Since the Fall, justification in the sense of being accepted by God as opposed to being under His condemnation has been by faith as a result of grace through the merits of Christ’s faithfulness [ek pisteos Christou]. The meritorious cause of human salvation is not a believer’s faith but Christ’s own faithfulness even to death. Cognisant faith in Christ [pisteos en Christo] is required to be saved from the ravages of the earthen vessel that the soul currently inhabits{300} so as to be sanctified for divine service within the Covenant of Promise.
Effectual common grace and faith
Faith is man’s positive response to God as He is in various ways revealed to the individual. At the universal level it is most definitively a positive response to conscience. Given that the human’s spirit is planted by God and will one day return to Him it would be surprising if it did not include a blueprint for human behaviour and so it does: the law of God written on the “heart”{301} which is also described (but sometimes mistranslated) as the light of Christ that enlightens every man coming into the world{302}. In terms of the translation, it is hardly likely that John writing in the late first century would be informing his readers that the Light (Christ) “is coming into the world” (some translations). The atheist and agnostic, whenever they perform an action they know to be right because it is right, not merely for the praise of others or to be accepted within society are effectively exercising faith, responding positively to God (actually to the will of Christ as Logos) as He has revealed Himself and His law (the principles of sound reason and humane living) in their conscience. In that instant, they are choosing to do a good, for in their innermost being they sense it is good and should be practiced{303}. It is not entirely altruistic for they receive inner gratification by performing it, for in their inner being they are concurring with a natural precept, ultimately an eternal law. It is no different from a Christian receiving a measure of peace when he knows he is being obedient to Christ’s will; it is how conscience functions. In the language of second century Christianity it is that common faith which lies beneath as a foundation that is built upon and consummated in those who come to faith in Christ{304}. The law is spiritual and so is the human spirit for it is spirit. But infused within a degenerative vessel which is ever inclined to concupiscence (worldly lust), the instincts of that earthly tent look to override the inner light of conscience. Having planted human souls in such a disordered vessel it is no surprise given God’s compassionate nature that He has made both provision and allowance for the resultant human weakness. In terms of provision, at the greatest personal cost God has provided a means by which our inevitable failures and misconduct might be pardoned through reference to an atoning Sacrifice; and in terms of allowance He is prepared to accept someone as justified on the basis of their exercising faith by responding positively or “faithfully” to the divine light that He has provided to them. A common faith or faithfulness (same word in Biblical Greek) is shown to be present when love (agape) is exercised, being a genuine concern and care for another person, which is the heart of God’s law{305}. Since love is the efflux of faith{306}, faith must be present for that love to flow out from it; love and faith being quite inseparable, faith being the agent of love and love being the product of faith. A person is justified within the Universal Covenant by responding positively to God’s witness to them through creed or conscience regardless of the degree of accomplishment. Providing the person demonstrates agape they are accepted by God, for He knows that agape was derived from Him, being His Own nature{307}. This aligns with Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 concerning the sheep and goats. In serving the weakest of humanity through any act of compassion, the “sheep” are regarded as serving Christ Himself even though they have no personal knowledge of Him:
“In truth I tell you in so far as you did this (act of kindness) to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to Me”
It will appear to some that Jesus is here teaching justification by works. But Matthew25:31-45 is demonstrating justification through faith with reference to works. No mention is made of how consistently or perfectly the “sheep” showed compassion, they just demonstrated they possessed it and were justified by exercising it regardless of measure. They therefore demonstrated they possessed the quality called faith whose product is agape, being the essence of true humanity. On the other hand, faith alone if it be merely a passive belief, trust or reliance on someone or something is dead if it does not result in positive action. The “sheep” had not been passive; they showed compassion because they had responded positively to their “heart” motivating them to act in such a way out of sympathy, empathy and to be at peace with themselves. Jesus was thereby affirming that final salvation is not all of grace for fruit must be produced, yet it is entirely dependent on grace since the “sheep” are accepted by exercising the quality called faith, being an innate faculty provided through common grace, rather than having perfectly fulfilled God’s law or lived a sinless life. Thus at the universal level justification is granted on the basis of such common faith, being a positive response to conscience (the light of Christ in the spirit) evinced by compassion, through the kindly favour (grace) by which pardon for sin has been granted to all producing the fruit of faith through the all-sufficient merits of Christ’s atonement.
Some Christians will regard such a testimony to God’s loving kindness towards wider humanity as disturbing and heretical; others will have sensed in their bones that it could never really have been the case that many of their relatives, friends and work colleagues who did not share their particular version of the Christian belief were destined for eternal punishment but couldn’t have supported such a hope from Scripture. What is affirmed here should provide such people with much joy, without detracting at all from the purpose and urgency of the gospel message. Indeed, if the stupendous nature and benefits of service in God’s Kingdom also come to be appreciated, all and sundry may wish to force their way into it once again{308}. That is why certain inessential mysteries of the Kingdom have been veiled through much of the gospel age even from the Church: so that the rich, the mighty, the proud and the glory-hunters might be detracted by the shame of the cross of Christ and humble cruciform service as His disciples; whilst the humble, the gentle, the poor in spirit and in material possessions who are rich in faith will be the true inheritors of the Kingdom and the earth. Such is the wisdom of God.
The two-fold benefits of the Atonement
The “faithfulness of Christ” in the centre of history is indispensable to both the Old and New Testament periods; it avails for two ages and, since its occurrence within history, at two levels: the forensic and participatory.
For the love of Christ constrains us; because we judge that if One died for all then all were dead. And He died for all that those which live should no longer live for themselves but unto Him which died for them and rose again{309}
The Bible does not teach a limited atonement in which pardon for the sin of falling short of God’s glory is exclusively provided to those He elects to suffer and reign with the Atoner. It is insistent and consistent: all were dead so the One died for all and atoned for all{310}. However, “He died for all… that those which live…”. He died for all but not all shall “live”. For what is limited is those who will be saved by His life by coming to participate in it{311}. Note also from these verses that “those that live should no longer live for themselves but for Christ”; it is and always has been the small minority who no longer live for themselves and their families but are truly devoted to the Saviour. However, peace, pardon and universal reconciliation has been made available for all by the blood of His cross{312} where Christ became sin{313}. If He became sin, it must be human sin in its totality, not an act of substitutionary atonement for select individuals or groupings. That is simply not how Scripture presents the matter. Jesus had come in the likeness of sinful flesh so that sin in the flesh should be condemned{314}. Yet through His resurrection His chosen people can also be set free from the domination and bondage of sin by sharing in Christ’s life. “If the Son shall make you free then you shall be free indeed”{315}. So for the many, including those living before its historical occurrence{316} the benefit of the atonement is expiatory, annulling the penalty of universal sin; for the few (proportionately speaking) it is both expiatory and cathartic through sacramental participation{317}. For the latter it cleanses from sin’s guilt and power by being able to purify the soul and unite it with the life of Christ. For Jesus came to save His own people from their sins, not merely from the punishment for sinning{318}, i.e. they are to be cleansed from sin, not just the guilt of sin. Christ had offered Himself “in order to ransom us from all our faults and to purify a people to be His very own, eager to do good works”{319}. Through such good works, the Church as God’s instrument of salvation declares His saving intentions for the whole world through its message as well as by the lives of her individual members: “abounding in love towards each other and all men{320}. Thereby the Church fulfils its commission to “announce the Good News to every creature under heaven”{321}; for when men and women acknowledge the rule of Christ (i.e. obey the gospel) they themselves become faithful stewards caring for the welfare of all that is set under them, being (for the moment) the natural world.
God’s royal priesthood: elected through unmerited grace
In terms of those who have been ordained to receive eternal life{322} and brought into a living relationship with God in the present, fulfilling the role intended according to earlier prophecy exclusively for the Jewish nation, it is a matter of elective grace at the individual level just as it had been for Israel at the racial level. Those predestined to Christian salvation were chosen to perform good works and become holy, not because they had performed good works or were foreseen to be holy{323}. Their calling to participate in the royal priesthood of God for the salvation of the world does not pertain to personal merit; justification being a gift. God gives to some the ears to hear and the eyes to see Jesus and proclaim with Peter “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. If that has had happened to you then “Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but the Father who is in heaven”{324}. There can therefore be no cause for boasting; and any who do boast show themselves to be profoundly unholy, as well as ignorant of the fact that:
(God) has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not on the basis of our works but according to His own purpose and grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages{325}.
Paul is adamant here and elsewhere that election to the Christian faith is unconditional – the predestination he speaks of is not a matter of God foreknowing who would respond to the gospel, for there is no greater work under the sun than to deny oneself and choose to serve Jesus Christ. Election is a matter of sovereign choice and an abundance of grace - yet those who are called must provide fruit in the form of good works; that is why they were called, to bring light, healing and truth to the world and become conformed to the image of Christ. Just as JHWE had chosen Isaac’s physical descendants to form the nation with whom He would especially relate and prepare for Kingdom service, so it was later disclosed that He had also foreknown and predestined individuals to be drawn from all nations to be set apart for sacral service in that same priesthood{326}.
Justification under the Old Covenant
In terms of the Jews, their covenantal requirements were entirely do-able, for moral perfection was not expected; provision being made for human weakness through the system of animal sacrifices. Such sacrifices were a figure of the Eucharist to be established under the Covenant of Christ’s Blood, but contrary to the understanding of many, the blood of bulls and goats did expiate the day to day inadvertent sin of God’s chosen people{327}, which is why JHWE commanded them to be performed:
If through inadvertence you fail in any of the orders which JHWE has given to Moses… this is what must be done: If it is an advertence on the part of the community, the community as a whole will offer a young bull as a burnt offering as a smell pleasing to JHWE with the prescribed accompanying cereal offering and libation and a he-goat as a sacrifice for sin. The priest will perform the rite of expiation for the entire community of Israelites and they will be forgiven for it is an inadvertence{328}
On the other hand, those who sinned wilfully would be treated as aliens and bear the consequences of their guilt, whereas under the New Covenant, “everyone who believes is justified from things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”{329}. But in terms of that Old Covenant, moving forward in time to some of Paul’s polemics it was not the case that Jews believed they had perfectly to keep Torah in order to be accepted by God; forgiveness for sin was provided. Neither was it their own initiative or sinful pride to endeavour to keep the Law but a response to divine teaching; indeed, JHWE wished they had tried all the harder to honour their side of the Covenant{330}.
The teaching of Hebrews
The writer to the Hebrews taught that although bulls’ and goats’ blood could purify the flesh{331}, and as we have just shown, provide pardon for inadvertent sins, it could not sanctify the soul by taking away{332} sin so as to cleanse the conscience from dead works{333}. The shedding of an animal’s blood under the Old Covenant therefore could do nothing to progress the partaker towards moral rectitude{334}. The Old Law made no one perfect{335}; only the divine blood of sprinkling can save to the uttermost by “purging the conscience of dead works in order to serve the living God”{336}. Again, note how the faculty of conscience directly impacts upon one’s relationship with God, i.e. with spiritual life.
The nation of Israel had been JHWE’s vineyard; He had looked for a good crop but was receiving only bad. He had looked for justice and righteousness amongst His people but observed only bloodshed and distress{337}. What He assuredly did not observe were people “desperately seeking to keep the Law in order to justify themselves in His sight”. That is a delusion as even a cursory reading of the Old Testament affirms. God’s complaint was their lack of effort to keep His Laws and be faithful to Him and the prophets and kings he had appointed over them. As with our first parents, privileged individuals had been given their opportunity for a glorious inheritance but wilfully defaulted. Yet this was in accordance with God’s foreknowledge, and an alternative arrangement was set in place. His Son was always going to be at the centre of His salvific plans; the supporting cast may have to be changed. God’s intentions remained the same: the long-term salvation of the world through the redeeming action of His Son, the Saviour of the world, supported by a people God would give to Him{338} cleansed from their sinfulness through His blood. These were no longer to be restricted to the Jewish race:
And with Your blood you bought people for God of every race, language, people and nation and made them a line of kings and priests for God, to rule the World{339}
So, in the fullness of time the Son of God takes on our humanity, teaches whomsoever will listen about the Good News of the Kingdom, and disciples a group of twelve men to lead His work after Him, knowing He was shortly to die, be resurrected and ascend to heaven. He shed His blood, acting out within history the righteous act by which Adam’s sin had been nullified throughout history{340}. As Scripture also testified:
He himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world{341}
Propitiation has been provided for humanity as a whole. Christ’s sacrificial act of love at the Place of the Skull acts as a perpetual sweet-smelling savour{342} as from the rising of the sun to its setting it is re-presented to the glory of His name through the sacrifices offered by His assemblies in East and West who have remained faithful to His will. Expiation, by which Christ’s death alleviates man’s guilt through the payment of a penalty, applies to all those remaining justified within the inclusive Universal Covenant of life by demonstrating they are of God (i.e. truly human) and not the seed of Satan{343}. Purging or taking way sin was not possible before the historical act of love enacted at Calvary{344}. Now it has been granted to both Jews and Gentiles who are baptized into Christ and partake of His body and blood, by which they can experience eternal life. That misunderstood quality is something which was “with the Father” (i.e. hidden in God) and has now “been manifested to us”{345}. Jesus speaks of it as a “well of water springing up inside us”{346}; rarely if ever is the term used to specify those who will go to heaven. So infrequently is that concept mentioned that some groups who claim to believe the Bible have rejected the idea of the soul going to heaven altogether, believing that people have no consciousness after death until the resurrection. But Jesus confirmed that the thief next to Him on the cross would that day be with Him in paradise, and Paul wrote that he would sooner be absent from the body and present with the Lord{347}. Not that he wished to be naked, that is in the spirit, but what he most desired was to be clothed upon with his “house” which is from heaven{348}; not his “heavenly home” but his resurrection body.
Divine theology
It is possible that the very servants of Satan may be transformed into ministers of righteousness and become greatly revered amongst the good{349}. But there is a benchmark that can be applied if such people happen to be theologians or spiritual teachers in the Church and it is JHWE’s own assessment of Himself:
“I AM who I am: the God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in faithful love and constancy, maintaining his faithful love to thousands, forgiving fault crime and sin, yet letting nothing go unchecked, punishing the parent’s fault in the children and in the grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation{350}
That is God’s nature; these are His judgements which are evidently right and just and in accordance with human reason. That is, they are exactly how one would expect a loving and just God to behave in judgement. There surely can be no better theologian than God Himself, so if anyone presents a markedly different picture, he is no theologian at all however revered he may have become. We may be mystified by God’s ways at times, but this is a Being that we as human beings can truly love and adore as well as fear; not just for His grace and mercy towards us but because He is genuinely good from the perspective of those created after His own likeness. JHWE is forgiving, tender and compassionate just as a saintly human is consistently tender and compassionate, only more so. Like a good parent He will have a special affection for His own (or His Son’s) immediate family but will show magnanimity towards all, for that is His nature. As such He makes full allowance for the human weakness unavoidably inherited at birth; toleration being a vital ingredient of love as any parent will know. At the same time He will take vengeance on behalf of His people{351}, being all who fear Him and seek to do justice in accordance with the revelation they have received from Him. Truly, we shall praise God with uprightness of heart when we have learnt of His righteous judgements.
Who may approach God?
Many have come to understand that a godlike perfection in righteousness is the prerequisite for a relationship with God or to enter His courts in eternity. Since such cannot be humanly achieved, they believe such perfection must be credited to a person’s moral account through an act of grace. It is linked to the illogical notion just considered that because God who is love personified is also holy, He will not relate in any positive way to anyone less holy than Himself. If that were true it would be the antithesis of love and holiness as Scripture has defined those qualities, as well as opposing what we know from our own human and Christian experience. It also challenges historical and scriptural reality in terms of the relationship JHWE had with His prophets and kings. The holier a person is the more acceptable and forgiving he is of other’s faults and shortcomings, especially those of weaker humans; he also tolerates the foibles and is tender hearted towards those lower order creatures over which he has care and oversight, as is the case in man’s stewardship of the animal kingdom. This is not sentimentality but a reflection of the divine quality of love, holiness and noble condescension that God Himself possesses and has imparted in measure to those made in His image; and in the Christian these qualities are being perfected through association with His Son. Such is the imparted love of the Father, which far from being sentimental incorporates a measure of holy hatred. That takes the form of a heightened sensitivity towards the cruelty, deceit and wickedness of others, especially towards those weaker than themselves. God and those who partake of His holiness are well able to differentiate between pure evil on the one hand and the imperfection of human weakness on the other. Such are tolerant and compassionate towards the one yet invariably incensed by the other. Examine the Scriptures carefully - this is the reality of God’s relationship with His people. JHWE had shown incredible patience towards the human weaknesses of His servants yet does become angry when they wilfully disobey Him or particularly test His patience. Likewise, Jesus with His disciples: review His dealings with Peter on the one hand and Judas on the other. This has nothing to do with “imputed righteousness”, it is our God and the outworking of His holiness. The true Christian who already partakes of the divine nature develops an instinctive and intuitive theology which senses the very nature of God. Such thereby discern the quality and outworking of divine love and holiness for they are in measure already partaking of it{352}. Be it human or divine, Love is love; Holiness is holiness; it is a question of measure, not nature.
Adding to such misconceptions, Christianity has imported a Hellenistic perspective concerning how man is to relate to His Creator through eternity. Albeit unintentionally, it can demean the comprehensive divinity of Jesus as Son of God and Son of Man. At least one of His disciples fell into the trap: “Show us the Father and it will suffice us”, pleaded Philip. “Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father”{353}. Note here that Jesus is referring to His person and nature as revealed during His earthly ministry. The incarnated Jesus and His Father have the same nature. Jesus had never been the “compassionate face of God”, He was the very image (eikon) of God: the incarnate Word. Of course, the Father dwells in a “light that no man can approach, whom no man has seen nor can see”{354}. Yet man can know communion with the Godhead even now through the Son and the Spirit who are equally holy yet communicable; apart from which man’s destiny is not to be “lost in God” but to resume his existence as a physical entity in union with the Man who is God’s true Son. “For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily and (man) is complete in Him - the Head of all principality and power”{355}. The Christ (anointed King) is also the Judge of humanity; God the Father judges nobody but has committed the matter to His Son{356}. It follows that the kind of people who were accepted, albeit sometimes rebuked yet clearly loved by Jesus during His earthly ministry will be accepted by Him at that judgement and rewarded according to their works{357}, the difference being that when He appears in His unveiled glory those in whom Jesus was profoundly offended{358} will be “consumed with the breath of His mouth and destroyed with the brightness of His coming”{359}. These are the children of the devil (chapter six).
Yet it is certainly the case that only the pure in heart may see God{360} but that is not a requirement to possess the triple holiness of the Divine Glory. Solomon was told by JHWE he would be blessed provided he walked i