What Benefit is This Knowledge? (LD 23; Romans 3:21-26)
Introduction
There can be a disconnect in the Christian life. We can become so focused on doctrine that we forget that we are called to live out the gospel. Or we can become so focused on living the Christian life that we lose sight of the doctrine that gives us the strength and assurance to live it.
The Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 23 understands this tension. As we come to justification by faith, it essentially asks us, Is this doctrine really helpful? Is this something that actually benefits us? Does knowing that we are justified by faith make any difference in the Christian life?
I think those are important questions. So, let’s begin.
Is This Helpful?
The first thing we have to understand is the seriousness of our problem.
Our problem is that we minimize sin. We sometimes like to think that if we can just clean up enough of the outward problems, we will be okay. Maybe we haven't done everything right, but we have done better than the person next to us. Maybe we have kept 99.99% of the commandments.
But the problem is that sin is not merely a collection of bad behaviors. Sin is at the core of who we are. Our behavior or actions are merely the fruit of the deeper root problem.
In the fall, humanity essentially told God, We don't want your order. We don't want your holiness. We don't want you ruling over us. We were exiled from Eden, and God gave us what we wanted.
And that leaves us in a desperate position.
We see this even in some of the great saints of Scripture. Jacob spent much of his life trying to accomplish the promises of God in his own strength. He wrestled with God and came away limping, learning that the promises of God come through weakness and submission to the Lord.
Job wanted his day in court with God. He wanted to present his case and demonstrate that God had gotten things wrong. But when Job finally comes face-to-face with the living God, he puts his hand over his mouth. He learns that God's wisdom is far greater than his own.
Paul was a man who considered himself blameless according to the law, yet Christ had to stop him on the road to Damascus. Even Paul had to learn that God's strength is manifested in weakness.
And then there is Isaiah. Isaiah appears to be one of those Old Testament saints who was pretty dialed in. Yet when he comes into the presence of God, he doesn't say, "I dwell in the midst of unclean people who make me unclean." No, he says, “Woe is me. I am a man of unclean lips”
That is the point. Apart from Christ, we have nothing.
Paul makes this very clear in Romans 3. He gives a staccato of Old Testament references and demonstrates that there is a universal problem that impacts Jew and Gentile. It doesn't matter how religious you are or how well you have cleaned up your life.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
That is why justification by faith is so helpful. It tells us the truth about our condition. We cannot save ourselves. We need a rematch and not a participation trophy.
The championship game has already been played. Adam failed, and in Adam we have all failed. The verdict has been issued. We need someone to reengage the competition and overturn the previous verdict.
And that is exactly what Christ does in his work. However, this can still be all doctrine. Is there a place where this really impacts our Christian life?
Is This Assuring?
This is where the beauty of justification really comes into view. The Heidelberg Catechism says that I share in all of Christ's benefits. He has made perfect satisfaction for my sin. He has given me his perfect holiness. And I am regarded before God as if I had never sinned and as if I had perfectly obeyed all that God commanded.
Think about the beauty of that.
It is not my righteousness. It is Christ's righteousness.
It is not my perfect obedience. It is Christ's perfect obedience.
It is not something I have earned. It is a gift. God has freely given it to his unworthy children.
Paul says in Romans 3 that we are justified by God's grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Justification is a legal declaration. Before the heavenly court, we deserve condemnation in Adam. But in Christ, we are declared righteous.
And this is what makes grace so amazing.
Sometimes we define grace as “unmerited favor.” But I think Scripture gives us an even deeper picture. Unmerited favor could mean that God just gave us something. We did not earn it. However, we could be neutral. For instance, you love your kid, so you just buy your kid ice cream. The kid did not specifically deserve it, but you want to spend some quality time together.
We actively rebelled against him. We told God that we didn't want his holiness, his rule, or his order. If we continue with the illustration of buying a child ice cream, we can ask: Would you buy your child ice cream after your child washed your car with a Brillo pad? I am guessing that the child is not getting ice cream. However, we did far worse to God in the fall. He also gives us more than a participation trophy or ice cream. God gives us heaven through the work of his son.
Christ doesn't simply overlook our sin. This is why Paul uses the language of redemption. Redemption is buying someone out of slavery. That is what Christ did. He purchased us out of our bondage of sin to set us free to live in him.
Christ had to lay down his life in our place. He has to die because sin is that heinous. It is not that God is so villainous, but sin is that heinous. We cannot find a simple solution to this complex problem.
So if someone wants to mock justification by faith as a “participation trophy,” I say, "I'll gladly take it." I'll put it on the shelf and proudly say, I am in Christ Jesus, and apart from Christ I have no hope.
However, we need to remember that Christ reengaged the championship game. He won the game and gives us the credit.
Conclusion
So is justification by faith helpful?
Absolutely.
Because we have a 100% problem, and we need a 100% Savior.
Is justification assuring?
Absolutely.
Because Christ has done what we could never do. He has satisfied God's justice, paid our debt, redeemed us from slavery, and given us his righteousness.
And is my faith good enough?
No, but Christ is.
That is the good news.
The gospel isn't that God looked at us and decided that we were basically good enough to receive a participation trophy. The gospel is that we were condemned in Adam, and Christ came into the heavenly courtroom and stood in our place. He took the judgment we deserved and gave us the righteousness we could never earn. He overturned the previous loss and won us our victory.
And so we don't use grace as an excuse to push the boundaries of sin. If we really understand what sin is, why would we want to return to it? Sin is destructive. It tears us away from the true peace and shalom that God created us to enjoy.
So let us continue to take hold of Christ by faith. Let us forget what lies behind and press forward toward what lies ahead. Christ Jesus has made us his own.
And as the Holy Spirit continues to conform us to Christ, let us walk in him, trusting not in the strength of our faith, but in the strength of our Savior.
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