Faultless to Stand Before the Throne
ROMANS 4:5
One of the most profound and exciting passages in the Bible is Romans 4:5, which states, “And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
What does this verse really mean? How can God justify the ungodly or wicked? How can our salvation be based solely on free grace and not on anything we do or contribute? What is the eternal significance of this justification by faith alone?
Since we all stand guilty before God as rebels who are spiritually dead in our sins and trespasses, we deserve punishment. We don’t seek God. We are not good. We have altogether become worthless as sinners who are hostile toward God. This paints a rather grim picture of the human condition, doesn’t it?
We cannot earn, work for, or contribute even a little to our salvation. In other words, we can’t rely solely on our good works to earn God's acceptance and secure eternal life in heaven.
This goes against our American, rugged individualist spirit. We’ve been taught our whole lives that we must earn our place. We have to work our way to the top. We have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
But when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, salvation isn’t something the person who works or tries to earn their way to God through “being good,” going to church, or doing any other activity to somehow please God can achieve.
In fact, this passage in Romans teaches that God justifies the ungodly. God, in His mercy, makes a solemn declaration that guilty sinners can get off “Scott-free.”
How is this possible? How can God be a fair Judge and still allow guilty sinners to go free and be declared innocent?
The answer is not found within us as sinners but in Christ, the perfect Son of God who fully obeyed all of God’s laws during His time on earth. Moreover, He was the only One qualified to go to the cross and die as a substitute for sinners.
Because of Christ’s righteousness and His death, God can credit or impute His righteousness to us as sinners. Martin Luther called this the “great exchange.” The enormity of our vile sins was credited to Christ as He paid for those sins on the cross, achieving complete forgiveness. Not only are our sins credited to Him, but His righteousness is credited to us.
So, instead of seeing a rebellious sinner, God—as the infinite Judge—looks down from the courtroom in heaven and sees a holy, righteous believer who has been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Our righteousness does not come from within ourselves. It is outside of us and comes solely from Christ. Only through Christ can God declare sinners “not guilty.”
This forgiveness is not automatic. The Bible teaches us that it comes through faith. As those who are dead in our sins, we cannot exercise faith in Christ unless the Holy Spirit does a work of regeneration in our lives. He must open the eyes of our hearts and make us alive. This is called the new birth.
Once the Spirit causes you to be born again, you are given the gifts of repentance and faith. Evidence that you are born again is that you willingly respond to Christ by repenting of your sins and trusting in Him alone. Once you trust Christ through faith, God takes your sins, credits them to Christ, and takes Christ’s righteousness and credits it to you.
Trust Christ today.
Plead with the Father to make you alive in Christ.
Ask the Lord to remove the blinders from your eyes so that you can repent and trust.
Embrace Christ today.
Turn to Him alone.
The old hymn “The Solid Rock” provides this encouragement:
“When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”