Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

Here Paul describes a result of faith as being justified. Justification is a complicated issue because it requires a deeper understanding of the just character of God. God’s dealing with the unjust in the Old Testament economy is frightful. We should not take the issue lightly and examine the method by which God the Father justifies us by faith.

While researching justification I discovered in the Easton Bible Dictionary a new term which I had not come across before. It begins like this; “a forensic term, opposed to condemnation” EBD. I thought carefully about this forensic term before deciding to draw any conclusions. The science of forensics is discovering truth in a matter. The comment “opposed to condemnation” would imply that the cause of death, or why the body was put to death is not the reason for the examination.

Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Christ is not dead, so the forensic examination is not for cause of death, which we know is sin, but to discover who is in Christ. Interestingly there is this one point in which the faith of Christ is responsible for our righteousness. The reason it is interesting is because one of the definitions of righteousness is a right standing before God.

This takes the definition of justification from the forensic to the judicial. In the courts of heaven the only legal recourse we have is Christ’s faithfulness. We are guilty of all the sins we have committed and nothing we can say or do will justify our actions. We are guilty. If we are found forensically to be in Christ then we were crucified with Christ. All this occurs as a result of faith.

1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

Having established the first three elements of walking by faith, now let us address action. Having this relationship with God is essential in understanding how faith works. Labor together, in relationship, because people who love one another want to do things together.

Paul’s reference to being God’s building is the identification of God’s living space, His temple.

1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Every call to faith originates from within His dwelling place, our hearts. It must originate from there to be of God. Having heard, having judged, having come to a right conclusion it is now time to act on that word of faith. We do not act on it alone, we do so together.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

To will and to do of His good pleasure. It pleases God to include us in these acts of faith. If we recognize that God is at work, then joining Him is an act of love, born of the relationship. In this we must not say “I got this.” We are blessed to be included and we should not take an attitude that we have done anything apart from God.

If we love God then we should care about what He cares about. His will in any particular moment is driven by one and only one thing, love of His creation. Once we accept that love is the pure motivation of God’s will, it is easier to recognize God’s will in what we perceive.