Basic Theology: Justification - How we are Justified?
How we are Justified?
The Word of God makes it clear that no one is justified by his own effort or works.
Romans 3:20, Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Galatians 2:16 & 3:11, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
3:11, But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
This was the fatal error made by the Pharisee, which was demonstrated by Lord Jesus Christ in His parable.
Luke 18:11-12, The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’
No works of ours, no good resolutions or reformation can justify us or contribute one little bit to our justification.
It is as though a murderer, feeling sorry for his crime, would do all the good deeds possible and would imagine that by thus doing he would be justified in the eyes of the law and saved from the executioner. All the good deeds in the world could do nothing to justify him. Likewise, all the good deeds of a sinner can do nothing towards his justification.
But Apostle James talks about works! James teaches us how works are associated with justification.
James 2:24, "You see that a man is justified by WORKS and not by faith only".
Luke 6:46, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, when you don't DO what I say?"
When we try hard to put our faith into PRACTICE, by doing the things that Jesus commands, we are doing "works".
James 2:14-26,
We can notice that James uses a series of thought pictures to illustrate the need for "works" with faith.
James 2:15-17, Imagine a cold and hungry person needs help. All you give them is nice words and words without works are useless. In the same way faith is useless without works.
James 2:14,18 Imagine two people arguing about faith and works.
One claims to have faith alone. The other challenges him, "Show me your faith!
You can't!
But I can show you my faith by the works that accompany it".
Faith is like electricity: invisible and worthless until it does something. You can pull a driver's licence out of your pocket to show you drive a car, but there's no document to prove you have faith except the "document" of a life filled with good works
James 2:19-20, Imagine the demons: they believe in God. But the only thing their "faith" makes them DO is shake in their shoes!
James 2:21-24, Imagine Abraham offering his son on the altar. Abraham proved his faith by showing he was willing to do whatever the Lord required of him.
James 2:25, Imagine Rahab the harlot helping the men of God. She was not justified by what she was (a prostitute), but by what she did out of faith.
James 2:26, Imagine a dead body. It is cold and grey and still. It will soon begin to rot. That's because it has no spirit. In the same way, faith, if it has no works, is dead. It is interesting that in this illustration spirit is parallel to works not faith.
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