Keeping Justification Clear

[Frank]

When Israel went into the Promised Land,
but did not entirely stop the preexisting
religious practices there, those became
things that caused Israel to go astray.

When Christ showed Scriptural justification
by faith alone in Christ alone to enable
the Protestant Reformation, the Reformers
discarded much from the Catholic church
that had caused people to trust in things
other than Christ for salvation, but still
some practices remained that did the same.

Modified from Catholicism were still things
that eventually caused Protestants in general
to trust in things other than Christ alone for
their salvation, things such as infant baptism,
glorification of sacraments as though bringing
faith for receiving the imputed righteousness
of Christ (Solid Declar. 3:16), and glorification
of repentance as if a required precondition for
justification (Lutheran: Solid Declar. 3:23, 26)
or as if an inevitable effect from being justified
(Presbyterian: Institutes, vol 3, ch 3, sec 1).

The Reformers did indeed teach that repentance
is not the cause of justification, such being by
faith alone, and is not at all to be trusted in for
being justified because all trust must be on Christ;
but considering repentance as a precondition for
justification or as an inevitable effect from being
justified have caused trust in repentance and are
Catholic glorifications (Catholic Encyclopedia
online: Justification; also Sanctifying Grace).

Today, for the hundreds of millions of people who
are Protestant but not theologians, the distinction
made by theologians in considering repentance to
be a precondition or inevitable effect of justification
rather than its cause is all but lost as the people in
the thousands of denominations just trust in their
repentance for salvation anyway, not realizing such
is not faith alone in Christ alone and does not save.

Rather repentance should be presented as definitely
to be done, but not as any condition for justification,
and with emphasis that trust must never be placed
in repentance for salvation because all trust must
be on Christ alone. Though repentance is often done
before justification, and there will probably be a life
of repentance after justification, it is neither a cause,
precondition, nor inevitable effect of justification.
People need to know that faith alone in Christ alone
to be our Righteous Substitute who regards his own
righteousness as though it were ours for salvation,
is totally what justifies so that they have eternal life:

But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness.
(Romans 4:5 KJV)

--
http://roines.home.mindspring.com

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