Second, is it accurate to call faith "a condition of justification" as has frequently been done?

Given the meaning of "by faith" in the original Greek, it is more accurate to speak of faith as an instrument rather than as a condition of justifica­tion and salvation, for a condition generally denotes a meritorious qual­ity for the sake of which a benefit is conferred. We are justified not merely by faith, but by faith in Christ; not because of what faith is, but because of what faith receives. We are not saved for believing but by believing. In the application of justification, faith is not a builder but a beholder; it has nothing to give or achieve, but has all to receive. Faith is neither the ground nor substance of our justifi­cation, but the hand, the instrument, the vessel if you will, which receives the divine gift proffered to us in the gospel. "As little as a beggar, who puts forth his hand to receive a piece of bread, can say that he has earned the gift granted him," Herman Kuiper wrote, "so little can believers claim that they have merited justification, just because they have embraced the righteous­ness of Christ, graciously offered them in the Gospel."¹

The distinction between these two views is not merely semantic. It is fatal to regard faith as a prerequisite which a sinner can fulfil by an act of his own will in order to be saved. In such a case, man would become his own savior. Worse yet, everything then would depend on the purity and strength or perfection of the sinner's faith. Rather, Scripture teaches that at stake is the very character of faith: Is faith a work of man or the gift of God? The question is answered decisevely by the apostle Paul: "For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Phil. 1:29; see also Ephe­sians 2:8; emphasis added). Justifica­tion is received in the form of faith since it pleases God to justify a sinner by giving him faith.²

Though faith is the means through which God works salvation, faith is not and cannot be a human condition ­that is, if "condition" implicates more than the necessary order or way of salvation. If faith were the conditional (i.e. meritorious) ground of justifica­tion, salvation by human merit would be introduced, dishonoring divine grace and subverting the gospel by reducing it to simply one more version of justification by works (Gal. 4:21­5:12). Moreover, since we cannot be accepted by God with less than a per­fect righteousness, our faith would have to be perfect. No one's faith, however, is perfect. All our faith is impaired by sin. Nothing in us, including our faith, could possibly succeed as a con­dition. Faith knows no human merit, and needs no human merit (Eph. 2:8), for the very nature of faith is to rely wholly on the merit and righteousness of Christ as "more than sufficient to acquit us of our sins" (Belgic Confession, Article 22). We are not justified by our ever imperfect faith, but by the ever perfect righteousness of Christ. All the conditions of salvation must be and have been fulfilled by Jesus through His obedience, both active and passive, in the state of His humiliation (Rom. 5:19). There can be no conditions for salvation laid upon man, simply because salvation is entirely of God and never dependent on anything of man. "So then it [salvation] is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" (Rom. 9:16). A. A. Hodge notes succinctly:

Justifying faith terminates on or in Christ, in his blood and sacrifice, and in the promises of God; in its very essence, therefore, it involves trust, and, denying its own justifying value, affirms the sole merit of that on which it trusts (Rom. 3:25-26; 4:20, 22; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 1:12­13; 1 Jn. 5:10).³

Some Reformed divines, however, have called faith a "condition" in a non-meritorious sense. Robert Shaw comments wisely on this:

Some worthy divines have called faith a condition, who were far from being of the opinion that it is a condition properly so called, on the performance of which men should, according to the gracious covenant of God, have a right to justifi­cation as their reward. They merely in­tended, that without faith we cannot be justified — that faith must precede jus­tification in the. order of time or of na­ture. But as the term "condition" is very ambiguous, and calculated to mislead the ignorant, it should be avoided.⁴

Robert Traill is even stronger, "Faith in Jesus Christ ... in the office of justification, is neither condition nor qualification, ...but in its very act a renouncing of all such pretences."⁵The very act of faith by which we receive Christ is an act of utter renun­ciation of all our own works and right­eousness as a condition or ground of salvation. As Horatius Bonar pro­foundly remarks: "Faith is not work, nor merit, nor effort; but the cessation from all these, and the acceptance in place of them of what another has done — done completely, and for­ever." ⁶And John Girardeau notes, "Faith is emptiness filled with Christ's fulness; impotency lying down upon Christ's strength."⁷

But the objection may then be raised: If faith is essential as it alone unites a sinner to Christ, but faith is not conditional in any meritorious sense, is it proper to regard faith as the "hand" that receives Christ? Isn't the natural man being attributed some ability by this metaphor? Since faith is always both God's gift (Eph. 2:8) and God's work ("This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" [John 6:29]), how can faith be designated as a "hand"?

The natural man indeed has no ability to reach out to accept the sal­vation of God in Christ. The natural man is dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). He will never "accept Christ" of his own free will (Matt. 23:37; Jn. 5:40). Scripture teaches that a sinner does not first move toward God, but God first moves to­ward a sinner to unite him with Christ by faith, for a sinner would never of his own will or desire turn to Christ in faith (Rom. 9:16). Even when tormented with the terrors of divine judgment, the natural man cannot be persuaded to flee to God by saving faith for salvation (Prov. 1:24-27).

In regeneration the Holy Spirit grants the gift of a living, empty hand that can turn nowhere else than to Jesus. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13; cf. Ps. 110:3).

Faith is not called a hand because it works or merits justification in any way, but because it receives, embraces, appropriates Christ upon divine im­putation. Faith is not a creative hand, but a receptive hand. As Abraham Booth notes, "Hence, in justification we read of the precious faith in the righteousness of our God and Sav­iour Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1) and of `faith in His blood' (Rom. 3:25), and believers are described as 'receiving the atonement' and receiving 'the gift of righteousness' (Rom. 5:11, 17)."⁸

Faith is passive in justification, but becomes active in receiving Christ when He is offered to the sinner.⁹ Indeed, when Christ is given, faith cannot refrain from being active, moving the believer to rejoice in the imputed righteousness of Christ with spiritual and profound joy. Neverthe­less, this joy can boast no human merit, for it is not the hand in itself which produces joy and makes rich, but the gift received by the hand of faith, Jesus Christ.

The hand of faith graciously and unconditionally receives and rests upon Christ and His righteousness alone. Faith lives out of Christ, in whom all of our salvation is to be found (Jn. 15:1-7). As B. B. Warfield appropriately summarizes:

It is from its object [Jesus Christ] that faith derives its value.... The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests.... It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ.... It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith.¹⁰