WLC, Q73 - Justifying Faith

[nwink]

Q. 73. How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness.


Could someone explain to me what the underlined portion means? Thank you.

 

[py3ak]

Perhaps the simplest way to answer is by asking another question. What is the righteousness we have as justified people? Horatius Bonar gives the correct answer in the title of his little pamphlet, Not Faith, but Christ. Your believing, whether you think about it in terms of believing a particular promise at a particular crisis, or in terms of the whole willingness to believe what God says, is not your righteousness; it is the instrument which receives and applies the righteousness of Christ.

 

[littlepeople]

It's just making clear that even faith itself is not the ground of justification. This was the helpful analogy that was explained to me: in the olden days you put your food in the icebox to keep cool. You had to place a large chunk of slippery ice into the icebox to do the cooling. Because there was no ordinary way to hold it, the ice had to be grabbed by an instrument - large tongs. The tongs are the instrument that applies the ice to the icebox.

That helps us understand the use of the word "instrument" in describing the action of faith. Faith does not do a work, just like tongs won't cool your food. Only Ice will (Christ's work for you)

 

[moral necessity]

Q. 73. How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness.


Could someone explain to me what the underlined portion means? Thank you.

"grace of faith" implies that faith, or the ability/will/desire to believe, is a gift given to us out of God's kindness.
"act thereof" implies an action of faith or belief in Christ's atonement.
"imputed to him for justification" means that it causes him to be justified or exonerated of all charges before God.

The first two things do not exonerate us in God's court.

Belief or the act of believing does not justify you.
Rather, Christ is just and he allows himself and his record to count in your place.
We are clothed with Christ, and have "put on Christ", and he is why we stand justified before God.

Blessings!

 

[sevenzedek]

So, just as Christ has said before, "Your faith has healed you," our faith is only the means through which we are saved. It is Christ who heals and saves. This distinction appears to be missed by "word of faith" proponents. For them, the onus falls on faith. For those who know the truth, we emphasize Christ; not our faith.