Jonah Hill’s Reviews > The Lord Our Righteousness: The Old Perspective on Paul > Status Update

“It is not enough merely to know the promise of Christ as our righteousness and assent to it. Alas, there must be a stripping of a man's self naked of his own righteousness and a resting on this righteousness of Christ's alone.
David stripped himself of his armor, and so went out against Goliath in the name of the Lord. Adam was naked and saw it before God made the promise of Christ.” (Paraphrased a bit)

“In this believing (in Christ) we set our seal that God is true; and God will, in due time, if He has not done so already, set His seal to work assurance in you, to second your reliance. "But if you believe not, thus you make God a liar" (1 John 5:10).
Though you assent to the truth of the promises of Christ, yet if you draw back your affiance and relying, as if the promises were not to you, you give God the lie.

“Neither does faith justify even as it acts and works by love. Justifying faith does act by love, but it does not justify because it acts thus, nor as it acts and works in obedience. The act of justifying faith is an act of relying and reliance on Christ as he was made sin for us, and as He is made righteousness to us, and thus offered by the Scripture to our faith.”

“But the faith that thus justifies is not a bare assent to the promise of Christ; it's more than that. It is an act of the will and affections as well as of the understanding, an act of the heart as well as the head. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Romans 10:10). So that act of faith which justifies is an embracing act of faith.”

“The authority of God is the reason for our believing. Our faith is not nor can be as large as God's mouth. "Whatever He bids you do, do it," said our Savior's mother to the waiters at the feast (John 2). So whatever God speaks, we must believe. It is impossible that God should lie (Hebrews 6:18).”

“It is grace that is our righteousness before God, according to Rome, and not Christ. He loses this name, "The Lord Our Righteousness," if God justifies us for inherent grace: the whole gospel is spoiled and inverted. For as a natural man may be said to be inversus decalogus, the law turned upside down, justification by inherent grace may as well be called inversum evangelium, the gospel turned upside down.”

“The papists will not deny all imputed righteousness; but then they say that the righteousness which God imputes to us is inherent righteousness, grace within us. But how then does He justify the ungodly? How does He justify the sinner who has no grace? As I have before proved, justification finds men ungodly, though it does not leave them so…herein they confound justification and sanctification, faith and works.

“Witness [Cardinal, Robert] Bellarmine's final statement:
him, "It is the safest way to trust only to the merits of Christ for life and salvation." He said as much in a clause in his will. Cardinal Poole rigorously contended at the council of Trent (though in vain) for justification to be determined by faith alone. The theology in these mens' consciences was purer than that in their heads.”