Just As If You Have Not Sinned

Jeffrey Khoo

(A message delivered on Reformation Sunday, 26 October 2008 at True Life BPC)

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1).

Reformation Day

Today is Reformation Sunday. We remember the people of the Reformation— great men of God like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox and others. While remembering the people, we must not forget what they stood for—the fundamental doctrines of the Christian Faith and in particular the doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone based on Scripture alone, without the need for personal works, or the merits of others, or the traditions of the church.

The Roman Catholic Church for a thousand years had preached another gospel—a gospel not of grace but of works. The Catholic Church forbade the common folk from reading the Bible. Only the clergy or the priests could read and interpret the Scriptures. This led to many false teachings and interpretations of the Scriptures. Idolatrous doctrines and superstitious  practices  like  the worship of Mary, of saints and of angels, transubstantiation, baptismal regeneration, indulgences, penance, etc. blinded the common folk to the wonderful truths of salvation as taught by Christ in His Word. The people in the Dark Ages were ignorant of the Gospel Light, until God by divine intervention sent out His Light and His Truth through His servants the reformers, chief of whom was Martin Luther.

Faith Not Works

Martin Luther was a sincere and devout Catholic monk and studiously and religiously followed the ways of the Catholic Church. He testified, “I was indeed a pious monk, and followed the rules of my order more strictly than I can express. If ever a monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I should certainly have been entitled to it.” But he found no release from the guilt of sin, and no peace with God until one day he read the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Spirit gave him understanding to know and believe that salvation was not by works but by the grace of God alone through faith in Jesus Christ. While teaching the book of Romans in the University of Wittenberg, he discovered that the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures differed from that of the Catholic Church. The Church says, salvation is by works, but the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17). Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Catholic Church says believe in the Church, but the Bible says believe in Christ, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Rom 10:8-11). Suddenly everything became clear to Him, “Not I but Christ! Not works but faith!”

What is Justification?

Justification by faith alone became one of the doctrinal pillars of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation. What is justification? The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q33) has an excellent answer, “Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.” In other words, when a sinner confesses his sins and accepts Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour, God declares him righteous just as if he has not sinned, clothes him with the righteousness of Christ and cleanses him from all his sins by the precious blood of Christ. Justification sounds like “just as if you have not sinned.” That is what it means, for the biblical word— “justify”—is a legal term used by a judge to declare a person “Not guilty,” just as if he has not sinned. By faith, a sinner makes peace with the thrice holy God and becomes a saint on account of Christ.

Relationship between Faith and Works

The Catholic Church object to the doctrine of justification by faith alone, for according to them, works must be included, quoting James 2:20, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” The Liberals likewise attack the doctrine of justification by faith alone by questioning the integrity and inerrancy of the Scriptures. They say that Scripture contradicts when it speaks of justification, for Romans 4:1-3 says Abraham was justified by faith alone and not by works at all, but James 2:21- 24 says Abraham was justified not by faith alone but by works also. So how do we explain this? It is very simple, just study the contexts of both epistles and ask the right questions.

The context of the book of Romans tells us that Paul was addressing sinners or unbelievers (Rom 1-3), and answering the question “What saves?” The answer, “Not works, but faith alone.” He went on to prove this by quoting Genesis 15:6 that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom 4:3).

James on the other hand was addressing those who profess to have faith but do not show it in their lives or by their conduct. James was thus not answering the question “What saves?” but “What kind of faith saves?” The kind of faith that saves is the kind that will lead to a changed heart and mind, that will result in a godly and Christlike life. James proved this to be the case by using Abraham as an example. Abraham was saved by faith, no doubt about it (Jas 2:23), but he showed it by his works when he offered Isaac to be sacrificed in obedience to God’s command (Jas 2:21). This proves that Abraham’s faith was not fake but genuine. It was not a mere profession but a true possession of faith.

Thus, Paul and James did not contradict but complemented each other. Both believed the salvation equation to be: Faith = Salvation + Works. Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves will bring about a sanctified life of good works in obedience to the Word of God.

Distinction between Justification and Sanctification

There is a need to distinguish between justification and sanctification. The Catholic Church sees no distinction between the two because it has a false salvation equation which is Faith + Works = Salvation, but the Bible teaches Faith = Salvation + Works, and distinguishes between justification and sanctification. Know that good works come after justification, not before, for:
(1) Justification is a one-time act of God whereas sanctification is an ongoing activity of God.
(2) Justification is God’s work for us from the outside whereas sanctification is God’s work on us from the inside.
(3) Justification happens during conversion whereas sanctification occurs after conversion.
(4) Justification concerns the root of salvation whereas sanctification involves the fruit of salvation.
Justification is like the engine carriage of a train which gives it life and power to move all the passenger or cargo carriages that come after it. Without the engine, the train is lifeless and useless. Without justification, the sinner is lifeless and hopeless, dead and condemned in his sins. But when justification takes place, the sinner becomes a saint, saved and alive in Christ, sanctification automatically follows and the Holy Spirit living within him enables him to live a life that will be more and more Christlike.

Let us then examine ourselves. Are we truly saved? Do we have genuine faith? Faith alone saves, and we know we have true faith and are saved when we see the Lord changing us to be more and more like Him as the days go by, bearing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Do we see this? If not, let us repent of our sins and get right with God. Make peace with Him and be justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, believing in the Scriptures alone.