Introduction
After a long hike on a hot and dusty trail, few things are quite so nice as soaking your sore & blistered feet in the cool waters of a mountain stream. David once described a version of this image but with a startling twist. He foretold that there would come a day when the righteous would be refreshed by washing their feet in the blood of the wicked (Ps. 58:10-11).
The Text
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-33
Defining Justification
When you begin to teach on the doctrines related to our salvation, you need to hang a big neon sign out front that reads “lest any man should boast.” The salvation which Christ bought for you is given to you graciously. Every aspect of it. God electing, calling, justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying you is graciously done.
Think of those beautiful gems on display at a natural history museum. You can only view it from the side that the curators decided to put in the front. However, this means that there are certain angles left unappreciated. The doctrine of justification has been curated in such a way to emphasize the front side of this truth, but there is another angle which is just as glorious and which we must not overlook. But remember the first rule of theology: no boasting. This includes how we’ve chosen to display certain doctrines.
Now, let’s briefly define justification. Which is like saying let’s quickly hike Kilimanjaro. Justification is how God solves the riddle of how He as a perfectly just God can simultaneously judge evil and yet still show mercy. It is a legal action where God declares two things about you. First, your sins are pardoned, not because of any merit on your part but “for Christ’s sake alone (WCF Ch. XI, Sec. 1).” Secondly, He also declares that you are no longer guilty. These glorious truths are like a peaches in a can, and faith is the can opener which God also gives you. Remember our rule: no boasting.
Here is how Calvin defines it, and pay close attention to how he relates justification to the good works which follow: “Justification, moreover, we thus define: The sinner being admitted into communion with Christ is, for his sake, reconciled to God; when purged by his blood he obtains the remission of sins, and clothed with righteousness, just as if it were his own, stands secure before the judgment-seat of heaven. Forgiveness of sins being previously given, the good works which follow have a value different from their merit, because whatever is imperfect in them is covered by the perfection of Christ, and all their blemishes and pollutions are wiped away by his purity, so as never to come under the cognizance of the divine tribunal. The guilt of all transgressions, by which men are prevented from offering God an acceptable service, being thus effaced, and the imperfection which is wont to sully even good works being buried, the good works which are done by believers are deemed righteous, or; which is the same thing, are imputed for righteousness.”
John Calvin (Book 3, Chapter XVII, Sec. 8)
A Devastating Error
Remember, we want to walk around and admire the full beauty of this doctrine. But there will be some tour guides (with funny pointy hats) offering you their specially designed sunglasses that they claim will help you see the crystal more clearly. Their glasses actually make it harder to see clearly, but they make it easier to boast about your own righteousness. The Roman Catholic view of this doctrine must be refuted before we attempt to go on to describe what is commonly termed “final justification”.
For the Roman Catholic, salvation is like riding a bicycle up to the top of the holy hill of Zion; if you successfully arrive at the top God will reward you with a justification trophy. Your only problem is that your bike is missing a chain. You could do it if only you had that chain. God just so happens to have a spare chain which He (to use the RC term) infuses to your bike. Voila! you can now pedal your way up.
This misses a key component which the Scriptures teach. Your main problem isn’t that you would if you could, it’s that you can’t because you’re dead. Man is dead in his trespasses and sins. To come back to the earlier metaphor, the bike is just fine, it’s you that’s the problem.
Justification is not a process of going from the bottom of the hill to the top. Rather, when by faith you receive and rest on the righteousness of Christ, God reckons you justified then and there. Justification is a one time event. However, so is planting a seed.
Final Justification?
Now, we can actually turn our attention to what we call final, future, or declarative justification. By faith you are justified in God’s sight, and you aren’t waiting with bated breath to figure out if God will forgive your sins. At the same time, as the Christian rests by faith in our justification, we are beset with all sorts of trials, temptations, and tests of that faith.
The obvious example is persecution. You confess Christ as Lord, and wicked men conspire to rob, torture, and kill you for that confession. The wicked often are in prosperity while the righteous scrape by. Evil men murder and malign the saints, and seem to get away with it. Or a different example, say you unexpectedly receive a check for $500. As you begin to think how to use it someone else facing real financial hardship comes to mind. You determine to sneak that money to them. You are doing a real act of charity in keeping with Christ’s instructions to give such gifts as discreetly as possible. But at the moment, you have no certainty whether that act of faith did any good.
As you walk by faith, the saint is tempted to doubt whether God sees the persecutions we endure, and those small acts of faith and trust. Is walking by faith worth it? This brings us at last to the text we began with. Jesus tells us that at the final judgement He will return to render unto every man according to his works (Mt. 16:27). As part of this judgement Jesus says that He will confess to His Father those who confessed Him, but will deny them that denied Him.
This is where the seed and fruit analogy is quite helpful, after all that is the image the Scripture frequently uses (often referred to in theological terms as the already and not yet). The living and abiding Word is seed, and that seed bears the fruit of the Spirit which works in us. You are reckoned as justified in God’s sight at the moment when Christ’s righteousness is imputed to you which you appropriate by faith (that’s the seed). But there will come a day when the veracity of that punctiliar moment is held forth for all to see, and declared for all to hear (that’s the fruit). Jesus Himself will hold forth your confession. He it is who will confess you before his Father and to the angels.
The term “final justification” can be traced back to the Puritan Richard Baxter, “Justification is not a single act, begun, and ended immediately upon our Believing; but a continued act, which, though it be in its kind complete from the first, yet is it still in doing, till the final Justification at the Judgment Day (Aphorisms of Justification, Proposition XXXIV).”
Thomas Goodwin makes a similar point, “And in relation to this outward judgment at the latter day, our sentence of salvation is termed expressly a justification; and this very thing is asserted by Christ himself: Mat. xii. 36, 37, ‘I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment; for by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (The works of Thomas Goodwin Vol 7, Ch. 2, Sec. 4).’”
Christ was vindicated by His resurrection, and of course you are joined to His resurrection and this is the ground of your forensic justification, but at the final resurrection the saints will receive their vindication (again notice the already and not yet aspect of this). The final judgement is the revelation of God’s mercy unto the elect and justice upon the wicked. The Christian life is from first to last undertaken by faith alone in Christ who justifies. But the final judgement will be the judgement upon the entirety of our life, our thoughts, words, and actions. The righteous (or justified) walk by faith. Thus, this final justification will principally be a vindication of the good works, born of faith which work by love (Cf. WCF Ch. XI, Sec. II).
The final judgement, often called a justification, will reveal that the sacrifice and obedience of the saints really were worth it. Such deeds, done by faith, are vindicated by Christ, that those acts of faith were the righteous thing to do. Such good works are not the ground of your justification. They will, however, be vindicated when Christ the judge declares you to be, by His grace alone, justified and He rewards you openly.
This Same Jesus
When Christ ascended to the Father’s right hand He did so with a promise of returning in like manner––in the clouds of glory, accompanied by angel armies (Acts 1:11). The angels comforted the disciples that it would be “this same Jesus” who would return for this glorious final vindication of all His disciples and His judgement upon all His and our enemies.
Thus, the doctrine of final justification should bring three things home for you. First, you really should rest in the peace which is found in being justified freely by His grace. If you have trusted in Christ alone, not looking to amass enough good deeds to please God, God beams with delight upon you. Second, this forensic justification should spur you to put to death carnal desires and gladly strive to honor God in all things because, third, you should look to this doctrine like that hiker looks forward to the cool streams at the end of the hike. Christ will vindicate the faithful, because and only because the just live by the faith Christ gives them. This is what David said would happen. The righteous would be refreshed at last when God judges the wicked and rewards the righteous, and men will say, “verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth (Ps. 58:11b).”
“The sentence shall be pronounced on the righteous and the wicked. Christ, the glorious Judge, shall pass that blessed sentence on the church at his right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” This sentence shall be pronounced with infinite love, and the voice will cause every heart to flow with joy. Thus Christ shall pronounce a sentence of justification on millions, who before had a sentence of condemnation passed upon them by their persecuting rulers. He will thus put honour upon those who have been before despised: he will own them for his, and will put a crown of glory upon their heads before the world; and then shall they shine forth as the sun with Jesus Christ in glory and joy, in the sight of all their enemies.”
Jonathan Edwards (The History of the Work of Redemption, Part IX)
Charge and Benediction
Paul said that whatever is not of faith is sin, which means that in all we do, we are to do so by trusting God. So, the charge is very simple: walk by faith.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25
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