In Romans 1 to 3 we saw that Paul spoke of our salvation as dependent solely on the power of God; indeed, he wrote that the gospel ‘is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes’ (1:16). He sums this up in 3:27 to 31 by stating that the gospel outlaws human boasting. Both Jewish believers, who had the law, and Gentile believers, who did not have the law, were justified (acquitted) ‘by faith’, not by law.
As Paul stated in 1:17, this acquittal (‘righteousness’) is ‘from God’ and ‘is by faith from first to last’. It always depends on God; never for a moment does it depend on us. We do not have salvation because we supply something necessary to earn, deserve or merit it. This might offend our human egos, because it assumes a total inability and spiritual destitution on our part; but, because it depends solely on God, and never on us, it is secure. Absolutely secure.
To further affirm that justification/righteousness is ‘by faith’, and not dependent on our personal merit, Paul explains in Romans 4 that Abraham was not ‘justified by works’ but ‘by faith’ was credited with ‘righteousness’ as a gift, not as an obligation.
This gift of righteousness was given to Abraham, apart from ‘works’ (Romans 4:2 – 6), before he was circumcised (4:9 – 12), before the law was given (4:13 – 15).
In this context, Paul makes two startling statements, statements that affirm the security of our salvation, statements that surprise, and even offend, some Christians:
Romans 4:5: ‘However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.’
Romans 4:16: ‘the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring – not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.’
God … justifies the wicked. That is, God acquits the wicked, declares the wicked ‘not guilty’!
This is so far removed from our human religious concepts that it is rejected, either deliberately or without even knowing it, by many Christians. Consider these statements that deliberately contradict Paul’s words:
"But again, to the question, can man be justified while sin remains in him? Surely he cannot, either upon legal or gospel principles, unless the law be repealed. That he cannot be justified by the law, while there is a particle of sin in him, is too plain to need proof. But can he be pardoned and accepted, and then justified, in the gospel sense, while sin, any degree of sin, remains in him? Certainly not. …". Charles Finney in his Systematic Theology - https://www.charlesfinney.com/finney/finney.php?op=198.
"If any one saith, that, after the grace of Justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him); let him be anathema." [Council of Trent: Canons on Justification: Canon 30 http://carm.org/council-trent-canons-justification ].
The promise … is guaranteed.
God’s promise of salvation through the death of Christ does not depend on human merit. It is always by faith. It is always by grace. And because of that it is sure and certain.
In thinking about these two statements of Paul, I am reminded of the parable Jesus told about two men in the temple – a Pharisee and a tax-collector (Luke 18:9 – 14).
The Pharisee was confident of his own personal righteousness, and trusted in that perceived righteousness for his standing before God. The tax-collector, knowing he was a sinner, cast himself on the mercy of God.
Jesus said: ‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God’ – verse 14.
Let us learn from this parable: that there is never a moment when our own personal ‘righteousness’ is sufficient to gain us a ‘not guilty’ verdict from God.
If we think that our salvation depends on our personal ‘righteousness’ we will never have assurance of salvation, unless we have a diminished concept of sin or an exalted concept of ourselves. And we will be hounded every day by a constant need to maintain an adequate level of personal 'righteousness'.
But if we, with the tax-collector, depend solely on God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus, we know, with absolute assurance, that our salvation is secure, for it is not our hands, but in the powerful and loving hands of him who became one of us in order to bear our sins, all of them, in his body on the cross.
© Rosemary Bardsley 2025