Day 10/18 – Justification by Faith

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Thoughts from the Diary of a Desperate Man by Walter A Henrichsen (“Walt”)
Justification by Faith
Day Two Hundred Ninety-one

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17

Every relationship in life requires reciprocity. If I want a relationship with you and you don’t want one with me, we cannot be friends. The same is true with God. The blood of Christ forms the ground of your salvation, but faith is the condition people must meet in order to be saved. “Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness.”374 You must believe the person if you want a relationship, and the same is true with God. You cannot tell Him you think Him a liar and be saved.

We see the righteousness and fairness of God in His establishing believing as the only condition for salvation. If you go to heaven because of your righteousness, it would not be fair and just. If you were raised in a morally depraved environment, having been taught that all manner of wickedness is permissible, you would be handicapped in your quest for heaven. If knowledge were the key, some are smarter and better educated than others are. If salvation required wealth, some are born wealthy and others have a gift for making money, while others do not. If you needed good works and died early you would miss the mark.

God judges all and saves all the same way; they both are expressions of His righteousness. Only by this righteousness can you hope to enter heaven, and the only requirement you must meet is faith.

374 Genesis 15:6

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Isaiah 53-55 2 Thessalonians 1 (New King James Version)

Isaiah 53-55
The Sin-Bearing Messiah
53
Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no [a]form or [b]comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no [c]beauty that we should desire Him.
3
He is despised and [d]rejected by men,
A Man of [e]sorrows and acquainted with [f]grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4
Surely He has borne our [g]griefs
And carried our [h]sorrows;
Yet we [i]esteemed Him stricken,
[j]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5
But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions,
He was [l]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes[m] we are healed.
6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord [n]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
7
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
8
He was taken from [o]prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
9
And [p]they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10
Yet it pleased the Lord to [q]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
11
[r]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
12
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the [s]spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.
A Perpetual Covenant of Peace
54
“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2
“Enlarge the place of your tent,
And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;
Do not spare;
Lengthen your cords,
And strengthen your stakes.
3
For you shall expand to the right and to the left,
And your descendants will inherit the nations,
And make the desolate cities inhabited.
4
“Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;
Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;
For you will forget the shame of your youth,
And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.
5
For your Maker is your husband,
The Lord of hosts is His name;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;
He is called the God of the whole earth.
6
For the Lord has called you
Like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
7
“For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
8
With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9
“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;
For as I have sworn
That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,
So have I sworn
That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
10
For the mountains shall depart
And the hills be removed,
But My kindness shall not depart from you,
Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”
Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
11
“O you afflicted one,
Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,
And lay your foundations with sapphires.
12
I will make your pinnacles of rubies,
Your gates of crystal,
And all your walls of precious stones.
13
All your children shall be taught by the Lord,
And great shall be the peace of your children.
14
In righteousness you shall be established;
You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;
And from terror, for it shall not come near you.
15
Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.
Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16
“Behold, I have created the blacksmith
Who blows the coals in the fire,
Who brings forth an [t]instrument for his work;
And I have created the [u]spoiler to destroy.
17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord.
An Invitation to Abundant Life
55
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2
Why do you [v]spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
4
Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
5
Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
6
Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7
Let the [w]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me [x]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12
“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Footnotes:
• Isaiah 53:2 Stately form
• Isaiah 53:2 splendor
• Isaiah 53:2 Lit. appearance
• Isaiah 53:3 Or forsaken
• Isaiah 53:3 Lit. pains
• Isaiah 53:3 Lit. sickness
• Isaiah 53:4 Lit. sicknesses
• Isaiah 53:4 Lit. pains
• Isaiah 53:4 reckoned
• Isaiah 53:4 Struck down
• Isaiah 53:5 Or pierced through
• Isaiah 53:5 crushed
• Isaiah 53:5 Blows that cut in
• Isaiah 53:6 Lit. has caused to land on Him
• Isaiah 53:8 confinement
• Isaiah 53:9 Lit. he or He
• Isaiah 53:10 crush
• Isaiah 53:11 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; DSS, LXX From the labor of His soul He shall see light
• Isaiah 53:12 plunder
• Isaiah 54:16 Or weapon
• Isaiah 54:16 destroyer
• Isaiah 55:2 Lit. weigh out silver
• Isaiah 55:7 Lit. man of iniquity
• Isaiah 55:11 empty, without fruit

2 Thessalonians 1
Greeting
1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Final Judgment and Glory
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and [a]tribulations that you endure, 5 which is manifest[b] evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with [c]tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who [d]believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
11 Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Footnotes:
• 2 Thessalonians 1:4 afflictions
• 2 Thessalonians 1:5 plain
• 2 Thessalonians 1:6 affliction
• 2 Thessalonians 1:10 NU, M have believed