What Did Jesus Teach about Himself and Justification?

This message by John Piper is the best exposition of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector that I have ever heard. This message has touched on the heart of my ministry which is to teach that our sanctification is by faith ALONE, just as justification is by faith ALONE – not by faith plus our efforts to do the right thing. John Piper rightly points out that our santification is the “fruit” not the “root” of our justification.

 

 

We cannot base our “assurance of salvation” in any way on ANYTHING we have done, even what we have done, or the changes in us since our justification. Nor can we base our “assurance of salvation” on our good or improved behavior, which is what  the Pharisee was doing, as opposed to the tax-collector.

 

 

NOTHING can be  added to  Christ’s  complete and finished work on  the cross! This is the primary message of Galatians! In keeping with the famous hymn “nothing in my hands I bring ONLY to thy cross I cling”. This principle applies to BOTH justification and sanctification.

 

 

This error which is so popular amongst evangelical theologians and preachers is that Romans 6:7 has been wrongly translated in every English Bible other than the old ASV. We have not been “freed from sin” – the Greek says were are “justified” from sin. This mistake has led to a huge misunderstanding on Sanctification and the message of Romans, which has been followed by some of our most respectable preachers and theologians! In fact this erroneous teaching became a major stumbling block in my own Christian growth when I was a young Christian as I knew, for sure, that I had not been “freed from sin”.

 

 

The best of the few commentators who have got these chapters (Romans 5-8) right are John Stott and Robert Haldane, who wrote his commentary after the Reformation hundreds of years ago. When Robert Haldane preached through Romans in Switzerland revival broke out.  Please try to buy a 2nd hand copy of “Men Made New” by John Stott, which is now out of print, but can be obtained through Amazon. If you can’t get this then buy Stott’s commentary on Romans, or buy both. However, I think Stott deals with this problem more thoroughly in “Men Made New’.

 

 

It is quite clear that the Apostle Paul is speaking as a Christian when he vividly describes his struggles with temptation and sin in Romans 7. The answer given is NOT “try harder” or have more faith that we are “freed from sin”. On the Contrary, the answer is “but now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). This is a clear reference to justification.

 

 

In other words the ONLY way to deal with our struggles with sin is to trust in Jesus’ work on the cross and remember our justification and rely on the Holy Spirit to renew our minds.

 

 

We see this summarized beautifully in Romans 12:1-2. We cannot renew our minds. The only thing that WE can do is to believe in and remember our justification (Romans 8:1) and consequently “surrender” or “offer” or “present” our bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). “Surrender” and “Offer” and “Present” are words of FAITH and submission – not words of making an effort or trying harder. It is God, and God alone, who can and will “renew our minds” and effect out sanctification. The active and passive use of the verbs in Romans 12:1 proves what I am saying.

 

Perhaps William Wilberforce in his book ” A Practical View of Christianity” says it best:

 

“The RESULT FROM THE MISTAKEN CONCEPTION ENTERTAINED OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF CHRISTIANITY. They consider not that Christianity is a scheme “for justifying the ungodly” [Rom. 4:5], by Christ’s dying for them “when yet sinners” [Rom. 5:6-8], a scheme “for reconciling us to God—when enemies [Rom. 5:10]; and for making the fruits of holiness the effects, not the cause, of our being justified and reconciled.”