God's Word creates what he commands In Justification by the Word, Jack D. Kilcrease reintroduces Martin Luther's key doctrine. Though a linchpin of the Reformation, Luther's view of justification is often misunderstood. For Luther, justification is an expression of God's creative Word. To understand Luther on justification, one must grasp his doctrine of the Word. The same God who declared "let there be light"—and it was so—also declares "your sins are forgiven." Justification is an objective reality. It is achieved in Christ's resurrection and received through an encounter with the risen Christ in Word and sacrament. Justification turns us outward, away from our own unsteady feelings and limited understanding, to look to Christ. And the church must preach justification, lest we so easily forfeit the joy of the gospel. Justification by the Word inspires readers to reencounter the radical doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Martin Luther invented the Reformation slogan sola fide--by faith alone--which Philipp Melanchthon and John Calvin brandished and defended. Most Protestants since their time have swallowed it whole. But is evangelical obedience--the good works that follow faith and are produced by grace--excluded from the basis for justification or otherwise? Asserting that "there is no more serious question bearing upon the destiny of human beings than how sinners can be justified before a Holy God," Paul Rainbow examines current and traditional treatments of faith, works, and justification, marshals a biblical case majoring on the New Testament teaching of Paul and James, and offers a series of systematic, historical, and pastoral reflections.