of God’s grace and that the keeping of the Law played no part in it was made abundantly clear to the Apostles. The Jerusalem Council publicly recognized this fact. Similarly, Peter the chief among the Apostles also recognized this truth when God spoke to him through the vision of a large tray filled with all kinds of animals. Since the Apostles and their close companions spent much time in an intensive exposition of spiritual truth, and since a large number of believers like the "Bereans" made it a point to search the scriptures on a daily basis, doctrines related to salvation and justification became unusually clear to believers in the first century. There was no doubt about these doctrines, and there were no conflicts in the church over justification by faith. The wrong teachings of Judizers who insisted upon keeping the law, and the pagan influence of Gnostics were the main problems then, and the Apostles fought them with all might.
Justification By Faith, Free Online Course 1, Lesson 1
What is Justification By Faith
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