#86. Romans 3:22 – The Faith of Jesus (Justification Series, Part IX)

Part III: Our Justification, Confirmed

Yet now, apart from law, a righteousness of God is manifest (being attested by the law and the prophets), yet a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ’s faith…

His Faith, His Death, Undisturbed

As we know now, the evangel of God concerning His Son attests to the death of Christ for our sins, His entombment, and His rousing on the third day, according to the scriptures. These three components of the evangel are presented in Romans in relation to the salvation of sinners. The first portion, the death of Christ, is presented in Romans 3:22 as the “righteousness of God through Jesus Christ’s faith.” This special demonstration proving God’s righteousness is manifest on the cross, and could not be presented at any prior point in history.

Those who have disagreed with Paul – which is often to the surprise of the students of scripture – by attesting to some “objective genitive” go far beyond the grammatical claim. While they say that this is faith in Christ – which we have seen does not have much merit, but even if it were the case – they add that this is a faith which comes from ourselves.

As we have discussed, even an “objective genitive” does not entail the notion that the alleged faith in Christ discussed in 3:22 is our own. Under no circumstances, especially not those given from 1:18-3:20, would imply that our faith somehow manifests the righteousness of God. If we are taking some “objective genitive” stance, it is imperative that we recognize that it is the faith of God in view, for it is only a just faith which would bring the justification of the individual. Yes, a faith of the Father manifest in Jesus Christ’s death for sinners.

This may come as a surprise to both believers and unbelievers alike. The God of the universe has faith? Indeed, this is Paul’s claim in Romans 3:3, and it frustrated His opponents to murderous intent more than once. Today, those opponents have co-opted the very word “faith,” so that its definition has been perverted into a human-only trait. Yet God plainly states that He has faith through Paul, indicating once again that no positive trait which man could obtain does not first reside in the Source, God Himself.

The righteousness of God is revealed, manifested, and displayed in the Faithful One. It does not reside in some imperfect faith of man, full of errors, misunderstandings, and false reckonings – especially not that of the religious crowd, whose idea of “righteousness” is that of a god who demands forgiveness of his servants while eternally burning those who did not personally come to terms with him.

The faith of Christ is most clearly perceived through His obedience to the cross on which He hung. During His entire life, it was clear that He relied on the living God. Yet it is specially through the most horrific death which anyone could ever suffer that His faith becomes most apparent. Therefore, under our supposition, it is through the faith of God Himself, in the faith of Christ, that any semblance of justification for the sinner can become apparent. We cannot suppose we are the catalyst for our own justification; such an argument is veiled self-justification, of which God is steadfastly opposed (Rom. 10:1-4.)

Paul’s long-term argument is building to this comprehensive statement: that all is out of God (Rom. 11:36.) This is sufficient to appreciate the revelation, manifestation, and display of His righteousness, on His terms, through His faith in His Son, so far as an “objective genitive” is concerned. There is nothing in this dynamic which would imply or necessitate our action. If we believe, it is only because the Believer, God, has shared His belief with us. If we believe, it is through a channel which He provides; not from any disposition of ours to participate or act. All that follows in Romans, concerning the blessings of the believer, is contingent upon Him, not us. It is His evangel, His Son, His channel of belief, as He Himself unfolds at this outset.

Let God be true!

Where, Then, is Boasting?

There is no need, then, to propose human responsibility onto an action where human responsibility was not obliged (Rom. 3:28.) To claim this, as if man’s conscience demands it, is man’s philosophy, founded upon man’s alleged ethics. By working our decision into the mix, the foundation for our justification becomes contingent upon our acceptance of the matter. The idea proposes, in stark contrast to Paul, that man saves himself by making his faith agreeable to God.

This would be entirely contingent upon man. When the preacher claims that “salvation is by faith,” he is really treating “faith” as currency; something with which salvation is purchased. God’s “great deed” is not saving, to them, but making available salvation! In other words, their deity placed a “For Sale: FREE!!!” sign in front of the cross.

They cheapen grace. Some even call grace “free.”

In truth, grace is not some free gift for you to walk up and take by finding faith in your heart. Grace is not offered for free; it is given freely, yes, but it is the most expensive gift ever conceived, for it was bought with a sacrifice, in love. It is not an exchange, transactional in nature. It is a relaying of news that already is true, whether one immediately accepts it or not.

We will see on plenty of occasions that whenever Paul wishes to refer to our faith, he will primarily do so by an accusative (or, objective) noun, with an accusative preposition. See the true translation of “faith in [prep: into] Christ” in Col. 2:5 as the grammatical example of this.

In the meantime, let us, in truth, keep the genitive statement where it literally belongs. Just as Romans 3:3 spoke of the faith of God, I propose that God means what He says, by making Romans 3:22 and 26 speak of the faith of Jesus Christ. We would not proclaim that the “faith of Abraham” in Rom. 4:16 somehow makes Abraham the object of one’s faith; let us not suppose Paul used the same inflection for radically different measures within the span of a few paragraphs.

The “faith of Christ” must agree with the evangel. We are the ones being justified, not the ones enabling our justification. We are the ones in need. We are the ones being found, not the ones holding the flashlight.

We are said to be justified in God’s grace, through a deliverance which is in Christ Jesus. It has been argued that these facts are only true conditionally, if we accept and believe in or on Christ. This is the disingenuous claim of the eon. The religious man’s message certainly includes Romans 1:18 – that you are irreverent and unjust! And these traits have brought you personally to any trying circumstance which you are facing.

Let this claim be analogous to a depiction of you lying unconscious in a burning house. According to the religious man, God is the one in the driveway, keys in the ignition, wheels directed towards “bliss.” He won’t go in the house to get you out; you just have to trust that He’s in the driveway, ready to roll! He’s even honking, you hear? It’s not that He’s unable to go in there and get you out, but that He’s unwilling! God only helps those who help themselves, see? He wants you to find your own way to Him, as they say.

Let us dispel these rumors. We are justified, as we read, apart from law, in gratuity. Both of these clauses preclude any requirement on our part. We are, indeed, exempt from the process of our own salvation. If we were a part of its premise at all, then we, too, would be eligible for the title of “savior.” The confusion of translators on this point, by supposing our acceptance in faith is the driving factor of our salvation, should tell us all that we need to know. It is man’s concocted notion.

Therefore, any passage which says “the faith of Jesus,” or “the faith of Christ,” must refer to Jesus Christ – especially if said passage serves as an illustration of the manifestation of the righteousness of God. It must refer to Christ’s perfect faith, as opposed to our faulty faith, lest the premise for a permanent salvation itself become faulty.

Where does our faith come into view? And what is its function in our side of this relationship with God? These are valid questions, and will be answered within this sub-study on justification. For all “faith” fanatics, I am not denying the existence of our faith – and neither does Paul (“out of faith,” yes, but also “into faith,” Rom. 1:17.) But for now, let us maintain that the faith of Jesus is in view.

The First Believer of God

Now that we see emphatically that this faith is that of Jesus Christ, and not us, we may properly appreciate the grandness of Paul’s argument in truth. By no works at all may we be justified in His sight. On the faith of Christ, however, our salvation, whether present or future, becomes a readily apparent fact, and even inevitable, given His successful sacrifice.

Jesus, as the ideal Man in sin’s flesh, had confidence in God (Matt. 27:43.) The Hebraist writer claims that He is the Inaugurator and Perfector of faith (Heb. 12:2,) and this only upon listing the credentials of the Inaugurator. He is the One relatively “responsible” for the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Sampson, Jepthah, David, Samuel, the prophets, and all other faithful men.

The object of this faith is God. Jesus is primarily concerned with what God has said. Whether one is yet willing to accept that this is indeed the faith of Jesus Christ or not, this point should be easily agreed upon. Even Paul’s example, in Romans 4, says this much concerning a man: “Now Abraham believed God, and it is reckoned to him for righteousness.” This thought is developed throughout Romans 4, so that we can see a feeble type of justification via Jesus’ own faith.

We may parse Jesus’ faith into three major aspects.

(1) God’s operation of glory, goodness, and nobility can only be learned relationally, achieved via a contrastive, temporary experience of suffering and death. Christ knew He was to die – Is. 53:8-10–

For He is severed from the land of the living; Because of the transgression of My people, He is led to death. And they appoint His tomb with the wicked, With the rich His sepulcher, Although He does no wrong, And no deceit is in His mouth. Yet Yahweh, He desires to crush Him, and He causes Him to be wounded.

(2) As the Saviour, He would encompass the five offerings which conveyed the various aspects of His death, given back in Leviticus 1-7 (these offerings are typified in Romans (3:24-26, 5:10, 19, 6:6, 8:3-4; more on this later.) Thus God emphasizes that this is more than some mindless attack on His Son, or some cold-hearted, sterile response from God. He is specifically giving His Son because of the transgressions and depravity of mankind (Is. 1:2-4,) and thus He is given as a flockling, for a guilt offering (Is. 53:6-7, 10.)

(3) God would succeed. His plan to restore the Israelite nation, and restore all the earth, on the premise of a righteous Sacrifice, was the understandable option from the perspective of God and His Christ. His success, too, is prophesized. Let us continue from Is. 53:10–

Should His soul place a guilt offering, He shall see a seed, He shall lengthen days, And the desire of Yahweh, it shall prosper in His hand.

We see, then, that the humiliation and suffering of our Lord begets boundless glory for both Himself and His Father! Since One, the Image of God and the One in Whom all was created, maintained faithful obedience at His lowest to His God and Father, every good goal God has purposed can now be achieved. It is not limited to the deliverance of Israel, but also the justification of all sinners, relayed in Paul’s message. Him being given and being faithful is itself the achievement of justification. Now that this reality has been established on God’s end, it is only a matter of time before it becomes transmitted to all.

The Grandeur of His Act

Jesus remained focused on God’s word at every point in His journey. When He read the Old Testament, He saw the testimonies of His own spirit, concerning Himself. He was invigorated by faith in the One Who could have foreknown such a journey. He lives on every declaration of God (Luke 4:4,) so much so that He did not die after fasting forty days (Matt. 4:1-4.) This One remained faithful, even to the passages which attested to His death, and His suffering. He knew, by faith in God, that this was the only way in which His promised high exaltation would be brought to Him (Phil. 2:10-11.)

He knew what His suffering and shame would entail. It would require the loss of fellowship with His God and Father, during His hanging, and in death. God could not be heard, nor would He console His Son during these trying hours. On the cross, He would cry, “My God! My God! Why have You forsaken Me?”

What is the deal? Did God truly abandon His Son at the cross? Of course, the answer is no (2 Cor. 5:19.) No, Jesus wasn’t “lying,” either. He was quoting Psalm 22! Anyone who turns to that psalm would see clearly that blessings were promised to transpire after this quote were made! Deliverance (22:4, 8) is the prevailing theme throughout the passage – not abandonment. And, indeed, God answers Jesus in the latter portion of the song (22:21-31.) So, in the moment, He indeed was crying at the silence from the heavens; yet this was in expectation that He would be delivered through the Trial. He was aware that glories would unfold after these sufferings were completed (1 Pet. 1:11,) and that if God was following through on the first steps, He would assuredly guide Jesus through this path.

I wish to impress upon you that this was a faithful submission. This event is often straw-manned by Trinitarians and atheists as “a merciless Father beating the ever-loving crap out of His Kin.” Yet this supposes that Jesus was unaware or unwilling to face the severity of this humility. We read that Jesus was faithful, and willingly submissive at the cross; that He could have stepped down, and willingly chose not to do so. Jesus actually recognizes that this crucifixion must be, and without it, none of that which God has in store for creation could come to pass, and we would all remain lost (including Jesus Himself.) We read, in Matt. 16:20-21–

Then He cautions the disciples that they may be saying to no one that He is the Christ. Thenceforth begins Jesus to show His disciples that He must be coming away into Jerusalem and to be suffering much from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and to be killed, and the third day to be roused.

So Jesus’ course of action in the second half of Matthew emphasizes His willingness to face the depths of depravity. The faith of Jesus Christ is adequate evidence to dispel the idea that God simply attacked some poor, unknowing bystander. Jesus actively sought, at every turn, to do the will of His Father.

Truly, this is an extraordinary belief! Jesus was obedient to the death of the cross. This was God’s will, and it was Jesus’ will. This was typified in the sacrifices made at the altar in the tent of appointment, and the first temple. This was typified in major events, such as Abraham on Mount Moriah with Isaac, Joseph being tossed in prison for a crime he did not commit, and Jonah being cast into the ocean, kept unseen in a giant fish for three days. Scripture is rife with preparatory examples for this One’s faith, all of which are commended both by God and Jesus.

Jesus Christ

Here is the subject of the evangel. Jesus Christ, our Lord. This was made clear to us in Part 1 of this study. It is now time for Paul to make due on that claim. Paul was anticipating the discussion of Jesus’ faith back in Romans 1:17, with the phrase “out of faith.” Here, things become clear: Jesus Christ had faith in God first. Jesus, when facing the agonizing humiliation of all creation, which has rejected His authority, place, and character, believed that God had a blissful, positive, joyful outcome in view by not sparing Him, and instead giving Him up for us all. He believed this of the God Who is calling what is not as if it were.

The very name, Jesus, means “YHWH-Saviour.” During His ministry, faithful Israelites believed that the Name referred to their salvation, in bestowal of their promised kingdom, with a view to the restoration of the earth. While this is certainly true, Paul takes a step back to view the bigger picture. He attests to Jesus as a Correspondent Ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6.) Divine righteousness is perceived, not only in regards to judgment, but to salvation (John 3:17.) If a sinner is ever to proclaim “Jesus is Lord,” they must understand the righteousness of God, and must therefore be brought through Christ’s saving act of the cross (Rom. 10:8, Phil. 2:10.)

The evangel attests, not only to Jesus on a personal level, but to His title, Christ, or “ANOINTED.” He is given authority within this evangel, by the power of God, to save those in need of saving. Truly, what should God do? Should He heed an unrighteous man’s decision to reject Him, or should He heed the righteous Man’s decision to save them? Who should God respect and glorify in this state of affairs? It is Christ Who shed His blood in faith, and Christ Who claims to have died for our sakes (Rom. 5:8.) What should a righteous God do, except highly exalt Him?  

The Foundation

Romans 3:22, in review, is spoken plainly. It is only from those who oppose the simple, plain words and definitions where strife is found. This is the source of all disfigurement of God’s word. Yet it is clear that the faith of us is not in view as a premise to display God’s righteousness.

Neither is Romans 3:22 the only appearance of such a phrase. This verse should, in itself, be enough to show that it is His faith which enables our salvation. I bring the following supportive texts to you, not because they “prove” what has not yet been proven, but because they support what is already true. Paul will use this phrase to support later arguments, and these, in plain words, attest to the faith of Jesus first.

Gal. 2:16–

…a man is not being justified by works of law, except alone through the faith of Christ Jesus, we also believe in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by the faith of Christ and not by works of law, seeing that by works of law shall no flesh at all be justified.

Gal. 2:20–

Now that which I am now living in flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.

And Eph. 3:12–

Christ Jesus, our Lord; in Whom we have boldness and access with confidence, through His faith.

It has taken me many years to grapple with the fact that many otherwise sane individuals will read the proof of God’s control over His salvation and shrug their shoulders, or try to take this away from God with a shoddy reason or two. It especially surprised me that I had not only one (which should be enough,) but five different verses which attest to God’s salvation and righteousness being displayed through His faith alone, all to silent disapproval among the most “devout.”

You would think that this revelation would receive more fanfare! That God makes Himself known – not through a grand display of physical strength, but through a humiliated, but true, faith! And not only so, but that this faith was so strong that it is the only means righteousness truly needs to represent itself properly!

This faith has led me to tremble on more than one occasion. In part, I trembled selfishly, for one can intuitively see where Paul is going, as the next clause is given: “into all.” I know that such a faith must be tested, to show its quality, as was the case with Jesus Himself. I was, and in some ways still am, quite fearful of the sufferings which must be to display the faith of the Son of God in me.

Yet this childish trembling is only waning. I am seeing, now, that the faith of Christ is itself the most awe-some demonstration of every positive quality which we will read in Romans, which is being imparted to the believer. Such a faith is far more than a martyr, for Christ’s faith was so effective that He was given life beyond the reach of death. It was, then, that which was necessary to display the righteousness of God to the likes of us.

If the world is debating, they show that they have not yet been silenced by Romans 3:10-20. They are still attempting to self-justify. Yet if they were quiet for even a moment, the answer from the Divine to their concerns would be made clear:

All that was necessary for your justification has already been done.

This faith of Christ – one which will be given to you, and we will discuss the intricacies of the transfer – is the power of the evangel for salvation. It is the underlying premise for our lives, for our walk, for our hearts, to grow in love, and in recognition of our dependency on the living God. All of these aspects of the peace which we obtain (Rom. 5:1) are built upon this foundation of His belief in God.

- GerudoKing