“When a man says, ‘Because I have sinned I have lost it’, what he is really saying on the other side is, ‘I had it because I was good’. He is wrong in both respects. In other words, if we see that our justification is altogether and entirely in the ‘Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified’, we must see that, even though we fall into sin, that is still true. ’But’, you may say, ‘what a dangerous doctrine!‘ Every doctrine is dangerous, and can be, and has been, abused. But this is the doctrine of justification by faith only.”
-Martyn Lloyd Jones on Romans 5:1-2
The doctrine of Justification by faith alone is what sets Christianity apart from any other worldview. It is the epicenter of the gospel and the dénouement of God’s story.
I highly recommend this message by Lloyd Jones on the immensity of this great truth. For more theological gold, visit the Martyn Lloyd Jones Resource Page below.
I would say Jesus is the epicenter of the Gospel; justification by faith alone, rarely if at all makes an appearance in the Gospel. Justification by faith only makes sense in the life of Christ and what the Gospel is…the fulfilling of Israel’s Story. And the Gospel is much more than the death and resurrection, all of that is the means towards the end of not salvation, but God’s restoration of all things….1 Cor. 15:3-28 is a good synopsis of the Gospel. If we keep it JoF, we go from Adam, leap over the entire Old Testament, touch down in the “Four Gospels” briefly, to only leap again to Romans.
Posted by Veritate | January 12, 2012, 5:56 pmI definitely see you point. But wouldn’t you agree that salvation in the OT was also Justification by grace alone? That the prophets were calling Israel back to faith and the psalms sung of God’s justification? I think it is safe to view God’s relationship to his people in accordance to this doctrine even when not necessarily spelled out. Absolutely Jesus is the means of this great salvation and the great object of our affections! So to your comment: yes! and amen!
Posted by Nick Rynerson | January 12, 2012, 11:00 pmDepends, Justification by Faith/Grace is an anachronistic abstraction of the idea:’faith works,’ when it is applied to the Old Testament; and I would not in a general sense deny “ya, faith is a part of it.” But Old Testament ‘salvation’ was more of a turning back to normalcy; contrasting to the New Testament concept that ‘salvation’ is a conversion, or a ‘complete changing.’ However, my point is this, I do not think justification by faith is the epicenter of the Gospel, if it were, then we would not be discussing ‘Justification in the Old Testament.’
The epicenter of the Gospel is what I said above, Jesus. The Gospel is Jesus completing Israel’s story…and that story starts off with the fall of man, our failure to rule as God’s Eikons in first the garden, and then our failure (or rather, Israel’s) as Eikons in the Promise Land. Christ restores that; believing Christ’s story by faith is the means to God restoring us as those images to rule under God (Rev 5:9-10;20:6). When we label Justification ‘the epicenter of the Gospel,’ that strips away a huge part of the Gospel—Jesus being the perfect Israelite, Jesus as Priest, Messiah, and what this all entails. Rather, Justification by Faith is a part of Soteriology, and it is dealing with one’s response towards the Gospel, i.e. the initial conversion. Justification is half of the Soteriological question, the other half being Sanctification, i.e. working one’s salvation out with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).
Posted by Veritate | January 13, 2012, 8:14 am