Webmaster's Introduction. In this thought-provoking, scholarly, and yet easily accessible book, Clinton S. Baldwin (a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and seminary doctoral student at Andrews University) seeks to capture the NT teaching of justification by faith by focusing in the One who is our righteousness. He has boldly preached Christ and the covenants, attentive to an accurate exegesis and without concern for tradition.

We were delighted to become more acquainted with Clinton at the recent 4th JIF symposium in April (2004) and plan to share further excerpts of his heartwarming book on this site.

C. S. Baldwin Ph.D. Candidate The Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Andrews University Berrien Springs, MI

INTRODUCTION TO BOOK

Justification by faith is one of the key salvation metaphors used in the New Testament. It is the position of this book that humanity's justification before God is not a concept, a propositional truth, or some distinctive doctrine(s), but rather it is a person. It is the very person of Jesus now living in heaven. This reality is a gift from God because humanity at its best is sinful, not simply because people do bad things, but because we are sinful by nature. Having become our justification, Jesus has replaced the law as the instrument which distinguishes the chosen/saved people of God. This fact creates an extravagant assurance of salvation, because the sinner who accepts Jesus has legally passed the final judgment even before it comes. A person's salvation is a guaranteed position, because it is always secured by the heavenly intercessory ministry of Jesus Christ. The Christian now possesses citizenship status in heaven and in a special way is sealed in that condition.

Of course, if the person of Jesus continues to be our justification before God, then this has many other implications. Principally among these are the following: Who constitutes the last day remnant of God? What is the final and decisive element in the gospel? When will Jesus return? What (if indeed it is a question of "what") constitutes God's eternal law, and exactly how should we keep this law? All these and more are segments of the treasure hidden in the field of this book. Be aware that as you read this book, you run the risk of having a unique encounter with Jesus. The only problem with this engagement is that Jesus has a way of disturbing lives in ways that sometimes only he can understand. The beauty of his disturbances however, is that they always lead to eternal salvation. You always gain by meeting Jesus.

In order to obtain the most accurate understanding of any message, one must first study that message in light of the original or primary context in which that message was given. This is particularly true of the entire Bible. The messages of the Bible were not given in a vacuum, but were communicated to a particular people, in a particular setting, at a particular time, within a particular cultural, theological and philosophical context. These messages had specific meanings to their primary recipients which may or may not exactly correspond to the meanings they have for us in the twenty-first century. For example, when we use the word "covenant," we think more in terms of an equal or mutual agreement drafted and agreed upon by two parties. However, for the people of the Old Testament this was not necessarily the case. A covenant, as we shall see in further detail, could consist of a document unilaterally drafted by one party, and presented to the other party solely as a requirement. This certainly does not fit our modern definition of a covenant.

In our thinking, the standard of righteousness is an ideal or objective norm against which one's actions can be measured. However, for the Hebrew mind, this was not necessarily the case. For them, righteousness was more of a relational concept. It involved meeting the demands of a particular relationship, and as such it would not necessarily conform to any particular objective norm, but would vary from situation to situation.

Therefore, if we are to understand the messages of the Bible correctly, we must first take their primary applications into  consideration. We are not prepared to understand what the Bible means before we first understand what it meant. Ellen White enunciates this principle when she says:

        Let us in our imagination go back to that scene, and as we sit with
        the disciples on the mountainside, enter into the thoughts and feelings
        that filled their hearts. Understanding what the words of Jesus meant
        to those who heard them, we may discern in them a new vividness and
        beauty, and may also gather for ourselves their deeper lessons1 (emphasis
        supplied).

In listening to many discussions on the subject of righteousness by faith, I have observed that there is often a rush to make the relevant applications of the subject without first doing a thorough exploration of the background elements which undergird the subject. While I do not claim to treat every single background factor that lies behind the concept, I will deal with a considerable number of key factors that led to the crystallization of the concept of justification by faith by Paul in particular, as well as other Bible writers. Therefore, the real life situation in the early church, along with such issues as righteousness, law, judgment, perfection, sin, et cetera, will be examined first with their original meaning in mind. We will then uncover how the subject of justification by faith is defined within these background factors and then some applications will be made which are relevant to our modern situations. When this is done, the message of justification gains a sharper focus, and consequently becomes far more challenging. Please note that throughout this book the words "righteousness by faith" and "justification by faith" will be used interchangeably. This is so because these words are synonymous. Our English words righteousness and justification are used to translate the same Greek words dikaiosune/dikaioma and the Hebrew words sedaqa/sedeq. Thus, righteousness is justice and justice is righteousness. It is my hope that as you read this book you will once more come to realize that the person of Christ is the irreducible minimum and the unsurpassable maximum of the gospel.

(Biblical quotations unless otherwise noted, are taken form THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved).

For more information and to order a copy, please e-mail Clinton S. Baldwin or call him at 269-471-6768 (Home) or 269-313-8748 (cell).