It is the utmost of arrogance that sinful man thinks that he can thwart the faith of God. Our unbelief will hinder us from seeing His glory, but our unbelief cannot lessen His glory nor does it pose any true obstacle for saving grace. When Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth, "… He could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching" (Mark 6:5-6). Wretched unbelief blinded those sinners from seeing His works, but He simply went teaching someplace else and verified His doctrine through the miraculous. Believers are glad that while God has created faith in us, even our indwelling unbelief and fickle joy doesn't change His pleasure with us. Every aspect of redemption in Christ Jesus is given to sinners without any cause in us, and it has nothing to do with the free will or works of man at any time. "For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged'(Rom 3:3-4).
Our unbelief does not diminish the faith of God because He found us all in wretched unbelief and saved us, "… freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom 3:24). It doesn't matter how you cover it; according to the flesh, the best of us are just as bad as the worst of us. "What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin" (Rom 3:9).
We may have been righteous enough in our own eyes, understood complex doctrinal issues, sought after peace through good works, and done good according to the religious standards of our leaders, but we were utterly depraved and lost when Christ found us. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Rom 3:10-11). Someone said that the peacock struts around with beautiful feathers in a vain attempt to hide his wrinkled black feet. Men put on suits, speak with soft voices, and cover the flesh with religiosity like the feathers of the peacock. Some have grand funeral processions while others die in gutters covered with filth. Yet, the television coverage and multitude of mourners doesn't change the fact the one in the casket is dead, and God is not impressed with our feathers. None of man's religion can keep him from dying. He covers himself, but all the while God is testifying to him that his entire hope must be outside of his body. The Father only finds satisfaction in the finished work of Jesus Christ.Every aspect of our redemption is FREE. God has demanded that we stop our own boasting of what we have and haven't done, should and shouldn't do, and always come to the foot of the Cross for mercy (Rom 3:19-20). "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom 3:24). Even when we hated Him without a cause, He justified us without any cause in us. My brethren, stop looking for a reason for God to give you Christ because only lost people find something beyond His "freely". God's motive for justifying His elect through the death of Christ is found only in Himself. He did not justify us to make us His servants. He justified us to the praise of the glory of His grace being motivated by His own love (Eph 1:4-6). A loving husband does not marry a woman to be served. He marries her because he loves her, and her service is merely a part of her God-given character. Our submission to Christ is the fruit of His redeeming love and not the cause.
Redemption is a payment to deliver us from the curse of the Law, and we died in Christ Jesus. God's own justice allows a Representative to take our place under the Law, and then His righteousness can be fully imputed to us. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Rom 5:19). When James and John asked the Lord Jesus for permission to sit beside Him in glory, Christ foreshadowed that suffering the wrath of God would purchase His authority to the throne. Next, He asked them if they could drink the cup and be baptized with His baptism to earn their place in glory; and not knowing what they were saying, James and John agreed. You and I would have smacked them to the other side of the planet for being so vilely ambitious and ignorant of the cost of grace. Yet, in keeping with the freeness of redemption in His own glorious Person, "… Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized." Paul writes, "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed… For he that is dead is justified from sin"(Rom 6:6-7).
Justification in the righteousness of Jesus Christ is "… unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference" (Rom 3:22). The Righteousness of Jesus Christ is the one remedy for our common condition, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Upon all that believe denotes the immediacy and completeness of the imputation of righteousness through faith. You who believe are completely righteous because all of the obedience of Christ is reckoned unto you: every drop, every inch, every particle, and every jot and tittle of the Law. When? Immediately, meaning right now. You don't have to do any works whatsoever before this righteousness is reckoned unto you. It is unto all that believe, which reveals the wideness and inclusiveness of God's salvation. We have abundant hope every time the Gospel is preached that God may justify a sinner through the simplicity of hearing. No, I don't care about your doubts. Man's unbelief cannot thwart the faith of God. Lay hold of Him by the feeblest of faith, and His righteousness is unto you. "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe…"
Our change from condemnation to justification is so complete that God rejoices over us with singing. "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing" (Zeph 3:17). He will do everything because every aspect of our salvation is as free as our redemption. We are the beautiful objects of His affection; therefore, He will rest in His love like a Husband resting after consummating the marriage union. His attraction to us is more than physical and temporary. It is deep, abiding, sacrificing, pure, love that joys over us as our Sovereign, Lord, and Head, with singing.
Don't ever think that your unbelief can alter His Gospel. "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save…" Casting your doubts, unworthiness, and weakness at the foot of the Cross, approach the Almighty afresh without seeing any worthiness in yourself, but "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
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