Latest / Reformed Thinking / Justification by Faith Alone (Romans 4:5) | Jonathan Edwards

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Justification by Faith Alone (Romans 4:5) | Jonathan Edwards · Reformed Thinking

0:00
You know, usually when we talk about a legal verdict, there is
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this, this expectation of absolute precision.
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Oh, absolutely. You stand before a judge, the
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evidence is presented, the Ledger is tallied up and the
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magistrate points to the law and says there is the objective
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truth. It is, it is binary.
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You know, you are either guilty or you are innocent.
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It is clean. And well, we like it that way.
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We like the scales of justice to be visible, predictable and
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fair. Yeah, we really do.
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If a judge looks a person who has committed blatant,
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undeniable crimes and just bangs the gavel and says I declare you
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a completely righteous, upstanding citizen, we would be
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outraged. We would call that judge corrupt
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for sure. Exactly.
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Wait, I mean spot on. But then you step into the world
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of theology, specifically the courtroom of an infinitely holy
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God, and suddenly those earthly scales seem totally upended.
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They really do. We are looking at a legal and
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spiritual landscape that feels, at first glance, like a massive
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contradiction. So welcome to Reformed thinking.
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Today we are undertaking A comprehensive deep dive into the
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source material that defines the absolute core of the Christian
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faith. It is great to be here for this
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one. Yeah, we are looking at a 1734
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discourse by Jonathan Edwards on Romans 4.5, which is
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justification by faith alone. And before we get going, I just
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want to lay out the format for you, the listener.
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Good idea to give these dense theological concepts the
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breathing room they require. We have a strict rule today.
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Both of us will allow each other to finish our complete thoughts
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without stepping on one another's sentences.
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Yes, no interrupting the flow today.
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Right. So to kick things off, that
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concept we just mentioned, a judge calling a guilty person
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innocent, is kind of the central tension of the Christian faith,
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isn't it it? Really is the central tension.
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Romans 4.5 literally talks about a God who justifies the ungodly.
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Which is a wild phrase. From a purely human legal
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standpoint, that phrase is scandalous.
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How can a perfectly holy God declare ungodly people to be
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righteous without compromising his own justice?
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Yeah, How does he do that? Well, if God is good, he must
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punish evil. If he simply waves away evil, he
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ceases to be a good judge. Right, which makes this so much
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more than just a dusty theological debate.
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This is about the fundamental mechanics of how you as a human
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being stand before your Creator. Yes, and the logic Jonathan
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Edwards uses to answer this question is just staggering.
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I'm so eager to get into this text today because Edwards
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breaks down the math of sin, the nature of faith, and the
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mechanics of grace in a way that just shatters all our default
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assumptions. And to frame the historical
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context of what we are examining today, we have to recognize that
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Jonathan Edwards was not simply delivering abstract philosophy
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back in 1734. He was a pastor, right?
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Yeah, he was preaching to a real congregation in Northampton, MA,
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right on the precipice of what would become the Great
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Awakening. Wow, so this was live boots on
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the ground preaching. Exactly.
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Edwards recognized that human nature constantly defaults to a
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system of earning. We want to bring our own
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currency to the transaction. We always want to pay our own
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way. Even when we talk about grace,
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we secretly want to add a little bit of our own effort to the
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mix. What Edwards does in this
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discourse is systematically dismantle any framework that
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allows human beings to claim even a fraction of credit for
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their salvation. He really takes a sledgehammer
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to human bride. He uses piercing logic and
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intense scriptural analysis to show that God's justice and
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God's grace meet in only one place, and that is the person of
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Christ. And he aligns perfectly with the
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Westminster Confession here, right?
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Absolutely. For you listening who might not
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be familiar with that term, the Westminster Confession is
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essentially this massive, incredibly detailed document
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drawn up in the 1640s that acts as the theological baseline for
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Reformed churches. It is the standard.
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Yeah, it lays out point by point what the Bible teaches on these
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massive subjects. Edwards is taking those
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principles and defending them against some very subtle, very
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persuasive counter arguments that were popping up in his day.
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Spot on. He is is defending the absolute
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purity of the gospel. So to ensure we give these ideas
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the space they demand, we are going to walk through his
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arguments step by step, testing the logic as we go.
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So let us unpack this. Before we can analyze how we are
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justified, we have to agree on what the word actually means.
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Definitions are key here. Yeah, Edward spends a massive
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amount of time upfront defining his terms.
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If we get the definition of justification wrong, the whole
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system collapses. It really does.
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I was looking over your notes on this earlier and it made me
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think of a financial scenario. It is kind of like being deeply
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in debt to a bank. OK, let's hear it.
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Imagine I owe a billion dollars to a bank.
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I am completely bankrupt, my business has failed and I have 0
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assets. Terrible situation, Very
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terrible. Now if the.
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Bank president decides to unilaterally forgive my debt.
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My account is brought to zero. I am no longer in debt, which is
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a massive relief, but I am still completely broke.
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Right, you have no money. I cannot buy a house.
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I cannot buy a loaf of bread. Edwards argues that biblical
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justification is far more than just hitting zero.
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Is that right? That analogy captures the
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tension perfectly. Justification in the biblical
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sense that Edwards outlines is twofold.
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It is both a negative and a positive action.
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OK, twofold. Yes, the negative aspect is the
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forgiveness of the debt, the wiping away of the billion
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dollar deficit that frees you from the penalty of the law.
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You are no longer going to the debtors prison.
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Which is great news. But if God stopped there, as you
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pointed out, you would simply be in a state of neutrality.
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You would be back to a 0 balance.
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You have no debt, but you also have no positive title to
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eternal life. You are not wealthy, Edwards
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explains. The true justification also
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includes a positive imputation of righteousness.
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It is as if the bank president not only clears the billion
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dollar debt, but then turns around and deposits $10 billion
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of his own money into your account.
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Oh wow, that is a massive distinction.
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Being not guilty is not the same thing as being righteous.
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Precisely, and Edwards uses the contrast between the first Adam
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and Christ the second Adam to make this clear.
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OK, walk us through that. Let's think about the Garden of
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Eden, when God created Adam. Adam was innocent, He had a 0
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balance. He had no sin.
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He was perfectly neutral. Exactly.
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But he was placed under a covenant, often called the
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Covenant of Works. If Adam had obeyed perfectly in
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the Garden of Eden, he would have earned a positive reward of
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eternal confirmed happiness. So.
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He had to earn it. He was not going to be rewarded
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simply for being innocent or not guilty.
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He was going to be rewarded for active positive obedience.
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When Adam failed, humanity lost that zero balance and inherited
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an infinite debt. So Adam was supposed to take the
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account from zero to a positive balance, but instead he drove it
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into massive negative number. Right.
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So Christ, acting as our representative, steps in and
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accomplishes both necessity. It's negative and the positive.
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He absorbs the penalty to clear the negative debt, and he lives
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a life of perfect obedience to secure the infinite positive
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funds required for heaven. That distinction between the
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negative clearing of debt and the positive deposit of
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righteousness completely changes how we view salvation.
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It is not just about avoiding hell, it is about being granted
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the absolute right to heaven. It is a total shift in
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perspective. But this leads directly to a
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crucial question for you, the listener.
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How does faith operate in this transaction?
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That is the big question. If the sons are entirely
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provided by Christ, what is our role?
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Edwards forcefully rejects the idea that faith is a condition
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in the sense of a moral virtue that earns the reward.
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I find this fascinating because it is so easy to turn faith
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itself into a work. It is the most common default of
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the human heart, honestly. It really is.
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We start thinking, well, I know I cannot earn heaven by giving
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to charity or being a nice neighbor, but I can earn it by
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generating enough sincere faith. Look at how hard what I am
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believing. Like belief is the new currency,
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Yeah. We treat faith like it is the
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currency, but Edward says no. I'm looking at Edward's notes
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here on moral versus natural fitness, and honestly, it took
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me a few reads to grasp. It is a dense concept.
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He is basically saying God does not look at our faith and think,
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wow, what a great thing you just did, right?
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Can you unpack that natural versus moral fitness idea?
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Let us break that down, because it is arguably the most vital
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distinction Edwards makes in the entire discourse.
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OK, I am listening. A person has a moral fitness for
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a reward when their actions or their character are so
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inherently excellent that the reward is a suitable testimony
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to their goodness. OK, give me an everyday example
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of moral fitness. If you work 40 hours for an
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employer, you have a moral fitness to receive your
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paycheck. The paycheck is a reward for
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your valuable labor. Makes sense?
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Your effort possessed an inherent value that obligated
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the employer to pay you. Or if a soldier jumps on a
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grenade to save his platoon, he has a moral fitness to receive a
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Medal of Honor. The metal acknowledges the
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inherent staggering value of his sacrifice.
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That makes perfect sense. The reward matches the moral
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weight of the action. Precisely.
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But Edwards insists that faith does not possess this kind of
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moral fitness before God. God does not look at your act of
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believing and say that faith is so lovely, so inherently
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valuable, that I will reward it with eternal life.
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Because then faith is just a work.
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If God did that, faith would just be a new version of the
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covenant of works. We would just be trading the
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currency of perfect behavior for the currency of really strong
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belief. Wow, yeah.
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Instead, Edwards argues that faith operates by natural
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fitness. Natural fitness meaning what
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exactly? Natural fitness means it is
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simply appropriate that two things go together because of
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their inherent nature, not because 1 is a moral payment for
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the other. OK, I think I need an analogy
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for this one. Edwards uses a beautiful
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marriage analogy here to illustrate this.
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Imagine a completely destitute woman.
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She has no money, no status, nothing.
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OK, now imagine she marries A tremendously wealthy king.
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She does not receive a share of the King's wealth as a moral
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reward for the good work of saying I do at the altar.
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Her saying I do is not a currency she uses to purchase
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his estate. Right.
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The words I do do not have a monetary value of $50 million.
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Exactly. Saying I do is simply the
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uniting act. It is the act of yielding and
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joining of herself to him. Once that union occurs, she
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legally shares in his benefits. Because they are one entity now.
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The wealth becomes hers, not because she bought it, but
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because she is now united to the one who owns it.
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In the same way, faith is the soul's active, uniting to
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Christ. That is a stunning picture.
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God is a God of order. His love of order dictates that
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we must be united to Christ to share in His benefits.
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Faith is the unition. It is the empty hands receiving
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the gift, not the money buying the gift.
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The marriage analogy clarifies that so beautifully.
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The woman is entirely destitute and her consent is simply the
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mechanism of union, not the price of admission.
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Right. If I can add a modern spin to
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it, it is like being named the beneficiary of a massive life
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insurance policy. Your only action is depositing
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the check. That works really well.
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The act of depositing the check did not create the millions of
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dollars. It just received what was
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already purchased by someone else.
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That is a great way to look at it.
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The deposit is the natural fitness.
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It is the mechanism of receiving.
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But if faith is just the empty hand, it brings up a huge
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question. Why are our hands completely
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empty? People don't like to hear that
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their hands are empty. No, they don't.
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Why can we not bring just a little bit of our own goodness
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to the table? I mean, most people consider
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themselves generally decent. We might not be perfect, but
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surely we have some moral currency, right?
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That is the natural human assumption.
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Why can we not bring just a few coins of our own to the
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marriage? Edwards answers this by looking
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at the sheer math of what a sin actually is.
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And this brings up a common modern objection, one that
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Edwards was entirely familiar with in his own day.
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The idea of a graded curve. Yes, so many people today feel
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that God is grading on a curve. The idea is that the old law,
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the strict requirement for absolute perfection, was simply
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too hard for fallen humans. It.
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Was an impossible standard. Right.
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So under the new gospel arrangement, the thought is that
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God just accepts our sincere but imperfect obedience.
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It is as if the standard has been lowered to accommodate our
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weakness. As long as you try your best,
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God will grade you on a curve and let you in.
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Edwards attacks this concept relentlessly, doesn't he?
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And he does it by applying A terrifyingly precise
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mathematical logic to the nature of sin.
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He starts by defining what sin actually is.
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OK, let's look at the math. Sin is a violation of an
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obligation. The heinousness or the evil of a
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violation is always measured by the greatness of the obligation
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that is broken. Give me an example of how that
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obligation scales up. Think about it in a legal or
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social context. If you walk down the street and
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ignore a stranger who asks for the time, it might be rude but
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is not a crime. The obligation is very low.
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If you ignore a police officer who orders you to stop your car,
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that is a crime. The obligation to obey the law
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is higher. That makes sense.
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If a soldier in a war zone ignores a direct order from a
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commanding general, that is treason.
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The obligation is paramount, so the violation is severe.
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The action ignoring someone is the same in all three cases, but
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the weight of the offense changes based on who you were
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offending. OK.
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So the target of the offense dictates the severity of the
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offense. Now follow Edward's logic here.
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Because God is a being of infinite excellence, infinite
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majesty, and infinite worth, our obligation to love, honor, and
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obey Him is infinite. We owe Him everything,
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everything. Therefore, any violation that
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infinite obligation is an infinite evil.
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It carries infinite weight. Edwards uses an unforgettable
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analogy of a cylinder to explain this.
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Oh, the cylinder analogy. This one is mind bending.
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Let's walk through. It it really is.
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Imagine a solid cylinder that extends infinitely in One
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Direction. Let us say it goes on forever in
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this space. It is infinitely long.
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OK I have got the visual. However, you can still alter
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that cylinder in other dimensions.
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You can double its width or triple its volume.
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Sins are like that cylinder because they are committed
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against an infinite God. Every single fin shares that
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infinite length. They're all infinitely heinous
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in that one dimension. So all sins are infinite.
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Yet some sins can still be worse than others in different
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dimensions, like the width of the cylinder.
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A murder is whiter than a white lie, but both are infinitely
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long because both are rebellion against an infinite creator.
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That is staggering math. It is like trying to balance a
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scale against an infinitely heavyweight.
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That is the precise conclusion Edwards reaches.
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Because every Sinner carries an infinite weight of guilt, any
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small amount of inherent human goodness put on the other side
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of the scales is mathematically reduced to absolute 0.
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It just vanishes. If you place a finite number,
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even a very large finite number like a lifetime of charity work
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against Infinity, the finite number is functionally nothing.
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Therefore, a strict judge cannot look at your finite imperfect
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goodness and pretend it balances out an infinite offense.
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It completely shatters the idea that we can tip the scales with
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our good behavior. It is like trying to bail out
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the Titanic with a teaspoon. A very apartment comparison.
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You cannot tip an infinitely heavy scale with a feather of
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human sincerity, and this logic leads directly to how Edwards
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refutes what is called the Armenian New Law Theory.
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Wait, before we go further. For you, the listener who might
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not be familiar, what is the Armenian view in a nutshell?
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Arminianism is a theological framework that generally
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highlights human free will and the human role in choosing
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salvation, contrasting with the Reformed view of absolute divine
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sovereignty in the specific context Edwards is arguing
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against here, these opponents were promoting a new law theory.
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They argued that Christ died to abolish the strict, impossible
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lot of perfect obedience, and in its place he instituted a mild,
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softer law, a new law of sincere but imperfect obedience.
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They believe God accepts this imperfect effort as our
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righteousness. Right.
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It sounds very appealing and fair on the surface.
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Just do your best. But Edwards points out a massive
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logical absurdity in that theory, and it creates a huge
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irony for you, the listener, to consider.
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Let us walk through his logic. Please do.
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If God lowered the standard to imperfect obedience, then
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imperfections are no longer violations of the law.
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Because the law has been changed to accommodate them.
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Yes, if the speed limit is changed from 55 to 75, driving
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70 is no longer a violation. So if imperfections are no
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longer violations of the law, then they are not sins.
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Follow the logic all the way. And if they're not sins, then
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Christ did not need to die to satisfy the wrath of God for
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them. If God accepts imperfect
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obedience as the new just standard, he's essentially
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saying that it was unjust to require perfect obedience in the
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first place. That is the trap.
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And if requiring perfect obedience was unjust, then
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Christ's agonizing death on the cross to secure that standard
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was a complete cosmic mistake. It was totally unnecessary.
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Edwards proves that to lower the law is to render the cross
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meaningless. You cannot say Jesus suffered
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infinite wrath so that God could lower his standards.
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A holy God does not lower his standards, He meets them.
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You have articulated the precise theological trap that the new
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law theory falls into. If God could simply wave the
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rules or lower the bar, the crucifixion is reduced to a
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tragic, unnecessary spectacle. It becomes almost cruel.
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God could have just issued A decree from heaven saying I have
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decided to be less strict, but he did not.
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The cross proves the law could not be altered.
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Having proved through this mathematical and legal logic
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that human goodness cannot justify, Edwards then moves his
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deep dive directly into Scripture.
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Because he needs biblical backing for this.
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Yes. He specifically analyzes how the
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Apostle Paul handles this, confronting opponents who try to
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limit Paul's warnings about works.
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I see this objection all the time.
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Many scholars and theologians, both in Edward's time and today,
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attempt to soften Paul's language in the books of Romans
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and Galatians. And try to narrow the focus.
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Paul repeatedly says things like by the deeds of the law there
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shall no flesh be justified. The counter argument is that
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Paul was only speaking against the Jewish ceremonial law,
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things like circumcision, dietary restrictions, and
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festival days. Write the Levitical code.
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Yes, they argue, Paul was not excluding moral goodness or acts
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of charity from justification. They say Paul was just telling
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the early Christians you do not need to follow these outdated
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Jewish rituals anymore, just be good moral people.
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How does Edwards address this? He addresses it with a
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comprehensive biblical defense by looking closely at the
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context of Paul's arguments, Edwards says.
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Let us look at the actual text. When Paul concludes in Romans 3
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that no one is justified by the law, what is the evidence he
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uses to build that conclusion? What does he quote?
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Paul spends a whole chapter quoting the Old Testament to
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prove humanity's guilt. He says their throat is an open
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sepulchre, their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, and
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their feet are swift to shed blood.
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Cursing, deceit and murder. Precisely.
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Those are breaches of the moral law.
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They have absolutely nothing to do with whether someone was
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circumcised or ate shellfish or observed a new moon festival.
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Paul is indicting humanity for moral depravity.
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Wow, that is a huge distinction. Therefore, the law that condemns
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humanity and the law that cannot justify humanity is the moral
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law. That contextual proof is so
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clear once you look at the surrounding verses.
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If Paul is indicting people from murder and deceit, he is talking
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about the universal moral law written on human hearts, not the
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specific ceremony manual code given to Moses.
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Exactly. And Edwards goes further,
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highlighting Titus 3.5 where Paul explicitly writes not by
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works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his
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mercy he saved us. Edwards points out a devastating
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linguistic detail here. If Paul only meant ceremonial
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laws, phrasing it as works of righteousness makes absolutely
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no sense. Because the ceremonial laws were
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not inherently moral. Right.
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The Jewish people falsely assumed their ceremonial laws
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made them righteous, but those rituals were not inherently
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works of righteousness in the moral sense.
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Washing your hands in a specific way does not make you a morally
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good person. It's just a ritual.
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To say not by works of righteousness is a universal
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exclusion of all human goodness, any moral achievement we could
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possibly boast about. Edwards also brings up the
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example of King David in Psalm 32.
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This is one of his strongest scriptural proofs.
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Let us unpack that for everyone listening.
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David speaks of his justification of the blessedness
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of the man whose sin God covers and to whom God does not impute
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iniquity. Paul quotes this exact Psalm in
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Romans 4. Now think about David's life.
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A very complicated life. Very.
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David is speaking entirely apart from the ceremonial law.
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When David wrote Psalm 32, he was talking about grave moral
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failures. Adultery with Bathsheba and the
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murder of Uriah. Yes, the absolute worst breaches
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of the moral law. And here is the kicker.
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The ceremonial law had no sacrifices for intentional
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murder and adultery. Not at all.
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Under the Levitical code, the punishment for those crimes was
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death. There was no animal you could
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sacrifice to cover those specific sins.
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So when David praises God for a justification that covers his
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sins, he is talking about a justification that has zero
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connection to his own moral performance and 0 connection to
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the ceremonial law. He is totally throwing himself
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on God's mercy. He is relying entirely on the
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pure, unmerited grace of God to forgive moral atrocities.
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David's testimony is the perfect illustration of justification
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apart from the moral law. Because his moral law breaking
21:51
was so severe and so public, he had no moral currency left.
21:55
He was bankrupt spiritually. Bankrupt.
21:57
So if all our works, whether ceremonial or moral, are
22:01
completely excluded from the basis of our justification, we
22:04
arise at the next logical hurdle.
22:06
If the Ledger must be balanced and we have 0 positive currency
22:09
to offer, where does the righteousness come from?
22:11
Whose works are included? This leads directly to the
22:14
doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness.
22:16
Specifically, the glory of the Mediator.
22:19
We often hear the phrase that Christ died for our sins.
22:21
That is the center of the gospel message.
22:24
Yes. But Edward spends a vast amount
22:26
of time examining Christ's life, specifically his active
22:31
obedience. We need to distinguish clearly
22:34
between Christ's passive obedience and His active
22:37
obedience. OK, let us define those terms
22:40
for the listener, because that jargon can get confusing.
22:42
Passive obedience refers to Christ submitting to the penalty
22:46
of the law. It is His suffering and death on
22:49
the cross. It is called passive not because
22:52
He was inactive. He willingly laid down his life,
22:55
but because he was acting as the recipient or the patient,
22:58
absorbing the infinite wrath of God that our infinite sins
23:01
deserved. That makes sense.
23:03
This passive obedience clears the debt.
23:05
It pays the negative balance, but as we discussed earlier with
23:08
your bank analogy, clearing the debt only returns us to a blank
23:11
slate. Right.
23:12
It puts us back in Adam's position in the garden before
23:14
the fall. And we established that Adam
23:16
needed positive obedience to earn the reward.
23:19
To actually earn the reward of heaven, a perfect record of
23:22
positive obedience is required by a holy judge.
23:25
This is where Christ's active obedience comes in.
23:28
Oh, the active part. It is his perfect, moment by
23:31
moment fulfillment of the precepts of the Law throughout
23:33
his entire earthly life. I want to focus on why that
23:37
active obedience is just as crucial for you as Christ's
23:40
suffering on the cross. It is easy to look at the cross
23:43
and think that is where salvation happened, and it did.
23:45
It did, yes. But the 33 years leading up to
23:48
the cross were not just a waiting period.
23:51
Edwards details how Christ stood as our surety or representative
23:55
in an eternal transaction with the Father before the foundation
23:59
of the world. Theologians often call this the
24:01
Covenant of redemption, yes. Christ agreed to become a
24:04
servant, to place himself under the law that He himself
24:07
authored. Every breath he took on earth,
24:09
every moment He honored his earthly parents, every time he
24:12
resisted temptation in the wilderness, every act of
24:14
compassion, it was all an act of perfect submission to the moral
24:17
law. A.
24:18
Flawless record. And because he is a divine
24:20
person of infinite dignity, his act of obedience has infinite
24:24
value. It is the infinite positive
24:26
currency deposited into our account.
24:28
This is why imputation is a two way St.
24:31
Our infinite sin is imputed or credited to Christ on the cross.
24:36
He pays for it, and his infinite perfect obedience is imputed or
24:41
credited to us. To deny the imputation of
24:44
Christ's act of righteousness is to rob Christ of half his glory
24:48
as a Savior. Think about that.
24:51
He does not just buy us out of the prison of hell.
24:54
He actively purchases the eternal palace of heaven for us.
24:58
That is a beautiful way to phrase it.
24:59
If we only look at the cross, we see deliverance from punishment,
25:03
which is glorious. We are pardoned criminals.
25:06
But when we look at His perfectly lived life, we see the
25:10
purchase of our eternal inheritance.
25:11
We are adopted royalty. That phrasing, purchasing the
25:14
Eternal Palace, captures the majesty of what Christ
25:17
accomplished. We're not just standing outside
25:19
the prison gates with nowhere to go.
25:20
We have full rights to the Kingdom because our older
25:22
brother earned those rights for us.
25:24
It is an incredible thought. But this immense, staggering
25:27
grace brings up an inevitable question.
25:29
It is an objection that every single student of reformed
25:31
theology has to wrestle with at some point.
25:33
The. License to sin objection.
25:35
I know it well. Yes, if Christ did absolutely
25:38
everything, if he cleared the debt and purchased the palace,
25:42
and our works count for mathematically nothing in our
25:45
justification, what is the point of living a holy Christian life?
25:49
It sounds like a free pass. Does this doctrine of
25:51
justification by faith alone encourage reckless living?
25:56
If my behavior does not affect my legal standing before God,
25:59
why not sin so that grace may abound?
26:02
It is the most natural human question to ask when presented
26:05
with a gift this free. Edwards anticipates this, and
26:08
his answer is rooted in the very nature of what faith actually
26:11
is. To answer that, I want to
26:13
introduce a biological concept. OK, let's hear it.
26:16
Think of a living human body. If faith is the life of the
26:18
soul, the divine spark that animates the believer, then good
26:22
works are the heartbeat and the breathing.
26:24
I like where this is going. Think about it.
26:25
A heartbeat does not give a person life.
26:28
The heartbeat is the proof that the body is already alive.
26:30
You do not beat your heart in order to become alive.
26:33
That would be backwards. Right.
26:35
Breathing does not make you a living creature.
26:37
It is the natural, inevitable, automatic reflex of being a
26:40
living creature. Edwards argues that true saving
26:44
faith is an active living principle.
26:46
It is not a dead intellectual agreement with historical facts.
26:50
If you truly possess this uniting faith that joins you to
26:53
Christ, it will invariably produce a pulse.
26:56
It can't help but produce a pulse.
26:57
Yes, it will produce the breath of good works, your charity,
27:01
your patience, your fight against personal sin.
27:04
They do not give you your justified life.
27:06
They do not add a single penny to your legal justification, but
27:10
they prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the life of Christ is
27:13
actually inside you. If there is no breath, there is
27:16
no life. If there are no works, there is
27:18
no saving faith. That living body metaphor
27:21
perfectly illustrates Edwards view on the perseverance of
27:24
faith. Edwards teaches that
27:25
justification happens instantaneously at the very
27:27
first act of true faith. The moment you believe.
27:30
The moment a Sinner genuinely trusts in Christ, the gavel
27:34
falls, the dead is cleared, and the righteousness is imputed.
27:38
It is a done deal. However, God, in declaring that
27:42
justification, has respect to the persevering nature of that
27:46
faith. God sees the end from the
27:48
beginning. Yes, he knows that true faith,
27:50
the kind that unites a soul to Christ, is not a fleeting
27:53
emotion. It is a permanent, living
27:55
connection. God justifies based on that
27:58
first act, knowing it contains within it the seed of a lifetime
28:02
of perseverance. And this brings us to a really
28:04
fascinating subtopic, Heavenly Rewards.
28:07
Oh, this is where the nuance gets really fascinating, because
28:09
the Bible clearly promises rewards for good deeds, right?
28:13
It does all over the place. Jesus says that even giving a
28:15
cup of cold water in his name will not lose its reward.
28:18
Paul talks about running a race to win a prize.
28:20
So how does that work? How does this fit into a system
28:22
where our works are mathematically 0 in
28:24
justification? If my works are 0, how can they
28:26
be rewarded? It seems like a contradiction
28:28
honestly. Edwards explains that God
28:31
accepts our good works only because we are already in
28:34
Christ. Outside of Christ, our best
28:37
deeds are polluted by selfish motives, pride, and sin.
28:41
The prophet Isaiah says our righteous deeds are like filthy
28:43
rags. They are tainted.
28:45
They are offensive to a holy God because they are tainted by our
28:48
rebellion. But in Christ our deeds are
28:51
washed in his blood, the imperfections of our works are
28:54
forgiven, and the sincere love behind them is accepted.
28:57
They become fragrant and acceptable not as payment for
28:59
justification, but as offerings from a beloved child.
29:03
The idea that our works are only accepted through Christ
29:06
completely changes how we view our daily actions.
29:09
Even our good deeds need a savior.
29:11
They really do. And Edwards has a brilliant way
29:13
of explaining how these accepted works relate to our eternal
29:16
state. He uses an analogy of vessels to
29:19
explain heavenly rewards. The vessel analogy is brilliant.
29:22
Let's talk about that. Imagine every justified believer
29:25
as a vessel, like a cup, a bowl, or a jar thrown into the
29:29
infinite ocean of God's joy in heaven.
29:32
Christ's perfect righteousness guarantees that every single
29:35
vessel is completely submerged and filled to the absolute brim
29:38
with perfect happiness. Completely full.
29:40
There is no lack, no envy, no sorrow in heaven.
29:44
Everyone is totally full of joy. You will not look around and
29:47
feel shortchanged. Because every vessel is at
29:49
maximum capacity. Right.
29:51
However, God sovereignly chooses to expand the size of the vessel
29:55
based on the believers earthly holiness and good works.
29:58
That is the reward aspect. The believer who suffered
30:00
greatly for the Gospel, who was marked, who abounded an
30:03
incredible acts of charity might be a massive gallon jug, while
30:07
the thief on the cross who was saved hours before his death and
30:10
had no time to do good works, might be a small teacup.
30:14
But here is the key. Both are completely full to the
30:17
brim with the joy of the Lord. Both are justified entirely by
30:21
Christ's righteousness, but their capacities differ based on
30:24
how they lived. It is a beautiful way of
30:26
honoring God's promise to reward obedience without turning that
30:30
obedience into the basis of our salvation.
30:33
The teacup does not look at the gallon jug with jealousy because
30:37
the teacup cannot hold another drop.
30:40
And the gallon jug does not look at the teacup with arrogance.
30:42
Exactly because both know they were filled by the same ocean of
30:45
grace. The vessel analogy resolves the
30:48
tension perfectly. It maintains the absolute curity
30:51
of grace and justification while upholding the biblical reality
30:55
of rewards in glorification. It ties it all together.
30:58
Having established this structure, the final task
31:01
Edwards takes on in this discourse is to face the most
31:04
difficult biblical counter arguments directly.
31:07
We have touched on the logic and the Apostle Paul, but to
31:10
solidify this doctrine, we must tackle the words of the Apostle
31:13
James and we must clarify the absolute necessity of
31:16
repentance. We can't Skip James.
31:18
Both of these are frequent stumbling blocks for people
31:21
trying to grasp or form theology.
31:23
Let us start with James. I will bring up the verse that
31:26
everyone points to when challenging justification by
31:28
faith alone. I have had this verse quoted to
31:31
me in so many debates. James 2.24 literally says.
31:35
You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by
31:38
faith, only the. Famous verse.
31:41
On the surface, it feels impossible to adhere to the
31:43
theology of Jonathan Edwards when James seems to contradict
31:46
the apostle Paul so directly. Paul says in Romans 3.28.
31:51
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
31:54
the deeds of the law. James says justified by works
31:57
and not by faith only. How do we resolve this without
32:01
just throwing our hands up or ignoring one of the biblical
32:04
authors? It is the classic theological
32:06
knot. Martin Luther famously struggled
32:08
with the Book of James for this exact reason, but Edwards unties
32:11
it with calm linguistic precision.
32:14
He breaks down the solution by observing how words function in
32:17
different contexts. How so?
32:19
Both sides of this theological debate, whether you lean toward
32:21
the Armenian framework or the Reformed framework, must
32:24
interpret at least one word differently between Paul and
32:26
James to resolve the apparent tension.
32:28
OK. Lay out the two options for us.
32:30
The Armenian framework changes the definition of the word faith
32:34
In the book of James, they argue James is talking about real,
32:37
genuine saving faith and Paul's talking about real saving faith.
32:40
So the word justified must mean the exact same thing in both
32:43
books, a pinning right? Standing with God.
32:46
OK, that is their view. Therefore, they say faith alone
32:50
is not enough to get right with God, you must add works to it.
32:53
But Edwards rejects that. Completely.
32:56
Edwards and the Reformed tradition look closely at the
32:59
context and argue that we should interpret the word justified
33:02
differently based on the audience and the argument.
33:06
Edward says that in James, Justify means a declarative
33:09
judgement before men, not the grand of acceptance before God.
33:12
A declarative judgement before men.
33:14
Let us unpack that. Think of two different
33:16
courtrooms. When Paul uses the word justify,
33:19
he is talking about the courtroom of heaven.
33:21
He's answering the question, how does a guilty Sinner get right
33:24
with a holy God? The answer is faith alone.
33:27
And the second courtroom. When James uses the word
33:29
justify, he is talking about the courtroom of human observation.
33:34
He's answering the different question.
33:36
How does a person prove to the world and to themselves that
33:39
their faith is genuine? James is dealing with
33:42
hypocrites, people who claim to have faith but have no pulse, no
33:45
heartbeat of works. Just dead words.
33:47
James says that kind of dead intellectual faith justifies no
33:51
one. You can claim you have faith all
33:53
day long, but if there is no evidence, your claim is invalid.
33:57
To prove this, James uses the examples of Abraham and Rahab,
34:01
and this is where the timeline of the Old Testament becomes
34:03
absolutely critical. James points to Abraham offering
34:06
his son Isaac on the altar as proof that he was justified by
34:10
works. Let's look at the timeline.
34:11
Let's look at it. Abraham was justified before God
34:14
in Genesis 15 when God promised him a son, and Abraham believed
34:18
God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
34:20
That was the moment he believed and was justified in the
34:23
courtroom of heaven. And how many years later did the
34:26
incident with Isaac happen? Decades.
34:28
The offering of Isaac in Genesis 22 happened roughly 30 years
34:32
after Genesis 15. So when James says Abraham was
34:36
justified by works when he offered Isaac, he cannot
34:39
possibly be talking about Abraham getting right with God.
34:42
That happened 30 years prior. The math doesn't work out for
34:45
that argument. If works were required to get
34:47
right with God, Abraham was walking around unjustified for
34:50
three decades. Which contradicts Paul entirely.
34:53
Right. So Abraham's offering of Isaac
34:55
was the outward manifestation, the visible, undeniable evidence
34:59
of the faith that had already justified him in the secret
35:02
courts of heaven decades earlier.
35:04
His works justified his claim to possess faith.
35:07
It was a declarative judgement. He proved it.
35:10
And the same is true for Rahab. Yes, her actions in hiding the
35:13
Israelite spies were the visible proof of her inward trust in the
35:16
God of Israel. Her actions did not purchase her
35:18
salvation. They proved her allegiance.
35:21
The works vindicate the claim of faith.
35:24
They are the breath that proves the bodies alive, and this leads
35:27
seamlessly into Edward's treatment of repentance.
35:29
Another tricky 1. This is another area where
35:31
people get tripped up. Some theologians try to make
35:34
repentance a separate parallel condition alongside faith.
35:38
I have heard that preached you must have faith and you must
35:41
also have repentance, as if they are two distinct requirements
35:44
you have to fulfill for justification. 2 separate tasks
35:48
on a checklist, right? And Edwards refines this
35:51
beautifully. He argues that true evangelical
35:54
repentance is not a separate condition at all.
35:56
Rather, it is simply the act of faith looking in a specific
36:00
direction. Faith looking in a specific
36:02
direction. I love that phrasing.
36:04
Think of it as a single motion of the soul.
36:06
When faith looks forward to the mercy of Christ on the cross, it
36:10
is called trust. When that exact same faculty of
36:13
faith looks backward at the sin it is turning away from, it is
36:16
called repentance. Oh, I see you.
36:18
Cannot have one without the other.
36:19
You cannot turn toward Christ without turning away from sin.
36:22
It is the same motion. It is like turning around in a
36:25
chair. If I turn to face the window, I
36:27
am automatically turning my back to the door.
36:29
I am not doing 2 separate actions, I'm doing 1 action that
36:33
has 2 results based on direction.
36:35
That is a great visual. True evangelical repentance
36:39
involves a deep, crushing sense of unworthiness and
36:43
acknowledgement that you deserve punishment combined with a
36:46
desperate looking to the free mercy of God and the Redeemer.
36:50
Edwards points out that if you have sorrow for sin without
36:52
looking to Christ, that is not evangelical repentance.
36:56
What is it then? It's just worldly despair.
36:59
Think of Judas Iscariot. He betrayed Jesus, felt terrible
37:03
remorse through the silver back of the priests, and went and
37:06
hanged himself. He had sorrow for sin.
37:08
He recognizes guilt. But he didn't look to Christ.
37:11
He did not look to the mercy of Christ, so his sorrow was just
37:14
despair. True repentance is the empty
37:16
hand of faith, recognizing how filthy it is as it reaches out
37:20
to grasp the pure righteousness of Christ.
37:22
That is a staggering way to understand it.
37:24
Repentance and faith are two sides of the exact same coin.
37:27
As we bring this comprehensive deep dive to a close, we have to
37:30
summarize the core takeaways for you, the listener.
37:33
We have covered a lot of ground today.
37:35
We have covered a massive amount of theological ground today,
37:38
from the math of infinite sin to the act of obedience of Christ
37:42
to the timelines of Abraham. Why does parsing these 18th
37:46
century theological arguments matter for your life tomorrow
37:48
morning when you wake up and go to work?
37:50
The stakes of this doctrine could not be higher.
37:53
It changes the entire atmosphere of your spiritual life.
37:56
The difference between trusting in your own virtue, even a
37:59
little bit, and trusting solely in Christ is the difference
38:02
between living under a legal covenant of works and living
38:06
under the evangelical covenant of grace.
38:08
It is a totally different foundation.
38:10
To insert human goodness, human sincerity, or human effort into
38:15
the foundation of your justification is to construct an
38:18
entirely different gospel. It places the button of infinite
38:21
perfection back onto your May night shoulders, and as we saw
38:25
with the cylinder analogy, your shoulders cannot bear that
38:28
weight. They absolutely cannot.
38:29
Edwards forces us to see that the foundation must be entirely
38:33
Christ or the building will collapse under the weight of
38:35
God's holy justice. If I could leave you with a
38:38
final thought to ponder, one that builds directly on the
38:41
logic Edwards has laid out today.
38:43
If your good deeds, your charity, your prayers, and your
38:46
moral efforts are no longer a currency used to purchase God's
38:50
favor, you are completely freed from the crushing anxiety of
38:54
measuring your daily performance.
38:56
Say more about that the anxiety of performance.
38:58
Think about how many people live with a low grade spiritual hum
39:01
of anxiety. Did I do enough today?
39:04
Was I nice enough that I pray long enough?
39:07
Is God mad at me? I think a lot of people feel
39:09
that way. If you believe your works
39:10
contribute to your justification, you will never
39:13
ever have peace. You will never know if your
39:16
cylinder of good works is wide enough to offset your failures.
39:19
But consider how viewing your obedience is the joyful, natural
39:22
reflex of a secure marriage to Christ changes things.
39:26
It changes the motive entirely. It does.
39:28
Rather than a desperate, anxious wage negotiation with a strict
39:31
boss, your obedience becomes an act of love your works and no
39:36
longer a bribe to avoid hell. They are the heartbeat of a soul
39:40
that has already been given the keys to the eternal palace.
39:43
You are free to love God and love your neighbor simply
39:45
because you want to, not because you were terrified of an
39:48
unbalanced Ledger. I love that the X-ray machine of
39:51
God's justice does not show a murky, blended image of our
39:54
partial goodness and Christ's partial help.
39:57
It shows a completely shattered human record, entirely covered
40:01
and healed by the brilliant, perfect righteousness of the
40:03
second Adam. Thank you for joining us for
40:05
this deep dive into the source material.
40:07
We encourage you to open the Scriptures and examine these
40:10
truths for yourself. Check out Romans, look at
40:12
Galatians, and see the sheer weight of what Christ has done.
40:16
Until next time.