Welcome to another episode of KJV versus JST! Today we're looking at a block of verses in Romans about how faith is counted for righteousness.
KJV: Romans 4:2-5
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JST: Romans 4:2-5
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2 For if Abraham were
justified by works,
he hath whereof to glory;
but not before God.
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2 For if Abraham
were justified by the law of works,
he hath to glory in himself;
but not of God.
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3 For what saith the
scripture?
Abraham believed God,
and it was counted unto him for
righteousness.
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3 For what saith the
scripture?
Abraham believed God,
and it was counted unto
him for righteousness.
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4 Now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of
grace, but of debt.
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4 Now to him who is justified by the law of works,
is the reward reckoned, not of grace, but of
debt.
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5 But to him that worketh
not,
but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for
righteousness.
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5 But to him that seeketh not to be justified by the law of works,
but believeth on him who
justifieth not the ungodly,
his faith is counted for
righteousness.
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One of the things the JST makes
clear here in v4-5 is the issue is not between doing works and not doing works
like the KJV makes it seem like it is.
The issue is what we believe about the role works have in our salvation. It says that if we think we are justified by works (whether the law of Moses or the
ordinances of the gospel or good works done to our fellowmen), we are going
to think (even if only subconsciously) that God owes us for what we have
done, that we have put God in our debt thereby. There is no room for Christ in this way of thinking, which
is why it is mistaken.
What is the alternative? We have to start with the realization that we have sinned and Christ has paid
for our sins, putting us in deep debt to Him. Believing in the salvation He offers us, we repent of our
sins. Knowing that He will not
justify the ungodly (those who continue to sin), we forsake sin, receive the ordinances, keep His
commandments, and do good.
These works can never be enough to repay our debt to Christ, but we
do them anyway because they are what He asks of us in return.
So “seeking not to be justified by
the law of works” (v5) is not referring to stopping works. It means that you know your works are
not enough to pay the debt of your sins or the debt you owe to Christ who paid
for those sins. It means you’re
just doing your best to serve Christ because you love Him for what He did and
want to follow Him.
This is a really hard thing for us
to grasp. Somehow we are so used
to thinking of debts as something we must try to pay off. The problem in the case of our salvation
debt is, the very moment we think of
trying to pay it off, that’s the moment we have stopped trusting Christ and started trusting ourselves instead. We
must be content to be His debt slaves
and do His bidding forever.
Serving with that attitude—that we are forever in His debt because of His atonement—is how our faith is counted for righteousness.
He’s the best Master because the
things He asks of us are calculated to make us more like Him, but not because
we are able to do it on our own, but because as we do our best, He gives us the
power (grace) to do those things. Yes, the better we become, the more we are in His debt because of His
enabling power of grace.
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