Jesus’ Soteriology in Luke—Justification by Faith (Selected Scriptures)
Are justification by faith and propitiation "Pauline" concepts or do we see them in Jesus's teaching too?
Jesus’ Soteriology in Luke—Justification by Faith (Selected Scriptures)
There is nothing that should encourage a Christian more than to read about the saving work of Jesus, especially interpreted in His own word. All Scripture is inspired (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and the apostles and close associates were commissioned and equipped by Jesus to lay the doctrinal foundation of the Church and to transmit His teachings through the Holy Spirit (cf. John 14:16; 15:26; 16:13-14; Ephesians 2:20; etc.). Thus, through the inspired writings of Jesus’s close friends and associates, we can always call to memory the words of the Lord and his apostles through Scripture (2 Peter 3:2). That said, it should thrill the Christian when we read the Spirit-inspired testimony of the apostles of close associates as they record for us how Jesus understood His saving mission. For example, thank God that we can read from the mouth of Jesus Himself that He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:31-32)!
Many attempts have been made in order to separate Jesus and Paul. “I follow Jesus, not Paul!” The assumption here is, of course, that these first-century historical records of those who knew Jesus are separable. (By the way, do people not realize that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote about Jesus and that Jesus did not write about Himself?) Furthermore, the historical record does not show this separation in teachings to be the case. Paul makes it clear in the first chapters of Galatians that he presented his gospel to the apostles and that they added nothing to it (Galatians 2:6) and when he presented the gospel to the Corinthians it was said to be the same gospel preached by the apostles (1 Corinthians 15:11). Peter even referred to the writings of Paul as Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16).
What do these two preceding paragraphs have to do with one another?
Often, justification (cf. Romans 2-4; Galatians), being saved by faith alone (Romans 3:28; 5:1; Galatians 2:16, Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7; etc.), and propitiation (Romans 3:25) are thought to be Pauline soteriological (theology of salvation) categories. And they are! Yet, we can observe that there is a basis for this connection between the theology of Paul and Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. Luke was a disciple and travelling companion of Paul and an inspired historian investigating “servants of the word” for the historical order of the saving work of Jesus (cf. Luke 1:1-4). In Luke, we can read Jesus’s declarations of saving faith and points of describing salvation that underly Pauline categories.
Your Faith has Saved You
Many times in the Gospel of Luke, particularly after a healing, we typically read, “Your faith has made you well.” While this is true as far as it goes, the footnotes on such verses will clarify that what Jesus expressed was actually stronger, not just that they would be temporarily made well, but, “Your faith has saved you.” For example, see the following instances below,
Luke 5:20—“Seeing their faith, He said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’” (emphasis added)
Luke 7:50—“And He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” (emphasis added)
Luke 8:48—“And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well [Or saved you]; go in peace.’” (emphasis added)
Luke 17:19—“And He said to him, ‘Stand up and go; your faith has made you well [Lit has saved you].’” (emphasis added)
Luke 18:42—“And Jesus said to him, ‘Receive [Lit Regain] your sight; your faith has made you well [Lit saved you].’” (emphasis added)
In the foregoing verses, recording the words of Jesus Himself, we read that surrendering faith has saving power and that sins are forgiven on that basis. The thief on the cross went from hurling abuse at Jesus to asking for Jesus to remember Him and, without opportunity for making amends or any good works was promised that he would be with Jesus (Luke 23:39-43). From Zacchaeus, who repented and changed his life, to the thief on the cross, Jesus saved even at His seemingly lowest point. Jesus came to seek and save the lost, He saved those who believed with surrendering trust, and He promised, as with Peter, that He prayed that the faith of His people may not fail (Luke 22:32). Alongside this, Jesus called people to give up their lives, take up their crosses and follow Him daily, to hate father or mother, and to give up all to follow Him (Luke 9:23ff; Luke 14).
Propitiation & Justification
In the well-known parable that Jesus told to those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Luke 18:9), Jesus employed some key theological words about the nature of salvation. This parable was about the Pharisee and the tax collector who prayed. This would have been a portrayal of the most upstanding member of society versus the most wretched. And, while we are hard of the Pharisee, he simply prayed a prayer wherein he thanked God for His goodness seen in his life, that God has allowed him to be in the place where he has largely avoided most grievous sin. Besides trusting in himself that he was righteous and viewing others with contempt (Luke 18:9), this prayer simply thanked God for allowing him to be in the position he is. On the other hand, the repentant tax collector, ashamed of his sin, spoke the famous prayer that is the heart of every true Christian,
Luke 18:13—“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful [Or propitious] to me, the sinner!’”
Offering nothing, this many asked God to be merciful to him—the sinner. Even without the word, surely we see the empty-hand of saving faith. That said, we often miss one little detail about what the tax collector requested. He asked God, not so much to be merciful, but to be propitious to him or to propitiate on his behalf. This is a similar word use by Paul in what is possibly his greatest description of the gospel in Romans (3:25). God displayed Jesus publicly as a propitiation—a wrath-satisfying sacrifice that atones for sin and appeases the justice of God (Romans 3:25). Here, a similar form of the word is used by Jesus in this parable to describe the nature of salvation. Jesus made it clear that salvation is not about trusting in ourselves (Luke 18:9), but on the basis of God’s propitiation of sin. It is not even the trust and repentance of the sinner alone that makes the relationship with God right, but what God has effected in Christ on behalf of sinners—propitiation for sins.
And, according to Jesus, what is the result of this simple prayer of repentance and faith by a tax collector who abandoned trust in himself and asked God to propitiate for Him?
Luke 18:14—“I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.’” (emphasis added)
The result of this prayer of repentant, empty-handed faith was that the sinner went home justified—declared forensically righteous before God and His righteous standard. This sounds awfully Pauline. Rather, Paul emphasizes certain aspects of what Jesus taught in his gospel.
According to Jesus in Luke, He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), He came to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:31-32), God and the angels delight when one sinner repents (Luke 15), Jesus said, “Your faith has saved you,” that salvation does not result from trusting in oneself (Luke 18:9), and that we need propitiation before God for our sins but that we can be justified (Luke 18:13, 14). And, while not in Paul, this article will end with a few other words from Jesus regarding salvation,
John 5:24—“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”