Two points not to miss about justification

Justification is so crucial in understanding conversion and salvation that there are many theologies according to how they view it. Nevertheless, there can be only two groups of explanations of it--the biblical one and the others. Theologies can't save. It is because they are just words of humans. One who wants to know about conversion and salvation would listen to only the Word of God.

It is more so when there are so many theologies that are talking about justification. According to the Bible, prevalent theologies make errors about justification. In this article, I am going to point out two fundamental things for justification, which the prevalent theologies don't understand or distort. One of them is that the justification has a temporal sense, and the other is that work and faith are not separable. 

 

The justification, in Romans chapter 4, genetically has a temporal sense.

Justification in Romans 4 is the terminology that represents the moment when a person becomes right, who was not right with God. Justification is a change from one status to another. A change has a point of time that it happens. Around the time, the person becomes different from before. Therefore, justification genetically has a temporal sense.

Because justification has a temporal sense, the discussion of the things that make the person justified has to consider time. It is what the prevalent theologies don't do. As they interpret Romans 4, they understand work without considering the time. As Paul says, no man can be justified by works or righteous actions, he is referring to them that happened before justification is considered by God. The works in Romans 4:2 refer to some things that Abraham had done before the justification happened. This idea becomes clear in verse 4. Paul uses the analogy of work and wage for works and justification. Wage corresponds to justification, and work has to be done before the payment. Ephesians 2:9 also clarifies it. There the same apostle talks about salvation and says it is "not a result of works." The result implies that the works in question there are those done before the time of salvation. Therefore, it means that works here are those done before the time when justification happens.

The works and righteous actions in Romans 4 cannot mean those which the person may do after the justification. It signifies that it is nonsense to argue based on this scripture that work is not necessary for salvation. The works that the scripture is talking about is in a different timeline than the one the theologians are. The works in Romans 4 are the ones before justification, and they can't include the works after justification. In other words, Romans 4 doesn't back up their theologies which deny the necessity of work for salvation (Also see the verses: Matt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6; 1 Cor. 3:8; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Pet. 1:17; Rev. 2:23, 20:12, 22:12). Therefore, it is anachronistic to use Paul's teaching about justification in Romas 4 and deny the necessity for work for salvation.   

Works and faith are not separable

Misunderstanding or distorting the scripture, the theologies go further. They say that one is saved by faith only. They insist there is no need for works for salvation. Some go further to say once he believed he is saved forever, regardless of how he lives. Abviously, their theory is so anachronistic in that they don't distinguish the works before and after justification. In other words, they misunderstand or distort intentionally what Romans 4 teaches. They can do this because, in their mind, works and faith are separable. However, it is not impossible in reality, and the Bible doesn't teach so.

Works are the outcome of the faith of the person. Faith can't stand alone without works based on it, as it is alive and active. In this sense, James says works are evidence of faith (2:18). Therefore, there is a faith where there are righteous works, and also it is not possible that there are God-pleasing works without alive and active faith. Faith and works always go together. If we adopt a rhetoric device, synecdochy, we can call faith works, and works faith. In other words, if we have the right faith and works in mind, there is no problem to declare that one is saved by faith (Eph. 2:8) or one is saved by works (James 2:24).

However, the theologians, misunderstanding it, made a further distortion. They insist that a person is saved by faith alone, and no work is necessary for salvation. Nonsensically, they base their theory on the works of the law in Romans 3:28. Unfortunately, they misunderstand or distort what the scripture means. The works of the law are never the works God is pleased with. On the contrary, the works by which God will reward on the judgment day are the works He is pleased with. The works of the law are junk, but the works that will award the person a prize of God are a treasure (cf. Matt. 6:19). These two works are not the same in any sense. Nevertheless, the theologies take the teaching about the works of the law and deny the works God commands for salvation. Their error is not to distinguish correctly between works of the law (Rom. 3:28) and the works of faith (James 2:22; cf. Rom. 3:27).

The prevalent theologies are blind to the obvious teachings of the word of God regarding justification. Their misunderstanding leads them to deny life to be saved (Rom. 6:8). It is satanic. Christians have to fight such falsity as the falsity draws so many souls. For this purpose, we need to understand justification correctly according to the scripture.