The doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is so precious to us. As a quick reminder, justification is:
- Forensic – that is, it is a legal declaration. Because Christ has fulfilled all righteous, and died the just death that sinners deserve bearing God’s wrath, and rising again in victory, those who trust Christ by faith are declared legally righteous. They are imputed with the righteousness of Christ.
- Full – there is nothing that you can add to your justification. All Christians, all those who look to Christ in faith, are equally justified. It is complete. There are no degrees of justification.
- Final – We are not awaiting a future justification. Christ’s work has been applied to us who are trusting Him. Our good works do not add to this and cannot add to this and are unnecessary to this in terms of receiving justification.
Justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is why the gospel is good news. It is at the very heart of what Christ has done for His people.
Furthermore, the 1689 2nd London Baptist Confession of faith rightly states: “…[T]he justification of believers under the Old Testament was exactly the same as the justification of believers under the New Testament.”
No one. Not one single soul has ever been saved apart from faith in Christ. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Old Testament believers were saved by looking forward to the coming Messiah, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
This is what God does for His people by His grace.
Now, what we are doing in this post is considering, practically, how do we use this doctrine in battle?
I remind you of one of Satan’s attacks on the church: He is the accuser. He accuses the brethren. Part of the reason this continues to work on Christians is because Satan is right.
At least partly.
His accusations can carry weight because he reminds us of the guilt we’ve really experienced and do experience. The problem is, he does not tell the whole story. He doesn’t get to the last chapter. Christ has made sufficient atonement for our sins and clothed us in His own righteous robes.
So, I want us to consider practically how we this glorious doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone in battle.
1. When You Are Tempted, Remember Who You Are.
Yes, I know. All my fellow millennials can hear James Earl Jones playing the role of Mufasa right now telling Simba, “Remember who you are!”
The reality of our justification does not lead us to desire sin. Whenever we sin, we are forgetting who we are in Christ.
But this really does have a practical application to every believer. Remember who you are! In one sense, that’s the theme of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. He begins that letter with one long run on sentence reminding them of who they are in Christ (cf. Eph. 1:3-14).
Satan tempts the church to sin. To grumble. To divide. To complain. To sin egregiously.
But, if we are resolute in our doctrine of justification, then we are remembering we are new. We are forgiven. We are justified. We are adopted. We are in union with Christ.
Did Christ sin? No. Then why would we who are in Him be interested in that? How can we who died to sin still live in it?
The fundamental reality of who a Christian is can be put in very simple terms: Dear brother or sister, you are not who you once were! The reality of our justification does not lead us to desire sin. Whenever we sin, we are forgetting who we are in Christ.
When you are tempted, remember who you are. The doctrine of justification does not produce licentiousness or antinomianism. Not if we are remembering who we are.
2. When You Are Accused, Remember Whose You Are
Christians are the Lord’s and we stand in His strength (cf. Eph. 6:10ff). We are clothed in His armor. God owns us. And God will protect His church. Let the accusations come! Our Defender is stronger than our Adversary.
Though Satan does sometimes tell half-truths, he also sometimes tells outright lies. Accusing the church of things we are not guilty of. In those situations, remember you are God’s. God has adopted you in Christ.
Christ owns you. The One who has justified you is the one who defends you.
When you are tempted, remember who you are. When you are accused, remember whose you are.
3. When You Are Guilty, Remember Christ
There are times Satan will bring up your guilt and he’s right. You sinned. You sinned against a brother. You sinned against your children.
Your words or thoughts or actions or motivations or desires, they came short of the glory of God. You sinned. And now Satan attacks.
You can make excuses. I did this because this happened. Or like Adam and Eve we can blame others. Or we can even blame God. But to do any of that is to fall for Satan’s trap. It causes division or laziness or pride or continued sin. Don’t do that.
Rather, when we are guilty of sin, we must not make excuses. The doctrine of justification reminds us to look to Christ. We must remember, our justification never changes. Ever. We never become less justified because of sin. We are secure in Him.
There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Look again to Christ!
This frees us. It frees us to repent. Christ has already paid for my sins. I can go to Him again in faith.
And while there are consequences for my sins, and there are times we do need to make restitution to others because of sin, there is never penance to God required for them. I don’t have to work for God to forgive me because I can’t. My forgiveness is wrapped up in what Christ has done.
The best thing a Christian can do when he or she is guilty of sinning, is to run again to our King. Run to Him in faith. Repent and rest again in all that God is for you in Christ.
Jesus paid it all.
When we sin, we are essentially telling Jesus to turn back and depart from us like Naomi said to her daughters-in-law. But Christ is like Ruth ever clinging to us and committing Himself to be with us even to our death. He is not letting go of His Bride.
The best thing a Christian can do when he or she is guilty of sinning, is to run again to our King.
Christians were once alienated from God, but that is no longer the case. The wrath of God for our sin is all gone. It has been propitiated by Christ.
Christ drank the foaming cup of the wrath of God down to the last dreg and there’s nothing left in that cup for you to drink, so keep drinking from the rivers of grace.
When you are guilty of sin, repent. Look to our Lord Jesus. Rest yourself in His completed work.
When you are tempted, remember who you are. When you are accused, remember whose you are. When you are guilty, remember Christ.
4. When You Are Self-righteous, Remember the Law
If Satan cannot get you to fall in an egregious manner, he can work to harden your heart in self-righteousness.
Look at all I am doing! Look how committed I am to the church! Look how committed I am to a biblical home! Look how much I read my bible! Look how much I am obeying!
Isn’t Satan so crafty? We know better than to allow those thoughts to be spoken out loud. But if you’re honest with your heart, those thoughts have crept in before.
When you think about your justification, consider what Christ did to obtain it: Perfect. Personal. Precise. Perpetual obedience to God’s holy and righteous law.
Let that humble you. You are just as far away from keeping God’s law for your justification as the most wicked reprobate, depraved, sinner you can imagine in your mind.
Listen to me carefully here: This is not me saying “Well, sin is sin, so it doesn’t matter.” And this is not me saying that the believer does not pursue real obedience to God. Absolutely we do, by God’s grace working in our hearts.
Christians were recreated in Christ for good works (cf. Eph. 2:10). Christians do good works. Those who don’t, are not believers.
But hear me now: There is nothing that you can parade before God that merits His acceptance of you. In and yourself you do not meet His holy standard.
Let the law humble you and drive you again to our good and gracious King! Put on His armor, not your own (cf. Eph. 6:10ff).
We stand, all of us, on equal ground before God as sinners. Oh but the grace we have in Christ! He is our hope. He is our boast. He is our all.
Not self. Christ.
The doctrine of justification, properly understood, does not produce legalism. Let us live holy in and by His grace alone.
When you are tempted, remember who you are. When you are accused, remember whose you are. When you are guilty, remember Christ. When you are self-righteous, remember the Law.
5. When You Are Afraid, Remember God’s Armor
We should not make light of spiritual warfare. Sometimes we can walk around with such confidence in Christ. But, sometimes, we can have very serious times of depression or fear or trepidation. Satan can paralyze the church, at times, with fear.
But I am calling us to remember what God has provided His church. Ephesians 6:10-18 lays out our spiritual armor that Paul calls us to put on. But what’s important to remember is that it is God’s armor given to us.
This is the armor Christ has worn Himself (cf. Isaiah 59:17) and won for His church and now gifted to His church.
When you are afraid, remember the armor. The doctrine of justification reminds us that ultimately, nothing, not the culture, not the government, not any false religion, no demonic power, absolutely nothing can separate us from Christ. Nothing can prevent the church’s final victory. Our armor is the armor of God!
When you are afraid, remember the armor.
When you are tempted, remember who you are. When you are accused, remember whose you are. When you are guilty, remember Christ. When you are self-righteous, remember the Law. When you are afraid, remember the armor.
6. When All Is Well, Remember Grace
I’ve painted a lot of negative realities of the Christian life here. Temptation. Accusation. Failure. Self-righteousness. Fear.
But, there are also times when we don’t feel the heat of the battle.
Now, we should never grow complacent. But when you wake up, and the kids are well, and the table is set, and the food is served, and Christ is enjoyed, and the saints are edified, remember grace.
The doctrine of justification reminds us that God is for us in Christ, and this is based on His eternal love and sovereign grace. Grace has brought you safe thus far and grace will lead you home.
The doctrine of justification reminds us that God is for us in Christ, and this is based on His eternal love and sovereign grace.
Think about it! You stand in this impenetrable breastplate. The fury of Satan is kept at bay from you. Your heart is content in Christ. You are at peace with the church. You are hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
Where is this coming from? My friend, the fountain of grace. Drink deeply. And do not forget the source of these blessings. And do not forget the cost of these blessings.
They flow to you from the wounds of our King. The One who came to us, and lived for us, and died for us, and rose again, and now reigns on high for His glory and for the good of His church.
When all is well, remember grace.
When you are tempted, remember who you are. When you are accused, remember whose you are. When you are guilty, remember Christ. When you are self-righteous, remember the Law. When you are afraid, remember the armor. When all is well, remember grace.
7. When Death Arrives, Remember Gain
The inevitable is just outside the door. It is a phone call away. It is a doctor’s report away. It is a tragedy away. It is a heartbeat away. Death is coming. You’ll cross that river more quickly than you realized you would.
This is a terrifying reality to those who are rejecting Christ. Those living in their shelter of hypocrisy. Those dressed in carelessness or complacency. Those clothed in Satan’s armor and in love with sin.
Friend, if this is you, your condition is dreadful. And death should be frightening to you. It will creep up on you before you are ready and in the blink of an eye you will pass from this life to the next. From a life of carefree rebellion against God into one that enters His righteous judgment for all eternity.
Your only hope is to run to Christ. The One who has secured perfection and suffered our penalty. The one who died and is alive forevermore. The One who is offered to poor and needy sinners. The one who will save the vilest of sinners who come to Him in faith.
You must repent and believe the gospel or death will only be the beginning of an eternal hell you can never escape.
But what about those in Christ? What about those dressed in His righteousness?
The Scriptures are replete with good promises: For me to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil. 1:21). Precious in the sight of Yahweh is the death of His saints (Ps. 116:15). To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (cf. 2 Cor. 5:8).
How does the doctrine of justification practically equip us for daily living and spiritual warfare? Because it takes the greatest worry of mankind and turns it into a blessing.
Death is not the end. Death is the beginning. Death is gain for those who are in Christ. Christ entered heaven in victory and those who are trusting Him will follow Him there for they wear His own righteousness.
So, I look up and I see the hill. The battle there is fierce. But the King says. Go! Take the hill! For my glory!
But I might die. To win this ground for my dear Lord, what if it costs me my very life? I see saints of old who have perished striving to take this hill.
I am afraid.
What about my family? What about my children?
But then I think again of this doctrine. Christ has already won my greatest battle. He has reconciled me to God and turned my righteous enemy in to my friend. He has forgiven me. He has put my account upon His own and His account upon mine.
Death only means an entrance into the presence of Christ. It only holds out the promise of a resurrected and glorified body. Death, for those in Christ, is gain.
I am reminded: He is worthy. He is in me. He is with me. And the very worst thing that can happen to me, He has already made provision for: He has already conquered death for His Saints.
My Savior passed through death Himself. He tasted death under God’s divine judgment. His righteous life could not be contained by death. He rose again from the death triumphing over the grave.
And this very righteousness He has bestowed upon me by grace through faith. That means the death that couldn’t hold Him, can’t hold me either. All death does is deliver me from this weak mind and decaying body, and the sin that seeks to cling so close to me.
Death only means an entrance into the presence of Christ. It only holds out the promise of a resurrected and glorified body. Death, for those in Christ, is gain.
So, I will charge the hill.
Will you go with me?
Christ is worthy.
Christ is worthy of a church that remembers who we are. Christ is worthy of a church that remembers whose we are. Christ is worthy of a church that remembers Him. Christ is worthy of a church that remembers the high cost of our salvation. Christ is worthy of a church that remembers His armor. Christ is worthy of a church that remembers grace. And Christ is worthy of a church that remembers death is gain.
The doctrine of justification is not just for seminarians and scholars. It’s for the everyday believer. It equips us to go through life prepared for whatever providence may have for us, confident in all God is for us in Christ. It protects us in our most vulnerable moments of spiritual warfare and keeps the church moving towards God’s great goal of declaring Christ’s glory over every nation.
Theology matters. Press on brothers and sisters!
