Proclaimer Blog
Why justification by faith alone really matters
I've been thinking recently about Romans. That's mainly because we're preaching through it at church and I've been given some real plums (Romans 3.21-28 and Romans 5.1-11). What a joy to study these wonderful passages again. But it also means that I've been sitting under other people's ministry, from which I've benefitted enormously. This time around I've been really struck by the many and varied applications that Paul hitches to the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Some of them are obvious (Rom 5.1 and Rom 8.1 are two great examples). But there are others too, less obvious perhaps but no less valid for it. For example the thrust of his argument in chapter 4 is one of the great missions passages in the Bible. It's funny really, that even in such dense theological argument (as many people see it), there are rich seams of application just there for the preaching.
But it's closer to home even than that. Here is a doctrine to be cherished in my own heart. No wonder the Reformers were delighted to see it, preach it, live it, die for it. It stands at the heart of the Christian faith and has enormous implications. But wonderfully, because of the finished work of Jesus, we will never be more justified before our righteous God than we are right at this moment. Isn't that an incredible truth? I'm praying through it this week, using Romans, and asking God to let it inform my life and my preaching.