Dear FranC
Deacon Mike,
We are saved by faith alone.
It is a one time event.
It is at that time when a person repents. You know what repent means.
Then conversion begins.
Ok. Justification. This is why Justification is not just a onetime event. grant it, we are justified at a moment in time. But like sanctification, justification increases as well.
If we look at how the words justification, righteousness, forgiveness , sanctification is used in Sacred Scripture we discover that each of these terms are used in a past, present and future sense. If justification were "just" a onetime event then Scripture would not use δικαιόωa in a future sense to be achieved.
First, here are some verses showing justification as a past event:
“Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand…” (
Romans 5:1-2
)
“Much more then,
having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (
Romans 5:9
)
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (
1Corinthians 6:11
) ( notice here sanctification is PRECEEDED BY JUSTIFCATION. That is Because St Paul does not have a ridged idea of justifications that Protestants like to apply to the word)
Justification is therefore clearly a past event in the life of the believer. Unfortunately, most Protestants have camped out on verses which imply this and have concluded that justification is a once-for-all event, rather than also being an ongoing and not yet completed process.
But however attractive the single, once-for-all view of justification may be to some, there are serious exegetical considerations weighing against it. This may be seen by looking at how the New Testament handles the story of Abraham.
One of the classic Old Testament texts on justification is
Genesis 15:6
. This verse, which figures prominently in Paul’s discussion of justification in Romans and Galatians, states that when God gave the promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as the stars of the sky (
Gen. 15:5
, cf.
Rom. 4:18-22
) Abraham “believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (
Rom. 4:3
). This passage clearly teaches us that Abraham was justified at the time he believed the promise concerning the number of his descendants.
Now, if justification is a once-for-all event, rather than a process, then that means that Abraham could not receive justification either
before or
after Genesis 15:6
. However, Scripture indicates that he did both.
First, the book of Hebrews tells us that
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, not knowing where he was going.” (
Hebrews 11:8
)
Every Protestant will passionately agree that the subject of Hebrews 11 is saving faith
But when did he have this faith? The passage tells us: Abraham had it
“when he was called to go out to the place he would afterward receive.” The problem for the once-for-all view of justification is that is that the call of Abraham to leave Haran is recorded in
Genesis 12:1-4
three chapters before he is justified in 15:6. We therefore know that Abraham was justified well before (in fact,
years before) he was justified in
Gen. 15:6
.
But if Abraham had saving faith back in Genesis 12, then he was justified back in Genesis 12. Yet Paul clearly tells us that he was also justified in Genesis 15. So justification must be more than just a once-for-all event.
But just as Abraham received justification before
Genesis 15:6
, he also received it afterwards, for the book of James tells us,
“Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God.” (
James 2:21-23
)
James thus tells us “[w]as not our ancestor Abraham justified . . . when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?” In this instance, the faith which he had displayed in the initial promise of descendants was fulfilled in his actions (see also
Heb. 11:17-19
), thus bringing to fruition the statement of
Genesis 15:6
that he believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
Abraham therefore received justification The problem for the once-for-all view is that the offering of Isaac is recorded in
Gen. 22:1-18
seven chapters after Gen. 15:6
. Therefore, just as Abraham was justified before 15:6 when he left Haran for the promised land, so he was also justified again when he offered Isaac after 15:6.
Therefore, we see that Abraham was justified on at least three different occasions: he was justified in Genesis 12, when he first left Haran and went to the promised land; he was justified in Genesis 15, when he believed the promise concerning his descendants; and he was justified in Genesis 22, when he offered his first promised descendant on the altar.
As a result, justification must be seen, not as a once-for-all event, but as a process which continues throughout the believer’s life. In fact, it is even a process which extends
beyond the believer’s life. This is shown by passages in Scripture where Paul indicates that there is a sense in which our justification is still future:
” . . . for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law
will be justified;” (
Romans 2:13
)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh
will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (
Romans 3:20
)
Since this passage speaks of salvation in the past tense, something that
has been done to us, it is conceiving of salvation as a past reality.
But this is only one aspect of salvation. There is an ongoing aspect to salvation as well, as is indicated in
1st Peter 1:8-9
, which states,
” . . . Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving . . . the salvation of your souls.”
The same idea of salvation as something that is taking place presently is found in the writings of the St. Paul as well, for example, in
Philippians 2:12
he states,
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
Salvation in the Bible is therefore also a pr
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” (
Romans 13:11
)
“If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.” (
1Corinthians 3:15
)
” . . . deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (1Corinthians 5:5
)
These verses all speak of salvation in the future tense, as something that will happen to us in the future. Therefore, salvation has past, present, and future aspects or dimensions.
If we were to offer a general definition of salvation, including its past, present, and future dimensions, we would say something like, “Salvation is a process which begins when a person first becomes a Christian, which continues through the rest of his life, and which concludes on the Last Day.” This definition allows the faithful Christian to do justice to all of the Biblical data by saying, “I have been saved; I am being saved; and I will be saved.” It embraces all three of the aspects of salvation which are present in the biblical literature.
