Said so beautifully by Bruce Demarest:"The doctrine of justification by faith proves to be the focal point of other salvific doctrines. The backdrop against which justification is set is humanity in its fallen condition—guilty, condemned, and alienated from God. The ground of justification is the death of Christ on the cross as he took the sinner's place, bore his guilt, and suffered the just penalty for sins. The implementation of justification focuses on the application of Christ's atoning provisions to chosen and specially loved sinners. The outcome of justification is the sanctification and final preservation of those God has made right with himself. And the completion of justification will occur when the just of all ages are raised in transformed bodies to experience heaven's eternal joys."
Source: Bruce Demarest, The Cross & Salvation (Wheaton, IL: Crossway), 346.
Amen!
