Today we will be looking at God’s motive in justification, which should help us to see the biblical reason for why justification is by faith alone. In this we will see why justification is by the work of God alone and man can contribute nothing to his own salvation. We will be helped in this by Obadiah Grew whose original work that was published in 1669 was re-published in 2005 by Soli Deo Gloria as The Lord Our Righteousness. Why did God justify sinners? If He did so to manifest His glory through His grace, then we can see that His motive in saving sinners was not the faith of the sinner and did not need or want any help from the sinner. In fact, if God’s motive in saving sinners was to display His grace in Christ Jesus, then an act of the sinner apart from His grace would be opposed to the motives and purposes of God in justification.
Deuteronomy 7:7 – “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
Romans 3:24 – “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
Romans 4:5 – “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,”
Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Ephesians 1:5 – “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 2:8 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
With just a brief sampling of verses from Holy Scripture, we can see the motive of God in saving sinners. It was to manifest and demonstrate His glory and grace. There can be no real doubt if we look at the text listed above that the grand motive of God is to manifest His own glory through His grace. In other words, there is nothing that man can do to provide God with a motive to save him. The act of faith, then, from a free-will that is not something that God would meet with favor, but in direct opposition. For the act of the will to be free, it must be free from any constraint or help from God and the grace of God would certainly be considered a help. This is a point that must not be neglected or overlooked. For the will to be truly free it must be free from the grace of God if it is to be free at all. But if God saves to the glory of His grace, then anything that man does must be as moved and empowered by grace. A free act of the will, therefore, is an act of man that is opposed to the Gospel of grace.
When we see texts like Romans 3:24, we can know that we are on the right track. Justification is not because man has made a choice by an act of his will, but the only cause given is that of the grace of God. To be justified freely or as a gift by grace is to say that it is grace alone that is the cause or motive of justification. For God to be truly free in this matter and to justify apart from any obligation on Him by a human being means that He is moved to save sinners apart from anything positive that the sinner can do. The cause of justification is from within God and His desire to glorify Himself by saving by grace alone. Any act of man that is thought to contribute to justification by grace alone would actually be contrary to the purposes of God and even to war against the purposes of God in justification. Ephesians 1:5-6 shows us that the cause of salvation is to the praise of the glory of His grace and nothing within man. Ephesians 2:8-9 shows that it is not of works in any way or that would leave man that little bit of room to boast. We know that when the pride of man is given just a bit of room to boast, it will take a mile and boast and boast even if it is under the guise of humility. The motive of God in justification should be clear. He justifies for His own purposes and not for anything that is found within man or that which can be done by man. Human beings are saved by the grace of God apart from any goodness or act of the will that man can do. This is so that God’s motive in salvation may be fulfilled without any help from man at all. It is the Gospel of grace alone.
God Loves... Himself 
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