Chapter XII: Section II: The Application Of Christ’s Redemption In Its Actual (6)

A. J. Gordon, The First Thing in the World, or The Primacy of
Faith: “David Brainard speaks with a kind of suppressed
astonishment of what he observed among the degraded North American
Indians; how, preaching to them the good news of salvation through
the atonement of Christ and persuading them to accept it by faith,
and then hastening on in his rapid missionary tours, he found, on
returning upon his track a year or two later, that the fruits of
righteousness and sobriety and virtue and brotherly love were
everywhere visible, though it had been possible to impart to them
only the slightest moral or ethical teaching.”

(_e_) That faith, as characteristically the inward act of reception, is not to be confounded with love or obedience, its fruit.

Faith is, in the Scriptures, called a work, only in the sense that man’s active powers are engaged in it. It is a work which God requires, yet which God enables man to perform (John 6:29—ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ. _Cf._ Rom. 1:17—δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ). As the gift of God and as the mere taking of undeserved mercy, it is expressly excluded from the category of works upon the basis of which man may claim salvation (Rom. 3:28; 4:4, 5, 16). It is not the act of the full soul bestowing, but the act of an empty soul receiving. Although this reception is prompted by a drawing of heart toward God inwrought by the Holy Spirit, this drawing of heart is not yet a conscious and developed love: such love is the result of faith (Gal. 5:6). What precedes faith is an unconscious and undeveloped tendency or disposition toward God. Conscious and developed affection toward God, or love proper, must always follow faith and be the product of faith. So, too, obedience can be rendered only after faith has laid hold of Christ, and with him has obtained the spirit of obedience (Rom. 1:5—ὑπακοὴν πίστεως = “obedience resulting from faith”). Hence faith is not the procuring cause of salvation, but is only the instrumental cause. The procuring cause is the Christ, whom faith embraces.

_John 6:29_—“_This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom
he hath sent_”; _cf._ _Rom. 1:17_—“_For therein is revealed a
righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But
the righteous shall live by faith_”; _Rom. 3:28_—“_We reckon
therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of
the law_”; _4:4, 5, 16_—“_Now to him that worketh, the reward is
not reckoned as of grace, but as of debt. But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is reckoned for righteousness.... For this cause it is of faith,
that it may be according to grace_”; _Gal. 5:6_—“_For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision;
but faith working through love_”; _Rom. 1:5_—“_through whom we
received grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all
the nations._”

Faith stands as an intermediate factor between the unconscious and
undeveloped tendency or disposition toward God inwrought in the
soul by God’s regenerating act, on the one hand, and the conscious
and developed affection toward God which is one of the fruits and
evidences of conversion, on the other. Illustrate by the motherly
instinct shown in a little girl’s care for her doll,—a motherly
instinct which becomes a developed mother’s love, only when a
child of her own is born. This new love of the Christian is an
activity of his own soul, and yet it is a “_fruit of the Spirit_”
(_Gal. 5:22_). To attribute it wholly to himself would be like
calling the walking and leaping of the lame man (_Acts 3:8_)
merely a healthy activity of his own. For illustration of the
priority of faith to love, see Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2:533, note;
on the relation of faith to love, see Julius Müller, Doct. Sin,
1:116, 117.

The logical order is therefore: 1. Unconscious and undeveloped
love; 2. Faith in Christ and his truth; 3. Conscious and developed
love; 4. Assurance of faith. Faith and love act and react upon one
another. Each advance in the one leads to a corresponding advance
in the other. But the source of all is in God. God loves, and
therefore he gives love to us as well as receives love from us.
The unconscious and undeveloped love which he imparts in
regeneration is the root of all Christian faith. The Roman
Catholic is right in affirming the priority of love to faith, if
he means by love only this unconscious and undeveloped affection.
But the Protestant is also right in affirming the priority of
faith to love, if he means by love a conscious and developed
affection. Stevens, Johannine Theology, 368—“Faith is not a mere
passive receptivity. As the acceptance of a divine life, it
involves the possession of a new moral energy. Faith works by
love. In faith a new life‐force is received, and new life‐powers
stir within the Christian man.”

We must not confound repentance with fruits meet for repentance,
nor faith with fruits meet for faith. A. J. Gordon, The First
Thing in the World: “Love is the greatest thing in the world, but
faith is the first. The tree is greater than the root, but let it
not boast: ‘_if thou gloriest, it is not thou that bearest the
root, but the root thee_’ (_Rom. 11:18_). Love has no power to
branch out and bear fruit, except as, through faith, it is rooted
in Christ and draws nourishment from him. _1 Pet. 1:5_—‘_who by
the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready
to be revealed in the last time_’; _1 Cor. 13:13_—‘_now abideth
faith, hope, love_’; _Heb. 10:19‐25_—‘_draw near ... in fulness of
faith ... hold fast the confession of our hope ... provoke unto
love and good works_’; _Rom. 5:1‐5_—‘_justified by faith ...
rejoice in hope ... love of God hath been shed abroad in our
hearts_’; _1 Thess. 1:1, 2_—‘_work of faith and labor of love and
patience of hope._’ Faith is the actinic ray, hope the
luminiferous ray, love the calorific ray. But faith contains the
principle of the divine likeness, as the life of the parent given
to the child contains the principle of likeness to the father, and
will insure moral and physical resemblance in due time.”

A. J. Gordon, Ministry of the Spirit, 112—“ ‘_The love of the
Spirit_’ (_Rom. 15:30_) is the love of the Spirit of Christ, and
it is given us for overcoming the world. The divine life is the
source of the divine love. Therefore the love of God is ‘_shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us_’
(_Rom. 5:5_). Because we are by nature so wholly without heavenly
affection, God, through the indwelling Spirit, gives us his own
love with which to love himself.” A. H. Strong, Christ in
Creation, 286, 287, points out that in _2 Cor. 5:14_—“_the love of
Christ constraineth us_”—the love of Christ is “not our love to
Christ, for that is a very weak and uncertain thing; nor even
Christ’s love to us, for that is still something external to us.
Each of these leaves a separation between Christ and us, and fails
to act as a moving power within.... Not simply our love to Christ,
nor simply Christ’s love to us, but rather Christ’s love _in_ us,
is the love that constrains. This is the thought of the apostle.”
The first fruit of this love, in its still unconscious and
undeveloped state, is faith.

(_f_) That faith is susceptible of increase.

This is evident, whether we consider it from the human or from the divine side. As an act of man, it has an intellectual, an emotional, and a voluntary element, each of which is capable of growth. As a work of God in the soul of man, it can receive, through the presentation of the truth and the quickening agency of the Holy Spirit, continually new accessions of knowledge, sensibility, and active energy. Such increase of faith, therefore, we are to seek, both by resolute exercise of our own powers, and above all, by direct application to the source of faith in God (Luke 17:5).

_Luke 17:5_—“_And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our
faith._” The adult Christian has more faith than he had when a
child,—evidently there has been increase. _1 Cor. 12:8, 9_—“_For
to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom ... to
another faith, in the same Spirit._” In this latter passage, it
seems to be intimated that for special exigencies the Holy Spirit
gives to his servants special faith, so that they are enabled to
lay hold of the general promise of God and make special
application of it. _Rom. 8:26, 27_—“_the Spirit also helpeth our
infirmity ... maketh intercession for us ... maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God_”; _1 John 5:14,
15_—“_And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if
we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we
know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have
the petitions which we have asked of him._” Only when we begin to
believe, do we appreciate our lack of faith, and the great need of
its increase. The little beginning of light makes known the
greatness of the surrounding darkness. _Mark 9:24_—“_I believe;
help thou mine unbelief_”—was the utterance of one who recognized
both the need of faith and the true source of supply.

On the general subject of Faith, see Köstlin, Die Lehre von dem
Glauben, 13‐85, 301‐341, and in Jahrbuch f. d. Theol., 4:177
_sq._; Romaine on Faith, 9‐89; Bishop of Ossory, Nature and
Effects of Faith, 1‐40; Venn, Characteristics of Belief,
Introduction; Nitzsch, System of Christ. Doct., 294.

IV. Justification.

1. Definition of Justification.

By justification we mean that judicial act of God by which, on account of Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith, he declares that sinner to be no longer exposed to the penalty of the law, but to be restored to his favor. Or, to give an alternative definition from which all metaphor is excluded: Justification is the reversal of God’s attitude toward the sinner, because of the sinner’s new relation to Christ. God did condemn; he now acquits. He did repel; he now admits to favor.

Justification, as thus defined, is therefore a declarative act, as distinguished from an efficient act; an act of God external to the sinner, as distinguished from an act within the sinner’s nature and changing that nature; a judicial act, as distinguished from a sovereign act; an act based upon and logically presupposing the sinner’s union with Christ, as distinguished from an act which causes and is followed by that union with Christ.

The word “declarative” does not imply a “spoken” word on God’s
part,—much less that the sinner hears God speak. That
justification is sovereign, is held by Arminians, and by those who
advocate a governmental theory of the atonement. On any such
theory, justification must be sovereign; since Christ bore, not
the penalty of the law, but a substituted suffering which God
graciously and sovereignly accepts in place of our suffering and
obedience.

Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1100, wrote a tract for the
consolation of the dying, who were alarmed on account of sin. The
following is an extract from it: “_Question_. Dost thou believe
that the Lord Jesus died for thee? _Answer._ I believe it. _Qu._
Dost thou thank him for his passion and death? _Ans._ I do thank
him. _Qu._ Dost thou believe that thou canst not be saved except
by his death? _Ans._ I believe it.” And then Anselm addresses the
dying man: “Come then, while life remaineth in thee; in his death
alone place thy whole trust; in naught else place any trust; to
his death commit thyself wholly; with this alone cover thyself
wholly; and if the Lord thy God will to judge thee, say, ‘Lord,
between thy judgment and me I present the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ; no otherwise can I contend with thee.’ And if he shall say
that thou art a sinner, say thou: ‘Lord, I interpose the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ between my sins and thee.’ If he say that
thou hast deserved condemnation, say: ‘Lord, I set the death of
our Lord Jesus Christ between my evil deserts and thee, and his
merits I offer for those which I ought to have and have not.’ If
he say that he is wroth with thee, say: ‘Lord, I oppose the death
of our Lord Jesus Christ between thy wrath and me.’ And when thou
hast completed this, say again: ‘Lord, I set the death of our Lord
Jesus Christ between thee and me.’ ” See Anselm, Opera (Migne),
1:686, 687. The above quotation gives us reason to believe that
the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith was
implicitly, if not explicitly, held by many pious souls through
all the ages of papal darkness.

2. Proof of the Doctrine of Justification.

A. Scripture proofs of the doctrine as a whole are the following:

_Rom. 1:17_—“_a righteousness of God from faith unto faith_”;
_3:24‐30_—“_being justified freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus ... the justifier of him that
hath faith in Jesus.... We reckon therefore that a man is
justified by faith apart from the works of the law ... justify the
circumcision by faith, and the uncircumsion through faith_”; _Gal.
3:11_—“_Now that no man is justified by the law before God, is
evident: for, The righteous shall live by faith; and the law is
not of faith; but, He that doeth them shall live in them_”; _Eph.
1:7_—“_in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his
grace_”; _Heb. 11:4, 7_—“_By faith Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne
to him that he was righteous.... By faith Noah ... moved with
godly fear, prepared an ark ... became heir of the righteousness
which is according to faith_”; _cf._ _Gen. 15:6_—“_And he believed
in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness_”; _Is.
7:9_—“_If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be
established_”; _28:16_—“_he that believeth shall not be in
haste_”; _Hab. 2:4_—“_the righteous shall live by his faith._”

_Ps. 85:8_—“_He will speak peace unto his people._” God’s great
word of pardon includes all else. Peace with him implies all the
covenant privileges resulting therefrom. _1 Cor. 3:21‐23_—“_all
things are yours,_” because “_ye are Christ’s; and Christ is
God’s_.” This is not salvation by law, nor by ideals, nor by
effort, nor by character; although obedience to law, and a loftier
ideal, and unremitting effort, and a pure character, are
consequences of justification. Justification is the change in
God’s attitude toward the sinner which makes all these
consequences possible. The only condition of justification is the
sinner’s faith in Jesus, which merges the life of the sinner in
the life of Christ. Paul expresses the truth in _Gal. 2:16,
20_—“_Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law
but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Christ
Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by
the works of the law ... I have been crucified with Christ; and it
is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life
which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is
in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me._”

With these observations and qualifications we may assent to much
that is said by Whiton, Divine Satisfaction, 64, who distinguishes
between forgiveness and remission: “Forgiveness is the righting of
disturbed personal relations. Remission is removal of the
consequences which in the natural order of things have resulted
from our fault. God forgives all that is strictly personal, but
remits nothing that is strictly natural in sin. He imparts to the
sinner the power to bear his burden and work off his debt of
consequences. Forgiveness is not remission. It is introductory to
remission, just as conversion is not salvation, but introductory
to salvation. The prodigal was received by his father, but he
could not recover his lost patrimony. He could, however, have been
led by penitence to work so hard that he earned more than he had
lost.

“Here is an element in justification which Protestantism has
ignored, and which Romanism has tried to retain. Debts must be
paid to the uttermost farthing. The scars of past sins must remain
forever. Forgiveness converts the persistent energy of past sin
from a destructive to a constructive power. There is a
transformation of energy into a new form. Genuine repentance spurs
us up to do what we can to make up for time lost and for wrong
done. The sinner is clothed anew with moral power. We are all to
be judged by our works. That Paul had been a blasphemer was ever
stimulating him to Christian endeavor. The faith which receives
Christ is a peculiar _spirit_, a certain moral activity of love
and obedience. It is not mere reliance on what Christ was and did,
but active endeavor to become and to do like him. Human justice
takes hold of _deeds_; divine righteousness deals with
_character_. Justification by faith is justification by spirit and
inward principle, apart from the merit of works or performances,
but never without these. God’s charity takes the will for the
deed. This is not justification by outward conduct, as the
Judaizers thought, but by the godly spirit.” If this new spirit be
the Spirit of Christ to whom faith has united the soul, we can
accept the statement. There is danger however of conceiving this
spirit as purely man’s own, and justification as not external to
the sinner nor as the work of God, but as the mere name for a
subjective process by which man justifies himself.

B. Scripture use of the special words translated “justify” and “justification” in the Septuagint and in the New Testament.

(_a_) δικαιόω—uniformly, or with only a single exception, signifies, not to make righteous, but to declare just, or free from guilt and exposure to punishment. The only O. T. passage where this meaning is questionable is Dan. 12:3. But even here the proper translation is, in all probability, not “they that turn many to righteousness,” but “they that justify many,” _i. e._, cause many to be justified. For the Hiphil force of the verb, see Girdlestone, O. T. Syn., 257, 258, and Delitzsch on Is. 53:11; _cf._ James 5:19, 20.

O. T. texts: _Ex. 23:7_—“_I will not justify the wicked_”; _Deut.
25:1_—“_they_ [the judges] _shall justify the righteous, and
condemn the wicked_”; _Job 27:5_—“_Far be it from me that I should
justify you_”; _Ps. 143:2_—“_in thy sight no man living is
righteous_”; _Prov. 17:15_—“_He that justifieth the wicked, and he
that condemneth the righteous, Both of them alike are an
abomination to Jehovah_”; _Is. 5:23_—“_that justify the wicked for
a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from
him_”; _50:8_—“_He is near that justifieth me_”; _53:11_—“_by the
knowledge of __ himself shall my righteous servant justify many;
and he shall bear their iniquities_”; _Dan. 12:3_—“_and they that
turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever_”
(“they that justify many,” _i. e._, cause many to be justified);
_cf._ _James 5:19, 20_—“_My brethren, if any among you err from
the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he who
converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul
from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins._”

The Christian minister absolves from sin, only as he marries a
couple: he does not join them,—he only declares them joined. So he
declares men forgiven, if they have complied with the appointed
divine conditions. Marriage may be invalid where these conditions
are lacking, but the minister’s absolution is of no account where
there is no repentance of sin and faith in Christ; see G. D.
Boardman, The Church, 178. We are ever to remember that the term
justification is a forensic term which presents the change of
God’s attitude toward the sinner in a pictorial way derived from
the procedure of earthly tribunals. The fact is larger and more
vital than the figure used to describe it.

McConnell, Evolution of Immortality, 134, 135—“Christ’s terms are
biological; those of many theologians are legal. It may be ages
before we recover from the misfortune of having had the truth of
Christ interpreted and fixed by jurists and logicians, instead of
by naturalists and men of science. It is much as though the
rationale of the circulation of the blood had been wrought out by
Sir Matthew Hale, or the germ theory of disease interpreted by
Blackstone, or the doctrine of evolution formulated by a
legislative council.... The Christ is intimately and vitally
concerned with the eternal life of men, but the question involved
is of their living or perishing, not of a system of judicial
rewards and penalties.” We must remember however that even biology
gives us only one side of the truth. The forensic conception of
justification furnishes its complement and has its rights also.
The Scriptures represent both sides of the truth. Paul gives us
the judicial aspect, John the vital aspect, of justification.

In Rom. 6:7—ὁ γὰρ ἀποθανὼν δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας = “he that once died with Christ was acquitted from the service of sin considered as a penality.” In 1 Cor. 4:4—οὐδὲν γὰρ ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ δεδικαίωμαι = “I am conscious of no fault, but that does not in itself make certain God’s acquittal as respects this particular charge.” The usage of the epistle of James does not contradict this; the doctrine of James is that we are justified only by such faith as makes us faithful and brings forth good works. “He uses the word exclusively in a judicial sense; he combats a mistaken view of πίστις, not a mistaken view of δικαιόω”; see James 2:21, 23, 24, and Cremer, N. T. Lexicon, Eng. trans., 182, 183. The only N. T. passage where this meaning is questionable is Rev. 22:11; but here Alford, with א, A and B, reads δικαιοσύνην ποιησάτω.

N. T. texts: _Mat. 12:37_—“_For by thy words thou shalt be
justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned_”; _Luke
7:29_—“_And all the people ... justified God, being baptized with
the baptism of John_”; _10:29_—“_But he, desiring to justify
himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?_” _16:15_—“_Ye
are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God
knoweth your hearts_”; _18:14_—“_This man went down to his house
justified rather than the other_”; _cf._ _13_ (lit.) “_God, be
thou propitiated toward me the sinner_”; _Rom. 4:6‐8_—“_Even as
David also pronounceth blessing upon the man, unto whom God
reckoneth righteousness apart from works, saying, Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin_”; _cf._ _Ps.
32:1, 2_,—“_Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose
sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not
iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile._”

_Rom. 5:18, 19_—“_So then as through one trespass the judgment
came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of
righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of
life. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made
sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many
be made righteous_”; _8:33, 34_—“_Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that
condemneth?_” _2 Cor. 5:19, 21_—“_God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their
trespasses.... Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our
behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God_ [God’s
justified persons] _in him_”; _Rom. 6:7_—“_he that hath died is
justified from sin_”; _1 Cor. 4:4_—“_For I know nothing against
myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is
the Lord_” (on this last text, see Expositor’s Greek Testament,
_in loco_).

_James 2:21, 23, 24_—“_Was not Abraham our father justified by
works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?...
Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for
righteousness.... Ye see that by works __ a man is justified, and
not only by faith._” James is denouncing a dead faith, while Paul
is speaking of the necessity of a living faith; or, rather, James
is describing the nature of faith, while Paul is describing the
instrument of justification. “They are like two men beset by a
couple of robbers. Back to back each strikes out against the
robber opposite him,—each having a different enemy in his eye”
(Wm. M. Taylor). Neander on _James 2:14‐26_—“James is denouncing
mere adhesion to an external law, trust in intellectual possession
of it. With him, law means an inward principle of life. Paul,
contrasting law as he does with faith, commonly means by law mere
external divine requisition.... James does not deny salvation to
him who _has_ faith, but only to him who falsely _professes_ to
have. When he says that ‘_by works a man is justified_,’ he takes
into account the outward manifestation only, speaks from the point
of view of human consciousness. In works only does faith show
itself as genuine and complete.” _Rev. 22:11_—“_he that is
righteous, let him do righteousness still_”—not, as the A. V.
seemed to imply, “he that is just, let him be justified still”—_i.
e._, made subjectively holy.

Christ is the great Physician. The physician says: “If you wish to
be cured, you must trust me.” The patient replies: “I do trust you
fully.” But the physician continues: “If you wish to be cured, you
must take my medicines and do as I direct.” The patient objects:
“But I thought I was to be cured by trust in you. Why lay such
stress on what I do?” The physician answers: “You must show your
trust in me by your action. Trust in me, without action in proof
of trust, amounts to nothing” (S. S. Times). Doing without a
physician is death; hence Paul says works cannot save. Trust in
the physician implies obedience; hence James says faith without
works is dead. Crane, Religion of To‐morrow, 152‐155—“Paul insists
on apple‐tree righteousness, and warns us against Christmas‐tree
righteousness.” Sagebeer, The Bible in Court, 77,78—“By works,
Paul means works of law; James means by works, works of faith.”
Hovey, in The Watchman, Aug. 27, 1891—“A difference of emphasis,
occasioned chiefly by the different religious perils to which
readers were at the time exposed.”

(_b_) δικαίωσις—is the act, in process, of declaring a man just,—that is, acquitted from guilt and restored to the divine favor (Rom. 4:25; 5:18).

_Rom. 4:25_—“_who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was
raised for our justification_”; _5:18_—“_unto all men to
justification of life._” Griffith‐Jones, Ascent through Christ,
367, 368—“Raised for our justification” = Christ’s death made our
justification possible, but it did not consummate it. Through his
rising from the dead he was able to come into that relationship to
the believer which restores the lost or interrupted sonship. In
the church the fact of the resurrection is perpetuated, and the
idea of the resurrection is realized.

(_c_) δικαίωμα—is the act, as already accomplished, of declaring a man just,—that is, no longer exposed to penalty, but restored to God’s favor (Rom. 5:16, 18; _cf._ 1 Tim. 3:16). Hence, in other connections, δικαίωμα has the meaning of statute, legal decision, act of justice (Luke 1:6; Rom. 2:26; Heb. 9:1).

_Rom. 5:16, 18_—“_of many trespasses unto justification ...
through one act of righteousness_”; _cf._ _1 Tim.
3:16_—“_justified in the spirit._” The distinction between
δικαίωσις and δικαίωμα may be illustrated by the distinction
between poesy and poem,—the former denoting something in process,
an ever‐working spirit; the latter denoting something fully
accomplished, a completed work. Hence δικαίωμα is used in _Luke
1:6_—“_ordinances of the Lord_”; _Rom. 2:26_—“_ordinances of the
law_”; _Heb. 9:1_—“_ordinances of divine service._”

(_d_) δικαιοσύνη—is the state of one justified, or declared just (Rom. 8:10; 1 Cor. 1:30). In Rom. 10:3, Paul inveighs against τὴν ἰδίαν δικαιοσύνην as insufficient and false, and in its place would put τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δικαιοσύνην,—that is, a δικαιοσύνη which God not only requires, but provides; which is not only acceptable to God, but proceeds from God, and is appropriated by faith,—hence called δικαιοσύνη πίστεως or ἐκ πίστεως. “The primary signification of the word, in Paul’s writings, is therefore that state of the believer which is called forth by God’s act of acquittal,—the state of the believer as justified,” that is, freed from punishment and restored to the divine favor.

_Rom. 8:10_—“_the spirit is life because of righteousness_”; _1
Cor. 1:30_—“_Christ Jesus, who was made unto us ...
righteousness_”; _Rom. 10:3_—“_being ignorant of God’s
righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not
subject themselves to the righteousness of God._” Shedd, Dogm.
Theol., 2:542—“The ‘_righteousness of God_’ is the active and
passive obedience of incarnate God.” See, on δικαιοσύνη, Cremer,
N. T. Lexicon, Eng. trans., 174; Meyer on Romans, trans.,
68‐70—“δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ (gen. of origin, emanation from) =
rightness which proceeds from God—the relation of being right into
which man is put by God (by an act of God declaring him
righteous).”

E. G. Robinson, Christian Theology, 304—“When Paul addressed those
who trusted in their own righteousness, he presented salvation as
attainable only through faith in another; when he addressed
Gentiles who were conscious of their need of a helper, the
forensic imagery is not employed. Scarce a trace of it appears in
his discourses as recorded in the Acts, and it is noticeably
absent from all the epistles except the Romans and the Galatians.”

Since this state of acquittal is accompanied by changes in the character and conduct, δικαιοσύνη comes to mean, secondarily, the moral condition of the believer as resulting from this acquittal and inseparably connected with it (Rom. 14:17; 2 Cor. 5:21). This righteousness arising from justification becomes a principle of action (Mat. 3:15; Acts 10:35; Rom. 6:13, 18). The term, however, never loses its implication of a justifying act upon which this principle of action is based.

_Rom. 14:17_—“_the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit_”; _2 Cor.
5:21_—“_that we might become the righteousness of God in him_”;
_Mat. 3:15_—“_Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness_”; _Acts 10:35_—“_in every nation he that feareth
him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him_”; _Rom.
6:13_—“_present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteousness unto God._” Meyer on
_Rom. 3:23_—“Every mode of conception which refers redemption and
the forgiveness of sins, not to a real atonement through the death
of Christ, but subjectively to the dying and reviving with him
guaranteed and produced by that death (Schleiermacher, Nitzsch,
Hofmann), is opposed to the N. T.,—a mixing up of justification
and sanctification.”

On these Scripture terms, see Bp. of Ossory, Nature and Effects of
Faith, 436‐496; Lange, Com., on _Romans 3:24_; Buchanan on
Justification, 226‐249. _Versus_ Moehler, Symbolism, 102—“The
forgiveness of sins ... is undoubtedly a remission of the guilt
and the punishment which Christ hath taken and borne upon himself;
but it is _likewise_ the transfusion of his Spirit into us”;
Newman, Lectures on Justification, 68‐143; Knox, Remains; N. W.
Taylor, Revealed Theology, 310‐372.

It is a great mistake in method to derive the meaning of δίκαιος
from that of δικαιοσύνη, and not _vice versa_. Wm. Arnold Stevens,
in Am. Jour. Theology, April, 1897—“δικαιοσύνη, righteousness, in
all its meanings, whether ethical or forensic, has back of it the
idea of _law_; also the idea of _violated_ law; it derives its
forensic sense from the verb δικαιόω and its cognate noun
δικαίωσις; δικαιοσύνη therefore is legal acceptableness, _the
status before the law of a pardoned sinner_.”

Denney, in Expos. Gk. Test., 2:565—“In truth, ‘sin,’ ‘the law,’
‘the curse of the law,’ ‘death,’ are names for something which
belongs not to the Jewish but to the human conscience; and it is
only because this is so that the gospel of Paul is also a gospel
for us. Before Christ came and redeemed the world, all men were at
bottom on the same footing: Pharisaism, legalism, moralism, or
whatever it is called, is in the last resort the attempt to be
good without God, to achieve a righteousness of our own, without
an initial all‐inclusive immeasurable debt to him; in other words,
without submitting, as sinful men must submit, to be justified by
faith apart from works of our own, and to find in that
justification, and in that only, the spring and impulse of all
good.”

It is worthy of special observation that, in the passages cited above, the terms “justify” and “justification” are contrasted, not with the process of depraving or corrupting, but with the outward act of condemning; and that the expressions used to explain and illustrate them are all derived, not from the inward operation of purifying the soul or infusing into it righteousness, but from the procedure of courts in their judgments, or of offended persons in their forgiveness of offenders. We conclude that these terms, wherever they have reference to the sinner’s relation to God, signify a declarative and judicial act of God, external to the sinner, and not an efficient and sovereign act of God changing the sinner’s nature and making him subjectively righteous.

In the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, session 6,
chap. 9 is devoted to the refutation of the “inanis hæreticorum
fiducia”; and Canon 12 of the session anathematizes those who say:
“fidem justificantem nihil aliud esse quam fiduciam divinæ
misericordiæ, peccata remittentis propter Christum”; or that
“justifying faith is nothing but trust in the divine mercy which
pardons sins for Christ’s sake.” The Roman Catholic doctrine on
the contrary maintains that the ground of justification is not
simply the faith by which the sinner appropriates Christ and his
atoning work, but is also the new love and good works wrought
within him by Christ’s Spirit. This introduces a subjective
element which is foreign to the Scripture doctrine of
justification.

Dr. E. G. Robinson taught that justification consists of three
elements: 1. Acquittal; 2. Restoration to favor; 3. Infusion of
righteousness. In this he accepted a fundamental error of
Romanism. He says: “Justification and sanctification are not to be
distinguished as chronologically and statically different.
Justification and righteousness are the same thing from different
points of view. Pardon is not a mere declaration of forgiveness—a
merely arbitrary thing. Salvation introduces a new law into our
sinful nature which annuls the law of sin and destroys its penal
and destructive consequences. Forgiveness of sins must be in
itself a gradual process. The final consequences of a man’s sins
are written indelibly upon his nature and remain forever. When
Christ said: ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee’, it was an objective
statement of a subjective fact. The person was already in a state
of living relation to Christ. The gospel is damnation to the
damnable, and invitation, love and mercy to those who feel their
need of it. We are saved through the enforcement of law on every
one of us. Forgiveness consists in the removal from consciousness
of a sense of ill‐desert. Justification, aside from its forensic
use, is a transformation and a promotion. Sense of forgiveness is
a sense of relief from a hated habit of mind.” This seems to us
dangerously near to a denial that justification is an act of God,
and to an affirmation that it is simply a subjective change in
man’s condition.

E. H. Johnson: “If Dr. Robinson had been content to say that the
divine fiat of justification had the manward effect of
regeneration, he would have been correct; for the verdict would be
empty without this manward efficacy. But unfortunately, he made
the effect a part of the cause, identifying the divine
justification with its human fruition, the clearance of the past
with the provision for the future.” We must grant that the words
_inward_ and _outward_ are misleading, for God is not under the
law of space, and the soul itself is not in space. Justification
takes place just as much in man as outside of him. Justification
and regeneration take place at the same moment, but logically
God’s act of renewing is the cause and God’s act of approving is
the effect. Or we may say that regeneration and justification are
both of them effects of our union with Christ. _Luke 1:37_—“_For
no word from God shall be void of power._” Regeneration and
justification may be different aspects of God’s turning—his
turning us, and his turning himself. But it still is true that
justification is a change in God and not in the creature.

3. Elements of Justification.

These are two:

A. Remission of punishment.

(_a_) God acquits the ungodly who believe in Christ, and declares them just. This is not to declare them innocent,—that would be a judgment contrary to truth. It declares that the demands of the law have been satisfied with regard to them, and that they are now free from its condemnation.

_Rom. 4:5_—“_But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is reckoned for
righteousness_”; _cf._ _John 3:16_—“_gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth on him should not perish_”; see page 856,
(_a_), and Shedd, Dogm. Theol., 2:549. _Rom. 5:1_—“_Being
therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God_”—not
subjective peace or quietness of mind, but objective peace or
reconciliation, the opposite of the state of war, in which we are
subject to the divine wrath. Dale, Ephesians, 67—“Forgiveness may
be defined: 1. in _personal_ terms, as a cessation of the anger or
moral resentment of God against sin; 2. in _ethical_ terms, as a
release from the guilt of sin which oppresses the conscience; 3.
in _legal_ terms, as a remission of the punishment of sin, which
is eternal death.”

(_b_) This acquittal, in so far as it is the act of God as judge or executive, administering law, may be denominated pardon. In so far as it is the act of God as a father personally injured and grieved by sin, yet showing grace to the sinner, it is denominated forgiveness.

_Micah 7:18_—“_Who is a God like into thee, that pardoneth
iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his
heritage?_” _Ps. 130:4_—“_But there is forgiveness with thee, That
thou mayst be feared._” It is hard for us to understand God’s
feeling toward sin. Forgiveness seems easy to us, largely because
we are indifferent toward sin. But to the holy One, to whom sin is
the abominable thing which he hates, forgiveness involves a
fundamental change of relation, and nothing but Christ’s taking
the penalty of sin upon him can make it possible. B. Fay Mills: “A
tender spirited follower of Jesus Christ said to me, not long ago,
that it had taken him twelve years to forgive an injury that had
been committed against him.” How much harder for God to forgive,
since he can never become indifferent to the nature of the
transgression!

(_c_) In an earthly tribunal, there is no acquittal for those who are proved to be transgressors,—for such there is only conviction and punishment. But in God’s government there is remission of punishment for believers, even though they are confessedly offenders; and, in justification, God declares this remission.

There is no forgiveness in nature. F. W. Robertson preached this.
But he ignored the _vis medicatrix_ of the gospel, in which
forgiveness is offered to all. The natural conscience says: “I
must pay my debt.” But the believer finds that “Jesus paid it
all.” Illustrate by the poor man, who on coming to pay his
mortgage finds that the owner at death had ordered it to be
burned, so that now there is nothing to pay. _Ps. 34:22_—“_Jehovah
redeemeth the soul of his servants, And none of them that take
refuge in him shall be condemned._”

A child disobeys his father and breaks his arm. His sin involves
two penalties, the alienation from his father and the broken arm.
The father, on repentance, may forgive his child. The personal
relation is re‐established, but the broken bone is not therefore
at once reknit. The father’s forgiveness, however, will assure the
father’s help toward complete healing. So justification does not
ensure the immediate removal of all the natural consequences of
our sins. It does ensure present reconciliation and future
perfection. Clarke, Christian Theology, 364—“Justification is not
equivalent to acquittal, for acquittal declares that the man has
not done wrong. Justification is rather the acceptance of a man,
on sufficient grounds, although he has done wrong.” As the
Plymouth Brethren say: “It is not the _sin_‐question, but the
_Son_‐question.” “_Their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more_” (_Heb. 10:17_). The father did not allow the prodigal to
complete the confession he had prepared to make, but interrupted
him, and dwelt only upon his return home (_Luke 15:22_).

(_d_) The declaration that the sinner is no longer exposed to the penalty of law, has its ground, not in any satisfaction of the law’s demand on the part of the sinner himself, but solely in the bearing of the penalty by Christ, to whom the sinner is united by faith. Justification, in its first element, is therefore that act by which God, for the sake of Christ, acquits the transgressor and suffers him to go free.

_Acts 13:38, 39_—“_Be it known unto you therefore, brethren, that
through this man is proclaimed unto you remission of sins: and by
him_ [lit.: ‘in him’] _every one that believeth is justified from
all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of
Moses_”; _Rom. 3:24, 26_—“_being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ... that he might
himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in
Jesus_”; _1 Cor. 6:11_—“_but ye were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus_”; _Eph. 1:7_—“_in whom we have our redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the
riches of his grace._”

This acquittal is not to be conceived of as the sovereign act of a
Governor, but rather as a judicial procedure. Christ secures a new
trial for those already condemned—a trial in which he appears for
the guilty, and sets over against their sin his own righteousness,
or rather shows them to be righteous in him. C. H. M.: “When Balak
seeks to curse the seed of Abraham, it is said of Jehovah: ‘_He
hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, Neither hath he seen
perverseness in Israel_’ (_Num. 23:21_). When Satan stands forth
to rebuke Joshua, the word is: ‘_Jehovah rebuke thee, O Satan ...
is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?_’ (_Zech. 3:2_). Thus
he ever puts himself between his people and every tongue that
would accuse them. ‘_Touch not mine anointed ones_,’ he says,
‘_and do my prophets no harm_’ (_Ps. 105:15_). ‘_It is God that
justifieth; who is he that condemneth?_’ (_Rom. 8:33, 34_).” It is
not sin, then, that condemns,—it is the failure to ask pardon for
sin, through Christ. Illustrate by the ring presented by Queen
Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex. Queen Elizabeth did not forgive
the penitent Countess of Nottingham for withholding the ring of
Essex which would have purchased his pardon. She shook the dying
woman and cursed her, even while she was imploring forgiveness.
There is no such failure of mercy in God’s administration.

Kaftan, in Am. Jour. Theology, 4:698—“The peculiar characteristic
of Christian experience is the forgiveness of sins, or
reconciliation—a forgiveness which is conceived as an unmerited
gift of God, which is bestowed on man independently of his own
moral worthiness. Other religions have some measure of revelation,
but Christianity alone has the clear revelation of this
forgiveness, and this is accepted by faith. And forgiveness leads
to a better ethics than any religion of works can show.”

B. Restoration to favor.

(_a_) Justification is more than remission or acquittal. These would leave the sinner simply in the position of a discharged criminal,—law requires a positive righteousness also. Besides deliverance from punishment, justification implies God’s treatment of the sinner as if he were, and had been, personally righteous. The justified person receives not only remission of penalty, but the rewards promised to obedience.

_Luke 15:22‐24_—“_Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on
him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring
the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: for
this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is
found_”; _John 3:16_—“_gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on him should ... have eternal life_”; _Rom. 5:1,
2_—“_Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom also we have had our
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice
in hope of the glory of God_”—“_this grace_” being a permanent
state of divine favor; _1 Cor. 1:30_—“_But of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and
sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord_”; _2 Cor.
5:21_—“_that we might become the righteousness of God in him._”

_Gal. 3:6_—“_Even as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
unto him for righteousness_”; _Eph. 2:7_—“_the exceeding riches of
his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus_”; _3:12_—“_in
whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith
in him_”; _Phil. 3:8, 9_—“_I count all things to be loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord ... the
righteousness which is from God by faith_”; _Col.
1:22_—“_reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to
present you holy and without blemish and unreprovable before
him_”; _Tit. 3:4, 7_—“_the kindness of God our Savior ... that,
being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to
the hope of eternal life_”; _Rev. 19:8_—“_And it was given unto
her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure:
for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints._”

Justification is setting one right before law. But law requires
not merely freedom from offence negatively, but all manner of
obedience and likeness to God positively. Since justification is
in Christ and by virtue of the believer’s union with Christ, it
puts the believer on the same footing before the law that Christ
is on, namely, not only acquittal but favor. _1 Tim. 3:16_—Christ
was himself “_justified in the spirit_,” and the believer partakes
of _his_ justification and of the whole of it, _i. e._, not only
acquittal but favor. _Acts 13:39_—“_in him every one that
believeth is justified_” _i. e._, in Christ; _1 Cor.
6:11_—“_justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ_”; _Gal.
4:5_—“_that we might receive the adoption of sons_”—a part of
justification; _Rom. 5:11_—“_through whom we have now received the
reconciliation_”—in justification; _2 Cor. 5:21_—“_that we might
become the righteousness of God in him_”; _Phil. 3:9_—“_the
righteousness which is from God by faith_”; _John 1:12_—“_to them
gave he the right to become children of God_”—emphasis on
“_gave_”—intimation that the “_becoming children_” is not
subsequent to the justification, but is a part of it.

Ellicott on _Tit. 3:7_—“δικαιοθέντες, ‘_justified_,’ in the usual
and more strict theological sense; not however as implying only a
mere outward non‐imputation of sin, but as involving a ‘mutationem
status,’ an acceptance into new privileges, and an enjoyment of
the benefits thereof (Waterland, Justif, vol. vi, p. 5); in the
words of the same writer: ‘Justification cannot be conceived
without some work of the Spirit in conferring a title to
salvation.’ ” The prisoner who has simply served out his term
escapes without further punishment and that is all. But the
pardoned man receives back in his pardon the full rights of
citizenship, can again vote, serve on juries, testify in court,
and exercise all his individual liberties, as the discharged
convict cannot. The Society of Friends is so called, not because
they are friends to one another, but because they regard
themselves as friends of God. So, in the Middle Ages, Master
Eckart, John Tauler, Henry Suso, called themselves the friends of
God, after the pattern of Abraham; _2 Chron. 20:7_—“_Abraham thy
friend_”; _James 2:23_—“_Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God_”,
_i. e._, one not merely acquitted from the charge of sin, but also
admitted into favor and intimacy with God.

(_b_) This restoration to favor, viewed in its aspect as the renewal of a broken friendship, is denominated reconciliation; viewed in its aspect as a renewal of the soul’s true relation to God as a father, it is denominated adoption.

_John 1:12_—“_But as many as received him, to them gave he the
right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his
name_”; _Rom. 5:11_—“_and not only so, but we also rejoice in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received
the reconciliation_”; _Gal. 4:4, 5_—“_born under the law, that he
might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons_”; _Eph. 1:5_—“_having foreordained us unto
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself_”; _cf._ _Rom.
8:23_—“_even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our
adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body_”—that is, this
adoption is completed, so far as the body is concerned, at the
resurrection.

Luther called _Psalms 32, 51, 130, 143_, “the Pauline Psalms,”
because these declare forgiveness to be granted to the believer
without law and without works. _Ps. 130:3, 4_—“_If thou, Jehovah,
shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is
forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared_” is followed by
_verses 7, 8_—“_O Israel, hope in Jehovah; For with Jehovah there
is lovingkindness, And with him is plenteous redemption. And he
will redeem Israel From all his iniquities._” Whitefield was
rebuked for declaring in a discourse that Christ would receive
even the devil’s castaways; but that very day, while at dinner at
Lady Huntington’s, he was called out to meet two women who were
sinners, and to whose broken hearts and blasted lives that remark
gave hope and healing.

(_c_) In an earthly pardon there are no special helps bestowed upon the pardoned. There are no penalties, but there are also no rewards; law cannot claim anything of the discharged, but then they also can claim nothing of the law. But what, though greatly needed, is left unprovided by human government, God does provide. In justification, there is not only acquittal, but approval; not only pardon, but promotion. Remission is never separated from restoration.

After serving a term in the penitentiary, the convict goes out
with a stigma upon him and with no friends. His past conviction
and disgrace follow him. He cannot obtain employment. He cannot
vote. Want often leads him to commit crime again; and then the old
conviction is brought up as proof of bad character, and increases
his punishment. Need of Friendly Inns and Refuges for discharged
criminals. But the justified sinner is differently treated. He is
not only delivered from God’s wrath and eternal death, but he is
admitted to God’s favor and eternal life. The discovery of this is
partly the cause of the convert’s joy. Expecting pardon, at most,
he is met with unmeasured favor. The prodigal finds the father’s
house and heart open to him, and more done for him than if he had
never wandered. This overwhelms and subdues him. The two elements,
acquittal and restoration to favor, are never separated. Like the
expulsion of darkness and restoration of light, they always go
together. No one can have, even if he would have, an incomplete
justification. Christ’s justification is ours; and, as Jesus’ own
seamless tunic could not be divided, so the robe of righteousness
which he provides cannot be cut in two.

Failure to apprehend this positive aspect of justification as
restoration to favor is the reason why so many Christians have
little joy and little enthusiasm in their religious lives. The
preaching of the magnanimity and generosity of God makes the
gospel “_the power of God unto salvation_” (_Rom. 1:16_). Edwin M.
Stanton had ridden roughshod over Abraham Lincoln in the conduct
of a case at law in which they had been joint counsel. Stanton had
become vindictive and even violent when Lincoln was made
President. But Lincoln invited Stanton to be Secretary of War, and
he sent the invitation by Harding, who knew of all this former
trouble. When Stanton heard it, he said with streaming eyes: “Do
you tell me, Harding, that Mr. Lincoln sent this message to me?
Tell him that such magnanimity will make me work with him as man
was never served before!”