Righteousness by Faith: Part 1

RIGHTEOUSNESS by faith in Christ is by definition the good news of salvation through faith in Christ alone. It is more than right living. It is first and last a right rela­tionship. All else is conse­quent to, and an outgrowth of, this vital experience. This indeed is the meaning of the text "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). Faith in Christ, born of love for Christ, is the es­sence of the message that we bear. Any doc­trine proclaimed in a Christian pulpit that is unrelated to the foregoing statement is unworthy of the time and effort spent on the preaching of it.

In this age of nuclear peril and crum­bling standards, how timely is this message of faith. Mankind is plagued with tailor-made fear and built-in doubt. Faith in Christ is the antidote to his many ills. Love for God is Heaven's answer to our needs. It is indeed the basis of our standing and our striving. Love for Christ and faith in Him imposes its own discipline. This lifts obedi­ence from the murky lowlands of conform­ity to the heights of spiritual privilege: The "thou shalt nots" of the Ten Com­mandments are recognized for what they are—signposts on the highway of life re­vealing to the wise a way of life, but to the foolish the wages of transgression.

The Gift of God

"For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that be-lieveth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already" (John 3:17, 18). Such faith is not natural to man. If you believe that Jesus Christ is your divine Saviour, then you have Him to thank for it. "By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is tile gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).

But someone says, "I am faithless. My heart is as hard as a much-traveled high­way. What hope is there for me?"

Thank God, there is a Bible answer: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). The Word of God builds faith in Christ. To those who hear and study its pages "faith cometh." But "how shall they hear without a preacher?" (verse 14). There is a tend­ency among some to stay away from church when faith grows weak. This can only further weaken faith. "Faith cometh by hearing." Church attendance provides a silent, steady build-up of our faith. And further: "Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). The prayer of the earnest seeker's heart is al­ways, "Increase our faith" (Luke 17:5).

Faith and Works

Faith grows with exercise. For faith to grow, it must exercise itself in good works. Faith must perform or it is dead. "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:20). The con­flict that plagued Martin Luther, leading him to disparage the book of James, was an unnecessary one. There is no conflict between faith and works. Obedience is the demonstration of faith. Living faith must express itself. Through obedience to the commandments of God faith finds its out­let. "Shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew7 thee my faith by my works" (verse 18). "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works wras faith made perfect?" (verse 22). It is clear from this text that disobedience is a faith de­pressant. Faith serves best the submissive heart. Stubbornness hinders faith's free flow.

The pace of sanctification is determined within man's own will. How thorough or lasting the victory depends upon man's will to cooperate with the indwelling Christ. That Christ offers to man full and com­plete recovery from all character weakness in this life, is apparent from the following texts: "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teach­ing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right­eously, and godly, in this present world" (Titus 2:11, 12). And for this monumental undertaking Christ says, "My grace is suf­ficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9). How-appropriate and pertinent is this promise, for human nature in both saint and sinner is all weakness. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). Add to this the apostle's statement that "in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7:18) and we are brought face to face with the fact of hu­man nothingness. The humble Christian knows in his heart that "there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not" (Eccl. 7:20).

Now, it is to the weakness of man that the strength of God is offered. Just as dark­ness pierced by light accentuates its bril­liance, so human weakness, invaded by di­vine power, testifies to its perfection. The weakness of man that tests the strength of God will find it adequate. It is thus that in conversion, human nature is subdued, con­trolled, or in the language of the scrip­ture, kept under (1 Cor. 9:27), "crucified" (Gal. 2:20), and "put off" (Eph. 4:22).

It is because of man's dependency upon God that he must be ever receiving from Him. The apostle Paul urges that we "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17), and he also confesses, "I die daily" (1 Cor. 15:31). Righteousness by faith is not a static state but a deepening relationship, a relation­ship with Christ that through daily fellow­ship grows more personal with increased faith.

Christ in the Heart Disciplines

What practical effect does this have upon the repentant sinner? "He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities" (Micah 7: 19). Under this arrangement, sinfulness or the tendency of the flesh to sin is not re­moved. It is subdued and will remain so as long as the Christian wills it so in Christ. The vileness of human nature is controlled, but the heart is cleansed. This is the mira­cle of conversion. Christ in the heart dis­ciplines the body. This is righteousness by faith. To be sure, while man receives by faith perfect standing before God, in­stantaneously, daily perfection in all areas of human behavior is likely to take more time; indeed, a lifetime. Now, this is true, not because it takes a lifetime to overcome a given habit, but because each new day is a new test of one's spiritual growth.

It is to be hoped that none will take ad­vantage of this principle to delay self-dis­cipline on the grounds that he has a life­time in which to overcome. He will learn at the end of his lifetime that each day has its work of grace, and that "making up" is most difficult and often impossible. Thus the apostle's statement, "I die daily," as­sumes ominous significance. Which one of us has not had the experience in school of neglecting daily assignments until the night before examination, and then in despera­tion sitting up all night trying to "cram" for the next day's ordeal? Perfection of character through experimental living is difficult at best. Let us not through negli­gence make it impossible.

Now, there are those who, because of re­peated failure, despair of ever attaining the mastery. For all such these words of the apostle apply: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). This is a prom­ise of consistency and faithfulness. Christ will perform in us the work of grace until His second coming. This is our only hope. Man will never achieve enough goodness to stand on his own. During the time of trouble when man must live without a

mediator, he can stand only as the power of Christ bears up his "weak" flesh on earth. Having confessed and repented of every sin, man will still be aware of his sinfulness. And though sealed, he will not lose his con­cern for his own spiritual growth. And it is this concern, this soul hunger for Christ, that renders him immune until the day of God. For "he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

At the second coming of Christ our bod­ies will be changed. "Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself" (Phil. 3:21). It is important that we note the adjective vile as it is used here. Thus human nature is described at the second coming of Christ. At the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ man will possess a righteous charac­ter and a subdued vile body. Hence the appeal in the promise that our bodies will be refashioned.

E. E. C.

(To be continued)