For the record, the UPCI officially teaches we are justified by faith
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Justification by Faith
To be justified means to be counted or declared righteous by God. The Bible clearly teaches justification by faith: "The just shall live by faith" (
Habakkuk 2:4;
Romans 1:17;
Galatians 3:11;
Hebrews 10:38).
Paul preached this doctrine: "Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses" (
Acts 13:38-39).
Paul emphasized justification by faith in his writings: "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight… But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe… Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood" (
Romans 3:20-25). "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (
Galatians 2:16).
Romans 4 and
Galatians 3 contain much additional teaching on this subject.
The bottom line is this: no one can be justified by observing the law of Moses or by doing good works. Instead, the only way to salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us. Having established this, we must next determine what true faith in Christ is and how to have it. For a start, we note the words of Benjamin Warfield: "Justification by faith does not mean… salvation by believing things instead of doing right. It means pleading the merits of Christ before the throne of grace instead of our own merits." [4]
And saved by grace alone througth faith
Salvation Comes Only Through Faith in Jesus Christ
Not only does each man need salvation, there is nothing man can do to save himself. No amount of good works or adherence to law can save a man.
Ephesians 2:8-9 proclaims, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." This means salvation is a free gift from God. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ made this free gift of salvation available, and the only way to receive salvation is to have faith in Jesus and in the sufficiency of His sacrifice. Of course, saving faith in Christ includes obedience to His gospel and application of His gospel to our lives. (See Chapter 2 - Grace and Faith for further discussion of grace and faith.)
We must stress that salvation can come only through faith, and that faith must be in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus asserted, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (
John 14:6). He also said we must believe He is God manifested in the flesh as our Savior. "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins" (
John 8:24).
Why is reliance upon Christ absolutely necessary? Since all men are sinners, the holiness of God demanded that He separate Himself from sinful man and also required death as a penalty for man. God chose to bind Himself by the principle of death for sin. Without the shedding of blood (the giving of a life) there can be no remission or release from this penalty (
Hebrews 9:22) and no restoration to fellowship with the holy God. (See
Ephesians 2:13-17;
Colossians 1:19-22.) The death of animals is not sufficient to remit the sin of man (
Hebrews 10:4), because man is much greater than the animals in that he was created in the spiritual, mental, and moral image of God (
Genesis 1:27). Neither can an ordinary man become the substitutionary sacrifice for another, for all deserve eternal death for their own sins.
In order to provide a suitable substitute, God manifested Himself in flesh through the man Jesus Christ. Christ is the only sinless man who has ever lived, so He was the only One who did not deserve to die and who could be a perfect substitute. Therefore, His death became a propitiation or an atonement - the means by which God can pardon sins without violating His holiness and justice (
Romans 3:23-26). God does not excuse our sins, but He has inflicted the penalty for those sins on the innocent man Christ. This substitution avails to us when we place our faith in Christ and apply His gospel to our lives. Thus the substitutionary, atoning death of Christ was made necessary by (1) the sinfulness of man, (2) the holiness of God, and (3) God's law requiring death as the punishment for sin. This is why there can be no salvation outside Jesus Christ.
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