"Grace first contrived the way
To save rebellious man;
And all the steps that Grace display
Which drew the wondrous plan.
"Grace taught my roving feet
To tread the heavenly road;
And new supplies each hour I meet,
While pressing on to God.
"Grace all the work shall crown
Through everlasting days;
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise."
CHAPTER XXI.
JUSTIFICATION.
Among all the doctrines of our holy Christian faith, the doctrine of Justification by Faith alone, stands most prominent. Luther calls it: "The doctrine of a standing or a falling church," i.e., as a church holds fast and appropriates this doctrine she remains pure and firm, and as she departs from it, she becomes corrupt and falls. This doctrine was the turning point of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It was the experience of its necessity and efficacy that made Luther what he was, and equipped him for a Reformer. Naturally, therefore, it occupies the chief place in all our Confessions, and is prominent in all the history of our Church.
In these chapters on the "Way of Salvation," it has been implied throughout. There is indeed no doctrine of salvation that is not more or less connected with or dependent on this one.
Some time ago we noticed a statement of a certain bishop in a large Protestant Church, declaring that "not Justification, but the Divinity of Christ, is the great fundamental doctrine that conditions the standing
or falling of a church." At first sight this seems plausible. But when we come to reflect, we cannot but see that the true doctrine concerning the Person of Christ is not only implied, but embraced in the doctrine of Justification by Faith. A man might be sound on the Divinity of Christ, and yet not know aright the Way of Salvation. But a man cannot be sound on Justification without being sound, not only on the Person of Christ, but also on His work and the Way of Salvation through Him.
So much has been written and preached in our Church on this subject, that it is not necessary for us to enter upon a full discussion here. We will endeavor, therefore, merely in outline, to call attention to a few of its most prominent and practical features.
We inquire briefly into its meaning and nature. Justification is an act of God, by which He accounts or adjudges a person righteous in His sight. It is not a change in the person's nature, but it is a change in his standing in the sight of God. Before justification he stands in the sight of God, guilty and condemned. Through justification, he stands before God free from guilt and condemnation; he is acquitted, released, regarded and treated as if he had never been guilty or condemned. The justified person stands in the sight of God, as if he really had never committed a sin and
were perfectly innocent. Thus it is clear that justification treats of and has regard to the sinner's relation to God. It has nothing to do with his change of nature. It is of the utmost importance that this be kept constantly in mind. It is by applying justification to the change in the sinner's nature that so many become confused, and fall into grievous and dangerous errors.