Justification Series: Justification and Faith in Jesus Christ

In Romans 3:28, Paul teaches that justification is by means of faith in Jesus Christ, independently of actions produced by obedience to the Law.

Romans 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (NIV84)

Romans 3:28 presents the reason why human boasting is excluded by means of the principle of faith in Jesus Christ.

Human boasting is the sinner’s arrogant self-confidence in his own merits when approaching a holy God as the means of establishing a relationship with Him.

This arrogant self-confidence in approaching God on the basis of one’s own merits expresses itself through an attitude of independence from God, which is evil.

To attempt to approach God independently of the means He provided through His Son is the epitome of arrogance and independence from God or the epitome of evil and thus, boasting in oneself before God is evil since evil is independence from God (Isaiah 14:12-14).

Boasting in oneself can manifest itself by attempting to perform a meritorious system of works to establish a relationship with God and it can manifest itself by thinking one has merit with God based upon one’s racial background as the Jews did.

It can manifest itself in thinking that one has merit with God based upon what one possesses such as the Jews in relation to the Old Testament and it can manifest itself by attempting to establish a relationship with God through some system of morality.

The Bible rejects human righteousness since it is based upon a comparison with the morality of other human beings rather than based upon the absolute standard of God’s perfect righteousness.

In Romans 3:9-20 and 23, Paul demonstrates that there is no one in the human race that has merit with God and could get into heaven or enter into a relationship with a holy God based upon their own merits.

Now, in Romans 3:21-31, Paul argues that since the sinner is justified by means of faith in Jesus Christ and not through a meritorious system of works or obedience to the Law, then the sinner has no room for boasting.

Therefore, the sinner is justified on the basis of the merits of Jesus Christ and the merits of His spiritual and physical death on the cross.

In Romans 3:27-31, Paul’s argument has his Jewish countrymen in mind since the unsaved Jews presumptuously and arrogantly thought that they would enter the kingdom of heaven because of their racial background as Jews and circumcision as well as being the recipients and custodians of the Old Testament canon of Scripture.

The only form of appropriate and justified form of boasting is that of boasting in the unique Person, Finished Work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Sinful mankind could not produce the perfect obedience required by the Law in order to establish a relationship and fellowship with a holy God.

What the Law could not do through sinful mankind, namely, save it, God the Father did through the Person and Work of His Son on the cross (Rom 8:1-8).

Religion promotes human pride and arrogance whereas Biblical Christianity rejects it.

Theologically, religion is the antithesis to Biblical Christianity in that it is the ignorant, presumptuous, vain and arrogant attempt by man to gain the approbation of God by depending upon a legalistic, meritorious system of human works rather than the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Religion is sponsored by Satan and the kingdom of darkness and is his ace trump.

Romans 3:28 reiterates what Paul taught in Romans 3:20-21.

Paul teaches in Romans 3:20-24 that the Law required perfect obedience, which mankind has no capacity to do because they are under the dominion of the old Adamic sin nature.

Thus, the human race stands condemned before a holy God, having absolutely no merit with God.

As Paul points out in Romans 3:21-31, the fact that the sinner is justified on the basis of God’s grace policy and through faith in Jesus Christ totally rejects and excludes the idea that the sinner could enter into a relationship with a holy God based upon his own merits.

As long as sinful man boasts in his own actions and merit, it will be impossible for him to trust in Jesus Christ whom the Father sent to redeem sinful man.

The sinner can only be justified that is rightly related to God or can only be accepted by God and entered into a relationship with God when they cease to place confidence in their own actions, accomplishments or human merit and instead trusts in the merits of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross to be put right with God.

So, Paul’s statement in Romans 3:28 presents the reason why human boasting is not excluded by means of obedience to the Law but rather by the principle of faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul refutes the idea that actions produced by obedience to the Law are the means by which human boasting is excluded by reiterating in Romans 3:28 what he said in Romans 3:19-24.

Now, the question arises, does not God want us to be obedient to His Word?

The answer is yes.

However, Paul is speaking in the context of unbelievers seeking to be justified before a holy God based upon their own merits.

He is not speaking in the context of believer’s obeying their heavenly Father as an expression of love for Him.

We must remember that the unsaved Jews were seeking to establish a relationship as sinners with a holy God who demanded perfect obedience, which was impossible for the unsaved Jews to do since they were under the power of the sin nature.

Therefore, faith in Jesus Christ is the only way an unsaved Jew or Gentile can enter into a relationship with a holy God since Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient and His spiritual and physical death on the cross dealt with the sins of humanity.

So, the concept of being obedient to the Law in order to be justified by God was impossible since the Law of God demanded perfect obedience, which a sinner has no capacity to do.

In fact, for the unsaved Jew to attempt to establish a relationship with a holy God through obedience to the Law was in essence attempting to enter into the kingdom of God based upon one’s own merits.

This is impossible since mankind has no merit with a holy God due to the fact that man is a sinner by nature and practice.

In Romans 3:28, “by faith” is the dative feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις), which refers to the non-meritorious system of perception of placing one’s “trust” or “confidence in” the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The object of faith is Jesus Christ on the cross as indicated as indicated in Romans 3:22 and 26.

The noun pistis (πίστις) functions as “dative instrumental of means” indicating that faith in Jesus Christ is “the means by which” the sinner is declared righteous by a holy God.

There are three forms of perception: (1) Empiricism: Trusting in one’s experiences in life to make decisions. (2) Rationalism: Trusting in one’s intellect to make decisions in life. (3) Faith: Trusting in the authority of another to make decisions in life.

Hebrews 11:1-3 gives a definition of faith and also a description of the nature of faith or in other words, what faith does and how it works.

Faith is the only system of perception that God will accept because it is compatible with His grace policy (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The object of the Christian’s faith at the moment of conversion is the Lord Jesus Christ and the object of his faith after conversion is the written Word of God.

In Romans 5:1, Paul teaches that since the believer has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, he has peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV84)

“By faith” is composed of the preposition ek (ἐκ), “by” and the genitive feminine singular form of the noun pistis (πίστις), “faith.”

The noun pistis refers to the non-meritorious system of perception of placing one’s “trust” or “confidence in” the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and His spiritual and physical death on the cross.

This word is the object of the preposition ek (ἐκ), which is used with the genitive form of pistis as a marker of means constituting a source.

Therefore, this prepositional phrase ek pisteōs (ἐκ πίστεως), “through faith” indicates that faith in Jesus Christ is “the means constituting the source by which” God the Father justifies the sinner.

Paul uses ek (ἐκ) not only because he wants to emphasize the means of justification, faith in Jesus Christ but that this means constitutes the source of justification.

This preposition ek (ἐκ) is a reminder to the Jew that justification is not only by means of faith in Jesus Christ but that it also constitutes the source of justification since the Jews erroneously believed that observing the Law or circumcision was the means constituting the source by which one was declared justified by God.

In fact, in Romans 3:20, Paul uses the preposition ek (ἐκ) with genitive form of the noun ergon (ἔργον), “actions, works” and states that sinful humanity will never be justified by means of actions produced by obedience to the Law (as a source of justification).

Therefore, the preposition ek (ἐκ) is a reminder to the Jew that justification is not only by means of faith in Jesus Christ but that this faith in Jesus Christ constitutes the source of justification.