Justification by Faith Alone, Not by Works of Law

No man is justified by the law in the sight of God—this is evident from Scripture. Justification means being brought into right relation with Elohim and all law-keeping beings. Yet justification through moral law is impossible. The Bible assumes two truths: humanity has broken God's law, and no amount of obedience can restore our lost dignity.

Justification is possible only through faith in Jesus Christ. His atonement (Greek hilasmos, propitiation) is the ground; faith in that atonement is the means. As Habakkuk declared and Paul affirmed, "the just shall live by faith."

Life is received through faith that makes a man just. A believer begins to live by full acquittal from condemnation and penal death the moment he trusts in Christ—raised from spiritual death itself. Neither works, knowledge, profession, nor feeling proves absolution; only faith accomplishes this.

Life is sustained by the faith that keeps a man just. The forgiven soul lives thereafter as he began—by faith alone. He looks perpetually outside himself to Jesus, not to feelings, devotion, or personal attainment. He lives by faith through every condition: in joy and sorrow, wealth and poverty, strength and weakness, labor and languishing, life and death.

The law resembles a noble vessel so damaged that waters flow through countless leaks. As waves rise higher and destruction looms certain, drowning souls hear: "As many as are of the works of the law are under a curse." But Christ Jesus comes to the sinking—our sole rescue and righteousness.