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“Five Things That Justify & Three Observations”
Five Things That Justify & Three Observations
Wade Webster
Five things are recorded as justifying us in the Scriptures:
- Faith - “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “
- Works - “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only” (James 2:24).
- Grace - “That having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).
- The Blood of Jesus - “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:9).
- The Spirit - “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
- Christ - “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!’” (Galatians 2:17).
The Bible is clear on all five of these things.
What are some observations that can be made from these things?
First, if all of these things are involved in justification, and they clearly are, then justification is not by any one of them alone. Yet, many in the religious world argue that justification is by faith alone. I have even heard a few argue that justification is by grace alone through faith alone. Try to wrap your mind around that. If it involves both grace and faith, then it is by neither of these things alone. Think of a simple illustration of this. At one time Adam was alone (Gen. 2:18), but then God made Eve and brought her to him. Now, Adam was not alone. He had a helpmeet. He had Eve. To say that Adam was alone would have been to ignore the gift of God. In like manner, once grace and faith are together, faith is no longer alone. To argue justification by faith alone is to deny the gift (grace) that God has given.
Second, if one of these things can be discarded, then all of them can be discarded. If not, why not? Would any argue that you could discard Christ and His blood? Would anyone argue that you could discard grace? No, none are so bold. Yet, many try to discard works. However, if works can be discarded, then so can faith. Faith could even be discarded on the basis that it is a work (John 6:29; 1 Thess. 1:3).
Third, if all these things are connected to justification, then we should be able to see connections between them. Do connections exist? We have already seen that grace and faith are connected (Eph. 2:8). Faith and blood are also connected (Rom. 3:25): Perhaps, the most surprising thing of all is that faith and works are connected (James 2:22). We must not put asunder what God has joined together (Mat. 19:6).
The Bible is clear on justification. Have you been justified by these five things?
