Michael Reeves

You will not love God unless you know He loves you first. You will not love Him unless you know a security in which to enjoy Him. And therefore, justification by faith alone must be the very foundation stone of healthy Christian living.

You will not love God unless you know He loves you first. You will not love Him unless you know a security in which to enjoy Him. And therefore, justification by faith alone must be the very foundation stone of healthy Christian living.

We come now to the wonderful doctrine of justification, the matter of the Reformation, the matter that made the Reformation the Reformation. As John Calvin put it, the first and keenest subject of controversy between us. Now justification is perhaps the ultimate example of a doctrine that quite different Christian traditions can hold to and understand in completely incompatible ways.

We come now to the wonderful doctrine of justification, the matter of the Reformation, the matter that made the Reformation the Reformation. As John Calvin put it, the first and keenest subject of controversy between us. Now justification is perhaps the ultimate example of a doctrine that quite different Christian traditions can hold to and understand in completely incompatible ways.

Both Rome and the Reformers now and then believed and taught justification in some sense. both held that God justifies by His grace through faith, which sounds like and has been taken to mean real agreement on this first and keenest subject of controversy. But justification

Both Rome and the Reformers now and then believed and taught justification in some sense. both held that God justifies by His grace through faith, which sounds like and has been taken to mean real agreement on this first and keenest subject of controversy. But justification

is a prime example of a doctrine that is susceptible to very different readings and which therefore needs to be closely defined. So let's start with the understanding of justification Luther was brought up with before the Reformation. And to get it, you really need to go back to the great 5th century theologian Augustine.

is a prime example of a doctrine that is susceptible to very different readings and which therefore needs to be closely defined. So let's start with the understanding of justification Luther was brought up with before the Reformation. And to get it, you really need to go back to the great 5th century theologian Augustine.

who believe that if you want to understand justification, you need to turn to the book of Romans, which you might have been expecting. But chapter 5 and verse 5, which says, God has poured his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit he's given us. Now, that is a lovely biblical truth, but it's not justification.

who believe that if you want to understand justification, you need to turn to the book of Romans, which you might have been expecting. But chapter 5 and verse 5, which says, God has poured his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit he's given us. Now, that is a lovely biblical truth, but it's not justification.

But as Augustine understood it, what happens in justification is that God pours his love into our hearts, internally transforming us, making us more and more loving, more and more righteous, more and more just, deified. I'm internally transformed. I'm more and more inherently righteous and holy, more and more personally worthy of heaven as I'm transformed.

But as Augustine understood it, what happens in justification is that God pours his love into our hearts, internally transforming us, making us more and more loving, more and more righteous, more and more just, deified. I'm internally transformed. I'm more and more inherently righteous and holy, more and more personally worthy of heaven as I'm transformed.

And so justification was a process of internal transformation. What do you think that does to you if you believe that? Well, the very clear takeaway for Europe was a lack of assurance before a holy God. So one of the charges made against Joan of Arc at her trial in 1431 was just this.

And so justification was a process of internal transformation. What do you think that does to you if you believe that? Well, the very clear takeaway for Europe was a lack of assurance before a holy God. So one of the charges made against Joan of Arc at her trial in 1431 was just this.

At a trial, the judges proclaimed, "'This woman sins when she says she's certain of being received into paradise.'" Seeing on this earthly journey, said the judges, no pilgrim can know if he is worthy of glory or punishment. And that judgment made complete sense within the logic of the system.

At a trial, the judges proclaimed, "'This woman sins when she says she's certain of being received into paradise.'" Seeing on this earthly journey, said the judges, no pilgrim can know if he is worthy of glory or punishment. And that judgment made complete sense within the logic of the system.

If we can only enter heaven because we have, yes, by God's enabling grace, become personally worthy of heaven, of course nobody can be sure. By that line of reasoning, I can have as much confidence in heaven as I have confidence in my own sinlessness. And that is why during a thunderstorm in 1505, the 21-year-old student Martin Luther screamed with fear.

If we can only enter heaven because we have, yes, by God's enabling grace, become personally worthy of heaven, of course nobody can be sure. By that line of reasoning, I can have as much confidence in heaven as I have confidence in my own sinlessness. And that is why during a thunderstorm in 1505, the 21-year-old student Martin Luther screamed with fear.

when a thunderbolt smashed him to the ground. It hit so close he was knocked to the ground. The air was pushed out of his lungs, and he screamed the words, listen carefully to the words, St. Anne, help me. I'll become a monk. He cried, but not to God. But he had never in his life prayed to God. For he did not dare to speak to a holy God. Poor man. Terrified. of his fate.

when a thunderbolt smashed him to the ground. It hit so close he was knocked to the ground. The air was pushed out of his lungs, and he screamed the words, listen carefully to the words, St. Anne, help me. I'll become a monk. He cried, but not to God. But he had never in his life prayed to God. For he did not dare to speak to a holy God. Poor man. Terrified. of his fate.