Romans 5. 1: Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
How have men by their traditions made void God’s ordinances. In what clouds and darkness have they veiled his glorious doctrine of justification by faith. How have human systems been thrust between the sinner and the cross, and the eye which should see nothing but the latter, has been made to rest upon the former; and the poor benighted soul is left on the way to eternity to stumble over the errors which have been cast in his path by those who should be his guide to everlasting life.
How much does this great fundamental Christian doctrine deserve our attention. This was the means by which apostles converted the world in the beginning of the Christian era. It was the perversion of this truth which called forth that terrible anathema of the apostle– “Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed.” Gal. 1:8, 9. Why these thunder claps of holy indignation—why these lightning flashes of excited zeal—but to terrify and blast, and strike dead the man who would pervert the doctrine of justification, which Paul thus identifies with the gospel of Christ.
This was the doctrine with which Luther, more than by any other means, effected the Reformation of the sixteenth century. This was the doctrine so dear to our Puritan and Nonconformist forefathers; a doctrine which I fear some among us begin to think belonged rather to a Puritan age, than it does to our own. In the religious sentimentalism—in the superstitious formalism—in the subjective mysticism—in the speculative theology—in the demand for, and homage to, talent and genius, which characterize our age, there is a danger of this glorious truth being lost sight of.
There are not only certain doctrines we cannot part with—but certain terms in which they are expressed, which we must ever retain; and among these is that grand and glorious word, or rather phrase, JUSTIFICATION by FAITH. O, may there be none among us, to whom, in these modern days, this great truth when sounded forth begins to savor of an antiquated Puritanism, and who would think that they were retracing their steps to the age of the Covenanters, if found reading or writing a treatise on this momentous topic.
How can the sinner now live—how can the believer now walk, except by faith? The holiness, justice, and mercy of God; the authority of the Divine law; the nature of sin; the mediation of Christ; justification; sanctification– remain upon the pages of revelation like the sun, and the moon, and the stars upon the skies of heaven;—the same through all the changes of society, and all the revolutions of time. The piety of that age will depart, in which justification by faith and sanctification by the Spirit, cease to be the life of men’s souls. These are the bread of life, and like the bread of our bodies, though it may be a little improved in the preparation, more separated from the chaff and more finely kneaded, yet must it be the same wheat, however the grinding and winnowing of it may be altered for the better.
Galatians 2. 16: Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
How fully, how satisfactorily, and how delightfully does this subject answer the great question, which in all ages has perplexed the troubled conscience, agitated the anxious heart, and baffled the ignorant judgments, of the human race– “How shall man be just with God?” To find an answer to this question all sorts of devices have been invented. Even the heathen have had dim notions of guilt, which have struck their scorpion-stings into their bosoms, for they knew that– “They did things worthy of death.” Mysterious presentiments of judgment to come, equally intolerable, inscrutable, and unmitigable, have harrowed up their soul, and forced upon them the solemn inquiry– ” Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:6-8. And they have answered the question according to the suggestion of their own fears; and hence the long train of bloody rites, penances, and sacrifices, which superstition has invented, and the idolatrous nations have practised—but without any other effect, than to make them still more guilty and more miserable.
Acts 16. 29: Then he (Philipian jailor) called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, 30: And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
But no sooner do we open the Scriptures of truth, and consult the oracle of God, than all this ignorance is removed from our mind—the yearnings of our heart are satisfied—the perturbations of our conscience are calmed—and we are restored to peace and hope by that wondrous language– ” Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:24-26. There the great and solemn problem is solved—solved in a way that dissipates every fear, and sets the anxious heart at rest. There God appears as just to himself, as he is merciful to us—while he forgives all our sins, receives us to his favor, and treats us as righteous. O, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, in that wondrous scheme, of which the cross is the center and the symbol. Man, though a sinner, just with God; yet at the same time, the law magnified—moral government upheld in all its perfection—and God’s attributes of truth, holiness, and justice, no less conspicuously manifested, nor less brightly glorified, than his mercy.
How happy is, or might be, the justified man. What melody, passing all the power of music, whether of earth or heaven, is there in those words already quoted– “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Peace with God now; the glory of God hereafter; and the present rejoicing of hope in prospect of the wondrous, ineffable, inconceivable, future! Such privileges are too deep to sound with mortal lines—too dark, through excessive brightness, to view with feeble sense. It not only does not yet appear what we shall be—but what we are. We can as little comprehend all the present, as we can know all the future. What language can help us to draw out all the privileges contained in that one word– JUSTIFICATION; that one phrase– AN HEIR OF GOD; that one blessing– PEACE WITH GOD?
O you that read these pages—are you justified? Have you good reason to believe that this is your state? Then rejoice—what could worlds of wealth do for you in the way of making you richer or happier than you are?
Ephesians 2. 8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
2 Corinthians 9. 15: Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.