By HENRY LAW, M.A.
“The just shall live by faith” (Romans i. 17).
MARVELLOUS are the triumphs which these inspired words have effected. May these triumphs continuously swell until the Church militant shall sheathe the sword! This was the text which, by the Spirit’s power, kindled the full blaze of truth in the mind of Martin Luther. It clearly revealed to him the mode of a sinner’s justification before God. He saw in it the inheritance through faith, of life eternal. It was to him the mirror of salvation’s blessed scheme. It shone before him in full lustre as the essence of revelation. Thus it became the life of his soul. It ruled in his constant thoughts. It was the vigour and brilliancy of his teaching. It was the staff of his pilgrim steps, the mainspring of his ceaseless toil, the warmth of his intrepid zeal. It brought peace to his conscience, happiness to his heart, energy to his will. It was the weapon which he heroically wielded. By this the blinded monk became a preacher of bright truth, and disinterred the Gospel, so long buried in papal rubbish. It made him conqueror over every peril and every fear. Thus arrayed he was bold before the mightiest assemblages. It enabled him to shiver all the arts and fallacies of Rome, and to wave high that torch of the Reformation which enlightened a benighted world, and gave birth to that liberty which has long been our joy, our strength, our pride, our glory. Surely it becomes us to ponder deeply the volumes of truth contained in these words.
Let us then consider: (i). the title of believers—they are the just; (ii). their blessedness—they have life; and (iii). the means by which this life is gained—faith in Jesus Christ.
(i). They are “the just.”
Justification is their heaven-sent property. They are justified in the sight of God from all the guilt and penalties of sin. They are acquitted at the bar of justice as if they had never been polluted by sin’s hateful touch. Not all the powers of hell can work their condemnation. They are pronounced to be innocent, and blameless of every offence. But how can this wondrous acquittal become theirs? Surely they were conceived and born in sin. Corruption was their cradle. Their inner man was alienation from the righteous law; their rebellious footsteps trampled on the requirements of God. How then can they be justified or pronounced righteous? The glorious truths of the Gospel here give light. God’s co-eternal and co-equal Son assumes man’s nature, and stands their substitute, their representative, their proxy. Christ of God was made sin for them, that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him. God, in His wondrous grace, wills and decrees and effects the transfer. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah iii. 6). Hence their acquittal is complete and final. They appear before God pure and holy, without spot or blemish, even as His own beloved Son in heaven. So marvellous is the truth, that to gain credit for it God confirms the tidings by expressive images. Give ear to the oft-recurring assurance. It flows as wave upon wave. “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews x. 17). “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah i. 18). “As far as the east is from the west” (an interminable space) “so far hath He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm ciii. 12). “He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah vii. 19). “In those days and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found” (Jeremiah I. 20). “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins” (Isaiah xliii. 25). Who will not from the inmost heart exclaim, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity” (Psalm xxxii. 1, 2). There is no rest for the soul until such blessedness is a realised portion!
(ii).
The text leads onwards to other heights. It is said that they “shall live.” All that constitutes life shall be their inestimable inheritance. Truly they were born dead in trespasses and sins. Sin, when it entered, utterly extinguished every spark of spiritual life. Their doom was to grope a darksome path through ignorance and error into the region which is termed “the second death.” But now the sentence is reversed. Life is restored. They live to God, and they shall live for ever. The Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, by His regenerating power has replaced the lost treasure. Christ, who is their life, enters and reigns within. This life is hid with Christ in God. Satan cannot touch it. It is as high above his reach as God Himself in the heaven of heavens. It is spiritual now, leading onward to life in glory. Thus they have spiritual faculties, spiritual perceptions, spiritual desires. The knowledge of God is restored. Communion with Him rules within. They know Him now as their Father through adopting grace. They are enabled to acquaint themselves with all His attributes, to love Him as His devoted children, to adore Him as the author and giver of every blessing which they realise, of every hope which shines within them.
But their spiritual life in the fulness of its delights exceeds all thoughts to conceive—all words to paint. But to what does it lead? To the everlasting life of glory. Through the grave and gate of death the spirits of the just pass onward to perfection in the immediate presence of their beloved Lord. Absent from the body is to be at home with Him. The prayer is fulfilled, “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am” (John xvii. 24). And yet a little while their quickened spirits shall re-enter resurrection bodies, in all things made like unto the glorious body of their Lord. Redemption shall be consummated, heaven shall be entered. But what that heaven is no thought can tell until that heaven be reached. Who will not from his heart exclaim: Blessed prospect! glorious hope? Who will not count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge which the Reformation restored? Luther was indeed a happy man when his soul feasted at the banquet of this truth.
(iii).
The text proceeds to announce the pathway to this unspeakable blessedness. It tells that justification and life are the fruit of faith—”The just shall live by faith.” Paul thus amplifies, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans v. 1, 2). We are thus led to gaze on this blessed principle. It is a free-grace gift. It is implanted and awakened in the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is no mere assent of the understanding to the revealed Word. It is entire submission of the will to the revelation of the blessed Jesus. It is the full reception of Him to live and reign in every faculty of mind, and every pulse of the whole heart. It is the eye which sees Him dying upon the cross, rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, ever living in intercession for us, and yet a little while about to revisit earth. It is the hand which grasps Him and holds Him fast. It is the foot which runs towards Him, and never stops until it reaches His wounded side. It is the appetite which feasts on the rich banquet of His finished work. It is the ear which listens to His call and melting invitations. It is the lip which sounds aloud His praise, and cries unto Him with incessant cries. It is the whole soul won by his love—inflamed with adoration—devoted to His service. It is the fruitful parent of all holiness. It overcomes the world. It never leaves us till the gate of heaven is reached. It there knocks, and gains entrance by the plea, “Christ died.” Then its work is over. This is the power by which all the blessings of salvation are grasped and retained. This shone brightly before Luther. It was the essence of his teaching. The fallacies and errors of Popery fled before it, the Gospel revived, and the Reformation was established.
What shame and misery would it be if this truth should ever be bedimmed in our beloved land! Rather let all zeal and energy awaken, and let the saving principles sound aloud from every pulpit, and be embraced by every heart, and descend from children unto children’s children—”The just shall live by faith.”