What is Justification?
Our confessional summary of this precious truth is, “Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.”.
See the following scripture passages:
At Trinity Presbyterian Church, we believe grasping and applying this truth is vital to our spiritual vitality. 43 years ago, Richard Lovelace wrote about this urgent need and it remains urgent as the church enters 2023, Lovelace says,
“Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so light an apprehension of God’s holiness and of the extent and guilt for their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day to day existence they rely on their sanctification for justification drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand on Luther’s platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in the quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude.”
Our church seeks spiritual vitality. We plead with the Lord that we may be those who rest in being accepted only on the basis of the wholly alien righteousness of Christ. Spiritual vitality will rest upon this. We believe this is crucial if we are to love and serve our God and one another.
Many modern Christian people are interested in spiritual vitality. This is true. This follows biblically because every believer is united to Christ and desires to know, love, and serve Him.
Most modern Christian people have never been a member of a confessional church. A confessional church affirms a set summary of what the bible teaches and holds its leadership accountable to that summary of doctrine. The notion of a robust confession of faith that gives simple, short descriptions of the beautiful truths of scripture is either suspicious or foreign to many.
As the founding pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, I can testify that our confessions and catechisms have richly blessed me and our members with spiritual vitality. The members who have been with us the longest have been transformed and are more alive now than when they were first called to our church.
We invite you to walk with us as we study God’s word. When our leaders open the word of God and teach, you can be assured that the dynamics of spiritual vitality will be optimal as our leaders affirm, live out, and apply the biblical doctrine of justification.