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Defenders Podcast
Defenders: Doctrine of Salvation (Part 17): The Grounds, Means, and Results of Justification
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This is Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig today. The Doctrine of Salvation, Part 17. For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonablefaith.org
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We've been talking about the doctrine of justification as a subsection of the locus on the doctrine of salvation. We spent the lion's share of our time talking about the nature of justification as a legal act on God's part whereby he declares us righteous. Since this is the center of the debate over justification, it's appropriate that we should have spent most of our time here. But now we want to wrap up our study of justification by looking at the grounds of justification, the means of justification, and the results of justification. So let's talk first about the grounds of justification in terms of the grounds of justification. Justification is grounded first and foremost in God's free will and mercy. God was under no obligation to forgive or pardon anybody. The fact that he would pardon anyone is the result of his own freedom of choice and and his mercy. Look at what Paul says in Titus 3, verses 5 to 7, a marvelous passage on justification. There Paul writes, he saved us not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life. So the reason that justification is by grace rather than by the merit of our own good works is precisely because it is rooted, as Paul says, in God's own mercy. Given that all people are justly condemned before God, God is under no obligation to forgive anybody. The fact that he should choose to save even some is a demonstration of God's mercy toward us. I think that's the significance of Romans 9:16. There Paul says, so it depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon God's mercy. Whom God chooses to save is not determined by us. It is determined by God. It is God who has chosen by his own mercy to save, whom he chooses to save. He has chosen to save, as I've said in the past, those who have faith in Christ Jesus. So fundamentally the justification that we experience is rooted in God's free will and mercy. But this isn't to say that God simply blinks at sin, that he just cancels people's sin. Rather, there is an atoning sacrifice for those sins that makes the extension of his mercy possible. So secondly, the grounds of justification are the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Look at Romans 5:8,9 but God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Notice the phrase here justified by his blood. The word blood here is a metaphor for the death of Christ, that atoning sacrificial death. That is why he says in verse 8 that Christ died for us. The ground of our justification lies in that self sacrificial atoning death of Jesus Christ on our behalf. Look also at what Paul says in Galatians 3, 11:14 a Paul writes, now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law. For and then he quotes the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, he who through faith is righteous shall live. But the law does not rest on faith. For and now he quotes from Leviticus, he who does them shall live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written and now quoting from Deuteronomy 21:23 cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree that in Christ the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles. So here Paul says that while no one can be justified before God by the works of the law, nevertheless Christ died for us, having become a curse for us. The curse of the law, the punishment of sin that we rightly deserve, was meted out upon Christ, so that now God's love and mercy is freed up to pardon and justify us. So the grounds of justification are, are first, God's free will and mercy, and second, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sin. That brings us then to the means of justification. As already indicated, the means by which we are justified is faith. Faith is the channel through which we appropriate the God's forgiveness and justification. Ephesians 2:8,9 Paul says, For by grace you have been saved through faith. Faith is the instrument, the channel by which we receive the grace of God. Was this a human setup, this notion of salvation by grace through faith? No. For Paul goes on to say, this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not because of works, lest any man should boast. So it is through placing our faith in God, or specifically in Christ, that we appropriate the atoning death of Christ on our behalf and so receive God's grace. Romans 3, verses 21 to 26 expands on this. This, like the passage in Titus, is, I think, one of the premier passages in the New Testament. Speaking of justification. Paul writes, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward, and as an expiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus. Jesus. So who is the person that is justified by God? It is the one who has faith in Jesus. So faith is the channel by which we come to appropriate justification. So I think you can see in Paul's thinking how critical faith is as the means by which we appropriate the the benefits of Christ's death and come to experience God's grace. God in his sovereignty has chosen to save and to justify those who have faith in Christ Jesus. So it is those who are people of faith that are the true sons of Abraham. Finally, what are some of the results of justification? First and foremost, as we've seen, there is full pardon. Romans 5:18. Then, as one man's trespass, speaking of Adam, led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. Then over in chapter eight and verse one, Paul says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For those who are united with Christ by means of faith, there is no condemnation. Rather, there is full pardon for our sins. Second, we are adopted as God's children. In Galatians, chapter four, verses four and five, Paul says, but when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. So insofar as we are in Christ, we are adopted by God into his family as children of God, and therefore recipients of all the promises that God gives to those who are his sons and daughters. Thirdly, we become heirs of eternal Life. In Galatians 4, 6, 7, Paul goes on to say, and because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, abba Father, so through God you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir. Similarly, in Romans 8, verses 16 and 17, Paul says, We are children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, what do we inherit? Paul says in Romans 6:23 for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. So having been forgiven of all our sins, being declared righteous, having been adopted by God as his children, we are now heirs of eternal life. We shall live with him forever. Death has been forever vanquished. And finally, number four, we become citizens of of God's kingdom. In Philippians 3:20, Paul says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that all of these benefits are, like justification itself, legal in nature. Pardon, adoption, inheritance, citizenship. There are many other benefits which are wrought by regeneration, such as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, good works and increasing sanctification. But as a legal notion, justification brings with it legal benefits. So I think you can see that the doctrine of justification by grace through faith is. Is not just some academic, dry doctrine. Rather, it is a doctrine that has tremendous implications. A full pardon for sin and redemption from its penalty, adoption into God's family as his children, becoming heirs of eternal life and citizenship in God's kingdom, with all its privileges. So this is a tremendously important and encouraging doctrine that has, I think, great import for the Christian life. Next time we'll turn to a study of the doctrine of perseverance. Can those who are genuine, regenerate Christians lose their salvation? We'll raise that question the next time we meet.