Excerpts from the Book

 

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH



More Than A Concept: A Person







Jesus: The Irreducible Minimum

The Unsurpassable Maximum





C. S. Baldwin





Published by Dikaioma Publishers

Berrien Springs: MI 49103




TABLE OF CONTENTS



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS



INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1



CHAPTER 1

SOCIAL AND THEOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT MOTIVATED PAUL'S WRITING ON JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

Law as a Means of Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

The Law as a Document of Election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

The Need for Jews and Gentiles to Live Together in the Same Church . . . . . . . .12

Jewish Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Hellenistic Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Gentile Christians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15



CHAPTER 2

RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Yahweh the Righteous One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Righteousness and Judgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31



CHAPTER 3

RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHRIST MEETS THE DEMANDS OF THE COVENANT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37



CHAPTER 4

MAN'S CONDITION: THE NATURE OF SIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42



CHAPTER 5

JUSTIFICATION MEANS THE PERSON OF CHRIST IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS . . . . . .50

Corporate Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

An Objective Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54



CHAPTER 6

JUSTIFICATION MEANS PASSING THE FINAL JUDGMENT NOW . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 63

An Assurance of Salvation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Some Adventist Objections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77



CHAPTER 7

WHAT OF THE HEAVENLY INTERCESSORY MINISTRY OF CHRIST?. . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Everything has Already Been Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Heavenly Existence as Crucified One: Inseparable Link Between the

Cross and Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Heavenly Ministry: The Dispensing of Calvary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Heavenly Ministry: Already Accomplished at the Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Justification: The Work of a Lifetime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Sanctification the Work of a Moment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102



CHAPTER 8

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND THE LAW PART 1: LAW AS A COVENANT

DOCUMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Holistic Nature of the Suzerainty Covenant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Exodus: The Basis of the Sinaitic Covenant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 115

New Testament Corollary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .118

Jesus as The New Israel.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 118

Jesus as The New Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119



CHAPTER 9

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND THE LAW PART 2: THAT WHICH IS BEING FULFILLED DOES NOT EQUAL THAT WHICH FULFILLS IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

CHAPTER 10

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND THE LAW PART 3: GOVERNED BY PRINCIPLES NOT BY LAWS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136



CHAPTER 11

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH AND THE CHOSEN PEOPLE: WHO ARE THEY?. . . . . . . . . . 140

CHAPTER 12

SOME CHALLENGING IMPLICATIONS OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

The Person of Christ: The Ultimate and Decisive Expression of the Gospel . . . . . . .149

Confidence in Witnessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

God is Under Obligation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

The Second Coming Can Be Anytime: In Fact it Has Already Begun in Principle. . 152

Jesus: The Final and Decisive Element . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153

Freedom to Re-examine Your Positions and That of Others. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Christ, Not Doctrines the Burden of Our Preaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155



CHAPTER 13

THE RELATIONSHIP IMPERATIVE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157



GLOSSARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .




About the Book



The Irreducible Minimum of an entity is the most basic reduction of that entity beyond which it is not possible to reduce it any further. If this irreducible minimum is denied or contradicted, then nothing of it will remain upon which to build. This book purports that the irreducible minimum of the gospel is the person of Christ as our righteousness before God. This irreducible minimum is also the Unsurpassable Maximum (the uppermost limit) of the gospel, because there can be no greater reality where our salvation is concerned.

As you read this book, you will realize in a deeper manner, that Jesus, not a great "truth" is the definitive reality of the gospel story. Based on this you may be called upon to rethink many of your cherished presuppositions, on such issues as the judgment, God's law, the remnant, the intercessory ministry of Jesus, among other things. Rest assured however, that long before you are through reading this book, you would have experienced a renewed assurance of salvation; you would have come to find Jesus a sweeter and dearer friend.


INTRODUCTION TO BOOK

Justification by faith is one of the key salvation metaphors used in the New Testament. It is the position of this book that humanity's justification before God is not a concept, a propositional truth, or some distinctive doctrine(s), but rather it is a person. It is the very person of Jesus now living in heaven. This reality is a gift from God because humanity at its best is sinful, not simply because people do bad things, but because we are sinful by nature. Having become our justification, Jesus has replaced the law as the instrument which distinguishes the chosen/saved people of God. This fact creates an extravagant assurance of salvation, because the sinner who accepts Jesus has legally passed the final judgment even before it comes. A person's salvation is a guaranteed position, because it is always secured by the heavenly intercessory ministry of Jesus Christ. The Christian now possesses citizenship status in heaven and in a special way is sealed in that condition.

Of course, if the person of Jesus continues to be our justification before God, then this has many other implications. Principally among these are the following: Who constitutes the last day remnant of God? What is the final and decisive element in the gospel? When will Jesus return? What (if indeed it is a question of "what") constitutes God's eternal law, and exactly how should we keep this law? All these and more are segments of the treasure hidden in the field of this book. Be aware that as you read this book, you run the risk of having a unique encounter with Jesus. The only problem with this engagement is that Jesus has a way of disturbing lives in ways that sometimes only he can understand. The beauty of his disturbances however, is that they always lead to eternal salvation. You always gain by meeting Jesus.

In order to obtain the most accurate understanding of any message, one must first study that message in light of the original or primary context in which that message was given. This is particularly true of the entire Bible. The messages of the Bible were not given in a vacuum, but were communicated to a particular people, in a particular setting, at a particular time, within a particular cultural, theological and philosophical context. These messages had specific meanings to their primary recipients which may or may not exactly correspond to the meanings they have for us in the twenty-first century. For example, when we use the word "covenant," we think more in terms of an equal or mutual agreement drafted and agreed upon by two parties. However, for the people of the Old Testament this was not necessarily the case. A covenant, as we shall see in further detail, could consist of a document unilaterally drafted by one party, and presented to the other party solely as a requirement. This certainly does not fit our modern definition of a covenant.

In our thinking, the standard of righteousness is an ideal or objective norm against which one's actions can be measured. However, for the Hebrew mind, this was not necessarily the case. For them, righteousness was more of a relational concept. It involved meeting the demands of a particular relationship, and as such it would not necessarily conform to any particular objective norm, but would vary from situation to situation.

Therefore, if we are to understand the messages of the Bible correctly, we must first take their primary applications into consideration. We are not prepared to understand what the Bible means before we first understand what it meant. Ellen White enunciates this principle when she says:

Let us in our imagination go back to that scene, and as we sit with

the disciples on the mountainside, enter into the thoughts and feelings

that filled their hearts. Understanding what the words of Jesus meant

to those who heard them, we may discern in them a new vividness and

beauty, and may also gather for ourselves their deeper lessons1 (emphasis supplied).

In listening to many discussions on the subject of righteousness by faith, I have observed that there is often a rush to make the relevant applications of the subject without first doing a thorough exploration of the background elements which undergird the subject. While I do not claim to treat every single background factor that lies behind the concept, I will deal with a considerable number of key factors that led to the crystallization of the concept of justification by faith by Paul in particular, as well as other Bible writers. Therefore, the real life situation in the early church, along with such issues as righteousness, law, judgment, perfection, sin, et cetera, will be examined first with their original meaning in mind. We will then uncover how the subject of justification by faith is defined within these background factors and then some applications will be made which are relevant to our modern situations. When this is done, the message of justification gains a sharper focus, and consequently becomes far more challenging. Please note that throughout this book the words "righteousness by faith" and "justification by faith" will be used interchangeably. This is so because these words are synonymous. Our English words righteousness and justification are used to translate the same Greek words dikaiosune/dikaioma and the Hebrew words sedaqa/sedeq. Thus, righteousness is justice and justice is righteousness. It is my hope that as you read this book you will once more come to realize that the person of Christ is the irreducible minimum and the unsurpassable maximum of the gospel.

(Biblical quotations unless otherwise noted, are taken form THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, ®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved).


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Last updated on November 27, 2002