Question: What is the doctrine of Justification by faith alone? How is it misunderstood by the Churches of Christ?
Ask a cofc member what the doctrine of justification by faith alone is, and they will tell you it is a doctrine teaching that a person can be saved simply by believing the basic facts or truths of the Christian faith. These facts may include, there is a God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that Jesus died on the cross and rose again.
But here the Church of Christ member will often justify their rejection of this doctrine by saying, 'But even the demons "believe" and of course this doesn't do them any good whatsoever.'
And so in this way, the Church of Christ member will not only reject the doctrine of justification by faith, but will also reject a doctrine they really do not understand nor comprehend.
May I say then that those who believe we are saved by personal faith in Jesus Christ alone, do not believe we are saved simply by believing the basic facts or tenants of the Christian faith, or that we are saved by simply believing in some general way that Jesus lived, died on the cross and that He rose again.
Rather, we are believing that Jesus lived, died and rose again FOR US.
We are believing that on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself and received in His body all of God's wrath, anger, and righteous indignation for OUR sin, that God punished Jesus so He would NOT have to punish us.
And if God has spent all His anger and wrath for OUR SIN out on Jesus Christ, He is no longer angry at us. The Word of God says that "Whoever believes in the Son HAS eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s WRATH remains on them." John 3:36
But Jesus did not only died for us, taking our punishment for sin so that we deserved so that we would not have to experience it ourselves,
Jesus also lived holy for us as well.
Jesus lived holy FOR US so that the basis of us going to heaven is based on His perfect life and not our own.
The Word of God tells us that ‘God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law,’ (Gal. 4:3) and that Jesus became FOR US “our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” 1 Cor. 1:30
Question: So where is Justification by faith taught in the New Testament?
There are 154 places in the New Testament that tell us salvation is by believing, that it is by trusting, that it is by placing faith in the Jesus Christ.
In Romans 1:16 Paul writes “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.” He continues on to say, "For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed- a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "the righteous will live by faith."
People often assume that the righteousness Paul is speaking about here is God's own personal righteousness. And they aware that they are not right-eous and that God is righteous, and they cannot understand how there can be much good news in a gospel that reveals God’s own righteousness and holiness to a people who are not righteous.
But when Paul speaks about 'the righteousness of God that is revealed' in this passage, he is not speaking about the same righteousness by which God Himself is righteous. But rather he is speaking about a righteousness that God bestows and gives freely to all and upon all who will believe.
This righteousness is not a righteousness that arises out of ourselves by our own moral or religious obedience to all the commands given to us in the New Testament. Rather it is a gift of righteousness that God gives to all and upon all who will believe and place faith in Jesus Christ.
"But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe." Romans 3:21-22
References to consider:
Romans 1:16-17, 3:21-31, 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 9:30-33, 10:1-21, 11:1-23
Galatians 2:15-21, 3:1-25, 5:1-6
Ephesians 1:1-21, 2:1-10
Philippians 3:1-11