By Bill Jackson
A true Bible student comes to appreciate the book of Romans all the more with the passing of time. The appreciation is rooted in an understanding of Paul’s message, which message is not understood by the larger portion of the religious world. The very fact that throughout denominationalism the teaching prevails that men are justified by faith alone proves that these preachers and teachers have not studied Romans. The offense is all the greater because Romans is used as the primary text by these who, while they may have completed studies at their theological seminaries, still lack some fundamental grounding in New Testament truth. They hold positions, supposedly based on Romans, that neither Romans nor any other part of the New Testament will support!
In Romans 5:1 Paul states, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” The “therefore” indicates that the point being made is connected with thoughts before it. Paul, in Romans 1:16, had pointed out the gospel as the power of God to save the believer, furthering that with the rule from the Old Testament that “the just shall live by faith” (v. 17). Rather than minimizing the idea of faith, Paul has stressed its power and effectiveness (Romans 3:3), that whereas men were condemned by their sinfulness, there is a righteousness of God available to them by faith in the Christ. Following those points, Abraham is set forth as an example of faith (Chap. 4), wherein his obedient works were rewarded not due to inherent worth in Abraham or in the deeds performed, but due to his faith in God and his moving out to obediently serve God. When Paul states that Abraham was justified by faith, and that righteousness was his, it most
certainly did not mean that Abraham possessed faith alone, or faith that was idle, or faith that spurned God’s will. Paul joins with James, later in the New Testament, as they give the full picture: Man is justified by a faith that is obedient to God, doing the works of God.
At the end of Romans 4, the apostle points out that we also can obtain righteousness, believing on God and the resurrected Christ, and thus the basis for Romans 5:1.
We are brought then to consider the justification that is ours, and what is meant by “faith.” We have already noted that it is not faith only, but that God always requires an obedient faith. Since faith only does not justify, it is a faith that obeys God. Before us then is the use of “faith” to stand for all that is required for man to reach that state of being well-pleasing to God. “Faith” stands for all that is involved for man to have remission of sins: Belief, repentance, confession and baptism. Baptism is for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and comes as the final step the alien sinner takes whereby he is then cleansed, justified.
Such usage regarding the terms of salvation is not unusual. In Acts 17:30, idolaters were told that God demands that men repent. And Jews, now believing that God will accept Gentiles, said that God had granted them “repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18). For all of that, God requires more than repentance. In Romans 10:9, the apostle states that salvation will be to those who confess the Christ and believe that he was raised from the dead. And yet, more than belief in the resurrection, and confession, are required. It is the figure of synecdoche whereby one part of any process is made to stand for the whole. It can thus be said that man is saved by baptism, saved by faith, saved by repentance and saved by confession, and never does it mean that man is saved by any one of these to the exclusion of the others. Likewise, there are many elements making up a faithful Christian life, and man is saved by all of these, but not by any one of them standing
alone. It is such a truth that is so important that one who doesn’t see it will never really understand what the Bible teaches. Men reveal lack of understanding when they then will rush to Romans 5:1 and proclaim, “Salvation by faith alone!”
We have occasion for rejoicing in the truth of Romans 5:1, and in the knowledge that perversion of any passage, or any truth, does not take away the delight that God’s child has that the truth is there for him!