Hands-free narration of this study — good for the car.
Synopsis
Daniells defines justification as God's act of pardoning and accounting righteous the believing sinner, on the ground of Christ's obedience and death, received by faith alone. He insists this act is instantaneous, complete, and free — not a reward for reformation but the beginning of it. Assurance rests not on feeling or attainment but on the promise of God. He warns against both the legalism that adds works to faith and the presumption that separates faith from obedience.
Key points
- Justification is a change of standing, immediate and complete.
- Its ground is Christ's merit; its channel is faith; its evidence is a changed life.
- Assurance is grounded in God's word, not in the strength of our feelings.
- Faith that justifies is never a substitute for the obedience it produces.
Key passages
- Romans 3:24-28
- Romans 5:1
- Galatians 2:16
- Acts 13:38-39
Study questions10 total
- 1.Comprehension
State Daniells' definition of justification in your own words.
- 2.Scripture
Read Romans 3:24-28. Identify the ground, the means, and the result of justification in Paul's argument.
- 3.Doctrinal Clarity
Why must justification be instantaneous rather than gradual?
- 4.Contrast
Contrast the peace of Romans 5:1 with the peace people seek from self-examination. Which rests on what?
- 5.Doctrinal Clarity
How does Daniells answer the charge that free justification encourages careless living?
- 6.Scripture
Read Galatians 2:16. Why does Paul repeat 'not by works of the law' three times in a single verse?
- 7.Comprehension
What place, if any, does repentance have in a doctrine of free justification?
- 8.Doctrinal Clarity
Distinguish between being pardoned and being accounted righteous. Does the believer receive both?
- 9.Application
Do you rest your acceptance on Christ's record or your own? Give an honest example from this week.
- 10.Application
How would you counsel a discouraged believer who says, 'I do not feel forgiven'?