#89. Romans 3:22 – Your Belief (Justification Series, Part XII)

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, for all, and on all who are believing…

Yes, yes, this is what everyone wants to know. Where does your belief come into the picture, and what is its function? Undoubtedly, everyone believes in something. It is what we believe that defines our present place, and reveals our subconscious thoughts about God – His ability, His limits, and more.

The belief of Christ is the saving factor. It is His faith that enables the transmission of God’s righteousness to us. This has been established in 3:22. Yet we do believe, as evidenced by the emphasized clause above: “who are believing.”

Our belief is not a savior, nor does it accomplish or invoke salvation. Our belief is the link between our justification and our accounting of our justification. Whether we accept the full reality of our justification does not change that we are justified, if God has willed it to be so. Our belief, then, is a response to the Inaugurator of faith’s faith. His act was the greatest act of faith that ever was or will be!

One is not saved because they believe. They believe because they are saved. Our belief is entirely God’s gift. He grants us the ability to believe (and we will do so, if God has justified us.) This faith, in its context, is truly nothing to boast in, but appreciate. I have seen two radical extremes. One party obscures the faith of God (much to their detriment) and prioritizes the faith of man as the hinge on which salvation spins. The other party obscures the faith of man as the antithesis to the first extreme. The truth is that both function in their proper place. Neither are generated by man, but by God. The faith of Christ does not serve the same function as any man’s faith. The faith of Christ saves, and the faith of man is saved. Where His faith teaches, ours learn. Where His faith establishes, ours grows.

Believing

The Greek verb “believing” is pisteuo. It is the verb form of the noun “belief,” pistis, or “faith.” It functions as an active verb, in the present tense; that is, the action is incomplete. It is also written in the accusative case, or, the direct object. So there are ones believing, separate from Christ, as a result of His faith being placed upon them. There are, then, two faiths in view: the faith of Jesus Christ, and the faith of believers.

These faiths are clearly not equal, for one is destined for all, and believers are a part of the sinning mass of mankind. As to similarity, we are both believing in the word of God. Yet the differences are clear when we see that the uncircumcision message had not yet been unfolded in scripture until after Jesus’ journey of faith on earth had concluded!

When He was dying, Jesus certainly understood what the law and the prophets said concerning Him (He, in turn, revealed this same information to His disciples after His rousing – Luke 24:27.) He understood that sinners had failed to achieve what He Himself already had within Him: a righteousness of God, through faith. The “exclusivity” clause is simple: if you are a sinner, you are one whom Christ died for. His faith through the death of the cross, that His Father would correct this great imbalance, was so that He had a means to justify the sinner.

Our faith is also vitally important. It is not fair to impose an equality between our faith and Christ’s faith, as if our faith predicates salvation. “Our” faith is not equal to His own, nor are we the arbiters of that faith which is given us. Our faith is a blessing from God. Unlike Christ’s faith, it could serve as no basis for our justification. Such a process would argue that God gave us our faith, so that He could justify us. This idea would neglect the faith of Christ, and assert that we are the channel to our own justification. There would be no use for Jesus Christ under such an assessment!

Our faith fits, then, as a response given when we are saved by God. Our faith is not the gate, but given us as we enter the town square. To maintain our “cliff” illustration from before, our faith is the picnic which would ensue on the other side of the “Yet Now” bridge. It is hosted by Him, and you are able to enjoy the fruits of His garden.

Through Jesus Christ’s Faith

The discussion of our faith is second to Christ’s own faith. I’m sure God understands that we are pre-occupied with our own faith. Talk of our faith is simply more interesting to your average sinner. Thus He graciously shares much concerning our faith throughout Paul’s letters. There will be no shortage of new aspects to our faith that we may grasp. It is only when we burden our faith with a larger task than it was designed to handle that it is broken, mutating into the very doubts which said faith desires to escape.

The base point is the placement of our faith: second to Christ’s own, and Christ’s own faith the ideal, demonstrating God’s righteousness. It is not that we are requested to emulate His own faith, that is, that we are soon to be crucified as a sacrifice for the world. It is the pattern, or type, of this faith which stands out most in Romans, which we will develop over 3:21-8:30.

Most notably, this pattern will begin in chapter four. A long digression typifying Abraham’s faith will be given, as a means of showing how our faith works, and where it fits. Evidently, Abraham’s faith did not save him, as faith was not a conditional requirement for God to give Abram blessings. Yet it did serve to reckon what God says as true (4:3.) Our faith is merely meant to align us with facts from the One Who caused those facts to be. It is, in so many ways, a walking stick gifted to us by God, which our infirm flesh is designed to lean upon, especially in times of trouble.

The peculiarity of our faith deviates from both Abraham and even Jesus Christ in two particulars. First, Jesus Christ’s faith, as we have discussed, is the premise of our justification. But Jesus Himself was never in need of justification. He did not need the premise of another’s sacrifice in order to be accounted just. He was made to be just, and has lived as such. We, in turn, do need such a basis, and have been given it through His faith.

Second, Abraham was informed that he would be the father of a great nation, and through that nation, all the other nations would be blessed. He believed this, but was never told the basis for such a belief. He had no classroom on “logic” by which he could rationally deduce whether or not the idea was acceptable. Not only do we have the “logic” with which we may appreciate Paul’s words, but we are moreover given the basis for Paul’s message. This only enhances its feature of grace, for we know, given Rom. 1:18-3:20, that we do not deserve the basis being given to us. We are a part of the whole, and the whole is rotten.

We are not to believe that we will be the father of a great nation. All that Paul has already said is rational and believable (much of it empirical today.) Yet it is what he continues to unfold throughout Romans which attests to the efficacy of the evangel of God, concerning His Son, which should be believed. This is the foundation of all to come. As we believe it, we grow into the ideal patterns laid out by Paul, and become suited to lovingly do and effect all which is being promised to us.                                                                   

Read it All

If you have not yet done so, I would recommend your next step to be a complete reading of Romans. Oral, preferably. There is a boon of blessings to be found, though this is only “some spiritual grace” (Rom. 1:13,) and maintaining some of the critical points which should be believed are enticing to look forward to. I will cite a few, as our brother Dean Hough has done at this point in his study, for you to gain an idea of where our justification is going. I will not try to “explain” any of these verses, for they are plain and direct. Simply see them for what they say. Perhaps conduct a word study on those words which you do not know.

Rom. 3:24–

Being justified gratuitously in [God’s] grace, through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus… where, then, is boasting?

Rom. 5:6–

For Christ, while we are still infirm, still in accord with the era, for the sake of the irreverent, died.

Rom. 5:8-10–

God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes. Much rather, then, being now justified in His blood, we shall be saved from indignation, through Him.

For if, being enemies, we were conciliated to God through the death of His Son, much rather, being conciliated, we shall be saved in His life.

Rom. 5:19–

Consequently, then, as it was through one offense for all mankind for condemnation, thus also it is through one just award for all mankind for life’s justifying.

For even as, through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners, thus also, through the obedience of the One, the many shall be constituted just.

Rom. 8:31-32–

What, then, shall we declare to these things? If God is for us, Who is against us? Surely, He Who spares not His own Son, but gives Him up for us all, how shall He not, together with Him, also be graciously granting us all?

These are all layers concerning the same evangel: Christ’s death, entombment, and rousing, to the relief of both God and creation. Each verse reveals another aspect of that faith which Jesus Christ held in dying for us. Without His accomplishment, the very premise for our faith, and thus, the faith of the ecclesia, would not exist. We can only perceive God’s just qualities, as a Justifier, in light of the faith of Jesus (Rom. 3:26.) Through Him, we are given a distinct expectation, and distinct glories (Rom. 5:2,) which were previously never unfolded to the Jews – glories which only the Lord has, and gains, through your calling.

This places us in a very unique position, to exercise our faith practically, just as one may exercise in a gym. Each verse is a new set, each clause another rep. We must not only gain knowledge, but understand the information we are digesting, in order to handle the larger weights, and move on to more complex exercises (found in Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.) Not only Romans, but also 1 & 2 Corinthians, and Galatians will educate us concerning Jesus Christ’s faith (and, in turn, our own faith.) As we account these things as true, so also our faith grows into the depths of spiritual grace, and we begin to realize the manifold layers of truth sweeping across every page.

Human? Believing? Inconceivable!!

You may begin, then, to see the miraculous nature of our belief. We are believing a new topic, known to only a few, which brings an unparalleled grace and peace to our lives. Many believe many different things, from existentialism, to Platonism, to nihilism, and more “-isms.” Many claim to believe God, yet pervert His words as a means to excuse themselves from judgment or indignation. Some adulterate His word into a self-help guide. But the object of our faith – this special evangel, which would actually provide one a justification to righteousness – is so unique, so unprecedented, that belief in it could surely come from no other place except God!

This faith is unlike any other. Since this faith, for example, recognizes the basic meaning of death, as we discussed back in Rom. 1:32, we must conclude that it also recognizes the basic meaning of life (a topic we will reserve for Romans 5 and 6.) Since it recognizes the weakness of man to its grandest extent, it should also recognize the power of God to its greatest extent (Rom. 1:16, Eph. 1:19.)

Most of all, since “our” faith is, in truth, a measure of Jesus Christ’s faith (Rom. 3:22, 12:3,) its object duly concerns us with that which concerns Christ Himself. What a gift! To become invested in the same meditations as the Image of the God of the universe!

To boot, this faith imbibes us with Jesus’ same joy and peace, and indeed all of the fruits which come with His humble disposition (Gal. 5:23… and, speaking of which, we are also becoming joined to Christ’s humble disposition!! Phil. 2:3-11, 3:3-12!) Thus this faith even brings with it the practical disposition which will equip us for any intelligible endeavor (and even some of the unintelligible ones, I hear!)

This is because, with this faith, one is provided purpose, depth, meaning, and weight to good deeds, which are otherwise unclear and uncertain among pagan philosophy. All other frameworks, whether ethical, or religious, or scientific, are centered around discovering the now, setting the focus upon you – the you that serves as an unsatisfying premise for lasting quality (1:18-3:20.) These moral relativisms and religious offerings/submissions are toward dying flesh. The more you are entertained or distracted with them, the less room there is for actual growth in a genuine faith, in truth, and true esteem toward the One Who really deserves it.

Indeed, the beauty is in its simplicity. I ramble on, yet Paul is clear, brief, and exact. This faith is God’s means of blessing – and faith itself is a blessing! We dare, then, to go on believing God, to deepen our understanding of the spiritual matters which foil our senses, becoming intimately acquainted with Him. This prologue of Christ’s faith begins this deep bond with our Creator, as He deems it fit to establish faith in us. What kind of God does such a thing? And what does He wish to teach us through this dynamic? And how does this justify the whole of human suffering?

Questions… in Peace

Yes, yes, questions, questions. There are many to ask, and many to answer. Yet the answers begin on this premise, if we wish to grasp His just perspective on any given matter. Abraham believes God, and it is reckoned to him for righteousness. He was chosen for the role of progenitor of many nations; he did not earn such a position. Joseph was appointed at the right hand of Pharoah, through an enigmatic ability to explain dreams. Though he had been sold into slavery, his appointment became the very means whereby God would save those who sold him. And, the later Pharoah attempted infanticide, only to find that the Hebrews had exponentially increased in number.

Time and time again, our actions are inevitably subject to a larger story, a bigger picture, a grander tapestry woven around us. “A single thread in a tapestry, though its color brightly shine, can never see its purpose in the pattern of the grand design.” We play our roles, but we cannot dictate the end of the plot. Such a job is for the Director, Who is just and a Justifier of His characters, through His script, and His Self-Insert. God has displayed how He is subverting and confounding the will of men, whose hearts and desires are bent, decaying in corruption. And He is displaying, through those believing, how His subversion is for the welfare of the corrupt, to reproach their will (2:5-10,) justify them (5:18-19,) make their hearts new (6:3-11,) and reconcile their desires into righteousness (Col. 1:20.)

Evidence – your belief – is the second step of this journey. Its existence does not refute its premise, but enforces it: faith is a blessing, and the object of this faith is only given because Jesus Christ, the object of God’s evangel, manifests the righteousness of God through His perfect faith. God, in turn, knows the ending from the beginning. He has planned for Jesus Christ. This is not even “Plan A,” as if there could be a “Plan B.” This is simply The Plan, and there is no alternative.

We have a new joy and peace which wins our hearts through this. Questions will be answered, yes – there is time for that. Yet answers are not required for the impact this premise already has upon us! Joy and peace are fruits which, once tasted, appreciate in value to its recipient. To look upon man’s day, this present age, with joy and peace, are to look at death with the expectation of life. As we believe God, His plans with this world and all who reside within it are unfolded to us. Our blessedness increases as we are conformed in spirit to the wisdom in His word, which will mold us right into that expectation which He has planned for us (8:14-25.)

Believing, sinners become saints. We see the truth; that all is working for God’s intended goal, and He has already made great strides in uprooting the lord which the corrupt worship to this day. There is no end to this blessedness, in belief of God. Trust is the foundation of any healthy and fruitful relationship. It takes on its most important role in regards to God and the sinner. Not only must the sinner learn that God has everyone’s best interests in mind, but the sinner will learn that God has everyone’s best interests in mind. Whether this occurs now, through faith, or later, through empirical evidence, is up to God.

Nevertheless, Jesus Christ’s faith has ensured that the growth of all sinners is not a possibility, but an inevitability. All will grow, and all will come to recognize the facts Paul presents here. When all are proclaiming belief (Phil. 2:10,) then will God’s high exaltation of His Son be complete. In turn, God will have succeeded in educating all creation as to righteousness, in grace, and peace.

- GerudoKing