It is getting to the end of the school year, and so all of you students of Theology should be ready for the final exam. Hopefully, you have studied up so you can answer the final question. It is worth 100% of the grade for the class. This is for all the marbles….
FINAL QUESTION: If Johnny wants to make it to heaven with absolute certainty, which formula should he use to get there?
(A) F = J + W
(B) F + W = J
( F – faith, W – work, J – justification – – If you answered (A) you pass. If (B), we need to talk.)
While reading “Are We Together” by R. C. Sproul*, I was brought back to the wonder and exhilaration I first felt when I finally discovered the “true gospel” that is taught clearly in the Bible. You see, for 23 years I was unsure of what God wanted from me. Different people told me different things, the nuns told me one thing, the priests another, and both groups didn’t often see things quite like my grandparents and parents did. I realized at the age of 18, nobody really knew if they were right or wrong!
Climbing the stairway to heaven seemed like a crap-shoot.
As I look back on it now, the reason why there was such confusion on the topic of salvation is because they were all using the wrong formula: answer (B). As much as you may try, the wrong formula will never give you a correct answer — every physics student knows this. In the same way, people think they can ignore the importance of correct doctrine, but precision of thought and language is always necessary if you are going to come to the right answer. This is especially true when it comes to where you spend eternity. It is funny, when people build a house precision is expected. My dad would throw me a tape measure and say “measure twice and cut once.” Exactness mattered. But for some strange reason, people have a terrible habit of using fuzzy math when it comes to the things of God.
So let’s get precise.
THE RIGHT ANSWER: F = J + W (Faith = Justification and Works)
“One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” (John 9:25-27)
This formula is the “true gospel”, the one that truly saves. It is fairly straightforward. On the left side of the equation, we have the only thing needed that is necessary for a person to please God (Hebrews 11:6), FAITH (F)! As the early reformers would put it, “Sola Fide”, faith alone. So what exactly is faith? Is it wishing something will come true or hoping God is who he says he is? No, both of those ideas fall short of the true, solid, biblical definition of faith. Faith is “receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness and his righteousness alone.” I can’t add a single thing to what he already did — he drank the cup of wrath for all of us when he died on the cross (Matthew 26:42) and he rose again to prove God was fully pleased. Faith trusts that his death and resurrection was a complete payment on my behalf. This is something none of us could ever do…and he did it out of love for us!
Now the right side of the equation is where it gets interesting. The first element after a man exercises faith is called “Justification” (J). This term means, “Declared righteous by God himself.” You see when I receive Christ, I receive his life. This is called imputation; all that Jesus has accomplished is “credited” to me. So if I receive the gospel by faith, God forever sees his Son in me (2 Corinthians 5:21). R.C. Sproul says this kind of justification is called “synthetic justification”, something outside of me was added to my life, an alien righteousness. I was blind, and Jesus had to give me sight that was not originally mine.
And this imputation is both real and powerful.
So powerful it will produce fruit, which is signified by the final variable, “W”. I will start working, not to earn, gain or secure a standing. Synthetic justification says I already have it (Romans 5:1), but I work because the life of Christ is now alive in me. As James says, “Faith without works is dead” which means if I have no works I probably didn’t exercise true faith in the first place. If God gives me sight, I will prove it through seeing. If God gives me his Son’s imputed life, I will prove it through loving. If someone isn’t working it may be because they never really exercised true faith. You can’t do work in order produce work, in the same way, a blind man can’t first see in order to receive sight. It must be first given to you by God. This is true salvation.
THE WRONG ANSWER: F + W = J (Faith + Works = Justification)
“And behold, a man came up to him, saying, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.’…The young man said to him, ‘All these I have kept. What do I still lack?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’” (Matthew 19:16-17; 20-21)
This formula is the “tricky and tiring gospel” because it sounds so right, and yet it is oh so wrong and exhausting. It sounds so right because the variables seem the same, but they do not mean the same thing. Faith (F) again is used in the equation, but if you notice, it is not complete. It isn’t enough, you need to help it out by adding Work (W). This faith is not “imputed” it is “infused”. Infused faith is not complete faith. It is like jump-starting a car, Jesus’ death on the cross started us out on the path to righteousness, but it isn’t enough to fully get to the destination. It is up to us and our efforts to continue working toward it the rest of the way, that is why “W” needs to be added to it.
What kind of work needs to be done? This is the problem, it depends on who you ask. I know priests who said you need to do penance, others said you need simple sincerity, I had nuns that said to pray to Mary, and then you have the regular guy that said you just had to be baptized as an infant. Standards were always shifting and certainty was an impossibility.
The number one phrase that described the work that was needed was “Be Good.” But what does it even mean to be good? Who decides on the correct standard of goodness? If it is a cool priest or liberal nun, you just need to be a liberal democrat and give a lot of money to the poor. If it is your parents who decide what the standard is, it is pretty easy, just be yourself. But in the verse I quoted earlier, Jesus said, “Be perfect.”
Wait a minute? Did you say perfection? In Theological terms, perfection is sinlessness. Can a person be perfect? Did you know Mother Teresa wasn’t even perfect? Just read Romans 3:11-23 and you will soon realize no one is perfect. And that is the problem. To get to the “J” in our formula you need to do enough “W” to make the “F” sufficient. And that depends on an imperfect person (you), to achieve perfection (impossible)!
Oh yeah, one more important thing about this formula: The “J” is still representing justification, but it is not “synthetic justification” but rather “analytical justification.” That means when all’s said and done, God analyzes a person and their work to see if they are truly righteous. But remember, perfection is the standard God is obligated to use (Habakkuk 1:13), and none of us has it in us. Do you see the problem?
THE TRACK MEET
There are two track meets to heaven. The first one is the biblical race: The gun goes off to begin the race when a person believes in Christ alone. As they run, sometimes they fall, but they can still get up because they are already on the team….they will never be kicked off. The finish line is the moment of death, it is at that time when a person will be granted glorification, the likeness of Christ forever.
The second one is the religious race: The gun goes off when a person is born, but you never quite know when they make the team. If a person falls during the race, it better not be a fall that is so bad it will get them disqualified. But in this race, every fall is that bad! In fact, the whole race is trying to achieve perfection so you will finally make the team. When they get to the finish line, it is then that their race is judged, and you never know the outcome because you never know if you did enough. The truth is, no one ever runs the perfect race, so in this race, no one ever does enough. That is why it is so exhausting…
Only one person has run the perfect race, Jesus, and when a person believes, God attributes Jesus’ race to them. That is why you will only hear cheering from the first race, it begins at the beginning of the race and never stops all through eternity! Which answer did you choose, and which race are you running?
