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The author get a great deal correct here, but makes a couple of key errors, largely because of his reformist/Calvinist viewpoint.
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16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:16-17 (LSB)
(...) Deleted a long, irrelevant tangent
All genuine believers have been justified by faith. (Let's supply the actual verse:
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH.” Romans 1:16-17 (LSB)
(...) Deleted a long, irrelevant tangent
All genuine believers have been justified by faith. (Let's supply the actual verse:
Ro. 3:28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
The Greek word that is translated as “justified” is a forensic word that describes a judge declaring an accused person not guilty and therefore innocent before the law. (This is correct as far as it goes, but that's not how Paul actually used the term:
In the Greco-Roman world, δικαιόω was a legal term used in the context of courtrooms and judicial proceedings. It involved the act of a judge declaring a defendant to be in the right, thus acquitting them of charges. In Jewish thought, righteousness was closely tied to adherence to the Law. However, the New Testament writers, particularly Paul, redefined justification in light of the gospel, emphasizing faith in Christ as the means of being declared righteous before God.
We are not justified by being scrutinized or evaluated legally. God doesn't make our guilt into innocence, He utters a declaration that we are righteous by our faith in Jesus [Ro. 3:26].)
Throughout scripture this word refers to God’s declaring a sinner not guilty and fully righteous before Him by imputing to him or her the divine righteousness of Christ and imputing the person’s sin to our sinless Saviour.
??? This passage says nothing of imputation. Rather, we are made literally righteous by faith because God declared it. We discuss imputation in detail here.)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (LSB)
??? This passage says nothing of imputation. Rather, we are made literally righteous by faith because God declared it. We discuss imputation in detail here.)
All genuine believers are saved by grace through faith. It is by God’s unmerited favor (A common [and bad] definition of faith. Grace actually means:
xáris (another feminine noun from xar-, "favor, disposed to, inclined, favorable towards, leaning towards to share benefit") – properly, grace. 5485 (xáris) is preeminently used of the Lord's favor – freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He is "always leaning toward them").
Many think this is "unmerited" or "undeserved." However, the definition of the word does not include this concept. There isn't a single verse where God considers whether or not we deserve His nearness. It's neither deserved nor undeserved. He simply draws near with favor.)
that we are saved through the conduit of faith. It is God’s work not ours.
(...)
Soli Deo Gloria!
Soli Deo Gloria!
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