Chapter 62—Justified by Faith
[This article appeared in The Bible Students’ Library Series, April,
1893.
]
When God pardons the sinner, remits the punishment he deserves,
and treats him as though he had not sinned, He receives him into divine
favor, and justifies him through the merits of Christ’s righteousness.
The sinner can be justified only through faith in the atonement made
through God’s dear Son, who became a sacrifice for the sins of the
guilty world. No one can be justified by any works of his own. He
can be delivered from the guilt of sin, from the condemnation of the
law, from the penalty of transgression, only by virtue of the suffering,
death, and resurrection of Christ. Faith is the only condition upon
which justification can be obtained, and faith includes not only belief
but trust.
Many have a nominal faith in Christ, but they know nothing of
that vital dependence upon Him which appropriates the merits of a
crucified and risen Saviour. Of this nominal faith James says: “Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe,
and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works
is dead? (
James 2:19, 20
). Many concede that Jesus Christ is the
Saviour of the world, but at the same time they hold themselves away
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from Him, and fail to repent of their sins, fail to accept of Jesus as
their personal Saviour. Their faith is simply the assent of the mind and
judgment to the truth; but the truth is not brought into the heart, that it
might sanctify the soul and transform the character. “For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified”
(
Romans 8:29, 30
). Calling and justification are not one and the same
thing. Calling is the drawing of the sinner to Christ, and it is a work
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