“The doctrine of justification by faith-a biblical truth, and a blessed relief from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort-has in our time fallen into evil company and been interpreted by many in such a manner as actually to bar men from the knowledge of God. The whole transaction of religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. Faith may now be exercised without a jar to the moral life and without embarrassment to the Adamic ego. Christ may be “received” without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is “saved,” but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact, he is specifically taught to be satisfied and is encouraged to be content with little.” -A.W. Tozer
The Gospel of the grace of God, the Gospel of the glory of God, and justification by faith alone are really one and the same Gospel. In fact, this one Gospel is the only Gospel. However, the doctrine of justification by faith alone can become an avenue that keeps men from God. In the modern day we tell men certain facts and if they give some form of intellectual assent to them we will consider them saved. As Tozer says, justification by faith relives us from sterile legalism and unavailing self-effort. But that is only true where it is taught with accuracy and applied to the heart faithfully. The doctrine by itself can be taught to the intellectual part of man and the heart left untouched. Or, to put it another way that Tozer has spoken of previously, the real beliefs of a person can be hidden underneath the rubbish of creeds and religious notions. This is not an effort to deny the importance of creeds, but to point to the importance of reaching the inner man with the teaching of Scripture. One can give assent to the creeds and still have a heart that is depraved and separated from God.
Tozer says that justification by faith (alone) is now interpreted by many in a way that bars men from the knowledge of God. He then answers how this can be true by saying that religious conversion has been made mechanical and spiritless. In other words, we try to get people to pray a prayer or utter assent to a statement of Scripture or a creed and yet we do not try to get them to seek God for a change of heart. When we have a canned message that we term “the Gospel” and we do nothing more than try to get a prayer out of someone or try to get them to give assent, we are engaged in mechanical evangelism that is spiritless in the sense that it is focused only on the outer man. When we teach people that we consider believers and we do nothing but teach their minds, we are engaged in mechanical and spiritless teaching.
But the impact of this statement surely hits home hard when he says that many are teaching justification in a way that bars men from the knowledge of God. Can that be true? Surely Tozer was exaggerating. How can someone teach justification by faith alone and do that in a way that bars men from the knowledge of God? This should provoke much thought and a lot of searching of heart in all those concerned about the glory of God in the world. We should all ask ourselves if we are teaching the Gospel in such a way that bars men from the knowledge of God.
How can we teach the Gospel in a way that bars men from the knowledge of God? Tozer points to at least two different ways. One, in the way men supposedly come to Christ. Two, the way men behave toward God after conversion. The first way is how we teach people to come to Christ. If we do not teach them about the Law in order to show them their true need for Christ, we have not taught them about the holiness and righteousness of God. People must be taught the Law because the Law expresses the glory of God. The Law came with glory and it still has much glory because it is a reflection of the holiness and love of God. If we do not teach men the Law, then indeed there is not much change in their life because they see salvation as a mechanical process by which they simply agree that certain facts are true. But where is the sovereign God in all of that? Where is man to learn of sin in truth if we do not teach him that sin is only known as sin when it is against God? Sin is not bad just because it is harmful to people, but it is extremely bad because it is against God. But until these things are taught, man sees sin as related to himself. Without the Law and the display of God’s holiness and love through it, men do not see their pride. Anyone that is not delivered from pride and self as the center of their being has not been delivered by the humble Savior in the Gospel. If justification is only taught as a doctrine to be held by the mind then the heart of man is not touched. We must teach justification in a way where the whole of man is touched in order that the whole of man may be saved. Christ does not save part of man, He wills save the whole man or the whole man will perish. Justification must be taught in a way that reaches the whole man or it is not really taught.
God Loves... Himself 
Leave a comment