JUSTIFICATIONSALVATION IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

What Do Presbyterians Believe?University Presbyterian Church

April 14, 2013

JUSTIFICATION

• Oxford Dictionary: – the action of showing something to be right or reasonable– the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God

• For Christians– God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the

same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice

• Justification is seen by Protestants as being the theological fault line that divided Catholic from Protestant during the Protestant Reformation – Why so?

JUSTIFICATION

• Catholic and Orthodox Christians distinguish between initial justification, which in their view occurs at baptism, and permanent justification, accomplished after a lifetime of striving to do God's will.

• Catholics and Orthodox Christians use Galatians 5:19-21 and Matthew 19:17 to support their belief that justification is kept through avoiding grave sins.

JUSTIFICATION

• Galatians 5:19-21 – Now the works of the flesh are obvious:

fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

JUSTIFICATION

• Matthew 19:17– And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about

what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’

JUSTIFICATION

• Protestants believe that justification is a singular act in which God declares an unrighteous individual to be righteous

• Justification is granted to all who exercise faith, and that is viewed as a gift from God (unmerited favor) by Protestants, who use Ephesians 2:8, as well as Acts 16:14 and Philippians 1:29 to support that belief.

JUSTIFICATION

• Ephesians 2:8– For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is

not your own doing; it is the gift of God—• Acts 16:14– A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was

listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul

• Philippians 1:29 – For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of

believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—

JUSTIFICATION

• For the apostle Paul, justification was at the heart of gospel news.

• It shaped Paul’s message, his devotion and his spiritual life

• For 500 years Protestants have used Paul’s writings on grace through faith

• Galatians 3:11– Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by

the law; for ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’

JUSTIFICATION

• To be justified is to be eternally secure– Romans 5:1-5 (Results of Justification): Therefore, since

we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

JUSTIFICATION

• Means of justification is personal faith in Christ, crucified dead and risen as Lord– Romans 4:23-25: Now the words, ‘it was reckoned

to him’, were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

JUSTIFICATION

• Means of justification is personal faith in Christ, crucified dead and risen as Lord– Romans 10:8-13: But what does it say?‘ The word is near you,

on your lips and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

JUSTIFICATION

• Salvation is not of ourselves or our works– Romans 3:20: For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’ by deeds

prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.• Salvation is not through human wisdom and thinking

– 1 Corinthians 1:21: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.

• Grace is God’s part in our salvation• Faith is our response to God’s grace• As we give our selves in faith to Christ, he gives us his gift of

righteousness• We receive divine pardon and acceptance

JUSTIFICATION

• Galatians 2:15-16: We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.

JUSTIFICATION

• Galatians 3:24: Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.

JUSTIFICATION

• What does it mean to accept God’s grace?• What is our faithful response or how do we

respond in faith to God’s grace?

JUSTIFICATION

• What were Christ’s two greatest and foremost commandments?– Luke 10:26-27: Just then a lawyer stood up to test

Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’

JUSTIFICATION

• What does Jesus mean by these commandments?• ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all

your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind’

• ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’

• How shall we lives our lives?

JUSTIFICATION

• Next week, April 21, 2013– God's sovereignty (with a short side journey down

the path of predestination) – Anna Pinckney Straight

– Romans 8:30: And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.