Saturday, August 01, 2009

Markus Barth on "Justified by Faith"

Markus Barth writes:

"'Justified by faith' means, accordingly, tried by the faithful God, sentenced conformably to the appearance, death, and rising of the obedient and loving Son, acquitted and set free in a manner identical with new creation and recognizably only with rejoicing and thanksgiving. God's faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, and man's answer in faith are - each in its own way - the means by which the righteousness and life are given to the community of sinful Jews and Gentiles. It is true: man is justified sola fide, by faith alone But this saving faith is much more than a mere existential posture and response of man. Faith is first of all the characteristic and gift of God and his Son. Built on the faithfulness of the Judge and the Advocate, the human trust and faithfulness toward God stand on firm ground. There is no other requisite or means of justification beyond this."

2 comments:

jim Gordon said...

Thanks for the quote Mike - do you have the reference?

Michael J. Gorman said...

Yes, Mike--this is worth my quoting, too. I sometimes forget how much I like Markus Barth, although I have not read him much in a long time. This definitely sounds like something I could have written!