THE JUSTIFYING MERIT OF CHRIST

PART TWO

By A. Prentice

Scripture references are to the King James (Authorised) Version, unless noted otherwise.

Faith is native to the human constitution, but so is Doubt. This irony is a necessary factor in the exercise of free will and the permission of evil. Indeed, the tension between belief and unbelief helps to explain the durable nature of Faith itself. However a blanket, undefined belief cannot meet mankind's eternal needs nor shrink the gap of alienation which separates the human family from God. Without a justifying, biblical Faith, salvation is impossible.

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AS NOTED IN the previous instalment of this article, Faith in the diluted meaning of hopeful personal determination (faith in oneself, faith in a plan, etc.) is a corruption of a (religious) Faith which has Jehovah God as its object. Additionally, Faith is far more than an intellectual belief that God exists that He is but in addition ʻthat he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek himʼ (Heb. 11: 6).

In other words, Faith implies both conviction and the impetus to act on that conviction.

The prevailing myth in a culture which relegates religious faith to the margins of society is that to be a tolerant or compassionate person is all that's required and that religion is not necessary to civic life. This philosophy recognises no objective or external standard as governing one's behaviour, and leads by degrees to a decline in private and public morality at all levels, to the detriment of society as a whole. At the opposite end of the argument is the contention that though religion is useful, no one religion is better than another.

But not all religions are equal.

ʻMust believe that he is . . .ʼ

One may deduce that a Creator exists by observing natural phenomena and studying the underlying system of laws to which they conform. This is the first step toward Faith mentioned in Heb. 11: 6 – that God IS.

So far, so good.

But not good enough. For though observation could demonstrate that the Creator is powerful, it would say nothing about the Creator's character, motive, or intention. Indeed, the raw knowledge that there is an intelligent entity powerful enough to fashion and run a universe could be unsettling to the human mind, leading to fear and suspicion. For as complex and vast as it is, Nature does not contain sufficient data and much of it is contradictory to draw a fool-proof conclusion that the Creator is benevolent and just.

ʻAnd that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him . . .ʼ

Our prejudice or philosophy invariably colours how we interpret what we see around us. Even so, the good character of the Creator cannot be readily adduced from a study of Nature. It is only through His revealed Word (the Bible) that we can understand His character. And only from the revealed Word can we begin to comprehend the remarkable principle of justification by Faith and how it is accomplished.

God is a rewarder of those who see and seek Him by Faith; His remunerations are of the spiritual sort (Matt. 7: 7, 11):

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; . . . [if] ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

This is no casual enquiry. In those who sense their guilt and alienation from God's will, Faith pursues a passionate interrogation of the divine purpose. The answer that comes back is personified in Christ Jesus, who was crucified for us.

The Ransom-Sacrifice: A Corresponding Price

Christ's death redeems (purchases) the believing sinner in an elegant demonstration of God's justice. Adam, the perfect man, sinned and God passed the sentence of death on him. Jesus, the perfect man, offered Himself in place of Adam, thus releasing Adam and his offspring from death. This is the ʻransom for allʼ mentioned in 1 Timothy 2:

5 [T]here is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

The Apostle Paul lays emphasis on this principle of equivalence in 1 Corinthians 15:

22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

That is to say, all those affected by the curse on Adam the entire human family, past, present and future will receive the saving merit of Christ's death if they believe in Him as their Saviour. Some will avail themselves of the privilege now; the vast majority will take their opportunity later, in Christ's earthly Kingdom, after the general resurrection.

The Intellectual Component

To be justified by Faith, it is not essential that one comprehend the underlying philosophy or the mechanism by which it is accomplished. But it should be understood that our exercising Faith does not of itself bestow justification on us. Which is to say that justification is not a merely a reward for our repentance and expression of belief, for this would imply salvation by our own effort.

Faith is the instrumentality by which we lay hold on the offer of justification the process of being made right before the court of heaven. The power to justify the sinner resides in the merit of Jesusʼ death. It is a legal transaction based on the like-for-like principle of divine Justice.

In its operation justification is neutral in the sense that it cannot be denied to anyone who claims it through belief in Christ as Saviour. No divine whim or prejudice (if there were such a thing) can withhold it from the repentant, believing sinner. This fact is the best guarantee of God's fairness, impartiality, and integrity.

The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 3: 22-27 (NIV-UK, 1984 ed):

22. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24. and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished 26. he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. 27. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. [emphasis added]

The words in v. 25, ʻsacrifice of atonementʼ, are a translation of hilasterion, denoting a propitiatory, and refer to the ʻmercy seatʼ atop the ark of the covenant, originally situated in the Most Holy of the Tabernacle. Once a year, at the Atonement Day, the high priest of Israel would sprinkle the blood of sacrificed animals to make amends for the sins of Israel. In the larger picture, Christ figuratively sprinkled His blood-merit on the mercy seat in heaven, making atonement without prejudice for all those who would come to believe in Him. The book of Hebrews is informative on this point:

Heb. 9: 24

Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Heb. 10: 1-4 (NIV-UK, 1984 ed)

1 The [Jewish] law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

See also 1 Pet. 1: 2: ʻ. . . sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christʼ.

The Cultivation of Faith

Life is complicated and full of contradictions, and mankind's lot throughout history is a chronicle of mistakes and tragedies of one sort or another. God has allowed the world to go its own way, with minimum interference from Him, creating the impression that He is either callous or non-existent. So Faith and Doubt jostle along side by side. But in the sending of His Son into the world, God left an indelible mark on the collective conscience of humanity, one which cannot be obliterated.

Although most people have a built-in, genetic inclination to a general Faith in a Creator, not all exercise a saving Faith. To maintain one's belief in Christ as Saviour requires motivation and action. It requires that we adjust our daily thoughts and behaviour in alignment with the will of God: to become like Christ. Easier said than done, of course. But having been bought by the Ransom-sacrifice of Christ and cleansed from the condemnation of sin by justification, the Christian is in a blessed position. We will never be perfect or actually free from sin in this life, but we may rejoice in the knowledge that God counts us as righteous and fellowships with us. This is a privilege beyond price.

Christ Alone

The Ransom-sacrifice of Christ guarantees an opportunity for all to become right with God through Faith, to have their sins forgiven, and to enter into a contract of grace. There can be no salvation outside this arrangement. Only the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross provides the basis for forgiveness and eternal life. God cannot forgive sin except on a righteous basis. The Ransom-sacrifice of Christ explains the rationale whereby God can simultaneously remove the condemnation of sin and yet remain wholly just and fair.

End

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