Galatians - Justification By Faith Alone (Daily Devotional)

Greetings and welcome to Living Supernaturally. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to spend a few moments in God's word and also pray together. This week, we'll be looking at the epistle of Galatians and gleaning lessons from this wonderful book.

Today, we'll look at justification by faith alone. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16, ‘Know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So, we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.’ The teaching of justification by faith is what separates biblical Christianity from all other belief systems. In every religion, man is working his way up to God. Only in Christianity is a man saved as a result of grace through faith. Only when we get back to the Bible do we see that justification is by faith, apart from works. The word justified simply means pronounced or treated righteous. We all know it as ‘just as if we have not sinned’. For a Christian, justification is the act of God not only forgiving the believer's sin but also imputing in him the righteousness of Christ. Understanding this doctrine of justification is important for the Christian. First, it is the very knowledge of justification and grace that motivates good works and spiritual growth. Justification leads to sanctification. Also, the fact that justification is a finished work of God through the cross of Jesus Christ, you and I, as believers have assurance of our salvation. In God's eyes, believers have the righteousness necessary to gain eternal life. The apostle Paul is saying that all knew that attempts to keep the law could not make a person perfectly righteous before God. The reason of course is that the problem is man's depraved heart. External works do not change a man's heart. Our problem is what we are and not what we do. What we do is just the fruit of what we are in our hearts. It follows that what fallen man needs is a heart transplant, a new heart. Paul states the need for faith in Christ three times in this verse. Notice faith plus nothing. Anything added to Christ is not the gospel and will not save one's soul. Salvation is by faith in Christ alone. It is only by grace, in response to faith that God has credited in us the holiness of His son. Both the Old and the New Testament declare that the just shall live by faith.

Let's pray, Father, we thank you for this wonderful word that you have taught us that justification is by faith and we all, each one of us are justified not because of the works that we have done, but by the finished work of the cross. We thank you for imputing righteousness upon each one of us. Help us to understand and walk in this identity, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

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