GRACE ABOUNDS MUCH MORE (Rom 5:1,2; 17-21; 6:1-4).

The doctrine of Justification by faith alone is the heart of the Gospel. If you make mistakes here, the whole foundation of your Christian life is weak. To justify means to be declared righteous, to be right with God. Practically, being righteous means to be good and to do good, for Christ’s sake. Righteousness is one of the attributes of the Kingdom of God where Jesus Christ is The King of kings. What is this doctrine? Based on the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, when a sinner totally trusts in Jesus’ death on his behalf, God the Father declares that sinner justified before Him. This is the work of pure Grace, the unmerited favor of God towards sinners. The justified sinner is now regarded by God as righteous. The Bible calls him a saint. From this moment on, he is saved. He has eternal life. When he dies, his soul goes to heaven. Justification is God’s Declaration!!! This declaration, this holy event cannot be reversed. A true believer cannot lose his salvation. He may backslide for a time, but he will come back to God before he dies. God’s name and reputation is backing his salvation. Many Christians reject this type of assurance of salvation, but it is the truth as revealed in the Bible. Pray to receive the revelation from the Holy Spirit.

Justification is a legal term, a forensic term. God, as the Judge of all, declares in the court of heaven, that any sinner who trusts in Christ alone for his salvation, is justified in His presence. He is free from the guilt and punishment of sin. Justification is a unique event. It happens once and for all. After Justification, the process of sanctification starts. The sinner saved by grace alone, and by faith alone, now starts to grow spiritually. Thru faith in the Word of God, the Christian dies to sin and lives a righteous life. The Holy Spirit empowers and leads him. But he must cooperate with the Holy Spirit and obey God’s Word. The process of sanctification lasts a lifetime. Some make faster progress than others. This is a fact: all true believers love God and His Word. They carry their cross daily, die to sin and walk in righteousness. They manifest the fruits of the Holy Spirit; among them Love is the greatest slice. There is nothing like being justified and not sanctified. A Christian cannot be justified and desire to continue in sin! God Forbid! Salvation must be complete to the glory of God!

The doctrine of justification by faith is unique to Biblical Christianity. Every other religion, including some Christian denominations believe that you must obey religious laws to go to heaven. This is called justification ‘by works.’ They reject the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Martin Luther was a Catholic priest. He got saved and re-discovered the Biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. The Roman Catholic Pope declared him a heretic. He said that Luther invented this new doctrine to justify his sexual lusts to marry a woman. But the Pope was wrong. The doctrine of justification by faith is Biblical. But you need the Holy Spirit’s revelation to understand it. This is never achieved by human wisdom alone. Justification comes only through faith (Rom 5:1; Gal 3:24). It is not earned through our own good works. We are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8; Tit 3:5). The Christian, being declared righteous, is thus freed from the guilt of sin. He now has peace with God!

As you can see, Justification is the act of God not only forgiving your sins but imputing to you the perfect righteousness of Christ. The word ‘imputation’ is an old Biblical concept. To impute means to pay something in another’s account. God “imputes” His righteousness to us through faith in Christ because of Christ’s obedience unto death. Imputation is different from ‘impartation’. During sanctification, God imparts gifts to us. But first, He must impute His righteousness to us, to be saved. Once justified, God regards us as we have never sinned. For the sake of Christ who died for us, God sees us as His Children. Remember, Christ is your righteousness!!! “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1Cor 1:30). Your righteousness is a Person!!! He is in heaven, the same yesterday, today and forever. You are not more righteous when your faith is strong. You are not less righteous when your faith is weak. Your imputed Righteousness is perfect and eternal! It is Christ Himself! Lesson: Look away from yourself. Rest in Him. Lean on Him. Trust Him to take you to heaven! Faith 100%! Doubt 0%! Praise God!

Understanding the doctrine of justification by faith is extremely important. First, it is the very knowledge of Grace in justification that motivates us to good works and spiritual growth. Therefore, justification always leads to sanctification. Secondly, the fact that justification is God’s finished work means that Christians have the assurance of their salvation. In God’s eyes, we now have the righteousness necessary to gain eternal life. Once a person is justified, there is nothing else he needs to do to enter heaven. Since justification comes by faith in Christ, based on His finished work on the Cross, on our behalf, our own works are disqualified as a means of salvation (Rom 3:28). All who teach that you can be saved by obeying the law, or by doing good works, are teaching “a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all” (Gal 1:6–7). The truth is that none of us can obey the law completely, to enter heaven. Even with the help of grace we cannot be justified by obeying the law or earn our righteousness before God. If heaven can be gained by works, we will claim glory for our own salvation and God shares His glory with no man. This is the truth: Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, thru the Word of God alone, and to the glory of God alone. Selah!

The most common attack against the Doctrine of justification by faith alone is that once a sinner is saved, he will see God’s grace as ‘cheap’ and he would like to continue in sin (Rom 6:1,2). The Christian who has this complaint does not understand the Power of the free gift of God’s Grace. This is the truth: Once a sinner becomes truly saved, he changes radically. It is like a dog becoming a man. Salvation is always a miracle. The man cannot become a dog again. The born-again believer is so grateful that God’s grace has revealed the Cross to him that he wants to do everything he can to please God. He does not desire to continue in his sinful habits. In fact, he now hates sin.

In the history of the Church, not all Christians believe this doctrine of justification by faith alone. They say that it is too simple. They go to extremes: legalism (saved by obeying laws) or license (ignore all laws). They say that if only faith in Christ saves us, and grace covers us, we can commit sin and still be saved. They insist that Christians should obey God’s Laws ‘to make heaven.’ They say that salvation by grace alone and by faith alone, leads to careless living and sinful behavior. Technically, this is called ‘antinomianism’, or lawlessness. It comes from two Greek words: anti, meaning ‘against’ and nomos, meaning ‘law’. ‘Christians’ in this group, believe that we should not obey any Law because Grace has made us free from the Law. They say that even if you commit sin, you are not guilty because God has covered you by His grace. They believe that freedom from the Law means freedom for license. That is an error. One of the greatest examples of antinomian behavior is Gregory Rasputin (1869-1916). He was a famous Russian mystic, false prophet and self-declared healer. He became very close to the Russian Royal family, by trying to heal the heir to the throne. He had many followers. He deceived many with his so called ‘powers to heal’. He claimed that anyone having sex with him becomes spiritually pure. He was eventually assassinated.   

Theologically, antinomianism is the belief that there are no moral laws God expects Christians to obey. Antinomianism always goes too far. Antinomianism is deceptive because it denies the power of Grace to radically change a sinner into a saint. Antinomianism is wrong also because it ignores the new Law of Christ. It is true that we do not obey the Laws of the Old Testament. But we are not lawless. There is a new Law that has come. It is the Law of Love. Jesus said: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:36-40). Love is the New commandment for all Christians to obey. If you love God and your neighbor, then you will not kill, steal, commit adultery, deceive others or covet their things. In the Old Testament the Law applied to external actions. The Law of Christ, of Love, goes deeper, into the heart, into the motives of actions. It is only a child of God that can love and can obey this Law of Christ. He obeys not because he wants to go to heaven, but because he is saved already. Breaking this Law means breaking the heart of God. It is a sin against Love. Free Grace is not a ticket to a sinful life. Living in sin dishonors God. It is an insult against His Love and His Grace. May God forbid this!

Some Christians ask: why then did God give us His Laws in the Bible? The Law of God “is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good” (Rom 7:12). In the Old Testament the Law had its own functions. God who gave the Law to Moses, to write it and teach it to God’s people. Please note this: from the beginning, the purpose of giving the Law was not to save the people. Because not one could obey God’s law perfectly. The reason why God gave the Ten Commandments and other laws, is so that the people may know who God is, what God likes and what God hates. It was also given so that they know what sin is. The Law “entered that the offense might abound” (Rom 5:20). But the Law was a not a Savior. The Law was a teacher, a tutor who directed God’s people to Christ (Gal 3:19-25). Any sinner who wants to obey God’s Law will be frustrated in the process. With the leading of the Holy Spirit, this frustration will eventually bring the student to the feet of Christ, who is his Savior. Christ alone fulfilled the Law perfectly by obeying God’s Law. First, Jesus obeyed the Law actively. He did everything God the Father told Him to do. Secondly, Jesus obeyed the Law passively. God’s Law says that the sinner must die (Rom 6:23). Christ died for sinners. The sinless One, became sin so that we, who trust in Him may live. “He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in a right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness]” (2Cor 5:21; AMP). “Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS [crucified] ON A TREE (cross)” (Gal 3:13; AMP). Looking at the Crucified, who died for us, we can never love sin again! We will live to please Him forever!

The Gospel says that we were once united with Adam. We were under the reign of sin and death. We were born into the Kingdom of darkness. Sin was our king. We could not resist its lusts. All who live in that Kingdom, die an eternal death, and go to hell. Once a sinner trusts in Christ who died for him, God translates that one into the Kingdom of light, of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. As we were one with Adam, we are now one with Christ. This is the doctrine of the mystical union with Christ. What Christ did, we do it in Him. Christ suffered and died. In Him, we suffer and die to sin. Christ was buried. We too are buried with Him, separated from the world. Christ rose from the dead. By the same resurrection power, we have risen from the realm of sin and death to life and righteousness. Christ ascended back to heaven. We too are now seated in heavenly places in Christ. These are spiritual events that have happened already once we are justified by God’s Grace and by faith in Christ. Our spirit is saved already. Spiritually, we are in heaven already. Therefore, we cannot lose our salvation. At the second coming of Christ, our bodies will be changed into spiritual bodies. That is when the process of salvation will be complete. And we shall live together, forever, with Christ, on a New Earth. This mighty revelation can only be received and believed through the help of the Holy Spirit. That is why for every sinner who becomes saved, all glory goes to God! Amen!

“But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Rom 5:20). In Greek, the word ‘abound’ means to increase or overflow. Thru Adam, sin has entered humanity as a foreign injection of poison, of rebellion against God. Sin always leads to destruction and death. We see it everywhere around us. There are many prisons, hospitals, mortuaries, and cemeteries. About 150,000 people die daily all over the world. The power of sin and death is easier to imagine and understand than the power of Grace, God’s invisible favor to save and to bless. For example, Albert Einstein discovered the theory of relativity. It is said that only 12 men were intelligent enough to understand it at the beginning. But when it was used to create the atomic bomb and dropped it on Hiroshima, Japan, 250,000 people died instantly. Instantly, everyone understood its power to destroy. This is another example: Alexander Fleming invented the first antibiotic, the Penicillin. It was a great breakthrough in medical science. Millions were saved because of this invention. You see how one man could bring destruction, and another man can bring healing. It is the same with the power of sin and of Grace. Thru Adam we know death. Thru Christ we live forever!

Jesus came full of Grace and Truth (Jn 1:14). Sin and death have been the king of sinners. There was no escape for anyone. Thru Jesus Christ, Grace was openly manifested to sinners. In Christ, Grace is the greater King. Learn to appreciate Grace! A Christian man dies. People mourn. But the angels rejoice in heaven for every sinner who repents (Lk 15:10). This invisible joy is of Grace. Two thieves are crucified next to Jesus. Both insult him at the beginning. That is the power of sin. But then, one of them repents and asks Jesus for forgiveness. Jesus says: “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise!” (Lk 23:43). This is Grace speaking. With their hammers, the Roman soldiers nailed Jesus on the Cross. That is the sound of sin. But on the third day, Jesus came out from the grave, having nail scars on His hands. Jesus told Thomas: “Reach your finger here and look at My hands; and reach your hand here and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving but believing” (Jn 20:27). This is Grace speaking! Out of pain, faith is born! Saul hated the Christians. He supervised the killing of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Then Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He became born-again. He is now known as Apostle Paul. He wrote three quarters of the New Testament. He said: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me” (1Cor 15:10). This is the power of Grace! John Newton was a slave trader. He was saved by grace. He wrote the hymn: “Amazing Grace, how sweet Thy sound, that saved a wretch like me!” This is Grace speaking! This is Grace singing! Grace is always greater than sin and death! Halleluiah!