The Great Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone
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The Great Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone
The Great Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone
We’ve been pressing the importance of the Gospel message to the Christian life and that the Gospel message is what Paul has been protecting and fighting for in the book of Galatians so far. But as we transition to our text today. Paul speaks on an important facet of the Gospel, and this doctrine is so important that scholars and theologians have pressed that this doctrine is at the center of the Gospel, and John Stott even says that one does not understand Christianity who does not understand this doctrine, and this doctrine is “Justification by faith alone”.
“If the article of justification be once lost, then is all true Christian doctrine lost” - Martin Luther
“justification is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls” - Martin Luther
So for us as a church, if the doctrine of justification is central to our belief in the Gospel and central to our Christian doctrine it is important as a church that we understand what this doctrine means. This doctrine of justification is what Paul is stressing to Peter as he continues to rebuke Peter and urge him to recall back to the Gospel that he believes in so that he would repent of his actions of ostracizing gentiles and swaying other Jewish Christians to return back to their old traditions of following the law.
Paul’s argument and rebuke of Peter is emphasizing the great doctrine that is “Justification is by faith alone”, we will expound on this great doctrine and focus on 3 benefits for us in this doctrine.
Justified by Faith
Freed from the Law
Alive in Christ
1. Justified by Faith
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We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Context:
Paul is continuing his rebuke of Peter in v.15, and Paul’s point to Peter is this, that we as Jews came to faith in Christ and we did not find salvation through the law, the law did not justify us. He is reminding Peter that they have a similar theology, they believe in the same things. So since we have a similar theology Peter, I have to tell you that your actions are inconsistent and that by you pressing to the Gentiles that they have to keep certain dietary laws to have full fellowship with the Lord and God’s people, you are going against what you believe.
Peter’s actions are likely super surprising for Paul. They believe in the same Gospel, studied the same teachings, yet Peter’s actions are not in line with his beliefs.
“Peter you and i know that justification does not come from the law but that we believe that we are justified by Jesus, and that we cannot be justified by the law”
Paul is saying that he and Peter grew up as law-keeping Jews and not unlawful gentiles, but still as law-keeping jews they had found that justification was not in the law but in Christ
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Understanding Justification:
But what is so important with the doctrine of justification, and why is it so important to Paul in his argument to Peter. To help us understand the need for justification lets read on what the bible says in regards to this idea:
“If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty,
“If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
In justification, we are given the picture of a courtroom where a dispute has taken place. There is a judge preceding between parties where the judge will either clear the party of their guilt and decide that person is “not guilty” or will find the party guilty of all charges and will impose a punishment on that person.
So in this picture of a courtroom, humanity is on trial before God and our accusations against us is that since God is holy, and man is created in His image, man is on trial to see how faithful man was to the commands that God has for man in keeping and obeying God’s laws. But mankind is a sinful people who are more wretched and evil than they would know, fail in keeping God’s commands and fail in ‘being holy for God is holy’, and they are not righteous. Thus is in this courtroom, man stands condemned before God because of their sin. They deserve to have a “GUILTY” sentence and their punishment, well it is severe but it fits the crime before a holy and righteous judge, their punishment is eternal wrath in hell.
This is a sad truth for mankind, and man’s greatest need is to be righteous before a Holy God but because of sin in man’s life, we know that this cannot be done on their own strength. This is the type of damning truth that leads Job to say :
How then can man be in the right before God?
How can he who is born of woman be pure?
How can a man be right before God? and to put this in Paul’s language in Galatians, “how can a sinful, condemned sinner be justified before God?” But, Paul is arguing against Peter and these Judaizers that justification cannot be accomplished through the law but solely in Christ, and he warns Peter, “Peter don’t you know that justification by the law does not lead you to righteousness before God?”
This is why we need to be justified because “how can a sinful, condemned sinner be justified before a holy and righteous God?” To justify in the Bible means to declare of a man on trial, that he is not liable to any penalty, but is entitled to all the privileges due to those who have kept the law. Justifying is the act of a judge pronouncing to someone that he is not condemned but justified, and that he is acquitted of all charges and has legal immunity. To be justified means to be acceptable before God
It doesn’t, but what does a life living for the law looks like, what were these Judaizers trying to do?
Justification by the law
The law that Paul is speaking of here is the all of God’s commandments, and when Paul is saying the “works of the law”, he is saying obedience to that law. So can one be justified by ‘works of the law’ meaning obedience to the law? This is what the Judaizers believed. They believed that the only way to be justified is through sheer hard work and obedience to the law. We must do everything the law commands and refrain from everything the law forbids. So think through the 10 commandments, this means that, mankind must fully obey and not commit a sin in regards to these commands:
You must not have any other gods besides our God
Do not fall into idol worship
Do not use the Lord’s name in vain
Remember the Sabbath
Honor your father and mother
Do not murder
Do not steal
Do not commit adultery
Do not lie
Do not covet
Besides that you also have the levitical laws that one needs to fully be obedient to,you have to get circumcised and join the jewish party, then you also have the scriptures that say if you have hatred towards a man you have already committed murder in your heart, and if you lusted after someone, you already committed adultery. Then you have the commands to “be holy for God is holy”, Love the Lord your God, with all your soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor”
So the Judaizers are saying that we can be justified by doing all this perfectly. This is what it means to follow the law, obey the law, and live for the law. This is difficult to do church, and not just difficult but impossible, and we are forgetting the fact that we are inherently sinful as well.
You might be thinking, I can’t believe that people actually believed in that at that time, why would people ever believe in that belief system? but Jewish beliefs are not different than any other belief system in this world besides Christianity. Every belief system in this world will say that if you only try harder, or do this or do that, or meditate harder, or spend more money; you can achieve salvation, nirvana, or be accepted before God. But we believe that nobody has ever been justified by the works of the law for the plain reason that none of us have perfectly kept the law. Because church, a strict adherence to the law and its demands are not something that we can do. We may keep some of the law’s requirements outwardly, but we have never kept them all. If we look into our own thoughts, our motives, our desires we will see that we are more sinful than we know. That is why the scriptures say that ‘no one is righteous, no not one’ . We cannot be justified by the works of the law because we have not obeyed the law perfectly, but thankfully Paul reminds Peter that we are not justified through our obedience to the law, but are justified by someone else’s perfect obedience to the law, and that we are justified through faith in Jesus Christ.
Justification by Faith in Jesus Christ
Paul reminds Peter of the truth that Peter knows but needs to be reminded that we are justified through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul wants to remind Peter of the truth that Jesus came into this world to live and to die. Jesus’ life was a life of obedience to the Father but also he obeyed the law perfectly. In Christ’s death, Jesus suffers for us and suffers for our disobedience to the law. He died for lawbreakers like us, and the penalty for our disobedience was death and Christ dies. Paul is asserting here that right standing before God is not through keeping of this law but only through faith in Christ.
For the Christian, we believe that Jesus justifies us and this is through a gracious act by God in which God declares a guilty sinner righteous, and holy before God. The holy judge of the universe takes a sinner who is in intentional rebellion against God, a sinner who deserves a ‘guilty verdict’ and declares him ‘innocent and not guilty’. Justification is the opposite of condemnation, God forgives us of our sins once-and-for-all, and declares us righteous. This verdict is not changed through good behavior or good works, but it is our status and identity for eternity when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. When you are justified by God, we have peace with God, and we have all the privileges that one has who is righteous before God.
This is what happens to the believer when they believe in the Gospel, when you place your faith in Jesus Christ you receive his forgiveness and his righteousness is transferred over to you. God looks at each sinner saved by grace and faith in Jesus and says “ I find no fault in that person, I have no record of that person doing any wrong in his life”
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Thus no one can bring a charge against God’s people, because we’re considered righteous in his sight. We are justified by faith and receive Christ’s righteousness by faith. When we are justified we receive Christ’s righteousness and we receive this righteousness not by doing but believing in Jesus. That is why theologians call this righteousness, an alien righteousness, because it is a righteousness that is not their own, because it is given to us by Jesus Christ.
keep in mind that Justification does not mean that God sweeps sin under the rug, he has a hatred towards sin and is just in punishing the guilty, but those who have put their faith in Christ, though they are guilty, and deserving of the penalty of sin which is death, Jesus Christ has paid that penalty for them, and our sins were paid by Him.
I know we are expounding thoroughly on what it means to be justified, and not just justified but justified by faith alone. But even if this is not new to you, this is the doctrine that our Christian faith hinges on and we need to understand it.
He said “And this is the truth of the Gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth. Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat into their heads continually. [Martin Luther]
Church family, this is each person’s greatest need in this world, to be justified before God because apart from Christ we all stand condemned, we need to be justified and as Christians we need to understand what this doctrine is and what implications this has for us.
This is what Paul focuses on in the rest of the text: He now transitions on his 2nd benefit [1]in v.17-18 that since you are justified by faith alone, do not revert back to the law since you are Freed from the law
2. Freed from the law
But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.
We know that Paul is rebuking Peter for leading others and himself to the old ways of doing things. Convincing others to go back to the law, implying that some are better than the other, and pushing Gentiles to become like jews. And Paul wants to emphasize to Peter that you Peter are justified, you have been freed from the law so why are you trying to revert back to it. We are freed from the law, and Paul in v.17-18 wants to make that point clear.
So these next two verses are a little confusing to understand at first glance, so let me help us understand them. Paul is basically saying “Peter you and I tried to be justified through works, and in our trying to be justified through our works we have found that we couldn’t accomplish it, and that is when we knew we needed a savior, we found Christ and were justified by Him.
Paul is reminding Peter, that when we were jews we would think of gentiles and refer to them as ‘sinners’ because they did not hold to certain traditions and regulations like we did, but we know that in our pursuit of trying to work for the law and be justified we realized that we cannot uphold it and that justification was only found in Christ. In finding Christ, we knew that we are free to live for God and not for the law and are able to eat anything like these ‘gentile sinners’, so why are you Peter, trying to promote the law again.
when Paul is using the term ‘sinners’ here, he is referring back to v.15 when he is referring to Gentile sinners, but he is not saying that Gentiles are sinners but jews are not. He is making the argument that when a jew trusts in Christ, he is free from the law and other jewish tradition and does not need to hold to the dietary laws like Gentile Christians. But Paul knows that the jews think that people who live like that are ‘sinners’ in the eyes of Judaizers. He is saying these ‘gentile sinners’ who you guys look down because they are free from the law, and you Peter being freed from the law are now living like these ‘gentile sinners’
Paul’s answer to his critics: Paul is already assuming the argument his critics are going to have against him. They are saying is Christ a servant of sin because you guys are saying that you do not have to do this or that. Paul’s critics are saying that justification cannot be by faith alone because that doctrine encourages sin. They are saying this belief is highly dangerous because it weakens man’s moral responsibility before God. If we can be accepted before God and not having to do anything then we can just continue to keep on sinning.
Paul is reminding Peter, that when we were jews we would think of gentiles and refer to them as ‘sinners’ because they did not hold to certain traditions and regulations like we did, but we know that in our pursuit of trying to work for the law and be justified we realized that we cannot uphold it and that justification was only found in Christ. In finding Christ, we knew that we are free to live for God and not for the law and are able to eat anything like these ‘gentile sinners’, so why are you Peter, trying to promote the law again.
This is why some people do not come to Christianity, because they see it as too good to be true, they want to work for something because that seems more tangible and in reach, they do not see themselves for who they are, utterly hopeless before God.
For Paul’s opponents, they believed that if Peter and Paul abandoned the jewish covenant and its regulations and solely relied on Christ, then Christ would be promoting sin, because they believed that the mosaic laws were necessary for obedience to God, and Paul is saying that they were not required for salvation but we are justified by Christ alone.
So Paul answers them and says “Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.” Paul understood that Christ has ushered us out of the old way of salvation and out of the old mosaic covenant and ushered us into the new covenant, if Paul rebuilds the OT law or starts reverting back to requiring people to live in a certain manner that Christ abolished then Paul would be considered a transgressor. Paul is stating that Christ is not a promoter of sin because of this, he has freed us from it. It is not a sin to stop depending on works. Christ is not a promoter or agent of sin, but Christ actually frees us from the bondage of works.
For Paul the argument that his critics doesn’t make sense to him. They think that those in Christ are now free to sin and live sinful lives. But they are not seeing the fact that Christians are ‘justified by faith IN Christ”, Paul even goes further in v.20 where he states that “Christ now lives in me”. Paul’s critics misunderstand the gospel, because they do not see that someone united to Christ is not the same person anymore. They have died, and Christ is now living in them. They are radically, permanently changed. He has become a new creation and has begun a new life.
Paul expounds on this in when he says:
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Look at the little nuggets in this text:
we were baptized into Christ Jesus meaning we were also baptized into his death. Meaning we have died with him, our old selves are gone.
We are united to Him
Our old self was crucified so that we are no longer enslaved to sin
We have been set free
we have died to sin, and now live to God
Thus Paul is refuting his critics and also warning Peter, since you are justified don’t revert back to the law. You have been set free from it. But in order to us to not revert back from the law it means that we understand that we are united to Christ, and we need to remind ourselves who we are in Christ. We need to live out our identity that we are a new creation and that Christ is now living in us. This leads us to Paul’s 3rd benefit
3. Alive in Christ
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
So for Paul, he now knows who he is in Christ. He knew that Jesus lived under the law and obeyed the law perfectly so that he could free those who lived under the dominion of sin.
NON-CHRISTIAN: Jesus in his death took the full penalty of the law upon himself, even though he was sinless and did not deserve of this judgment. By dying under the law, he ended your enslavement to the law, so that he could usher in his kingly rule where he frees us from this bondage to live for Him. Jesus is the resurrected King who dies for us, and rose again from the grave. If you are not a christian here today, the law only leads to death, working for your own salvation only leads to death, living for yourself only leads to death, satisfying yourself only leads to death, and God is calling you now to “wake up” “wake up: put your faith in Christ, believe in what he has done for you on the cross and repent of your sins, and “be made alive and live for Christ”
Paul says that “that he has been crucified with Christ” so not only is Paul’s sin nailed to the cross when Jesus dies, not only is Paul’s sins paid for when Christ dies, but Paul dies as well. Meaning Paul, who lived for himself, is dead. and this goes for us, Christians here today, we have been crucified with Christ, and our lives are now lived for Christ.
“What does it mean to be crucified with Christ? It means that the gruesome death of the all-glorious, innocent, loving Son of God for my sin is the most radical indictment of my hopeless condition imaginable. The crucifixion of Jesus is the open display of my hellish nature. And when I see this and believe that he really died for me, then my old proud self which loves to display its power by climbing ladders of morality dies… Self reliance and self confidence cannot live at the foot of the cross. Therefore, when Christ died, I died” - John Piper
Once we have been united to Christ, our old life is finished and it is stupid and crazy for us to consider ever going back to it.
But not only do we now live for Christ, but we see that the Old “I” is gone and the weak, helpless, sinner who was enslaved to sin, is now dead, and that CHRIST now lives in me.
“In one sense we live this new life through faith in Christ. In another sense, it is not we who live it at all, but Christ who lives it in us. And living in us, He gives us new desires for holiness, for God, for heaven. …No Christian who has grasped these truths could ever seriously contemplate reverting to the old life.” - John Stott
This is central to our faith. In having faith in Christ, not just the Christ who dies for on the cross but also the Christ who lives in us. We live by faith when we believe Christ every moment of every day, we trust him in our work, we trust him in our families, we trust him when we are stressed, we trust him in every facet of our lives. We believe him to be our treasure who is of supreme value and worth, we believe him to be more satisfying than anything else in this world, we believe his sacrifice and work to be wholly sufficient for us, we believe Christ to be everything we would need for every moment we live in this world.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This is why Paul is able to say that the life he now lives he lives by faith in the Son of God, because Jesus loves him and gave himself for him, and even lives in Him.
Church family, there should no longer be an ‘I’ in our thinking or mindset anymore, it should be “Christ who lives in me”. Every decision that we make should be based on the “Christ who lives in me”. The life we live, we now live for God, who loves us and gave Himself for me.
APPLICATION: As we close, I know we primarily just expounded on this text, I want to give us some applications as a church family that we can create in our disciplines as a church.
Share to church family, and others what Christ saved you out of. Share to each other and encourage one another on how Christ is living in you? Share your stories of God’s grace and mercy in saving you and justifying you.
Remind each other, that Christ lives in you. When we are fighting sin together, let us remind ourselves that Christ is living in us, not just in the fight with sin, but even as we consider how to move the church in the right direction moving forward, let us be reminded that ‘Christ is living in us’ and that we make every decision on what would best bring glory to His name.
CONCLUSION:
This is why Paul stresses justification by faith alone. We are saved by Christ and justified by Him, killing our old self and living for the law, and we have been made alive to live for Him, and not just live for Christ, Christ is living in us. Let us see the greatness of the truth that we who were guilty of sin, have been made righteous. We praise the one who paid our debt, a debt we couldnt pay, a debt deserving of death, but thanks be to Jesus who justifies and makes us holy before God.
So as we consider the importance of the doctrine of ‘justification by faith alone’ and the need for us to be reminded that our righteousness is not our own righteousness but an alien righteousness that comes from Christ. Let me close, with a quote from Martin Luther, who says this in regards to this doctrine and why we need to keep growing in this truth and trying to grasp and understand it. He says:
“Particularly when you hear an immature and unripe saint trumpet that he knows very well that we must be saved by the grace of God, without our own works, and then pretend that this is a snap for him, well, then have no doubt that he has no idea of what he is talking about and probably will never find out. For this is not an art that can be completely learned or of which anyone could boast that he is a master. It is an art that will always have us as pupils while it remains the master. And all those who understand and practice it do not boast that they can do everything.
On the contrary, they sense it like a wonderful taste or odor that they greatly desire and pursue; and they are amazed that they cannot grasp it or comprehend it as they would like. They hunger, thirst, and yearn for it more and more; and they never tire of hearing about or dealing with it, just as Paul himself confessed that he has not yet obtained it (). And in Christ calls those blessed those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” [Martin Luther]