by Mike Robinson
Many churches unwittingly confuse the law and the grace. Some churches
fall into legalism. Others may affirm the opposite by stating that teaching
moral duties is legalism.
I have found that a teaching summary designated the three Gs helps
many Christians make the right distinctions between law and gospel;
sanctification and justification. Most preachers, apologists, and average
Christians often find it difficult to explain how salvation by grace alone
properly relates to the Christian duty of moral obedience to God’s
commandments.
Guilt, Grace, and
Gratitude
·
Guilt: All men sin and are guilty before God (John 3
& Romans 3).
·
Grace: God extends His grace to men by sending His Son
to die a vicarious death on the cross. God’s grace through the Gospel by the
power of the Spirit saves a person who trusts in Christ (Titus 3:4-7).
·
Gratitude: The one who trusts in Christ is forgiven of all
of his guilt and sin; he now serves God out of gratitude and love for saving
him (John 14 & Titus 3:8).
Titus
3:4-8 But when
the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us,
through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been
justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal
life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm
constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and
profitable to men.
Romans
7:15 For what I
am doing, I do not understand. For what I want to do, that I do not practice;
but what I hate, that I keep doing. … 19 For the good that I want to do, I do
not do; but the evil I do not want to do, that I practice.
“Justification is the article by
which the church stands and falls— (Martin Luther).
“There is no one doctrine in the
whole Bible more fully asserted.” Jonathan Edwards).
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. … For when we were still without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through Him (Romans 5:1-9).
The
doctrine of justification holds that the believer is declared righteous, his
sins are removed, and Christ’s righteousness is imputed unto him by grace
alone: the believer now has right legal
standing before God. No other religious system has a means by which to
erase one’s record of iniquity and grant one a righteous record—a record
required to enter a pure and unspotted heaven.
But to him who does not work, but believes on Him
who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is counted (imputed) for righteousness (Romans 4:5).
Most
Christians understand that because Christ died on the Cross, their sins are
forgiven and rinsed away; this is what is called the negative aspect of
justification. Something is subtracted, namely our sins. The positive aspect of
justification is usually overlooked by the average modern Christian. The
positive element of justification states that God imputes into the believer’s
account the righteousness of Christ. Jesus not only died for us; He lived for
us. His perfect, holy, and righteous life’s record was given to those who trust
in Him.
During
His life of thirty-three years, Jesus lived in perfect accord with God’s law,
fulfilling all righteousness on our behalf. Saved believers stand perfectly
righteous before the Holy God. They are not just guiltless and sinless, but
they are actually declared righteous on account of Christ. All the righteous deeds
Jesus did on the earth are imputed into the believer’s account.
The Eternal Blessing of Imputation
And he believed in the LORD; and He accounted it to him for righteousness
(Genesis 15:6).
Imputation: The
righteousness that Jesus earned as He lived a perfect life is given (imputed)
to the believer by grace through faith.
Gen.
15:6 And Abraham believed God and it was accounted (imputed) for righteousness…
Psalm
32:1-5 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. 2
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not
impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit…. 5 I acknowledged
my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Rom.
3:24 Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus.
Rom.
3:26 "for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present
time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in
Jesus."
Rom.
3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the
Law.
Rom.
4:3 "For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and
it was accounted (imputed) to him as righteousness."
Rom.
4:5 "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is accounted (imputed) as righteousness."
Rom.
4:11, "And … all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed to them also."
Rom.
5:1 "Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,"
Rom.
5:9 "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be
saved from the wrath of God through Him."
Luke
18:13 And
the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to
heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I
tell you, this man went down to his house justified…
Rom.
9:30 "What shall we say then? That Gentiles,
who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the
righteousness which is by faith."
Rom.
10:9-10 "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in
your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting
in righteousness (justification), and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation."
1
Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from
God—and justification [righteousness] and sanctification and redemption.
Gal.
2:16 "Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law;
since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."
Gal.
2:21 “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness (justification)
comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
Gal.3:6
Even so Abraham believed God, and it was accounted (imputed) to him as
righteousness."
Gal.
3:8 "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, preached the gospel beforehand
to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you."[see
John 8:56].
Gal.
3:14 "In order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to
the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith."
Gal.
3:24 "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we
may be justified by faith."
Phil.
3:9 "And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of
faith."
To live a life of obedience before God you must:
1. Admit that the flesh is weak (Matt 26:41).
2. Repent. Turn from your sin and error.
3. Pray for power and wisdom to overcome temptation and sin.
4. Avoid instruments, places, people, and circles that tempt you
and where you previously fell.
5. Keep your focus on Jesus, His Word, and His victory
(1 Corinthians 15:56; Hebrews 12:1-2).
