Having established that there is no righteousness with man, God acts in His sovereignty according to His own righteousness. “Now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, ... Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe ... For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in His blood” (Rom. 3:21-24). God’s righteousness is declared in the cross of Christ. He is now free to justify us (judicially declare righteous) according to His acceptance of Christ. It is indeed freely—God’s grace is unmerited; it is entirely undeserved. But it was not free—an important distinction. It may not cost me, but it cost God the utmost. He “spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all” (Rom. 8:32). Redemption carries with it the thought of purchase—the price to set free. Consequently, it is according to the riches of His grace. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). We do well to pause and meditate upon the riches of His grace! There is no alternative outside of grace; it is our only hope of salvation—we could not pay, or even partially pay, that price. The Father sent His only begotten Son into the world so that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:17). To reject this gift must necessarily be an afront of the worst possible kind. “Of how much worse punishment, think ye, shall he be judged worthy who has trodden underfoot the Son of God, and esteemed the blood of the covenant, whereby he has been sanctified, common, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:29 JND).
It is the blood of Christ that satisfies God’s righteous requirements. God can look upon the blood, as He looked upon the mercy seat of old (Lev. 16:14-16), and in perfect righteousness extend mercy to man. The mercy seat in the tabernacle, indeed the tabernacle itself and all connected with it, were mere shadows of what was to come. For the believer, the blood is the ground of our justification: “Justified by His blood” (Rom. 5:9). God’s righteousness is not compromised by grace; He doesn’t overlook sin, nor does He cover it. This would be unrighteous on God’s part. A judge of this world may look at my history and say, “You have a good record; I will overlook this infraction.” God, however, is a righteous judge; He cannot countenance sin—any sin (Hab. 1:13). Moreover, my record is far from clean. If justification came by any means other than grace—His full provision—it would require compromise with God.
If man merited salvation, even in some small measure, it would represent an obligation on God’s part. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt [obligation]” (Rom. 4:4). With grace, there is no obligation—God sovereignly gives from the storehouse of His own riches. Grace and God’s sovereignty go hand-in-hand; undermine one and you diminish the other. Faith lays hold of God’s provision and receives it as true. “He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true” (John 3:33). Faith necessarily precludes all boasting: “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:27-28). It is on the principle of faith—faith resting upon the finished work of Christ—that God declares us to be righteous in Christ. “Therefore, having been justified on the principle of faith, we have peace towards God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we have also access by faith into this favor in which we stand” (Rom. 5:1-2 JnD). Faith answers to grace as do works to law. Faith and works are opposing principles, as are law and grace.
The world talks about faith as if it is a quality worthy of merit. Faith is not a virtue that merits God’s grace. Even our faith is part of God’s provision in grace. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Grace itself is not the gift—the word grace means gift; faith is the gift. Faith’s value lies not in the thing itself but upon that which it rests. One might hear in a crisis: “Well, I’m glad you have your faith”. Faith in what? In 1696, Henry Winstanley began construction on the first Eddystone lighthouse. It was completed two years later. Winstanley is recorded as having great faith in his construction and expressed a desire to be in it during the greatest storm there ever was. He got his wish. The Great Storm of 1703 (an extratropical cyclone) destroyed the lighthouse. None of the six occupants, including Henry Winstanley, were ever seen again. The only thing that gives value to faith is what it rests upon. Faith that rests upon Christ’s work at Calvary and receives God’s assessment of it, not its own, is saving faith.
God is satisfied with Jesus,
We are satisfied as well.
Various theological systems teach prevenient grace—this expression, which is not found in the Word of God, refers to the grace of God which supposedly precedes and prepares a person for conversion. The teaching takes various forms, but we will consider that which is called resistible grace. It says that grace works with the will of man, enabling him to believe; such grace, it is said, may be resisted. Prevenient grace is said to precede new birth. While this doctrine may be palatable to man there is no hint of it in the Word of God. Verses supposedly in support of it do not speak of it at all. If God’s offer of salvation is unto all (Rom. 3:22) then, the argument goes, He is unrighteous unless He provides grace to all, so all might have the opportunity to believe. God, in sending His Son, has truly done everything possible in presenting opportunity to the heart of man, but Jesus Christ was rejected. The flesh is flesh, and no amount of grace changes that. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). We do not believe to be quickened; rather, we are first quickened by God so that we might believe. “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:26). One who is dead is incapable of believing. “You hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). The doctrine of prevenient grace insists that we are, by God’s grace, momentarily awakened from our moribund state to receive or reject salvation. But what life have we at that moment? The old nature, incapable of submitting to God’s will? Or a new nature, born of God, that cannot commit sin (1 John 3:9)? If the latter, then we are quickened; we are born again—and “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). This is a life which we cannot lose. Prevenient grace is a false teaching that leaves room for boasting on man’s part; God and man are seen acting together—God giving opportunity to man to act. Grace entirely removes this opening. “Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:9-10). Rather than solving anything, the doctrine of prevenient grace simply creates more difficulties.