Justification by Faith — John Murray

The Gospel as the Power of God unto Salvation

The epistle to the Romans, chapter 1, verse 16. For I am not ashamed with the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith. It might appear to us that the Apostle would have drawn the curtain of concealment over the sins which he describes in the latter part of this chapter, for these sins fall into the category of which it is said that it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.

What the Apostle does is rather to draw aside the curtain of concealment. He opens to our view the abominations of moral and spiritual degeneracy into which the nations of the world have fallen by their apostasy from the knowledge and faith of the living God.

And we must remember that the Apostle is writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When we examine this chapter, or this epistle, more carefully, we can readily see that it is only in the context of that delineation of gross degeneracy, which he gives in the latter part of this chapter, that we can appreciate the keynote of this epistle.

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every woman and believer. Now we might think that that is a rather weak way of expressing his confidence. We might think that he would have expressed himself in stronger terms of confidence and of exultation in view of the triumphs which the gospel had secured, and of which the Apostle speaks in another place when he says, God always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh knowledge the savor of his knowledge, and maketh known the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.

For we are unto God the sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. The Apostle Paul, in another epistle, does express himself in terms of the most exultant glory when he says, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

We might well ask the question, why does the Apostle Paul express himself in this particular epistle, in what might appear in fresh blush as a very weak understatement? I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

Why does he express himself in terms of a contestation to the effect that he was not ashamed? Now if we remember, how full of reproach and apparent foolishness the gospel was as it confronted the worldly glory and pomp of the Roman political power, and if we think of the apparent weakness which characterized the gospel as it confronted that degenerate stupor into which the sin of the world had led man, if we remember these contrasts, then I think we can sense a little better the undertones of confidence and of exultation in this very word of the Apostle, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.

In reference to the prestige of the Roman political power, he could say, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. And in reference to the degradation that is depicted in this particular chapter, he could say the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, however degraded may be the condition of man, however stupefied in iniquity and false imaginations man may become because of their sin, nevertheless the gospel is the omnipotence of God, operative unto their salvation, to lift them out of the quagmire, the inextricable tangle of iniquity, to set them free as the blood-bought procession of Christ.

The Gospel Is the Living Word of God

Now what is this gospel that is the power of God unto salvation? Well, the gospel, we must always remember, is a message, and it is a message proclaimed, a message proclaimed, and we might well ask, how can a proclamation be the power of God unto salvation?

And perhaps we want to tone it down somewhat, and try to turn it around and get away from the forthright statement of the apostle that it is the gospel, the gospel as a message, the gospel as good news, the gospel as proclamation that is the power of God unto salvation.

And if we tone it down, we do prejudice to the truth which the apostle Paul is here enunciating. This message proclaimed is divine omnipotence, active unto salvation, and why? Because after all, it is the word of God.

It is a divine message. It is not a human proclamation, but the proclamation of a divine word, and we must always remember that the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, that the word of God is always invested with efficiency to the accomplishment of its purpose.

He spurged when it was done, He commanded when it stood last. That was true in the grand camaraderie of creation, and it is also true, and true with greater glory, in the sphere of His redemption. He speaks when it is done.

He commands when it stands last. The word of God is living and powerful. And don't forget, my friends, that when you are confronted with the message of the gospel, you are confronted with the voice of the living God.

Just as foolish as Peter, as James and Peter and John heard the voice of the Father speak from heaven when He said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. That you are confronting with the gospel, perhaps in its simplicity, but always in its power.

It is the word of the living God. It is that word that is able to lift us up from all this squalid, and from all this squalid wickedness of the sin that is depicted in the latter part of this chapter.

It is the power of God unto salvation. It is, therefore, divine omnipotence, active to the very end of delivering man from the corruption and the power of iniquity, and setting their feet on a rock ever again.

Divine Power and Divine Righteousness

Now Paul tells us why it is the power of God unto salvation. You must notice that there is what you might call a continuous explication in this particular verse. I am not ashamed of that. Why? I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

Why? Because it is the power of God unto salvation. And why is it the power of God unto salvation? Because therein, he says in verse seventeen, because therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

We have, therefore, here two attributes of God. Power, or if you will, omnipotence, and righteousness. The omnipotence and the righteousness of God. And it is well for us to take note of that particular combination.

The gospel is power. It is divine omnipotence. But it is not mere divine omnipotence, but bare omnipotence. Of course, it is true that in no sphere of the divine activity do we have what we would call bare omnipotence, abstract omnipotence.

Even in creation, in God's space, when it was done, you don't have what you would call just bare omnipotence. You have omnipotence exercised in wisdom and even in righteousness. For the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. So that even in creation it is not bare or abstract omnipotence, but it is omnipotence exercised in infinite wisdom and in righteousness.

But the combination of these two attributes in this particular case is quite unique. The power of God that was operative in creation, although it was a power that expressed his wisdom and his mercy and his righteousness and his goodness, nevertheless there was something that is, there is something in this exercise of divine power that is quite unique.

God created the world by the fire of his will. He simply spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. There was the exercise of his omnipotence, omnipotence of course giving expression to his wisdom and his mercy and his goodness and his righteousness, but it was simply by the sovereign and omnipotent fight of his will, but not so in connection with that subject with which Paul is dealing in this particular verse, not so in connection with the gospel.

There is something here that could not be accomplished by the mere fight of his will, for there were exigencies involved. There were claims at stake which could not be exercised, which could not be met by omnipotent fight, and that is what Paul is enunciating on this particular occasion.

He has in the back of his mind and also in the forefront of his expression that marvelous combination that there is in the gospel of the omnipotent efficiency of God, and that omnipotent efficiency exercised in righteousness.

It is the righteousness of God brought to bear upon all the wretched squalor of iniquity that is depicted for us in the latter part of this chapter. It is the righteousness of God supervening upon the wreck and the ruin of sin, the wreck and ruin of human misery.

Yes, it is the righteousness of God supervening upon that which is the very contradiction of itself. It is the righteousness of God supervening upon that contradiction in order to the deliverance of men from the very power of that which is the contradiction of the divine righteousness.

It is the righteousness of God operated unto salvation. But then we have to ask the further question, what is this righteousness of which the apostle here speaks? What is it? Now, the righteousness of God is an attribute of God.

The Righteousness of God in Justification

It is the justice of God as an attribute. It is that of which the apostle speaks in this very epistle, the third chapter of the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth verses, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth, which believeth in Jesus.

That is truly the righteousness of God as a divine attribute, that which we call the justice, the uprightness, the equity of God himself, and that of which the psalm speaks when it says, justice and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

It is that of which another psalm speaks, of which we have been singing. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Righteousness shall go before him and set us in the way of his death.

Yes, there is indeed the righteousness of God that is his only in the bio-level attribute. And is that the righteousness of God of which Paul speaks in this passage? Now we must remember, of course, that the righteousness of God, that is the justice of God, is displayed very uniquely in this salvation.

There is no place where you have such a magnificent display of the righteousness of God as you have on Calvary's accursed tree. The salvation of which the apostle Paul here speaks would not be a divine salvation.

It would not be a salvation in which divine omnipotence would be operative unless it comported with righteousness, the justice, the uprightness, the equity of God. Surely the gospel displays the righteousness of God, and it is that gospel that supervenes upon all the iniquity and the wretchedness of this fallen human world.

But there is good reason for thinking that the apostle Paul here is not speaking of that righteousness which is a divine attribute. Not in this place. And the reasons for saying that are very clear. You must remember, first of all, that this righteousness of which the apostle speaks is a righteousness that is applied to us, a righteousness that is applied to believers in the third chapter of the twenty-first verse you read.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

A righteousness, you see, that is done to believers, and therefore a righteousness that is applied to believers. Become partakers of the divine attributes? Oh, verily, no, we do not become partakers of that which is the divine essence.

Oh, shut up. If we were to become partakers of the divine righteousness in the sense of a divine attribute, then we would cease to be creatures. And again, it is a righteousness which we have. You remember what the apostle says in Philippians 3, 9, not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

And the clear implication is that Paul has now the righteousness of God. It's a possession of his. He couldn't speak of possessing the attribute which is the attribute of God himself and of God alone.

And then Paul also tells us that it is a righteousness which believers are made. Him whom you know sin, he made to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Made the righteousness of God?

Surely not made the attribute of God, of God's righteousness. Again, it is a righteousness that is mediated through faith. Paul tells us that in this very, in this very passage. It is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith. And finally, it is the righteousness which is the grand theme of this episode. The righteousness which is unto just to be paid. And therefore it cannot be the righteousness which is the divine attribute that is inalienable.

It belongs to God and it belongs to God alone. And this must be something else, because it is a righteousness that is made over to us in order to our acceptance with God, in order to our justification.

Imputed Righteousness and the God-Righteousness

Now just because it is that, because it is not the righteousness of a divine attribute, we are very liable to tone down the significance of what Paul here says. We must not water it down. It still is the righteousness of God.

Not the righteousness which is inherent to God himself, but nevertheless it is still a righteousness of God. It is a divine righteousness. It is therefore a righteousness which is impregnated, shall we say, with divine quality.

It is a righteousness which after all is, as it were, a divine property. And perhaps the only way whereby we can express it very emphatically in English is to say that after all it is a God-righteousness.

And it's nothing less than that, a God-righteousness. And since it is a God-righteousness, it is contrasted not simply with human unrighteousness, but with human righteousness. And that seems to be the main point, the main emphasis of the Apostle, shall I say it again?

Contrasted not simply with human unrighteousness, human iniquity, but even contrasted with human righteousness. And when you think of the situation that salvation contemplates, there is nothing else that would meet the exigencies, the claims of this particular situation except a divine righteousness, a righteousness which has divine quality.

Now you do think of human righteousness, and you can think of a perfect human righteousness. The saints, when they will be completely sanctified in glory, will be possessed in their whole passion of a righteousness which is absolutely perfect.

They will be presented before the presence of God's glory without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. They will be completely conformed to the image of Christ in their whole passions, inherently, subjectively, in all their thoughts and affections and ways, completely conformed to the image of Christ.

And that will be a perfect righteousness, but after all, it will be a human righteousness. A righteousness indeed which they have by the grace of God, yes. A righteousness which is bought in them entirely by the grace of God, by the Holy Spirit of God, when they are made completely conformable to Christ's glorious image.

Remember, it will be a human righteousness, it will be a righteousness which will be in them and which will characterize them, but this is not that righteousness. And even that righteousness to which believers will be one day completely conformed wouldn't meet the situation which the Apostle Paul has imbued in this particular text.

No, it is a divine righteousness and a divine righteousness alone which will meet the exigencies, the situation of our sins and misery and wretchedness, of our condemnation. It is a righteousness impregnated with divine property, with divine policy alone that will meet that situation.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that justification consists, first of all, in the infusion of righteousness in us, the infusion of grace, and that just really amounts to what we call regeneration. And then second justification, which is a process and which will not be complete until the saint is relieved from purgatory, the second justification is a justification that is based upon human works, that by faith that is informed with love the believer is enabled to bring forth good works which are acceptable to God and which have merit in them, and on the basis of these good works they receive progressive justification until they will finally be fully justified after they have made complete satisfaction for their sin in purgatory.

Now you see what the Roman Catholic Church teaches in reference to justification, is that first of all, in the first, what they call first justification, it's just a human righteousness, it's the infusion of righteousness which is an inherent righteousness after all, and then the second justification is on the basis of human works, and human works are after all human righteousness.

And perhaps there's nothing in the Roman Catholic doctrine that exposes its complete rottenness than the whole conception by which it is governed, the whole doctrine of justification of the Roman Catholic Church is a doctrine of justification which is after all based upon a righteousness that is human, human in its quality, human in its property.

And it is just against that that the Apostle Paul is enunciating the Gospel here when he says that it is the righteousness of God. It's a God-righteousness contrasted not simply with human unrighteousness but with human righteousness.

And how is it a God-righteousness? Well, it is the righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is how it is a God-righteousness. It is the righteousness and obedience of him who did this indeed in human nature but who in doing it was without any abbreviation whatsoever a divine person.

Oh, get the distinction. It was in human nature that he wrought this obedience. It was in human nature that he accomplished this righteousness. Otherwise it would not be available for us. But nevertheless, in giving that obedience, in accomplishing that righteousness, he was without any abbreviation whatsoever, without any curtailment, the eternal Son of God, God manifest in the flesh.

And that is why it is a God-righteousness. Now we might well ask the question, how does this righteousness, which after all is not a righteousness enough, it is not a righteousness even wrought enough by the grace of God, how does that righteousness come to be upon our sinful situation?

Revelation as the Dynamic Application of Righteousness

How? The apostle tells us in this particular chapter, and it is in a word that we are very liable to glide over. It is the righteousness of God revealed. The righteousness of God revealed. Now when we read that word revealed, we are thinking very likely of its being disclosed to us for our information, disclosed to us for our knowledge.

And of course that is perfectly true. That it is made known unto us, so that we may intelligently understand what it is. But in the usage of scripture, this word revealed is often used in a very much stronger sense than that.

And if you go back to the prophecy of Isaiah, from about the fortieth chapter on, you'll find again and again that emphasis of the inspired prophet. And it is particularly enunciated in the fifty-sixth chapter of the first verse, when the prophet says, My salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

You see how pervasively in that part of the prophecy of Isaiah you would have this conjunction of salvation and righteousness. My salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof both work as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. It is revelation not simply in the sense of making known for our information and for our knowledge, but it is revelation in the sense of being dynamically active.

You see the parallelism? My salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. There's a parallelism there. And the revealed in the second clause must be as dynamic and active as the salvation is in the first.

Again, my salvation, salvation surely in action, is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. And that surely is what Paul has in view in this particular text when he says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed.

It's not simply revealed for our information, for our knowledge, but it is revealed as dynamically active. That's it. As operative. And that is the glory of the gospel. Because Paul's righteousness, after all, is not a human righteousness, and will never be a human righteousness except by way of human possession.

Nevertheless, it is a righteousness that becomes dynamically active in a human situation. It is, as Paul tells us in other passages, it is a righteousness that is made out. It is a righteousness which we come to possess.

It is a righteousness, therefore, which is imputed to us, and therefore becomes operative to our account. It's a righteousness that is dynamically active on our account because it is ours by possession, by application, by imputation.

And that is the glory of the gospel which the Apostle Paul is enunciating in this particular text. My friends, if you are appalled at the iniquity that resides in your own bosom, if you are overcome by the sense of your complete helplessness before the enormity of your guilt, and how you cannot even raise up your head to heaven but smite upon your own breath, I say, if you are overwhelmed by the sense of your own guilt, by the awfulness of the divine condemnation that belongs to you on account of sin, my friends, the glory of the gospel of God's graciousness is this, that a divine righteousness will supervene upon you in all your hopeless anxiousness and misery, a righteousness which meets with the divine approval, and a righteousness which even elicits the divine approbation.

That is the gospel. And it is not simply a righteousness that is a way off in the far distant abstract, but it is a righteousness which is brought to bear upon your situation when you are made the righteousness of God in Christ.

Faith as the Necessary Instrument of Justification

Now, finally, why is this righteousness of God, and this salvation which is the omnipotent power of God, why is it not operated in everyone? Oh, if the gospel is the omnipotent power of God, and the omnipotent power of God active, that righteousness which is divine, why doesn't it sweep the whole human race within the sphere of its operation?

Why? Is there anything that can resist the omnipotent righteousness of God? Well, the apostle Paul tells us here that after all, it is not the righteousness of God dynamically operated in all. It is not dynamically operated in all of the human race.

There's a limitation, and that is the specific limitation which the apostle makes in this particular text, and in every other part of his inspired writings, as also throughout the whole scripture. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

To everyone that believeth, remember you! And then when he comes to verse 17, he says it is the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

And just because there isn't a universality of faith, this gospel is not indiscriminate and universally operated to the accomplishment of salvation. That is the divine order. There is a necessity, a necessity arising from the very character of this salvation, and a necessity arising from the very character of this righteousness that it becomes operated unto salvation and unto justification only where there is the exercise of faith.

And that is where it comes right to our responsibility. There is the point of discrimination. This expression, from faith to faith, which Paul uses here in verse 17, has been oftentimes greatly perplexed, I think.

At least there has been a great deal of discussion of the meaning of that brief expression, from faith to faith, and it is not my purpose now to go into the various interpretations that have been given of that particular passage, but simply to say with confidence, but yet somewhat dogmatically, there are just two thoughts expressed in that very brief expression, and the first is this, that this is operated only in belief, that the righteousness of God, which is the divine provision for the dismal hopelessness of our sinful situation, is operated only for those who believe.

Paul tells us that very explicitly in the third chapter. May I quote again? He was the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe after all. This is a faith righteousness, not a righteousness which consists in faith, oh no.

It's not a righteousness which consists in any human doing, or in any human exercise, in any human movement whatsoever. It's a divine righteousness, and therefore the scope of its operation is only within the sphere of the divine, and it does not consist in any human activity, for movement, for exercise, but after all, it is a faith righteousness, because it only becomes our worship by faith.

We cannot underestimate, or in any way escape the emphasis of the apostle in that text which is probably about as well known as any text in the New Testament, not having but in all righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

And my friends, it is never a divine righteousness operated on your account, or in your situation, except as it is a faith righteousness, a righteousness which you appropriate in the simplicity of the exercise of faith, the self-commitment of faith.

And the second emphasis which I think there is in that very brief expression, from faith to faith, is this, that it is not only operated on behalf of the believer alone, it is operated by faith alone.

You get the distinction. It's very simple. It's a righteousness that is made only to the believer alone, but it is made always to the believer by faith alone. There are other bases that are exercised in the believer besides faith, and faith without works is dead.

There is repentance, there is love, there is new obedience, and a faith that does not work is not a faith that unites to this righteousness. It is never a faith that is alone, because a faith that is alone is dead, and a dead faith cannot unite to the righteousness of God.

But nevertheless, although it is a faith that is never alone, it is by faith alone that we become the possessors of this righteousness. And that, my friends, is in this particular sphere of the very essence of the Gospel.

There is a perfect congruity between these two things, that it is the righteousness of divine making, of divine quality, of divine property, a righteousness that exists within the sphere of the divine, but it is of the very same, it is in entire congruity with that very emphasis that this righteousness becomes ours by faith alone, not by love, not even by new obedience.

Faith Looks Away from Self to Christ

And it expresses something that belongs to the very essence of the simplicity of the Gospel as well as the power of the Gospel of Christ, that we possess this righteousness by faith alone. And why, I think, alone, just for this reason, that the specific quality of faith is to rest upon that which is divine and upon that which is divine alone.

The specific quality of faith, you see, is to rest upon another, it is self-commitment, it is self-abandonment, it doesn't look to itself, it looks to something else. This belongs to the very essence of your destiny.

And my doctrine is the character of our faith. Is it a faith by which we look within, or is it a faith by which we look to that which is divine? That is the essence of faith, that it goes out of itself, it goes beyond itself, and it is entirely preoccupied with that which is outside of itself, entirely preoccupied with the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God, as it is embodied in Him, who is the very object of this faith.

All the gospel is simple. It is simple because in order that the righteousness of God may supervene upon the wretchedness of our sinful situation, that which puts us in connection with in possession of the righteousness of God, is that which is a going out of ourselves to the excellence and to the divinity of that which God has provided.

That is of the very essence of the gospel. It is the simplicity of the gospel of God's grace. But after all, it is just because it is the simplicity of the gospel that it is so frequently a stumbling block.

That is what constitutes it a stumbling block. That's what constitutes the gospel and of faith. But it is by faith, and by faith of all righteousness of God, because it is given to preoccupation with itself, and with its own righteousness, and that which makes us willing to be entirely debtorship to the free grace of God, to the righteousness which is divine, is that which requires the miracle of God's grace.

The simplicity, after all, is the stumbling block of the gospel, my friends. Don't be caught in the snare of the devil. Don't be caught in that entanglement, which is the devil's masterpiece. Let us appreciate the simplicity that is in Christ, and let us be content to be debtors.

Let us be content to abandon all self, to consider all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, and thus to see that righteousness which is undefiled and undefilable, because it is the righteousness of God.

The Righteousness of God as the Believer's Covering

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with her jewel.

That is the testimony of God, and that is the testimony of the apostle. The righteousness of God. O Lord, our God, do Thou grant unto us that we may know the blessedness of the man whose sins are forgiven, whose iniquities are pardoned, who has been accepted in that righteousness which is undefiled and undefilable.

And may we know, O Lord, the power of that gospel, that it may be all our salvation and all our desire. For Jesus' sake. Amen.