4 Justification by Faith – Discussion Starters
- The deeds of the law I. Romans 3:28 rings out a clear message that both challenges and energizes us as Christians. What is that message? How did the Protestant Reformation relate to this verse? Has the church based in Rome changed its position on how we are saved? If not, why not? If we are not justified by what we do (our works), are we accepted into heaven with our sinful nature intact? What is the good news about how Jesus can take us to live with Him in heaven through eternity?
- The deeds of the law II. “By the deeds of the law,” Paul says, no human being will be justified. What does Paul include in “the law”? Your lesson s
ays, “the law can no more save us than the symptoms of the disease can cure the disease.” If we are not saved by obeying the law of God, what, then, does the Law of God do for us? Have you ever been tempted to look to the law as the “ladder” to reach perfection? Instead of that, what function does the law play for the striving Christian? - The righteousness of God. Does Paul seem to you to be talking in circles when he says that the righteousness of God without the law is revealed by the law of God and His prophets? What is the difference between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of the law? Or are they the same? Can the sinner obtain righteousness by obeying the law? Why or why not? As sinners, what do we need to do to be treated by God as if we are sinless and as worthy of His love as is His Son?
- By His grace. In Romans 3:24 Paul says we are justified by God’s grace. How does this justification change the person who asks God for salvation? How can Christ consider us, His struggling fallen sinners scrambling for safety from evil, as His very own children? What is the Christian’s only claim that qualifies him or her for God’s rescue? What does Paul mean when he says we are “justified by faith”? Is being justified by faith a gradual process or can it happen all at once? Discuss.
- The righteousness of Christ. We don’t often use the word “propitiation” in conversation, even on religious subjects. What is the meaning of this word as used in Romans 3:25? Another word we seldom use in talking about life in Christ is the word, “remission.” What is the basic meaning of that word? What does remission do for us in our search for salvation? Your lesson author states that it is likely that Satan was sure God would simply wipe out the earth when sin entered, but instead He launched a rescue mission involving the death of His Son Jesus. Why didn’t God follow that method for dealing with Satan’s rebellion?
- Without the deeds of the law. The verse Romans 3:38 has been used by some to “prove” that since the law can’t save us, there is no use even trying to keep it. Such reasoning can lead to the outright scorn of people like us Seventh-day Adventists who teach and preach that the law of God must be obeyed. What is your position regarding the role of God’s law in our salvation? And in our eternal life?
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Justification is a forensic declaration that the christian is righteous rather than the process he is made righteous.
What I don't understand is "justification by faith" and not by "Works". justification by faith is something that Paul promoted, while Jesus in the parable of the sheep and goats in Mathew contradicts the whole notion of "justification by faith" and that he clearly says that the "goats (on my left)" will not enter my kingdom without "works", ie, clothing the naked, feeding poor, visiting those in prison, while Paul sees it as an act of egotism in Ephesians 2:8-9 - 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast." What this does, in my opinion, makes prayer and church more important than our selfless acts to help our fellow humans that will improve us, while the abstract nature of prayer and church makes excuses of our neglect of mankind. So we can utter useless statements like I will pray for you as if you have any power to help them in this sense because James says 1) My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. (not that I am against Church and prayer to strength your mission to serve the needs of mankind and ultimately yourself. Why do we take such stock in Paul, when he did not witness Jesus. We are to believe him because he says he experienced Jesus in his "Vision", while ignoring the opportunity to witness Jesus while he was still alive. So when you quote scripture to justify your responses, you should not quote Paul or any of his followers and stick to the gospels of those that witnessed Jesus like in Mathew and also James (14) What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15) If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16) and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. which seems to be in the same vain as Mathew; however since, I am not well versed in the Bible, I cannot say much more. It seems like Paul changed Jesus's mission. It is not surprising to see many Evangelicals miss the entire point of Jesus's mission to condemn others for their weakness to the point that we have people in the south burning crosses on black peoples lawn and burning churches wondering what on earth are they reading and who is telling them this nonsense.
We are justified by faith, but according to Paul in Galatians 5:6, faith works. However it doesn't work by egotism. It works by love.