Believing in Justification by Faith!!! When a plaintiff enters a plea of not guilty and then the evidence shows he was nowhere near the crime scene, his fingerprints were not found, and he has a solid alibi, the jury comes back from deliberation and says not guilty (the plea is true). In our law of courts, the evidence must necesarily come before the verdict. However, in the case of Abraham, the verdict did not await evidence to support a plea but was declared before the evidence was given. Abrahams faith was counted as righteousness before, and not on the basis of, the evidence shown in his life. The initial verdict passed on Abraham and on all believers is not a public verdict (that will come in the future) but one known by faith alone; for with the heart one believes and justified (Rom 10:10), yet it is a real verdict nonetheless. It is real because it is based on the finished work of Christ, and because of that work we can have assurance of the verdict now. Offcourse God, who knows the end from the beginning, also knows the confirming evidence that will flow from faith, but the declaration of justification is founded in Christ alone, the object of faith. Believing that one is justified in the sight of God is part of living by faith. The believer believes that he is justified by God in the present -----it is not just hope in a purely future verdict that may or may be realized depending on ones works. we are justified and have Peace with God in the present, and because of that we have certain hope for the future. The hope of justification is that we will stand before God and hear publicly the final verdict of righteousness which was spoken to us now through faith. Justification by faith situates the believer simultaneously in the present, past, and the future. Faith looks to Gods promises, the guarantee and fulfilment of which is the cross, and lays hold of them in the present. The words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for us also. It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification!!!!!
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 09:20:21 +0000
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