JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH NOT WORKS

'The reason we can speak of justification/ rectification by faith, not by works, is that faith is not a work.' 

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, p.331.

JUSTIFICATION

'...when we say that God will "justify" rather than merely "acquit," the action has a reconstituting force - hence the insufficiency of the courtroom metaphor "to acquit," God's righteousness is the same thing as his justice, and his justice is powerfully at work justifying, which does not mean excusing, passing over, or even "forgiving and forgetting," but actively making right that which is wrong.' 

Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, p.329. 

TRUE CHURCH UNITY

'It is often suggested that because doctrine divides, the best way to unite a church (or churches) is to dumb down and de-emphasize doctrine, because doctrinal distinctives will exclude some who cannot subscribe to them. This is true when the doctrinal distinction is secondary. It is untrue when the doctrine is justification by grace alone. Other distinctives create privileged or exclusive ghetto religion. But grace alone fashions a community which has no pride in its history, its privileges, its morality, its Bible knowledge, or anything that comes from within itself. It is therefore, a community that can live together in harmony and reach out with the barrier-breaking message of grace to a needy world.' 

Christopher Ash, Teaching Romans: Volume 1, p.177. 

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

'...the commanding insistence of the Scripture is that in justification it is the righteousness of God which is revealed from faith to faith, and therefore a righteousness which is contrasted not only with human unrighteousness but with human righteousness. It is righteousness which is divine in quality.' 

John Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied, p.120. 

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

'Justification is one of the great joy factories of the Christian life. When there is no joy (cf. Gal 4:15), it is often a telltale sign that we have lost our gras[ on this doctrine. The suspicion that characterized our relationship with God before we knew him in Christ starts to creep back in and take over.' 

Rory Shiner, One Forever, p.48. 

CHEAP GRACE

'...the Protestant disease of cheap grace can produce some of the most selfish and contentious leaders and lay people on earth, more difficult to bear in a state of grace than they would be in a state of nature.'

Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life, p.103.  

JUSTIFICATION & SANCTIFICATION

'In justification the basis is the finished work of Jesus Christ; in sanctification it is the finished work of Christ. In justification, we must see, acknowledge, and act upon the fact that we cannot save ourselves. In sanctification, we must see, acknowledge, and act upon the fact that we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength, or in our own goodness.'

Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality, p.76.

JUSTIFICATION

'In printer's language to "justify" means to set type in such a way that all full lines are of equal length and flush both left and right; in other words to put the printed lines in the right relationship with the page they're printed on and with each other. The religious sense of the word is very close to this. Being justified means being brought into right relation. Paul says simply that being justified means having peace with God (Romans 5:1). He uses the noun "justification" for the first step in the process of salvation.'

Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking, p.48.

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

'...justification by faith. Many religions teach that if you live as you ought, then God will accept and bless you. But Paul taught that if you receive God's acceptance and blessing as a free gift through Jesus Christ, then you can and will live as you ought.'

Timothy Keller, Generous Justice, p.97.

RIGHTEOUSNESS

'God clothes you with his righteousness when you believe, giving you a garment that makes you fit for heaven.'

Bill Piper in John Piper, The Future of Justification, p.9.