Three Models of Justification?
A preacher says there are three models of justification
being taught. He rejects the first two and accepts the last. They are:
1)
Faith without works
2)
Faith PLUS works
3)
Faith THAT works
But, his bottom line is that one is justified by the first
(faith without works) and that the proof (fruit) of the salvation is that it
will become a “faith THAT works”. He
says that churches of Christ now teach what he formerly taught. He says they teach “faith PLUS works” because
they usually teach that you HAVE to “repent and be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for remission of sins”(Acts 2:37-41) in order to be justified, and
he no longer believes this. He believes
that one has “faith only” and is saved or justified by grace through faith ONLY,
but the fruit of that justification is a “faith THAT works”. That means that
one is saved first and then repents and is baptized to SHOW that it is a faith
that works (faith alone that does not remain alone). So, this means that people will not know if
they are justified unless and until it moves them to some action, ANY action. What actions was Abraham moved to perform
after he was justified? When exactly was
he justified? Can we know when exactly
he was justified and when exactly we are justified?
The Content and Conditions of Abrahams’ Justifying Faith Only
He uses Abraham as an example of justification without works
and shows how his actionless faith was first justified by faith alone and then
began obeying AFTER he was justified.
Well, the problem with this view is that it assumes there was a point of
justification by mental belief ONLY before Abraham ever did ANYTHING, and then
Abraham started doing obedient things BECAUSE he was already justified. There is also the problem of trying to figure
out how much knowledge did it take for Abraham to be justified by faith alone
versus how much knowledge we must have to be justified by faith alone? Did Abraham have to know about the name of
Jesus Christ? If not, then can we also
be justified by the same level of knowledge that Abraham had? That is, can we be justified by the same
CONTENT of faith as Abraham had, or must we work a little more to know some
things he did not have to know? If a
person is justified at a certain point in “faith alone”, what is the required level of knowledge and
the required attitude that one must work to have in order to be justified by
“faith alone”? Will the right attitude
start up AFTER the justification? Will
proper conviction and attitude be a fruit of justification by faith alone? Does “faith alone” include a particular
amount of knowledge and conviction? If
so, what is it? Does “faith alone” include or exclude conviction of sin? Will “conviction of sin” be a “fruit” that
develops AFTER justification? What else
is included in “faith alone”? Does it
include or exclude “godly sorrow”? Will
“godly sorrow” be a “fruit” that develops AFTER justification by faith alone? What about the command to repent? Is repentance included in faith alone? Or, is repentance a command to obey AFTER
justification by faith alone has occurred?
What about confessing Jesus? Is
this an extra work that Abraham did NOT have to obey? And, has the content and conditions of ‘faith
alone” changed in any way since the days of Abraham? Will our “faith only” brethren say that
Abraham did not have to confess Jesus but that we do? If so, how is it faith only apart from works
of obedience? Or, do these faith-only
brethren teach that confessing Jesus is only a “fruit” that will develop AFTER
one is justified by faith alone?
The Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus
There is a level of learning, hearing, considering,
examining the evidence for Jesus being the Christ the Son of the Living God
that we have to work through to have faith in Jesus Christ. Abraham did not have to examine, consider, or
hear the evidence of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So, the content of his faith was different than
ours. Can we be justified on Abraham’s
content of faith instead of the Christian content of faith? Can we believe that “a Seed is coming”(like
Abraham believed) instead of “the Seed has come in Jesus Christ, was crucified
for our sins, was buried, and raised, and is the Son of God” (like Christians
had to believe)? Now, is there any work
at all involved in examining the evidence for Jesus being the Christ, the Son
of the Living God and whether His resurrection demonstrates it?
The Truth
Paul is not arguing in Romans 3-4 that Abraham was justified
by faith without any effort or obedience at all. He is contrasting two different systems of
justification: 1) Works of law-keeping where grace was not needed because the
works measured up to the demands of law, and 2) Faith, where grace was needed
because works did not measure up to law.
He is not arguing that Abraham was justified by faith alone before he
ever did ANYTHING, but that it was not dependent on any of the things that Jews
boast about such a circumcision or keeping the Law of Moses or any other law
only system.
It is also a fact that Paul is not using Abraham to show Christians
the precise moment in faith that justification occurs. He is not using Abraham
to tell us that we can be justified by the SAME CONTENT of faith as Abraham had.
He has not told us about the precise moment when Abraham was convicted of sins
and at what precise content and attitude of faith that God justified him. The
conditions of faith and the precise content of his faith is not discussed at
all. The only point Paul is making about
Abraham is that it was not on the basis of law and works of law, but on the
basis of faith (whatever content and activity was required is not the issue of
similarity to ours). The similarity is
that it was FAITH based, not works of LAW based.
It is also true that Paul is not telling the Roman brethren
that they were justified before they were “buried with Him in baptism”(Rom.6:1-6).
Paul is not saying that obedience was not evidenced in Abraham before he was
justified. He is saying that “deeds of
law” was not the basis of his justification.
Paul is not saying that the 3,000 on Pentecost were first justified and
then bore the fruit of justification by repenting and being baptized in the
name of the Jesus Christ. Paul is not
arguing that justification came before Abraham ever obeyed God at any
point. He is not arguing that Abraham
was justified by faith alone before there was ever any obedience on his
part. He is not arguing that Abraham and
we are justified by “faith alone”. He
wasn’t. (James 2). Paul is not arguing
that we can be justified like Abraham apart from learning about the death,
burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It is a total misuse of Romans 3-4 to make a point that contradicts “baptism
into Christ”(Rom.6:3-4; Gal.3:26-27; Col.2:12) and the very point in time when
Paul was justified (Acts 22:16; 1 Cor.12:13). It is a total misuse of Romans
3-4 to make a point that contradicts the clear cases of conversion. The 3,000 Jews on Pentecost knew that they
were justified by faith in Jesus Christ WHEN they repented and were baptized “for
remission of sins”(Acts 2:36-41). There was no rejoicing and celebration until
AFTER baptism. The Ethiopian Eunuch knew
that he was justified by faith in Jesus WHEN he confessed Jesus and was
baptized (Acts 8:33f). There was no reason to rejoice until AFTER he was
baptized.
Now, our brother claims that this is “faith PLUS works”. None of the early Christians looked at it
that way. It was not faith PLUS works of
law to EARN justification. It was faith
that obeyed the terms of pardon. That is
all it was. By faith Abraham obeyed
(Heb.11). There is not one verse that
says or implies that he was justified before ANY act of obedience. He simply was not justified because of
circumcision or keeping of law. We are
not bound to be circumcised and keep the Law in order to be justified
either. But, our content of faith must
include MORE than Abraham had opportunity to learn and know, and the action of
faith is different. We must believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of
Jesus, and on that basis of faith be “buried with Him in baptism”(Rom.6:3-5).
Abraham’s faith did not have to include all of this. Ours does. We can be justified by faith like Abraham,
but not with the same content of faith or expressions of faith. We hope our preaching brethren realize this
before they drag others into their “false gospel” and belief in “another Jesus”. Paul did not preach THAT Jesus that says “he that believes is saved and
should then be baptized”(Mark 16:16). Brethren, don’t let yourself be deceived by
fair speeches and sympathy toward men. Stand up for the truth and mark those who
preach any other gospel or doctrine
(Rom.16:17; Gal.1:6-10). –Terry
W. Benton
