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What About Justification By Faith in the Hebrew Scriptures?

What About Justification By Faith in the Hebrew Scriptures?

Paul quotes the same Psalm 32 which I quote above. (See page 266.) Paul does so to prove justification by faith without repentance. However, when Paul quotes Psalm 32:1 in (Rom. 4:6), Paul omits verse 5 of Psalm 32. That verse makes forgiveness contingent upon repentance from sin. Paul instead quotes Psalm 32:1-2 alone. He uses that passage to prove justification is without obedience to the Law or any action of turning in repentance. For Paul, it is solely by faith, because if anything else is required, then it makes salvation depend on a debt owed by God. (Rom. 4:4). To prove this, Paul relies on blatantly out-of-context quotes of Scripture / 34

However, Paul forgets that God made a promise, i.e., a debt, that justification would result from obedience to the Law! (Deut. 6:25.) God promised it was not too difficult on our side to do! (Deut. 30:11). Apostle John reaffirms that truth! (1 John 5:2-3). So there is nothing contrary to God's principles of mercy (grace) if I insist justification thereafter is owed by God as a debt. God says it is a debt. He will pay the debt for that justification, i.e., ultimately He will apply atonement for you. This is why it is called a Covenant!

McGee, How You Can Have the Assurance of Salvation (Pasadena: 1976) atl2.
Paul does the same in his quotes from Psalm 36 in (Rom. 3). This outof-context proclivity of Paul is discussed in S.L.Edgar, "Respect for Context in Quotations from the O.T.," New Testament Studies 9 (196263) at 56.

Paul suffers from fallacious reasoning in this regard. He argues a false dichotomy. He says if it is a debt, it is no more of grace. (Rom. 4:4). Those are not the only two choices. Mercy (grace) only comes into play when you sin. Then forgiveness is given by unmerited favor (grace) to one who is repenting from sin. That is the doctrine of grace in (Ezek. 33:12).

Then is justification distinct and at a different point? Yes, justification is at a different point in (Ezek. 33:12). Justification follows repentance (and the receipt of grace). Remaining justified is by staying on the "narrow" path of obedience. God makes a promise, i.e., a debt, to justify you whenever you are staying on the narrow path of obeying Him. (Deut. 6:25). This is the Covenant promise of God!

Thus, Paul gave us a false set of choices: Paul claimed it either is debt or grace. Rather, it is both debt and grace. They are not mutually exclusive. The Bible says it is debt that God owes you justification when you obey, for He honors His word in (Deut. 6:25). God keeps His word (i.e., His covenant). However, it is grace when you disobey, and He will give you unmerited favor for true repentance in (Ezek. 33:12). Both principles of debt and grace are simultaneously true, but operative at different points.

To arrive at Paul's different conclusion, Paul quotes passages out of context. As already mentioned, in (Rom. 4:6), Paul quotes Psalm 32:1-2 to prove one is justified solely by faith without works of the Law (i.e., obedience to the Law). Yet, Paul omits verse 5. Paul only quotes Psalm 32:1-2 which provides:

(1) Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is
covered.

(2) Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no guile. (ASV).

Paul then spins this to mean faith alone, without any obedience to the Law, brings salvation. (See (Rom. 4:6) et seq .)

However, as noted above, Paul is quoting out of context. Psalm 32 is not how faith alone leads to imputed righteousness. Such an application is frankly impossible. Rather, in Psalm 32, David has the (Ezek. 33:12) formula in mind. The verses that follow clearly prove it is repentance from sin which leads to initial forgiveness and grace. Psalm 32:3-5, which Paul omits, reads:

(3)....my bones wasted away Through my groaning all the day long.

(4)...thy hand was heavy upon me.

(5) I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And mine iniquity did I not
hide: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah; And
thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Paul was wrong. James was right.