Using Correct Terminology (Part 4) - Justification, Eternal Salvation, Eternal Life

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10. Justification A. There are two senses in which a person can be justified before God: either by being made (caused to be) righteous by God (effectual justification), or by being accounted (considered) righteous by God (evidential justification). i. Justified ppl. - Made just or right; made or accounted righteous; warranted; supported by evidence ii. Justification n. - 4. Theol. The action whereby man is justified, or freed from the penalty of sin, and accounted or made righteous by God; the fact or condition of being so justified. iii. Justify v. - 4. To absolve, acquit, exculpate; spec. in Theol. to declare free from the penalty of sin on the ground of Christ's righteousness, or to make inherently righteous by the infusion of grace: see justification 4. iv. Make v. - III. To cause to be or become (something specified). a. With adj. as compl.: To cause to be, render. v. Accounted - Counted, reckoned, considered. B. Being made righteous by God (effectual justification) i. Jesus justified us in the sense of causing us to be righteous by His: a. Blood (Rom 5:8-10). b. Grace (Tit 3:7; Rom 3:24). c. Faith (Gal 2:16). d. Knowledge (Isa 53:11). ii. Jesus made us righteous by His obedience alone (Rom 5:19). iii. We were made the righteousness of God by Christ being made sin for us (2Co 5:21). iv. We are passive recipients of this (effectual) justification by Christ. C. Being shown to be righteous by our faith (evidential justification) i. Abraham is the eminent example of being justified in the sense of being shown to be just. a. Abraham was not justified by his works (in the sense of being made righteous - effectual justification) (Rom 4:2). b. Abraham was justified (evidential justification) by his faith (Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6). (i) His faith was counted unto him for righteousness. (ii) Counted righteous = accounted righteous = justified (see definitions above) (iii) Faith is a token which is the evidence of (counted for) righteousness, just as poker chips are tokens which are the evidence of (counted for) the possession of real wealth. (iv) Just as the poker chips are not real wealth, nor do they cause real wealth, so faith is not itself righteousness, nor does it cause righteousness, but is rather the evidence of righteousness. (v) Abraham's faith didn't make him righteous, it showed him to be righteous. 1. Abraham's faith was said to be counted for righteousness in Gen 15:6. 2. This happened after he left Ur by faith (Heb 11:8) in Gen 12:1-4. 3. Abraham was already righteous when his faith was counted unto him for righteousness in Genesis 15. 4. Furthermore, if the phrase "counted for righteousness" means "made righteous" or "given eternal life", then there is another means by which a person can become righteous and get eternal life (Num 25:7-8 c/w Psa 106:30-31). c. We are shown to be righteous by our faith which is the evidence (Heb 11:1), not the cause of our righteousness (Act 13:39). d. We are also shown to be righteous by our works (Rom 2:13; Jam 2:21-25), which prove our faith (Jam 2:17-20). 11. Eternal salvation A. Eternal adj. – 3. Infinite in future duration; that always will exist; everlasting, endless. The New Testament expressions eternal life, death, punishment, etc. are here referred to sense 3, this being the sense in which the adj. in such contexts is ordinarily taken. B. Salvation n. - The action of saving or delivering; the state or fact of being saved. 1. a. The saving of the soul; the deliverance from sin and its consequences, and admission to eternal bliss, wrought for man by the atonement of Christ. 2. gen. Preservation from destruction, ruin, loss, or calamity. C. Save - 1. trans. To deliver or rescue from peril or hurt; to make safe, put in safety. 2. Theol. To deliver (a person, the soul) from sin and its consequences; to admit to eternal bliss. D. Eternal salvation is when God saves one of the elect from his sins by Christ dying for his sins and gives him eternal life through regeneration. E. Eternal salvation is not dependent on anything that the elect do, including their faith or other works, but only on the sovereign grace of God. i. Jesus fully and eternally saved us from our sins when He died for us on the cross (Heb 9:12; Heb 9:15). ii. Eternal salvation is a completed fact and is not conditioned on anything we do (works) (2Ti 1:9; Tit 3:5). F. Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation (Heb 5:9) which means that He conceived and executed it for His elect. G. Eternal salvation is eternal by definition, which means that it lasts forever and cannot be lost (Joh 10:28). 12. Eternal life A. Eternal life is the state which the elect are in once they are regenerated (quickened, born again) when God put a new spirit within them which can never die (Joh 11:26) nor sin (1Jo 3:9). B. Eternal life is the result of eternal salvation (Tit 3:7). C. Eternal life is eternal by definition, which means that it lasts forever and cannot be lost (Joh 10:28). D. The elect were ordained to eternal life by God (Act 13:48). E. Faith is the evidence of eternal life (1Jo 5:13).