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563 “He shall justify the circumcision out of (or, in consequence of) faith," and “faith” is the way in which the Gentile accepts the justification, “He shall justify the circum cision through faith." But all of this does not render the law nugatory. On the con trary it establishes the law. How it estab lishes the law will be seen in chapters 6 , 7 and 8 . Tuesday, June 19 . Rom. 4 : 1 , 2 . To the Jewish mind there was one man who stood above all other men, i.e., Abra ham. And in our minds too, if we have duly considered Abraham, he must occupy a very exalted place. God speaks of him as the “friend of God.” It would natur ally seem, then, that Abraham at least would find acceptance with God on the ground of his works, but Paul shows that even Abraham was reckoned righteous as an unmerited favor and not as a matter of what was due him. If this was the case with Abraham who walked in intimate fel lowship with Jehovah, surely then no other man can expect to be justified out of his works. If Abraham had been justified by works he would have had a proper ground for self-glorying. Paul disposes of such a possibility in these short but meaningful words, “But not before God” To anyone who knows God as He is in His infinite holiness the thought of anyone having a ground of glorying in His presence is so absurd that it does not need to be argued. Paul’s words: “Ah, not before God,” dis pose of it effectually. Job fancied that he could be justified by his works until he met God, but when he met God any thought of being justified in any other way than by grace vanished from his thoughts for ever (Job 42:5^6). Any one today who fancies that he can be justified before God by his works has never met God. When one is once brought face to face with God, once really meets Him, he never again dreams that there is any possibility of being justified before God by his own works.
THE KING’S BUSINESS
ifested in the death of Jesus Christ. In the death of Jesus Christ God is 'seen to be at the same time "just and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus." The propitiation that Jesus made avails for the one who becomes united to Jesus by faith, and for him alone. In a word, Jesus’ atoning death furnishes the ground upon which God may justify believers: the righteousness of God is a free gift, through the unmerited favor of God; faith in Jesus is the hand that we put out to receive the gift, and everyone who believes in Jesus is justified from all things the moment he believes: the righteousness of God is his. Monday, June 18 . . Rom. 3 : 27 - 31 . God’s way of justifying man shuts one thing utterly out and that is, all boasting. Not one man who walks the streets of heaven can turn upon another and say, “I am better than thou.” Glorying or boast ing is. absolutely “excluded” by God’s way of salvation. If the purest woman that ever walked this earth should turn upon the vilest creature of the street and say, “I am better than thoil” the outcast of the slums could answer, “We both got here the same way, ‘justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.’” Praise God that this is so! We shall all have an infinite amount to be thankful for when we get to heaven, but not one of us the smallest thing to boast of. If salvation were of works this would not be so, but since it is of grace through faith it is so: The works of the law have absolutely nothing to do with our justifica tion: “We are justified by faith apart from the works of the law." This is true of all, of Gentiles and Jews alike. There is one God and with Him there is no respect of persons. He is God both of Jews and Gentiles and He does not justify Jews one way and Gentiles another. As there is one sole ground of justification, i.e., the atoning death of Christ, so there is also one sole condition of justification, viz. faith. This is the same for all. Faith is God’s reason for justifying the Jew,
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