It is not the intensity or clarity of our faith that saves us, but the object of our faith. Excerpt from the message How long O Lord Steadying Our Soul In the Midst of the Storm
Category: Quotes
Is just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned the true meaning of justification?
One sometimes hears the popular explanation that justification means “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned.” The definition is a clever play on words and contains an element of truth (for the justified person, like the person who has never sinned, has no penalty to pay for sin).
But the definition is misleading in two other ways because
(1) It mentions nothing about the fact that Christ’s righteousness is reckoned to my account when I am justified; to do this, it would have to say also “just-as-if-I’d-lived-a-life-of-perfect-righteousness.”
(2) But more significantly, it cannot adequately represent the fact that I will never be in a state that is “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned,” because I will always be conscious of the fact that I have sinned and that I am not an innocent person but a guilty person who has been forgiven. This is very different from “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned”!
Another difference
Moreover, it is different from “just-as-if-I’d-lived-a-life-of-perfect-righteousness,” because I will forever know that I have not lived a life of perfect righteousness, but that Christ’s righteousness is given to me by God’s grace.
Our true situation is far different
Therefore both in the forgiveness of sins and in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, my situation is far different from what it would be if I had never sinned and had lived a perfectly righteous life. For all eternity, I will remember that I am a forgiven sinner and that my righteousness is not based on my own merit, but on the grace of God in the saving work of Jesus Christ. None of that rich teaching at the heart of the gospel will be understood by those who are encouraged to go through their lives thinking “justified” means “just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned.”
Questions for Reflection
- Do you agree with Grudem’s assessment of the phrase just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned?
- How will this change the way you explain justification?
Resources
Wayne Grudem, Systematic, footnote 4 page 727 (headers mine)
Are You Prepared to Give a Defense?
In his first epistle, Peter writes,
“In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Pe 3:15).
In his commentary on 1 Peter, Dr. R.C. Sproul writes:
Our preparation is to make us ready to give a defense and a reason for the hope that is in us…If your neighbor says, “I notice that you are a Christian. What is it that you believe?” are you ready to explain not only what you believe but why you believe it? Some Christians tell those who inquire that we simply take a leap of faith with no bother about the credibility or the rational character of the truth claims of the Bible, but that response goes against the teaching of the text. The only leap of faith we are to take is out of the darkness and into the light.
When we become Christians, we do not leave our mind in the parking lot.
We are called to think according to the Word of God, to seek the mind of Christ and an understanding of the things set forth in sacred Scripture.
Question for Reflection
- Are you prepared to talk to others about the hope within you?
Resources
Table Talk Magazine, With Gentleness and Respect, January, 2016, pg 2.
Marriage as Confrontation and Liberation
Marriage does not so much as bring you into confrontation with your spouse as confront you with yourself. Marriage shows you a realistic, unflattering picture of who you are and then takes you by the scruff of the neck and forces you to pay attention to it.
This may sound discouraging, but it is really the road to liberation. Counselors will tell you that the only flaws that can enslave you are the ones that you are blind to. If you are in denial about some feature of your character, that feature will control you. But marriage blows the lid off, turns the lights on. Now there is hope. Finally you can begin dealing with the real you. Don’t resist this power that marriage has. Give your spouse the right to talk to you about what is wrong with you, Paul talks about how Jesus “washes” and “cleanses” us of stains and blemishes. Give your spouse the right to do that.
Question for Reflection
- Have you given your spouse the right to tell you what is wrong with you?
Resources
Tim Keller, The Meaning of Marriage, 140.
Protect Your Wife From Yourself
I used to think that if a man came into my house to attack my wife, I would certainly stand up to him. But then I came to realize that the man who enters my house and assaults my wife every day is me, through my anger, my harsh words, my complaints, and my indifference. As a Christian, I came to realize that the man I needed to kill in order to protect my wife is myself as a sinner.
Richard Philips, The Masculine Mandate, 87
How to Make Your Marriage Work
One of William Blake’s “Songs of Experience” shows in the most striking way that there are two ways to conduct a romantic relationship.
Love seeketh not itself to please,
Nor for itself hath any care,
But for another gives its ease,
And builds a heaven in hell’s despair.Love seeketh only self to please,
To bind another to its delight,
Joys in another’s loss of ease,
And builds a hell in heaven’s despite.
(from “The Clod and the Pebble”)
It is possible to feel you are “madly in love” with someone when it is really just an attraction to someone who can meet your needs and address the insecurities and doubts you have about yourself. In that kind of relationship, you will demand and control rather than serve and give.
Turn to the Ultimate Lover of Your Soul
The only way to avoid sacrificing your partner’s joy and freedom on the altar of your need is to turn to the ultimate lover of your soul. He voluntarily sacrificed himself on the cross, taking what you deserved for your sins against God and others. On the cross, he was forsaken and experienced the lostness of hell, but he did it all for us. Because of the loving sacrifice of the Son, you can know the heaven of the Father’s love through the work of the Spirit. Jesus truly “built a heaven in hell’s despair.” And fortified with the love of God in your soul, you likewise can now give yourself in loving service to your spouse.
Question for Reflection
- How are you conducting a romantic relationship? Are you seeking the other’s good or your own?
Resources
Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage, 75-76
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