June 10 – LD 23, Day 7: Justification by Faith Alone
by Prof Herman Hanko
Read: Romans 3:19-31
The teacher who has
assumed responsibility to instruct us in the absolute sovereignty of God in the
work of salvation is intent on getting this point, that we are justified by faith
alone, across to us.
This teacher of ours
recognizes that there are also plenty of people around who would quickly say,
“Yes, we are justified by faith,” but who also make faith a work.
They make faith a work when they use expressions like, “You must accept Christ
as your personal Savior”; “You must let Jesus into your heart”; “Jesus wants to
save you and loves you, but you must accept him”.
Here our teacher speaks
up: “Why sayest thou that thou art righteous by faith
only? Answer: Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the
worthiness of my faith.” So, after all, they make faith a work and
teach, in a sneaky way, that we are saved by faith and works.
The point our teacher is
making is not a mere doctrinal point; it is our salvation. I, we are reminded,
need a comfort in the life I am called to live, but also at the moment of
death. If that comfort comes from my works, there is no comfort. The Roman
Catholic Church could just as well have hung a sign about its doors, “Abandon
all comfort, ye who enter here.” The Catechism says,
your only comfort is that you do not have to save yourself nor contribute one
little deed to your salvation. Your salvation is in Christ. That is comfort!
Faith, as we learned
earlier from our teacher, is the bond that unites us to Christ. Christ is like
a giant reservoir in which all the blessings of salvation for time and eternity
are. Faith is the “pipeline” that connects us to Christ and through which all
Christ’s blessings flow into us.
Or to use another
figure: Christ is the “dynamo” and source of all power. Faith is the electric
wire that connects us to the dynamo. If the “wire” is not there, we give no
light. If we are connected to him, we shine in holiness and glory.
God gives that faith,
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God:” (Eph. 2:8).
It is true that God
causes that faith that he gives to come to conscious activity in our lives. We
believe. We run to the cross with the load of our sins. We take hold of the Saviour who hangs there. We make him our Saviour. And all these things are activities of faith.
But let us remember that
“it is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of His good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). God works the “will” that makes us want
to go to Christ. God himself actually works in us “to do of His good
pleasure”. He makes us do it.
But do not be alarmed by
this; that God does it all is “our only comfort.”