Galatians 2:15-16
We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Roughly half of Americans believe they will go to heaven if they are “generally good” or “do enough good things,” while one-third believe salvation is obtained only by accepting Jesus Christ as savior, according to a new survey. The poll by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found that 48 percent of U.S. adults affirm the statement that “a person who is generally good, or does enough good things for others, will earn a place in heaven.” Additionally, 63 percent of adults believe “having faith matters more than which faith you have.”
Half of Americans (at the very least) …are wrong.
Are you?
Martin Luther said, “If the article of justification be once lost, then all Christian doctrine is lost.” I could not agree more. Justification lies at the center of the cross of Jesus Christ, and it is the sole reason any person can ever gain entrance into Heaven. Justified is in essence a legal term, and it means to be found “not guilty.” Given the immensity of God’s moral law as it pertains to every word, thought, and deed in a man’s life—as well as the things he should have said and should have done—do you really think you can stand before a Holy God and expect him to declare you “Not Guilty”? Even when your so-called “good deeds” are presented in your defense, God considers them “filthy rags” relative to his Moral Perfection (Is 64:6).
There is a battle raging today throughout the world in the heads and hearts of multitudes of people, who just will not accept the fact that they can do absolutely nothing to justify themselves before God! Spurgeon explains that, “No mere man can keep the law; no mere man has ever done so. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). As an absolutely perfect obedience is demanded by the law, which knows nothing of mercy, we fly from the law to obtain salvation by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.” We are justified, declared righteous, at the moment of our salvation. Justification does not make us righteous, but rather pronounces us righteous. Our righteousness comes from placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice covers our sin, allowing God to see us as perfect and unblemished. Because—as believers—we are in Christ, God sees Christ’s own righteousness when He looks at us. This meets God’s demands for perfection; thus, He declares us righteous—He justifies us.
Do you think you are justified before God based on the way you have lived your life? You are not. Faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ—100% of your faith—is the only way to be found “Not Guilty” before a perfect, just, and holy God.
