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‘Justification,’means by definition, “To pronounce, accept, and treat as just, i.e., as, on the one hand, not penally liable, and, on the other, entitled to all the privileges due to those who have kept the law,” and this fact is of great importance to the professing Christian, as one cannot be definitively justified unless they are sinless.[1] Taking into account no man is sinless, this begs the question: Does the law then have the power to justify man, even when man has violated the law?
The apostle Paul says of the law and sin:
Still, after taking into consideration the preceding scriptures, there are, at the very least, two areas of concern which need to be addressed:
(1) Paul was speaking to Jewish Christians returning to the church in Rome, many of which overemphasized Jewish legalism, and felt there was no place for Gentile Christians who did not observe dietary rules, etc.[3]
(2) “. . . Justification by grace apart from works of the law had encouraged certain licentious tendencies in the [Roman] church.”[4] In other words, there were those who felt they could freely go about sinning because they were under grace(Unfortunately, this still occurs to this day).
Yet, simply because these two objections to Paul’s teaching of “faith apart from works” are based on some degree of truth, does not necessarily make Paul’s teaching untrue. To determine if Paul is teaching sound doctrine, his writings must be compared with those of James, and it is this comparison which epitomizes the debate as to whether a person is justified by faith, or if it is they are justified by adherence to the law.
After a careful analysis of the writings of James and Paul, it is evident they are not contradictory of each other, but, in fact, are complimentary. I have listed several similarities as follows:
(1) Paul’s use of the word“justified” carries the same connotation as the word “saved.”[1]
(2) James’use of the word “justified” carries the same connation as the word “authenticated.” In other words, “grace which has no outward result is not grace at all.”[2]
(3) Paul is opposed to the belief that works of the law can save, i.e., ritual,ceremonial, etc.
(4) James advocates works of faith (different from works of the law), which flow naturally from one who has truly received grace.
(5) The English transliteration of the Greek word “faith” (pistis/GK 4411), literally means, “Belief, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow.”[3]
These five points, as well as numerous other factors not yet addressed, leave no doubt that Christians are justified by faith through grace –apart from works of the law.
P.S. Please excuse any mistakes (Grammatically or otherwise), as this is simply a rough-draft of something I am working on for school. I am aware it is not the most theologically concrete material written concerning the topic of 'Justification.' Thank you for your consideration. And if you have any suggestions for improvement, while I will not plagiarize any independent thoughts or ideas, I am open to changing my views if given good reason to. Lastly, whenever I paste some original work into the forums, it seems as though there is a formatting issue, is there a way to correct this?
[HR][/HR][1]Davids, p. 51, ISBN: 0802823882
[2]Davids, p. 50, ISBN: 0802823882
[3]Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance, p. 1583, ISBN# 13 9780310262855
[HR][/HR][1]Elwell, p. 643, ISBN# 9780801020759
[2]F.F. Bruce, p. 193, ISBN# 0802835015
[3]Calvin J. Roetzel, p. 106, ISBN# 066425201X
[4]Calvin J. Roetzel, p. 106, ISBN# 066425201X
The apostle Paul says of the law and sin:
“Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Rom. 7:13-24).
After careful reading of this passage, it becomes clear the law is in and of itself, good, and Christians should have the desire to keep the laws of God. However, the law does not have the power to justify man, and, as F. F. Bruce puts it, “To be under the law – not only the Law of Moses but the law of God – means to be under the dominion of sin.”[2] Without question, even the most devout Christians are unable to perfectly keep the commandments of God, and, as a result, are in direct violation of His [God’s] law. And yet, while the law cannot justify, Paul writes, “He [Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Rom. 4:25), and it follows, therefore, “. . . a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
Still, after taking into consideration the preceding scriptures, there are, at the very least, two areas of concern which need to be addressed:
(1) Paul was speaking to Jewish Christians returning to the church in Rome, many of which overemphasized Jewish legalism, and felt there was no place for Gentile Christians who did not observe dietary rules, etc.[3]
(2) “. . . Justification by grace apart from works of the law had encouraged certain licentious tendencies in the [Roman] church.”[4] In other words, there were those who felt they could freely go about sinning because they were under grace(Unfortunately, this still occurs to this day).
Yet, simply because these two objections to Paul’s teaching of “faith apart from works” are based on some degree of truth, does not necessarily make Paul’s teaching untrue. To determine if Paul is teaching sound doctrine, his writings must be compared with those of James, and it is this comparison which epitomizes the debate as to whether a person is justified by faith, or if it is they are justified by adherence to the law.
After a careful analysis of the writings of James and Paul, it is evident they are not contradictory of each other, but, in fact, are complimentary. I have listed several similarities as follows:
(1) Paul’s use of the word“justified” carries the same connotation as the word “saved.”[1]
(2) James’use of the word “justified” carries the same connation as the word “authenticated.” In other words, “grace which has no outward result is not grace at all.”[2]
(3) Paul is opposed to the belief that works of the law can save, i.e., ritual,ceremonial, etc.
(4) James advocates works of faith (different from works of the law), which flow naturally from one who has truly received grace.
(5) The English transliteration of the Greek word “faith” (pistis/GK 4411), literally means, “Belief, trust, with an implication that actions based on that trust may follow.”[3]
These five points, as well as numerous other factors not yet addressed, leave no doubt that Christians are justified by faith through grace –apart from works of the law.
P.S. Please excuse any mistakes (Grammatically or otherwise), as this is simply a rough-draft of something I am working on for school. I am aware it is not the most theologically concrete material written concerning the topic of 'Justification.' Thank you for your consideration. And if you have any suggestions for improvement, while I will not plagiarize any independent thoughts or ideas, I am open to changing my views if given good reason to. Lastly, whenever I paste some original work into the forums, it seems as though there is a formatting issue, is there a way to correct this?
[HR][/HR][1]Davids, p. 51, ISBN: 0802823882
[2]Davids, p. 50, ISBN: 0802823882
[3]Strongest NIV Exhaustive Concordance, p. 1583, ISBN# 13 9780310262855
[HR][/HR][1]Elwell, p. 643, ISBN# 9780801020759
[2]F.F. Bruce, p. 193, ISBN# 0802835015
[3]Calvin J. Roetzel, p. 106, ISBN# 066425201X
[4]Calvin J. Roetzel, p. 106, ISBN# 066425201X
