We have to understand that faith is not meant to stand in for righteousness, or replace it, or escape from our obligation to it like some magical get-out-of-hell-free-card, nor is it the equivalent of righteousness in God’s eyes. Rather it’s the first step in being justified, in being righteous-in being who God created us to be. It’s to acknowledge God’s existence, first of all, and then to recognize His goodness, trustworthiness, mercy, and love, having seen all that for ourselves in the person and words and deeds of Jesus Christ. No mere lip-service from us but the real thing, based on real actions performed by Him on our level, in our midst. The “knowledge of God” is revealed, restored to fallen man who, in the disobedience of Adam, had essentially dismissed God as God. By our faith we accept the reconciliation that Jesus came to establish between man and God so that communion with Him, the right order of things for us, can take place again. This new state, itself, even in a small, seedling stage, constitutes justice for man and ensures continued justice, and growth in it, as we continue to walk with and abide in God with whatever grace and opportunities we have to do so. This relationship, however, can be compromised all over again-we simply don’t have to remain in it even after tasting of it.
So faith is directly related to knowledge-what we know of and about God. This is the difference, that faith makes, between the Old and New Covenant-it’s the fulfillment of Jer 31:34:
“No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest…”
But while we can continue to know that the objects of our faith are true-we can also not care anymore; we can reject or dismiss that knowledge even if it tweaks our consciences to do so. From Adam on that is always a possibility for man. And that’s why faith isn’t sufficient in itself. The justice or righteousness that faith is meant to lead to comes by the communion that faith establishes-and, again, that communion can be broken at any time. But with that communion, more faith, along with hope, and, most importantly as Paul tells us in 1 Cor 13, love are given us. Real righteousness, the righteousness that changes us, and that we can increase in as we “invest” the grace God continues to give, even as we'll surely still be challenged by and struggle with sin.
“…if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” 1 Cor 13:2
Love acts, by its nature, and this is why Matt 25:31-46 can list acts performed for the “least of these” as criteria for judgment. Or why James 1:27 makes sense when he speaks of the pure religion that God accepts. We may be able to fake such deeds, or do them for the wrong, legalistic, motives, but God knows the heart and, when motivated by love, He knows that we’re where we’re supposed to be; the commandments, summed up by the Greatest Commandments, all of which Jesus affirmed as still in effect, should now be fulfilled ipso facto, willingly. And this is why the Church can teach, quoting a 16th century believer:
“At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love.”
We may prefer otherwise, but man is still obligated to be righteous/obedient, obligated to love to put it another way. And, as some on this post have inadvertently confirmed, the “faith alone” doctrine easily leads into some confusion. Adherents may insist that works play no role in salvation but what happens when one has no works or breaks the law/sins, especially in grave matters? Do we fall back to the, “He must not have had 'true/saving faith to begin with'" position? Or do we hold that a believer’s forgiveness is guaranteed such that we don’t even need to repent of sin? But is that position honestly distinguishable from antinomianism? I maintain that God judges us based on the grace given and the righteousness He seeks to cultivate in us with our response to that grace, our cooperation with His continuous work in us. This begins and ends with grace, the first of which is the gift of faith.
Either way the obligation to be righteous remains with the New Covenant. We just have a new way to fulfill it. God didn't make sinners-He just knows that we can't be sinless to the extent that we're apart from Him, that we don't know Him.
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."John 17:3
Love is the main definition of man's holiness/justice/righteousness, and faith, in response to grace, is the means to this righteousness because faith is the means to God, who is love, and who, alone, can cause us to love as we should.
