Sunday, February 10, 2013

justification by faith


John Piper in Bloodlines:

God threatens religious pluralism with the glorious freeness of grace. He sends us as his ambassadors to every religion and every ethnic group with this message: There is good news for you! God declares to you that, even though you have sinned against him and are under his wrath, you may be counted righteous and forgiven all your sins and be reconciled to your Creator and have everlasting life. The way to be justified before God is by grace alone through faith alone in his Son Jesus Christ, who already acted in history once for all to pay for sin and provide righteousness. If you believe in Christ, you will be “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). He will take away your guilt. He will give you eternal life. If you do not turn to him by faith alone for grace alone on the basis of Christ alone, you remain under his wrath (John 3:36).

Some will say that this universal demand for repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is arrogance and presumption. But a better name for it is love. Yes, it undermines religious pluralism and ethnic pride. Christianity does not come to other religious systems and try to replace one way to work for God with another way to work for God. It comes with a declaration of amnesty. The one true God has made a truce at the cost of his Son’s life. He offers pardon to every person freely and offers everlasting joy to those who will trust his Son.

The oneness of God means that there is one way to be justified before God—not the way of works, but the way of grace alone through faith alone. Works is the fruit of justification, not the cause (Eph. 2:9–10). And because justification comes only by way of faith, it cuts across all ethnic and political and language and cultural barriers. Verse 30: God “will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.” “Circumcision” stands for any religious or ethnic trait that you might think would commend you to God. And “uncircumcision” stands for any trait, or missing trait, that you think might keep you from God.

The gospel of Jesus Christ comes and says, “Justification (getting right with God by being counted as righteous) is by faith, not works.” Therefore, having certain ethnic or religious advantages proves to be of no advantage. And not having certain ethnic or religious advantages proves to be of no disadvantage. The reason is that faith in Christ, by its very nature, looks away from distinctives (positive or negative) that you have in yourself and looks to God’s free grace in order to be justified and have eternal life.

God’s oneness means that there is one way of justification for all. And, because this one God is the great sovereign, self-sufficient God who can’t be worked for but overflows in grace, the one way of justification is by grace through faith, and that is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone—any culture or race or ethnic group—should boast (Eph. 2:8–9).

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