The Fundamentals - Torrey - LII - Chapter 11 (Justification by faith)

Required reading
The Fundamentals edited by R. A. Torrey (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 11 (Justification by faith).

My summary
This week Moule teaches us about justification by faith.

Firstly Moule defines 'justification': 'justification means to make just, that is to say, to make conformable to a true standard.'

Secondly Moule defines 'faith': 'Reliance upon thing or person supposed to be trustworthy, this is Faith.'

Thirdly Moule explains what is meant by 'by' in 'justification by faith': 'It is the rebel's putting himself into right relations with his offended Lord in this great matter of forgiveness and acceptance.  It is not a virtue, not a merit, but a proper means.'

What grabbed me
I enjoyed Moule's explanation of why faith is not a work in itself: 'We are here warned off from the temptation to erect Faith into a Saviour, to rest our reliance upon our Faith, if I may put it so. That is a real temptation to many. Hearing, and fully thinking, that to be justified we must have Faith, they, we, are soon occupied with an anxious analysis of our Faith. Do I trust enough? Is my reliance satisfactory in kind and quantity? But if saving Faith is, in its essence, simply a reliant attitude, then the question of its effect and virtue is at once shifted to the question of the adequacy of its Object. The man then is drawn to ask, not, Do I rely enough ? but, Is Jesus Christ great enough, and gracious enough, for me to rely upon? The introspective microscope is laid down. The soul's open eyes turn upward to the face of our Lord Jesus Christ; and Faith forgets itself in its own proper action. In other words, the man relies instinctively upon an Object seen to be so magnificently, so supremely able to sustain him. His feet are on the Rock, and he knows it, not by feeling for his feet, but by feeling the Rock.'

If Christ is sufficient for our salvation and we trust in him at all, then we are saved.

Next week's reading
Read Chapter 12 (The doctrines that must be emphasized in successful evangelism) and Chapter 13 (Preach the word).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.