Mere Missions

110 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” Those who believe in this plan of God’s love through His Son, the Lord Jesus, are: A. Saved from God’s wrath (Rom. 5.9) B. Granted peace with God (Rom. 5.1). We can have peace with God because God is now at peace with us; his wrath is removed. C. Reconciled to God without our sins being counted against us (Rom. 5.10-11; 2 Cor. 5.19). “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (Rom. 4.7-8). D. Declared children of His through adoption (Eph. 1.5). E. Now declared righteous before God (Phil. 3.9). The biblical idea is not that God makes the sinner righteous but that He declares the sinner to be righteous. This is the root concept of justification, that those who respond to God’s love in Christ through obedient faith, sinful though they may be, are declared righteous (Rom. 5.9). They are viewed as being righteous because in Christ Jesus they have been reconciled to God and are now in a righteous relationship with God the Father. Righteousness in this way centers on the demands laid upon the individual by God. That demand is to submit to the love of God by faith in Christ Jesus and to not seek self-redemption. “For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10.3-4). We are covered with the robe of