By Gary Ray Branscome
The doctrine of justification by faith is central to
everything that the Bible says, because it is central to the work of Christ,
and everything that the Bible says was written to testify of Christ. As it is
written, “All the prophets testify of Him, that through His name whoever
believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins,” (Acts
The Bible Was Written to Testify of Christ
The words, “I have written these things to you who
believe in the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal
life, and that you may believe in the name of the Son of God,” tell us that
Scripture was given so that we might know about Christ and believe in Him
(1John 5:13). The words, “For whatever things were written in the past were
written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the
scriptures might have hope,” say the same thing (Romans 15:4). The words, “These
are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God;
and that believing you might have life through His name,” tell us that
Scripture was written so that we might believe, and through faith receive
eternal life (John 20:31). The words, “He [John] who saw it [Christ’s death]
bears witness to it, and his witness is true: and he knows that what he says is
true, so that you might believe,” again tell us that Scripture was written
so that we might know and believe (John
Christ Came Into the World to Save Sinners
The words, “This is a
trustworthy statement, worthy of complete acceptance, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners,” tell us that Christ came into the world to
save sinners (Titus
The words, “Just as
sin entered the world by one man [Adam], and death by sin; so death passed upon
all men, because all have sinned,” tell us that sin
entered the world through Adam (Romans 5:12). And, because of Adam’s sin “judgment came upon all men to condemnation”
(Romans
Christ Died in Our Place to Secure Forgiveness
for Us
In order to save us, Christ “Suffered once for sins, the
righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to
death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit” and “by that one offering He has perfected forever
those who are sanctified” (1Peter 3:18, Hebrews 10:14).
Rom
5: 6-11
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man: although it is possible
that some would even dare to die for a good man. But God commends His love
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
Him. For if, we were reconciled to God by the death of His
Son, when we were enemies, much more, having been reconciled, we will be saved
by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Or as Isaiah put it.
Isaiah
53:4-11 “Surely He has taken on Himself our pains, and carried our
sorrows: yet we regarded Him as condemned, struck down by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was
bruised for our iniquities: the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him;
and by His stripes we are healed. Like sheep we have all have gone astray; each
of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of
us all. He was oppressed, and He was mistreated, yet He did not open His mouth:
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is
silent, so He did not open His mouth. He was taken from prison and from
judgment: and who at that time understood? for He
was cut off from the land of the living: and struck down for His people’s sins.
And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the
rich in His death; because He had not committed any crime, nor was any deceit
in His mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to bruise Him; He has caused Him
to suffer: and when you make Him an offering for sin, He will see His
seed, He will prolong His days, and the will of the LORD will succeed by His
hand. He will see it out of His anguish, and will be satisfied: by His
knowledge my righteous servant will justify many; for He will bear their
iniquities.”
Forgiveness is What
Justifies Us
The words, “Justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” tell us that we are “justified” [i.e.
absolved of guilt and declared righteous] by God’s “grace” [God’s mercy]
(Romans
Interpreting Scripture in the Light of
Justification
Furthermore, because we should never interpret any passage
of Scripture to contradict what the Bible plainly says, we should never
interpret any passage to contradict the doctrine of justification by faith. For
example: A comparison of the words, “He who has my commandments, and keeps
them, loves me,” with the words “No flesh will ever be justified in
God’s sight by the deeds of the law,” tells us that those who truly keep
God’s commandments are not those who seek righteousness through the law, but
those who have their sins washed away by the blood of Christ (John 14:21,
Romans 3:20). That being the case, while we should never sin willfully, and
should try to do what is right, we need to realize that it is not our works,
but the forgiveness that Christ won for us, that cleanses us of all sin and
makes us righteous and obedient in the sight of God. [Compare Isaiah 64:6,
Romans