GRACE, FAITH & JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST

In the preface article to his commentary of the Epistle of Paul to the Romans Martin Luther basically emphasizes on God’s grace and justification through Christ to all sinners, which only could attain by faith. He, in the light of the epistle, gives a thorough description of how God had designed justification for the fallen men. Here man (Adam and his every descendant) by his willful desire of being like God as wise and immortal becomes disobedience to God’s fist law, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen 2:17). Now, relating to people at the Martin’s time and even of recent, the same good and evil still working forcefully in the life. As Martin writes, the good or bad works done, it is rooted within the heart. To make this clear he proceeds describing of grace, righteousness and the faith. Here we will analyze these three terms how they are considered as chief factors in making our fellowship with God fruitful and practical. There has to be present in the heart either faith or unbelief, the root, sap and chief power of all sin. That is why, in the Scriptures, unbelief is called the head of the serpent and of the ancient dragon which the offspring of the woman (who is Christ) must crush, as was promised to Adam and Eve at their confronting moment with God in the Garden (Genesis 3:15).

Grace refers to God's kindness or favor which he has offered toward all human beings, and by which He has disposed to pour the Holy Spirit with his gifts upon us. "Grace and gift are in Christ” refers the salvation and new entry to the eternal life. More of this, all believing people have given spiritual gifts according to His grace, its not by any other effort. But Luther warns us that the things are not settled yet, since evil desires and sins remain in us. We are yet contradicting and falling against, we have a struggle against the Spirit, as Paul says in Roman chapter 7. But grace does do this much: that we are accounted completely unjust, sinner and enemy before God. According to Luther, God's grace is not given as parts or divided into bits and pieces, as are the spiritual gifts, but grace is given to us as a complete package as God’s favor for and in the sake of Christ, who is now our intercessor before the Heavenly throne of God Himself.