It is entirely by the intervention of Christ’s righteousness that we obtain justification before God. This is equivalent to saying that man is not just in himself, but that the righteousness of Christ is communicated to him by imputation, while he is strictly deserving of punishment.
John Calvin
At the very outset, I would like to explain exactly what I mean by the claim in the title.
Here is what I am not saying.
- I am not saying that you can accept Christ as Savior and reject Him as Lord.
- I am not saying that Christ is not the Lord of all creation.
- I am not saying that a believer mustn’t repent.
- I am not affirming legalism.
- I am not affirming antinomianism.
Generally, there is lots of confusion when someone says they are against Lordship Salvation. I admit if you had never heard of the controversy before you might be taken aback because it sounds like I’m denying the Lordship of Christ, or denying the role of Christ as Lord in the life of the believer. Truth be told I wish there was another title associated with the controversy. One that wouldn’t cause so much undue anxiety, but we are stuck with the branding as it sits.
So, let’s examine a quick breakdown of the different sides of the debate.
Lordship Salvation — Anywhere between the view that repentance is collapsed into faith and the view that repentance precedes faith. Also, that Christ is Savior to no one who rejects Him as Lord.
Free Grace Movement — A one-time profession of faith “punches your ticket” to the kingdom, regardless of how you live after the fact.
Reformed Theology — God gives the elect sinner the gift of faith, from which and through which all the benefits of Christ are given to the believer. This includes sanctification (including repentance) which necessarily grows out of true faith.
All 3 of these positions deny the others when it comes to the nature of faith, repentance, and justification. That is normally the extent of the formal disagreement between them, although the implications of the disagreements leak over into other areas of theology and practice.
So which is consistent with our New Testament understanding of Sola Fide? We are saved by faith alone. The Protestant doctrine of Sola Fide states that faith, and nothing other than faith, is the instrumental means of the justification of the elect sinner in the eyes of God.
Q. 33. What is justification?
Westminster Shorter Catechism
A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone
Not faith and anything.
Not faith and merit.
Not faith and repentance.
Not faith and good works.
Faith plus nothing receives eternal life in Christ Jesus.
All of the spiritual walk proceeds from and flows through faith. Because faith is the alone instrument through which we apprehend Christ and all that comes with Him. It is through faith alone that we have the whole Christ. For how can a sinner, dead in their trespasses repent without the Holy Spirit present within them? It is through faith and in union with Christ that we are given the blessed Paraclete, not before. Mixing repentance and faith tarnishes the pure gem of Sola Fide and adds something to the equation in our justification.
Let’s walk through the Reformed Ordo Salutis (order of salvation)
Dead in sin
The elect sinner is dead in their trespasses and sins, utterly incapable of doing any pleasing thing before the Father. Utterly incapable of taking even the smallest step towards Christ. They love their sin and are at enmity with God.
Effectual Calling
The Father sends the Holy Spirit to bring to life the dead sinner, through the mediation of Christ Jesus on their behalf. He takes away their heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh; renews their wills and draws them toward Christ. They come freely to Christ, being made willing by His grace.
Faith
The elect person who has been effectually called and brought to new life is immediately given the gift of faith, whereby they receive all of Christ. This is eternal life, union with Christ, given freely by the grace of the Father to those entirely undeserving, and giving no aid or help to this grace. Faith is received entirely passively by the recipient, who accepts, receives, and rests with open hands in the overwhelming free grace of God. All of this wrought by the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer.
Union with Christ
It is only from this point forward that the believer now, through the working of the Holy Spirit within them is stricken by the beauty of Christ and the filthiness of their sin. They immediately and necessarily, upon reception of faith, turn from their sin and toward Christ. This is not any prerequisite to justification, it is an outflowing (you could say an overflowing) of union with Christ. From this reality, we walk with Christ as Simul Justus Et Peccator (simultaneously justified and sinner) and even though the elect will never fall away, they may for a time fall into seasons of darkness.
Justification
The believer, now apprehended wholly unto Christ, and who now has Christ apprehended wholly unto themselves is made right before the perfect, holy standard of the Father as Christ’s active and inactive obedience is imputed to the believer by the Holy Spirit, and the believer’s sin is pardoned before the Father. The only instrument by which this justification is worked is the free gift of faith.
Repentance cannot precede faith, for true repentance (not simply an unholy fear of God’s punishment) proceeds from the Holy Spirit. How could an unbeliever, who is at enmity with God, turn from their sin without the benefits of Christ enabling them to do so? Repentance is not part of faith because it is by faith alone we are justified. Faith can be the only instrumental cause of our justification, not faith mixed with X or faith plus Y.
Justification precedes repentance because justification is a reality which comes simultaneously with faith and union with Christ. Repentance is an outflowing of union with Christ, it is not something that we do (even as a gift of God) to produce or elicit justification.
Any Ordo Salutis which mixes faith and repentance, or has repentance preceding faith is utterly foreign to the New Testament and the Reformed Confessions. At the point of faith we receive all of Christ’s benefits, but so much more than that is the fact that we get all of Christ Himself.
Thanks for this