(This article is part three in a four-part series on legalism and grace. Read articles one and two here.)
It was 5pm the night before an important meeting, and of all nights, our dryer had abruptly stopped producing heat. Aware of the urgency of the moment, I texted a friend who knew all things appliances, and he immediately replied with a link to rush-ship the appropriate part. The next morning, just hours before my meeting, the part arrived. At the advice of my wife, I opened YouTube, found a “how-to” video, and began my brief, unpaid career in appliance repair. In God’s kindness, somehow I miraculously succeeded in fixing our dryer, and made the meeting with a clean (and dry) dress shirt.
Today, you can “Do-It-Yourself,” or “DIY” with just about anything: taxes, oil changes, home improvements, pest control—even weddings! With all of this advice, it seems that no one needs an expert anymore. However, what if the authorities we are listening to are wrong? In other words, what if I were to have watched the wrong YouTube video? A few years ago, Loweʼs Home Improvement had to recall over one million of their books sold from the 1970ʼs to present day because the books contained misinformation about how to install electrical wiring and some DIYers were getting electrocuted!
One of the fundamental problems in the church today is when people apply this same “DIY mentality” to the Gospel. In short, we call this “salvation by works.”
John Ruskin says, “The deepest heresy of all, which corrupts churches, leavens creeds with folly, and swells our human hearts with pride, is salvation by works.”
The Gospel is not “Do better, try harder!” Instead, the Gospel tells me that I am a sinner who cannot improve my state, but instead can only be saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It was not my effort, but Christʼs imputed righteousness which has been put into my account, without accounting for my merit or good works, ability, or worth. It is all by his grace, and I receive this by faith alone.
Roman Catholics would argue that they also believe in justification by faith alone, but the problem is that we are not using the same words. When we talk (as Protestants) about Christʼs righteousness, we are saying it has been imputed to us, whereas the informed Catholic would say it has been infused into us. This would mean that the believer must cooperate with and assent to that gracious work of God and only to the extent that Christ’s righteousness inheres in the believer will God declare that person “justified.”
Protestants disagree, pointing to the critical difference between infused righteousness and imputed righteousness. The Protestant Reformation declaration of “Sola Fide”: meaning faith alone, was one of the most controversial aspects of the Reformation, and truly the hinge on which the Reformers built their theological movement. Sola Fide affirms that you are justified on the basis of Christʼs righteousness, which is accomplished by Christʼs own perfect act of obedience apart from us, not on the basis of Christʼs righteousness in us.
And that is glorious good news, but it is distinct from what Catholics believe.
In Galatians 2, Paul had to confront Peter, who previously (back in Acts 10) had an opportunity to see Gentiles be adopted into the family of God and given the same privileges that a true son or daughter would be given. The Gentiles who repented and trusted Christ were given the same access as the Jew who repented and trusted Christ. However, Peter had slipped because of peer pressure and the fear of man into segregating himself and not wanting to embrace the Gentiles, and even Paul’s good friend Barnabas was influenced to change his views. The result was Paul confronting Peter, because legalism in a gospel community must be confronted, not conceded.
At the end of Galatians chapter 2, Paul develops his argument, almost giving us a flashback about his confrontation with Peter—and then the screen pauses and Paul steps out of that scene and the lights dim and he walks to the edge of the stage and addresses the audience in a monologue. One word continues to drone through his monologue, the word “justified.” For the remaining 6 verses in Galatians 2, we are given some very poignant and unforgettable verses to communicate what true salvation is and is not.
Paul explains that the law judges, but faith justifies (vv. 15-16), the law deepens our understanding of sin, but faith deadens sin’s results (vv. 17-18), the law annihilates and brings death, but faith awakens and brings life (vv. 19-20), and the law empties, but faith empowers us (vv. 20-21).
The key verses in Galatians may well be Galatians 2:20-21.
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”
Paul says that the life he now lives, he lives by faith. In other words, the Savior did not die for me so that I could just keep on living the same way before I was made new. The child of Adam was crucified and buried, but the child of God is now alive abundantly! So my life is now lived in complete dependence and reliance upon Christ who loved me and gave His life for me.
All of my worth: all of my meaning, my purpose, my strength, is tied to Jesus Christ. I do not walk by sight, by feelings, by emotion; neither do I walk by intellect, by reason, by energy, by fitness, by ambition, by striving, by effort, by attitude, by accomplishments, by self-motivation or self-esteem or self-anything! This is the true creed of the Christian: I walk by faith in Jesus Christ, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Now, notice that in verse 21 (what I call an “orphan verse” because it is right after such a prominent, well-known verse and is often left aside) Paul is saying that if righteousness were possible by keeping the law, then Christ died for nothing. The grace of God would be nullified, or emptied. Trying to keep the law to be justified actually empties the cross of its power, but living by faith empowers us to receive the grace of God!
F.F. Bruce said, “To go back to the law after coming to Christ is to rebuild what Christ has torn down. Paul sees this as a betrayal of the cross.”
Jesus died to sin, so believer, you are now dead to sin. Jesus rose again, so believer, you are now risen with Christ. Jesus has power over death and the grave and fear and temptation, and believer, so do you. You have been crucified with Christ, and you no longer live. But the life you live in the body, you live by faith in the Son of God, who loved you and gave Himself for you.
This should empower us to live set apart lives for His glory, and what naturally comes after is that we begin to desire to obey His commands not to earn His favor, because we have already received it. Now, motivated out of desire (not duty), we long to live a life pleasing to Him, and His grace teaches us how to turn away from sin and to bring Him glory through our submitted lives.
We are not saved by good works, we are saved for good works. Paul’s argument is if we could be justified (made right with God) by keeping the law, then Christ died for nothing. There are some huge implications for those who have been justified by faith. Paul outlines them in Romans 5:1-5. “1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
We have been justified not by our works, but by faith. Notice the four huge results from this:
1. We will experience peace with God.
The war is over. No more enmity between you and God. That means you can lay to rest all the self-justifying that you have labored to maintain your entire life. Has that not been exhausting? You can lay that weapon down now, friend. So many people seek to justify their existence:
● “Well if I can just make this much pay, it will justify all that schooling.” ● “If I buy my kids’ happiness, it will justify the awful divorce their dad and I have put them through.”
● “If my work is successful, it will justify why I am here and that I have meaning and worth.”
Self-justifying only produces enmity with God, because we realize we can do nothing to earn His forgiveness. We can dismiss repentance and redefine sin, but this will not alleviate the deepening and deafening sense of guilt and despair within our souls. Outwardly, we may seem more affirming and accepting and at peace, but we are not experiencing true shalom. Yet, when we have truly laid the self-justification down and are justified by faith, there is now peace with God which is true, spiritual peace that no circumstance could ever grant us. This is a peace that reaches down into the very soul-level:
Timothy Keller says, “The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in Godʼs sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope—at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing Godʼs grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of Godʼs grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin.”
To have peace with God means no more restless nights wondering if your sins will find you out—no more anxiety over condemnation—no more fear or concern that you may not be good enough to go to heaven. You are not—but you are not graded on your righteousness, but Christ’s.
2. We can stand firm in the grace of God.
Standing firm in the grace of God means to not waver in doubt or confusion. It is to no longer have the suspicion that God’s wrath still hangs over you and with one more mistake, you will have this massive creditor coming after you to demand payment.
The story is told of a wealthy Englishman who purchased a Rolls-Royce and took his new car to France. It had been advertised as the car of all cars—”a problem-free automobile.” But when the man got his car to France, it broke down. So he called the Rolls-Royce folks in England. They flew a mechanic to France to fix the man’s car. Of course, the man expected to get quite a hefty bill from Rolls-Royce, since they flew a mechanic from one country to another to come fix his car. But it had been months and months and he never heard anything. So finally he wrote them an email and said, “I can pay for the repair bill—just send it to me at this address.” Rolls-Royce sent him an email back that said, “I’m sorry, sir, but we have no record of anything ever having gone wrong with your car.” To his surprise, the bill was clean.
This is what happens when someone believes the Gospel. When you place your faith in Christ and receive His forgiveness and righteousness, God looks at you and says, “I have absolutely no record of any sin in your life.” Praise God for His grace! We can stand firm in it.
3. We rejoice in hope as we glorify God.
Christians are the only people on the planet who can truly rejoice in hope. This is not wishful thinking, “I hope I’m justified.” No, biblical hope is a confident expectation. Knowing that I have been given an alien righteousness disables any pride I have in myself. We need to acknowledge that apart from Christ there is only condemnation!
St. Francis de Sales said, “Some men become proud and insolent because they ride a fine horse, wear a feather in their hat or are dressed in a fine suit of clothes. Who does not see the folly of this? If there be any glory in such things, the glory belongs to the horse, the bird and the tailor.”
The glory of the Christ-follower is not in how they keep the law; the glory of the Christ-follower is in Christ, whom they follow! So we can glorify God, and rejoice in hope because it is a certainty.
4. We trust Christ for daily life, even in trials.
We have been crucified with Christ, so in the midst of difficulty, we can keep dying to ourselves and keep allowing the life of Christ to be manifested in our mortal bodies. Even in trials (or I should say) especially in trials. When we suffer, we are enduring, which produces character, and this continues to give us hope. So we can rejoice that in the day to day, Christ is with us, and we are in Him.
Knowing we are justified by faith allows us to experience peace, stand firm in grace, rejoice in hope, and walk through trials with joy because those trials are not showing us that the gods are against us but that God is for us.
In his book A Scandalous Freedom, Steve Brown tells the story of his daughter, Robin:
Robin was in an AP English class in high school, and after the first two days, she was freaking out because it was so hard. So, she told her dad, “I’ve got to drop out of AP English; I canʼt take this class. I’m going to drop down to regular English.” Steve took her and went to talk to the teacher, who, through Robinʼs tears said, “Robin, I really want you in my class. Would it make a difference if I told you that I’m going to give you an ‘A’ right now? Would you stay in my class knowing that you’ve already earned an A?”
“Are you serious?” Robin asked, wiping a few tears away.
“Iʼm absolutely serious.”
And she opened her grade book, found Robinʼs name, and she wrote an ‘A.ʼ
“Now, go along to class, learn, and enjoy.”
The funny thing is that Robin’s mindset immediately changed, because the fear of failing the class was removed. So she began to enjoy what she was studying. She began to learn, and study, and in the end she would have received an A anyway!
Would it change the way you view the Christian life if I told you that, according to God, you already have an A? You are not being graded. In Romans 6:14, the Apostle Paul says,
“You are no longer under law; you are under grace.” Let me put it another way: You are no longer under grade; you are under grace. It is not a grading system; it is a gracing system.
With the cross, God declared it was no longer a grading system but a gracing system. Through the cross, Jesus was saying,
“You tried to earn the A and you couldnʼt. So, Iʼm just going to give it to you. Just start with an A and weʼll work from there.”
At the moment of conversion, God opens up the grade book, finds your name, and writes an “A.” Then he says, “Go along now, learn, and enjoy.”
Powerful, is it not? In the midst of my trials and my treasures, my calamity as well as my charms, I remember that I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
I cannot do it myself. I cannot save myself. There is no other Mediator apart from Christ who will stand in my place, take the punishment that I deserve, hear God declare Him “condemned!”, and yet rise again to declare me “righteous!”
John Berridge wrote this hymn which has been slightly adapted:
Run, John, run, the law commands, Yet gives me neither feet nor hands; But sweeter news the gospel brings, It bids me fly, and lends me wings.
