Article 11

“We are accounted righteous before God solely on account of the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through faith and not on account of our own good works or of what we deserve. Consequently the teaching that we are justified by faith alone is a most wholesome and comforting doctrine. This is taught more fully in the homily on Justification.”

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Two boys went through school and college together and developed a close friendship. As life went on, they went their separate ways and lost contact. One went on to become a judge, while the other ended up a criminal. One day the criminal appeared before the judge after committing a crime to which he pleaded guilty. The judge recognized his old friend and faced a dilemma. He was a judge, so he had to be just; he could not let the man off. On the other hand, he did not want to punish him, because he cared about him. So he told his friend that he would fine him the correct penalty for the offense. That is justice. Then he came down from his bench as judge and he wrote a check for the amount of the fine. He gave it to his friend, saying he would pay the penalty for him. That is love. The criminal took the check, paid the fine and was put right in the eyes of the law, not through his own efforts or because he was innocent, but because he trusted his old friend and accepted his gift.

The legal term for being put right in the eyes of the law is “justification.” The 39 Articles teach the biblical truth that we are justified in God’s sight “on account of the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through faith and not on account of our own good works or of what we deserve.” God is like the judge in the story: he knows that we are guilty of sin and that a penalty must be paid. So, in his love, he came down in the person of his Son Jesus Christ and paid that penalty by his death on the cross. We cannot do anything to put ourselves right before God, but we do have a choice: will we accept with faith this sacrifice on our behalf – or face the judgment of God for our wrongdoing on our own?