Transcript JUSTIFICATION SALVATION IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

JUSTIFICATION
SALVATION IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
What Do Presbyterians Believe?
University Presbyterian Church
April 14, 2013
JUSTIFICATION
• Oxford Dictionary:
– the action of showing something to be right or reasonable
– the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of
God
• For Christians
– God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at
the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's
atoning sacrifice
• Justification is seen by Protestants as being the
theological fault line that divided Catholic from
Protestant during the Protestant Reformation – Why
so?
JUSTIFICATION
• Catholic and Orthodox Christians distinguish
between initial justification, which in their
view occurs at baptism, and permanent
justification, accomplished after a lifetime of
striving to do God's will.
• Catholics and Orthodox Christians use
Galatians 5:19-21 and Matthew 19:17 to
support their belief that justification is kept
through avoiding grave sins.
JUSTIFICATION
• Galatians 5:19-21
– Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels,
dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness,
carousing, and things like these. I am warning you,
as I warned you before: those who do such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God.
JUSTIFICATION
• Matthew 19:17
– And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about
what is good? There is only one who is good. If
you wish to enter into life, keep the
commandments.’
JUSTIFICATION
• Protestants believe that justification is a
singular act in which God declares an
unrighteous individual to be righteous
• Justification is granted to all who exercise
faith, and that is viewed as a gift from God
(unmerited favor) by Protestants, who use
Ephesians 2:8, as well as Acts 16:14 and
Philippians 1:29 to support that belief.
JUSTIFICATION
• Ephesians 2:8
– For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—
• Acts 16:14
– A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God,
was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira
and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her
heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul
• Philippians 1:29
– For he has graciously granted you the privilege not
only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as
well—
JUSTIFICATION
• For the apostle Paul, justification was at the heart
of gospel news.
• It shaped Paul’s message, his devotion and his
spiritual life
• For 500 years Protestants have used Paul’s
writings on grace through faith
• Galatians 3:11
– Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by
the law; for ‘The one who is righteous will live by
faith.’
JUSTIFICATION
• To be justified is to be eternally secure
– Romans 5:1-5 (Results of Justification): Therefore,
since we are justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we
have obtained access to this grace in which we stand;
and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character
produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us,
because God’s love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
JUSTIFICATION
• Means of justification is personal faith in
Christ, crucified dead and risen as Lord
– Romans 4:23-25: Now the words, ‘it was reckoned
to him’, were written not for his sake alone, but
for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe
in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who was handed over to death for our trespasses
and was raised for our justification.
JUSTIFICATION
• Means of justification is personal faith in Christ,
crucified dead and risen as Lord
– Romans 10:8-13: But what does it say?‘ The word is near
you, on your lips and in your heart’ (that is, the word of
faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your
lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one
believes with the heart and so is justified, and one
confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture
says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the
same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on
him. For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.’
JUSTIFICATION
• Salvation is not of ourselves or our works
– Romans 3:20: For ‘no human being will be justified in his sight’
by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the
knowledge of sin.
• Salvation is not through human wisdom and thinking
– 1 Corinthians 1:21: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world
did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the
foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
• Grace is God’s part in our salvation
• Faith is our response to God’s grace
• As we give our selves in faith to Christ, he gives us his gift of
righteousness
• We receive divine pardon and acceptance
JUSTIFICATION
• Galatians 2:15-16: We ourselves are Jews by
birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know
that a person is justified not by the works of
the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And
we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so
that we might be justified by faith in Christ,
and not by doing the works of the law,
because no one will be justified by the works
of the law.
JUSTIFICATION
• Galatians 3:24: Therefore the law was our
disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we
might be justified by faith.
JUSTIFICATION
• What does it mean to accept God’s grace?
• What is our faithful response or how do we
respond in faith to God’s grace?
JUSTIFICATION
• What were Christ’s two greatest and foremost
commandments?
– Luke 10:26-27: Just then a lawyer stood up to test
Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit
eternal life?’ He said to him, ‘What is written in
the law? What do you read there?’ He answered,
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
strength, and with all your mind; and your
neighbor as yourself.’
JUSTIFICATION
• What does Jesus mean by these commandments?
• ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind’
• ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’
• How shall we lives our lives?
JUSTIFICATION
• Next week, April 21, 2013
– God's sovereignty (with a short side journey down
the path of predestination) – Anna Pinckney
Straight
– Romans 8:30: And those whom he predestined he
also called; and those whom he called he also
justified; and those whom he justified he also
glorified.