The God Who Justifies

by James R. White

A Comprehensive Study of the Doctrine of Justification



The history of the Christian church pivots on the doctrine of justification by faith. Once the core of the Reformation, the church today often ignores or misunderstands this foundational doctrine. Theologian James White calls believers to a fresh appreciation of, understand of, and dedication to the great doctrine of justification and then provides an exegesis of the key Scripture texts on this theme.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Christianity, Nonfiction, Religion

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a professor, having taught Greek, Systematic Theology, and various topics in the field of apologetics. He has authored or contributed to more than twenty four books, including The King James Only Controversy, The Forgotten Trinity, The Potter’s Freedom, and The God Who Justifies. He is an accomplished debater, having engaged in more than one-hundred forty moderated, public debates around the world with leading proponents of Roman Catholicism, Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Mormonism, as well as critics such as Bart Ehrman, John Dominic Crossan, Marcus Borg, and John Shelby Spong. In recent years James has debated in such locations as Sydney, Australia, as well as mosques in Toronto, London, and South Africa. He is an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church, has been married to Kelli for more than thirty two years, and has two children, and one grandchild, Clementine.

Reviews

[Timothy Decker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content is great, but the audience changes midway through the book. It started as a popular level treatment on the doctrine of justification and then entered into a fairly technical commentary on the relevant Greek text in the NT, often without telling the reader the meaning of the Greek words being discussed. Then he dropped nomenclature on the reader like "an aorist active participle syntactically functioning as a circumstantial concessive." Who is the audience here? If the lay reader, then do away with the finer points of Greek. If scholarly, then do away with the first half of the book. I like James White, but this feels very unbalanced. I would have also liked to see him deal with the New Perspective as well. That makes the usefulness of this book very limited.

[Nick Hay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book if you want an in depth look at the reformed position of justification. It’s a bit of a confusing book, because it begins very pastoral, and I really enjoyed his passion here, but the book switched half way through to a very technical read, citing the Greek, dealing with textual variants, etc.

While I agree with most of his conclusions, he doesn’t engage with opposing viewpoints in a meaningful way at almost any point throughout the book, and commonly straw mans those who disagree.

The book has varying degrees of strength when he turns to arguing for his perspective, but when he’s focused on positively stating and defending his own views on justification, much of the argumentation is clear and compelling. I especially appreciated his exegesis of James 2.

If you want to have a clearly laid forth reformed perspective on justification, this book may be decent for you, but I doubt it will convince anyone who is not coming from the same perspective due to the rhetoric.

[Vini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a great resource! Probably would’ve retained more with the paper version but still a solid listen and worth checking out. I’ve heard many of his arguments in this book already since I’ve listened to his podcast for years now.

He does get into the Greek text which would’ve been better to see on the page.

[Keith Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Because White delves into the Greek quite a bit, it can be difficult to read at times. Don’t plan on just reading the book. It needs to be studied! It took me awhile to get through because I read it with an open Bible on my lap. It is easy to get lost in a new thought, then the next thing you know, you put down White’s book and start comparing other verses in your Bible. That’s a great problem to have.

There are so many good, insightful nuggets in this book. It will help you understand the gospel in ways deeper than you may be used to. Be sure to read it with your Bible and a highlighter.

[Austin Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

[Tristan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished the first portion of the book, which is the explanation on the doctrine of justification. The second portion of the book is essentially a commentary on Romans and other books, and I plan to read that at a slower pace when I come across those scriptures, or when I have the need to exegetically defend the doctrine of justification.

The book was a pretty easy read, and could be considered dry if one didn't have an interest in the topic at hand. However, it was very well thought-out and clear. The doctrine of justification is obscured by many religions today, and even among Protestants, sola fide is poorly understood. A thorough study of the doctrine of justification resolves that issue by founding a student firmly in the Word and in the truth of this sacred doctrine. James White's book will enable a reader to clearly defend the doctrine from the Holy Scriptures, as well as give him a deeper appreciation and respect for the Holiness of God.

I highly recommend this read to anyone who doesn't feel they have a firm grasp of what the Bible teaches regarding justification.

[Nicholas Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since discovering him, I have steadily worked my way through Dr. White's catalogue. I must admit that this book took me well over a year to work through. But I kept gravitating back to it here and there. Each time I was reminded of the beauty of the gospel of justification by faith in Christ alone. AS is typical for Dr. White, the biblical text is central and careful exegesis of the text of Scripture necessary to proper understanding of the issues. As the subtitle affirms, this is "a comprehensive study" of the doctrine of justification. White works his way through substantial portions of the NT: Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, James 2. He lays a solid foundation of justification from OT texts as well. "Justification, in the biblical sense, is a declaration concerning the relationship of a man to God and His law" (93). For us, it includes both Christ's passive obedience in the atonement as well as His active obedience in keeping the entire law. Having dealt with our sins in Christ on the cross, we receive the promise that God will not deal with us according to our sins.

[Alper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very helpful positive presentation of the Reformed position on justification. James walks through the main texts of Galatians and Romans, and he also shows the consistency through other texts such as the epistle of James and Titus.

James did include defenses against opposing positions in this book, but without going overboard on size it is hard to address every possible objection. I would recommend people listen to his debates on justification against Catholic like Mitch Pacwa if you are interested in more examples of him countering objections.

[Jane Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently written and though a slower read for me well worth the time to understand the immense gift that justification alone is to every Christian. If the church as a whole loses the understanding of how one is saved, she will regress to the time before Luther and the brave reformers before and after him who rescued us. These truths must be passed on! Read it and be a conduit of foundational truth!

[Hunter Henley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll begin with that I had already reached the same conclusions as the author before I read this book. So, I have no criticism of the content. However, this book is difficult to read because it is often technical and sometimes requires some prior knowledge of the subject (which I had). I recommend everyone read this book because it is a good explanation of the doctrine of justification - but be prepared to take your time and read carefully. It can be a bit difficult to get through.

[Ming Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to this over two weeks on Audible.

Thoroughly and resolutely Biblical, in White's characteristic style. Highly applicable to apologetics against Catholicism. Albeit the strange dichotomy of doctrinal presentation suitable to the layman and then the referencing of Greek in the latter sections, even the more complicated exegesis had benefits to someone who does not speak the original languages like myself.

[Anthony Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

James White gives a thorough explanation of the great doctrine of justification. At times, the material is academically weighty, but careful consideration is given to summarize the key points of each chapter. It is no wonder this has been called a must-read book on this essential Christian doctrine.

[Peter Kiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much a basic presentation of justification by faith from the Scripture, White's writing is very to the point and can be dry, and I agree with other reviewers that it seems like the book should be a basic presentation of justification, but then dives into lots of Greek that the lay person (me) cannot really reason with.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic deep dive into the doctrine of justification. I listened to this on Audible, but would suggest that it's better to read than to listen to - unless you are fluent in Greek as well because there's a lot of it dealt with in the book. So that was a lot of listening to a language that I don't understand, lol. The exegesis is top notch though, so I do highly recommend this book.

[Andre Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book which makes the case for the historic protestant understanding of justification. In fact, it makes the case too thoroughly, delving perhaps into a level of detail that was unnecessary and at times made me lose the wood from the trees.

[Flavi Coman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was truly a masterpiece on the doctrine of justification. It has helped me a lot to grasp the grace God has given to guilty sinners, and also grow in my assurance of salvation.
I will be foreve thankfull for men like pastor James and his ministry

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

James White is one of our greatest current Christian apologists (though he is certainly and mostly "over my head". However there are insights here that every Christian should digest.

[Greg Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deep dive on the doctrine of justification. It's a good study, but it's deep and took me a while to get through.

[Jeffrey Ballein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and thorough explanation from the Scriptures of his we are made right with God.
I emphatically recommend this work.

[Cameron Borders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great

[Derek Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Luther described the doctrine of justification - the topic of this book - as the article of faith that determines whether the church is standing or falling. Speaking of Luther, James Buchanan writes, "By this he meant that when this doctrine is understood, believed, and preached, as it was in New Testament times, the church stands in the grace of God and is alive; but where it is neglected, overlaid, or denied, as it was in medieval Catholicism, the church falls from grace and its life drains away, leaving it in a state of darkness and death" (14).

Justification, properly (and here briefly) defined teaches that God, solely out of sovereign mercy and grace, declares repentant sinners righteous on the basis of the perfect righteousness and subtitutionary death of Jesus Christ alone. This gift of justifcation is accessed by the believer through faith alone and is wholly apart from any works. Faith itself is not a work, nor does it contain any merit - rather, faith is merely the empty hands of the sinner laying hold of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ - a righteousness that matches God's perfect standard of righteousness because it is, in reality, God's righteousness.

White, in his weighty, passionate, thorough, and nourishing treatment of justification, examines the historical and contemporary significance of a proper and highly nuanced understanding of the doctrine, and provides the exegetical basis for it from key texts like Romans 1-3:18, 3:19-31; 4:1-5:1 and 8:28-34. In the latter portion of the book, White also deals with problems raised in the book of James where some contend that Paul is contradicted by James' statement that Abraham was justified by works (James 2:14-26). White further bolsters the truth of justification by tapping into other texts like Galatians 1-3, II Corinthians 5:17-21, Titus 3:4-7 and Ephesians 2:1-10, demonstrating the unity of the New Testament regarding this particular doctrine.

Every New Testament text quarried is examined in the original language. For each key text studied, White provides the Greek reading of the text with an English translation following. White often references and discusses Greek words, phrases, and grammer throughout the book as well, so some knowledge of the original language is helpful, though probably not essential. A lay-person who does not have any working knowledge of Biblical Greek will, I believe, also greatly benefit from this book.

'The God who Justifies' a solid and heart-felt treatment of the glorious - and often neglected - doctrine of justification. It is not a quick read, and it is not an easy read. But the riches mined by a careful, prayerful and thoughtful reading of this book are more than worth it. I highly recommend it.

[Paul Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book. It may take the reader some time to get through, but the benefits of working through all the exegetical parts far outweigh any cost of time. I will from now on hold a higher view of the term "justification" and its centrality to the Gospel, rather than just spit out a quick mental definition to myself whenever I hear it spoken or read. White does a wonderful job breaking down and building up the doctrine in the first third of the book (though he does quote Murray A LOT to where you feel you're almost reading 2 books...but it was so rich in truth I honestly don't mind in hindsight), and the remaining two-thirds he walks through verse-by-verse exegesis of Romans 1:1-5:1 as well as many other NT passages that mention justification. The exegesis on James and how James is NOT talking about a justification of the sinner but rather a justification of faith itself was truly enlightening and helped me answer questions I had toward that specific text. My love for the triune God has been strengthened through White's detailed demonstration of the consistency of Scripture and the consistency of the character of God. Sola fide, suckas.

[Joshua M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is extremely deep, it is not the type of book you sit down and read for pleasure, the second half of the book deals with a lot of basic greek grammar. That being said, when you do sit down and read it, it will open your eyes to the doctrine of justification in ways you never imagined. I have completly rethought my view on the extremities of what it took for God to justify me, a sinner. It also distinguished the doctrines of justification and sanctification in a much clearer way for me. Between it's length (about 500 pages) and depth, it took me about a month to read, and fully process, but it could be read much quicker than that if you were willing to sit and read for several hours every day.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapters 1-9 present the Protestant doctrine of Justification through faith alone at a layman level. Chapters 9-20 focus on exegeting key passages. There are a lot of books like this that cover justification in the manner of the first part of the book, but few do the hard work of exegesis that is presented in the latter half.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing work. Dr. White exegetes all the texts dealing with justification and builds the biblical case for the forensic nature of justification and the biblical defense of monergism in Gods plan of salvation. What a mighty and wonderful Saviour we serve. All glory honour and praise goes to our great God, Jesus.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of the book, that is the first nine chapters, I found an engaging read and very informative.

The second half, where key texts are exegeted carefully, requires a slower, more contemplative read.

On the whole, a worthwhile read.

[Chris Whisonant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb book! This was a great treatment on the Biblical doctrine of justification in general followed by some deep exegetical chapters. About 2/3 of the book was the exegesis of the first several chapters of Romans and then other chapters dealing with specific passages from Galatians, James, etc...

[Joy W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

4.5/5 Stars

[Sean McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.