Romans 3, Part 2 The Question and Answer Chapter (15)

May 11, 2019 1 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

–Romans 3:20

2 ✤ Therefore—dioti—because, on account of, by reason of. What precedes gives the reason why every mouth will be stopped and all the world be held accountable to God (v. 19).

✤ By the deeds of the law—Literally, “out of works of law,” that is, works prescribed by law. In the Greek, “law” stands without the article.

✤ “The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion” ( DA 35.2). Even works performed in obedience to God’s law cannot justify a sinner before God (Gal. 3:21) 3 ✤ Paul has established in Romans 1 and 2 that Gentiles and Jews alike have violated the law and that both need justification, but the law cannot provide this.

✤ Justification—to set right, to regard as righteous, to declare righteous, to treat as being righteous, to present as righteous. Forms in the Greek include dikaioō, “to justify,” dikaios, “righteous,” dikaiosunē, “.” All are built from the same root.

✤ Romans 2:13 states those will be justified who are doers of the law, but Romans 3:20 says that works will not bring salvation.

4 The law of is perfect, converting the soul.

–Psalm 19:7

5 For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

–Romans 2:13; 3:20

6 The law converts us, and we become doers of the law, and this is the process of sanctification.

7 True sanctification is a Bible doctrine. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonian church, declares: “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” And he prays: “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:23. The Bible clearly teaches what sanctification is and how it is to be attained. The Saviour prayed for His disciples: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17:17. And Paul teaches that believers are to be “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” Romans 15:16. What is the work of the ? told His disciples: “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” John 16:13.

–Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p. 469.2

8 And the psalmist says: “Thy law is the truth.” By the word and the Spirit of God are opened to men the great principles of righteousness embodied in His law. And since the law of God is “holy, and just, and good,” a transcript of the divine perfection, it follows that a character formed by obedience to that law will be holy. Christ is a perfect example of such a character. He says: “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” “I do always those things that please Him.” John 15:10; 8:29. The followers of Christ are to become like Him—by the grace of God to form characters in harmony with the principles of His holy law. This is Bible sanctification.

–Ellen White, The Great Controversy, p. 469.2

9 ✤ Romans 3:19—may be stopped—in view of the evidence presented in the preceding verses. No one has any excuse to offer for these actions.

✤ Guilty—this Greek word only used here. It means liable for prosecution, or to become accountable to God or answerable to God. Jeremiah 25:31 tells us God has an controversy with sinners.

10 ✤ Romans 2:12—without law—anomōs—without a knowledge of the law

✤ Romans 3:21—without law—chōris nomos—chōris means apart from—God’s righteousness has been shown without reference to any law. In other words, the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, apart from the idea of legal obedience as a way of obtaining righteousness, and apart from the legalistic system the Jews used as the basis of righteousness.

11 The Protestant Reformation occurred largely in protest against the Catholic understanding of justification. The Protestant theologians considered the Catholic understanding of justification to be a gross distortion of the biblical teaching. Using the writings of Paul, especially Romans and Galatians, and concepts in the Old Testament, Luther presented justifying righteousness to be that of the righteousness of Christ. This was in opposition to the Augustinian understanding in which justifying righteousness, although completely through the grace of God, was something that existed in the human recipient.

–See Richard M. Davidson, “How Shall A Person Stand Before God? What Is the Meaning of Justification,” God’s Character and the Last Generation, (Kindle Location 1879–1880).

12 The basic issue in the Reformation’s rejection of the Catholic doctrine regarding justification is: Are we declared just or are we made just? In other words, Is the source of our justification the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (the Reformation view), or the righteousness of Christ imparted within us (the Catholic view)?

–Ibid.

13 For the Reformers the doctrine of justification by faith meant justification by Christ’s righteousness alone. The Reformation focused on the distinction between imparted righteousness and . In Catholicism, justification is the imparted grace of Christ, which makes justification for our past sins possible by our current actions. In other words, Christ gives us the power to justify ourselves, i.e. the power comes from Christ for us to do the works that will justify us! The Reformers did not deny imparted grace. They believed grace is poured into the soul, but the issue was whether this grace poured into the soul resulted in justification. For the Reformers the sole ground for justification was the imputed righteousness of Christ, not the inherent righteousness of the believer or the imparted righteousness of Christ.

14 To justify, therefore, is nothing else than to acquit from the charge of guilt, as if innocence were proved. Hence, when God justifies us through the intercession of Christ, he does not acquit us on a proof of our own innocence, but by an imputation of righteousness, so that though not righteous in ourselves, we are deemed righteous in Christ. (Calvin, 1559)

Christ’s righteousness . . . must appear in court on our behalf, and stand surety for us in judgment. Received from God, this righteousness is brought to us and imputed to us, just as if it were ours. (Calvin, 1536)

15 Calvin speaks of a double grace: justification and sanctification. They are simultaneous, and although they can be distinguished, they cannot be separated.

Justification is the forensic declaration that the Christian is righteous, rather than the process by which he or she is made righteous. It involves a change in status rather than in nature.

This basic understanding of justification was accepted by later Reformers, such as Arminius and , and became embodied in the major Protestant creeds in their treatment of justification.

16 “In recent years, there has been a trend, at least in America, for a number of evangelicals to engage in dialogue with Roman Catholics; and in a surprising turn of events, many evangelicals are now returning to Rome, reaching consensus with Catholic scholars and proclaiming that the Reformation was a misunderstanding that should have never happened. Some evangelical scholars have actually returned to Roman Catholicism. For example, Scott Hahn is a former Presbyterian turned Catholic. He tells of his journey back to Catholicism in his book Rome Sweet Home.

17 “Others who have not left Protestantism now argue that the concept of imputation of Christ’s righteousness in justification is not biblical. For example, Robert Gundry, biblical scholar at Westmont College, writes that ‘the doctrine that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to believing sinners needs to be abandoned.’” (Davidson)

18 “In the last few decades, there have been a number of Adventist voices who oppose the Reformation view of forensic justification, including the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. They see the whole legal model of justification either as not biblical or as a culturally conditioned expression of the atonement that spoke to the primitive mind- set in biblical times but now is transcended by a larger view of the atonement that eliminates this forensic imputation.

19 “Other Adventists accept forensic justification in principle but go on to state that justification means more than imputation of Christ’s righteousness; it also includes the process by which Christ actually makes us righteous. According to this view, justification is primarily to “make righteous,” not just to “declare righteous,” or else it would be only a legal fiction. Despite protests to the contrary, proponents of this view seem to adopt major Catholic arguments against the Reformers in the sixteenth century. Justification is both imputed and imparted righteousness, in the view of these Seventh-day Adventist interpreters.

20 “Some Adventists maintain that justification means only the forgiveness of past sins when one first comes to Christ; but after one’s initial justification, acceptance by God is based on Christ’s infused [imparted] righteousness that makes one righteous and thereby acceptable in God’s sight. Linked to this position is the understanding that there is a necessity for absolute victory over sinfulness by God’s people in the end time, which will in effect make objective justification no longer needed, because God’s people have reached a state of sanctification in which objective (imputed) justification is wholly replaced by the imparted righteousness of Christ.

21 It is better to die than to sin; better to want than to defraud; better to hunger than to lie. (4T 3495.1)

He [Jesus] has made it possible for them to perfect Christian character through His name and to overcome on their own account as He overcame in their behalf. He has given them an example in His own life, showing them how they may overcome. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (3T 365.1)

The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven. (R&H June 4, 1895)

22 “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” John 14:30. could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. (GC 623.1)

Man may grow up into Christ, his living head. It is not the work of a moment, but that of a lifetime. By growing daily in the divine life, he will not attain to the full stature of a perfect man in Christ until his probation ceases. The growing is a continuous work. Men with fiery passions have a constant conflict with self; but the harder the battle, the more glorious will be the victory and the eternal reward. (4T 366.3)

23 “…we need to ask ourselves, Is the Reformation view of justification solid, or should we be going back to Rome or in some other direction as suggested by other views mentioned above? The only way to answer this question is to test the various views by the Word of God. What is the biblical teaching about justification? Let’s go to the Scriptures!” (Ibid.)

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