REFORMED WITNESS
Volume II, October 1994, Number 10
Celebrating The Great Reformed Doctrine
Of Justification By FaithArticle by Rev. Arie den Hartog
In our newsletter this month we are calling the attention of our readers to the fact that in the month of October we celebrate the great Protestant Reformation. The date of the beginning of this mighty event is usually considered to be October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his famous ninety-five theses on the church door of Wittenberg, Germany. Though Luther did not at all expect it at the time, there followed a tremendous controversy and debate. This controversy in turn produced a movement which lasted about a century and influenced virtually the whole Western world of the time. This movement brought about a mighty reformation which was the birth of the Protestant Church. We believe that the Reformation was of God. It was the most wonderful work of God in the church since the day of Pentecost. By this mighty work of God the church was formed again, "re-formed". The wonderful and glorious truth of the gospel was restored to the church; the truth that had been corrupted and all but lost in the apostate Roman Church of that day. We will not allow this event to be forgotten. Especially we will not allow the glorious truth of the gospel restored to the church through the Reformation to be forgotten.
Anyone who knows something about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century will know that of all the aspects of the great doctrines of the gospel that was restored to the church during that time, the greatest by far was that of justification by grace alone and through faith alone. This doctrine is central to the gospel. The true church of Jesus Christ loves and preaches this doctrine. In many Protestant churches today this glorious doctrine is no longer preached. It has once again been exchanged for another "gospel", that is no gospel, which boasts of the achievements and works of men rather than glories in the wonderful work of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that we must continue to defend and preach the gospel of justification by faith alone for the glory of our God and Savior and for the comfort of His people. As is our tradition we will again have a special celebration of the Reformation at our church through a celebration of the truth of the Reformation. One of the professors of our Theological School has agreed to come and speak to us on the glorious truth of justification by faith. Prof. Herman Hanko is professor of Church History and New Testament Studies at the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches in Grand Rapids. Prof. Hanko will deliver a lecture in our church on Justification by Faith on Friday evening October 28 [,1994] at 7:30 p.m. This will be followed by a special sermon at the morning worship service at 10:00 a.m. on the Lord's Day October 30. This sermon will once again focus on the truth of justification by faith, expounding a key passage from the book of Romans. We invite people from our community to come and hear this inspiring lecture and sermon. We especially hope that a number of regular readers of the Reformed Witness will join us for this celebration. Our church is located in Redlands, California at 1307 East Brockton avenue, two blocks east of the University of Redlands. God first worked the blessed reality of justification in the heart of the great Reformer Martin Luther. The truth of justification by faith was by no means a dry and cold doctrine for Luther; it brought a real conversion in his heart and soul. The reformation began, by the grace of God, in the heart of Luther while he was in the tower of the Augustinian monastery at Wittenberg as he was pouring over an open Bible and met God face to face. He later wrote of this conversion with these words:"Meanwhile I had already during that year returned to interpret the Psalter anew. I had confidence in the fact that I was more skillful, after I had lectured in the university on St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, to the Galatians, and the one to the Hebrews. I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardour for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was not the cold blood about the heart, but a single word in chapter 1:17, 'In it the righteousness of God is revealed,' that had stood in my way. For I hated that word 'righteousness of God,' which according to use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taught to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that He was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, 'As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel, and also by the gospel threatening us with His righteousness and wrath!' Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless, I beat importunately on Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, 'In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live.' There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.' Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me. Thereupon I ran through the Scriptures from memory. I also found in other terms an analogy, as the work of God, that is what God does in us, the power of God, with which He makes us strong, the wisdom of God, with which He makes us wise, the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God. And I extolled my sweetest word with love as great as the hatred with which I had hated the word 'righteousness of God.' Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise. Later I read Augustine's The Spirit and the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he too, interpreted God's righteousness in a similar way, as the righteousness with which God clothes us when He justifies us. Although this was heretofore said imperfectly and he did not explain all things concerning imputation clearly, it nevertheless was pleasing that God's righteousness with which we are justified was taught. Armed more fully with these thoughts, I began a second time to interpret the Psalter." (1)
A further account of this same experience of Luther can be found in Luther's Table Talk:"The words 'righteous' and 'righteousness of God' struck my conscience like lightening. When I heard them I was exceedingly terrified. If God is righteous (I thought), He must punish. But when by God's grace I pondered in the tower and heated room of this building, over the words, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live' (Romans 1:17) and the 'righteousness of God' (Romans 3:21), I soon came to the conclusion that if we, as righteous men, ought to live from faith and if the righteousness of God should contribute to the salvation of all who believe, then salvation will not be our merit but God's mercy. My spirit was thereby cheered. For it is by the righteousness of God that we are justified and saved through Christ. These words (which had before terrified me) now became more pleasing to me. The Holy Spirit unveiled the Scriptures for me in this tower." (2)
This then is the vivid description from Luther himself of how God wrought the truth of justification by faith in his heart and soul. Later in his life, after Luther had grown more and more in understanding the central significance of this doctrine he wrote concerning justification:"This doctrine is the head and the cornerstone. It alone begets, nourishes, builds, preserves, and defends the church of God; and without it the church of God cannot exist for one hour... Whoever departs from this article of justification does not know God and is an idolator... If the article of justification is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost at the same time... When the article of justification has fallen, everything has fallen... Of this article nothing may be yielded or conceded." (3)
Not only Luther but also John Calvin understood the central significance of the doctrine of justification by faith. He speaks of this in his Institutes Of The Christian Religion:"Therefore we must now discuss these matters thoroughly. And we must so discuss them as to bear in mind that this is the main hinge on which religion turns, so that we devote greater attention and care to it. For unless you first of all grasp what your relationship to God is, and the nature of His judgment concerning you, you have neither a foundation on which to establish your salvation nor one on which to build piety toward God. But the need to know this will better appear from the knowledge itself." (4)
Calvin continues after this to give a distinctive definition of the concept of "justification":"But that we may not stumble on the very threshold - and this would happen if we should enter upon a discussion of a thing unknown - first let us explain what these expressions mean: 'that man is justified in God's sight' , and 'that he is justified by faith or works'. He is said to be justified in God's sight who is both reckoned righteous in God's judgment and has been accepted on account of His righteousness. Indeed as iniquity is abominable to God, so no sinner can find favor in His eyes in so far as he is a sinner and so long as he is reckoned as such. Accordingly, whereever there is sin, there also the wrath and vengeance of God show themselves. Now He is justified who is reckoned in the condition not of a sinner, but of a righteous man; and for that reason, he stands firm before God's judgment seat while all sinners fall. If an innocent accused person be summoned before the judgment seat of a fair judge, where he will be judged according to his innocence, he is said to be 'justified' before the judge. Thus, justified before God is the man who, freed from the company of sinners, has God to witness and affirm his righteousness. In the same way, therefore, he in whose life that purity and holiness will be found which deserves a testimony of righteousness before God's throne will be said to be justified by works, or else he who, by the wholeness of his works, can meet and satisfy God's judgment. On the contrary, justified by faith is he who, excluded from the righteousness of works, grasps the righteousness of Christ through faith and clothed in it appears in God's sight not as a sinner but as a righteous man. Therefore, we explain justification simply as the acceptance with which God receives us into His favor as righteous men. And we say that it consists in the remission of sins and the imputation of Christ's righteousness." (5)
We invite you to join our Reformation Day celebration. May God sharpen our understanding of the gospel and deepen in our hearts our love for its truth.| Back to top | Back to main Reformed Witness page |
Footnotes
1. Luther's Works, ed, Jaroslav J. Pelikan and Helmut T. Lehmann, Vol. 34 pages 336-7 Philadelphia and St. Louis 1955).
^ BACK TO READING
2. Luther's Works, Vol. 54 pages 193-4.
^ BACK TO READING
3. What Luther Says: An Anthology, 3 Vols. Ewald M. Plass, comp. (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House 1959), 2:703-4, 715, 718.
^ BACK TO READING
4. Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion, Edited by John T. McNeill and translated by Ford Lewis Battles, Volume 1 Book III chapter 11 page 726.
^ BACK TO READING
5. Ibid pages 726-7.
^ BACK TO READING
| Back to top | Back to main Reformed Witness page |
The Reformed Witness newsletter is published monthly under the auspices of the Evangelism Committee of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church of Redlands. This newsletter is available to anyone who is interested in the Reformed Faith. If you would like your name added to our mailing list, please write to:The Reformed Witness
Hope Protestant Reformed Church
1307 E. Brockton Ave.
Redlands, CA 92374-3802
or email us: