God's Salvation (5)

[Romans 8:29-30]

Let’s look at Romans 8:29-30: “For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified.”

Today, we want to reflect on the fourth stage of salvation, which is how God saves those whom He has justified [“he justified” (v. 30)]. This is the question 33 from the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “What is justification?” The answer is: “Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”

Justification is an act of God's free grace. A good example of this is that salvation is an act of grace that God gives us freely. Let’s look at Ephesians 2:5: “Even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” The forgiveness of all our sins is also an act of God’s free grace. We are all sinners, and we all have sin. Look at Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

The fact that God accepts us as righteous in His sight is also an act of God’s free grace. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed (credited) to us, and that is why we are justified. This is received only by faith in Jesus Christ (only by faith).

In Christianity, there are three types of "imputation":

1. The Imputation of Adam's Sin:
   The Westminster Confession of Faith (6:3) says: "Since they were the origin of all humanity, the guilt of their sin was imputed to all their descendants, and through the process of natural birth, the same death caused by sin and the corrupt nature were transmitted to all mankind."
   When the first Adam sinned by disobeying God's command in the covenant, that sin was imputed to all of us. Let’s look at Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and through sin, death entered the world. All men sinned, and death came to all men.

Thus, the original sin of the first Adam was imputed to all people. Therefore, all have been contaminated and corrupted by sin (total depravity). Let’s look at Psalm 51:5 in the Modern Bible: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

(2) God imputed all our sins to Jesus Christ, who was sinless.

Let’s look at Isaiah 53:6: “… the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” The phrase “laid on him” here means ‘imputed to him’. In other words, God imputed all our sins to the sinless Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at 1 Peter 2:24: “Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, bore all our sins and died on the cross. The purpose of this was that we might live for righteousness.

Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” [(Modern Korean Bible) “God made Christ, who knew no sin, to take our sins upon Himself, so that we might be recognized as righteous before God in Christ.”]
The purpose of making Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, “to be sin for us” is “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” God the Father transferred (imputed) all our sins to Jesus Christ, allowing Him to die on the cross in our place.

Let’s look at Romans 4:25: “Who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

(3) Imputation of the righteousness of Christ:

Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 11, Section 1): “God effectively calls those whom He has chosen, and justifies them freely. This does not mean He infuses righteousness into them, but that He forgives their sins and considers their persons righteous before Him. This is not due to any effort within them or any works they have done, but solely because of Christ. Furthermore, He does not impute the act of faith itself, or any other form of gospel obedience to them as righteousness, but imputes to them the obedience and satisfaction of Christ. They are able to receive and rely on Christ and His righteousness by faith. This faith does not come from themselves, but is a gift of God.”

Let’s look at Romans 3:21-22: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference.” [(Modern Korean Bible) “But now, apart from the law, the way to be recognized as righteous before God has been opened. This has been testified to by the law and the prophets. Anyone who believes in Jesus Christ is recognized as righteous before God, without distinction.”]

Let’s look at Galatians 2:16: “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”
One cannot be justified by the works of the law. Only by faith in Jesus Christ can one be justified. Jesus Christ obeyed God’s will (His Word) all the way to His death on the cross.

By God's grace, we who believe in Jesus Christ have the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and therefore, we are justified before God.

Let’s look at Romans 5:18: “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.” [(Modern Korean Bible) “So just as one man’s offense brought the judgment of sin to all, one man’s righteous action has made all people recognized as righteous, resulting in the gift of life.”]

In Romans 8:30, the phrase “declared righteous” is a legal term. God, as the judge, examines (or scrutinizes) the actions of Jesus Christ, who, in obedience to God's will (Word), took upon Himself all our sins and, up to His death on the cross, obeyed perfectly. God then declares us “innocent,” which is referred to as "justification." Look at Romans 8:1: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Here, “condemnation” is the opposite of “justification.” Because Christ transfers His righteousness to us (imputes it), God declares us righteous and considers us as righteous.

By being declared righteous in this way, God adopts us as His “children.” Look at the order of salvation: (1) Calling, (2) Regeneration, (3) Repentance, (4) Faith, (5) Justification, (6) Adoption, (7) Sanctification, (8) Perseverance, (9) Glorification.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 34: “What is adoption?”
Answer: “Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number of the children of God, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.”

Look at 1 John 3:1: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” [(Modern Translation) “Think about the great love God the Father has given us. With that great love, we have become children of God. However, the world does not recognize us because they do not know the Father.”] Because of the great love God the Father has given us, we have been included in the number of His children.

Look at John 1:12: “But to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” [(Modern Translation) “But to those who received Him and believed in Him, He gave the privilege of becoming children of God.”] The privilege of being God's children is that we can come before God and call Him “Abba Father” (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6).

Look at Romans 8:17 (Modern Translation): “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ...” God the Father, through His only Son Jesus Christ, has made us “heirs with many brothers” (v. 29). Jesus Christ, as our older brother, is not ashamed to call us “brothers.”

Look at Hebrews 2:11 (Modern Translation): “Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” We are all part of God's family. Having been adopted as children of God, Jesus is our elder brother, and we are His younger brothers. He is not ashamed to call us “brothers.” This adoption is a free gift from God and is eternal.

Since God’s adoption of us is eternal, it cannot be revoked or taken away by anyone. Look at John 10:29: “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” Thus, God’s salvation is secure, and we can have assurance of our salvation.

Since our salvation is accomplished by God, we can have full assurance of our salvation. We must stand firm in our faith, resisting all the temptations of Satan who tries to cause us to doubt our assurance of salvation and to lead us into unbelief. We must fight against all such temptations and gain the victory.