Best Christian Books on Justification by Faith: 8 Classics
If you want one short, clear book on justification by faith, start with chapter 9 of R. A. Torrey's The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith, which he titled "The Distinctive Doctrine of Protestantism." Then read John Bunyan's The Pharisee and the Publican, which turns the doctrine into a story you won't forget. When you're ready to study Paul's argument closely, read Haldane on Romans.
Justification is God's verdict. It answers the oldest question of the guilty conscience: how can a sinner be right with a holy God? The classic Protestant answer, which every writer below shares, goes like this. God justifies the ungodly. He doesn't wait for us to become righteous; He pardons all our sins and counts us righteous for the sake of Christ, who obeyed the law and died for sinners in our place. We receive this by faith alone, trusting Christ and not our own works. Good works follow as fruit, never as the root. And justification is not the same as sanctification: one is God's act for us, once and complete; the other is His work in us, growing all our lives.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Romans 4:5
Here are eight of the best books on justification in TheWay Library, from a first read to careful study.
Start here
1. The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith, by R. A. Torrey
Fifteen sermons Torrey preached to his own church because he thought Christians needed plain teaching in doctrine. Chapter 9 explains justification in a few clear pages: what it is, on what ground God justifies, and how we receive it.
The blood of Jesus Christ secures it, faith in Jesus Christ appropriates it.
The Fundamental Doctrines of the Christian Faith, chapter 9
The chapters before it, on the atonement, and after it, on the new birth and sanctification, help you see how they fit together. Read The Fundamental Doctrines.
2. The Pharisee and the Publican, by John Bunyan
Bunyan takes Jesus' parable of the two men who went up to the temple to pray and makes you stand in both their shoes. The Pharisee trusts his own righteousness; the Publican can only cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner," and goes home justified. Bunyan presses the Pharisee to ask what kind of righteousness will stand before God, and answers: only Christ's, given to the sinner who dares to trust it.
Christ died for the ungodly; Christ died for us while sinners; Christ reconciled us to God by his death.
The Pharisee and the Publican
See our guide to John Bunyan's books. Read The Pharisee and the Publican.
3. The Works of John Wesley, Vols. 1 and 2
Wesley's standard sermons were the doctrinal backbone of Methodism, and several are on this subject. In Volume 1, read Sermon I, "Salvation by Faith," and Sermon V, "Justification by Faith," on Romans 4:5. Wesley defines justification simply.
The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, the forgiveness of sins.
The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 1, Justification by Faith
In Volume 2, "The Lord Our Righteousness" is Wesley's sermon on the righteousness of Christ given to believers. See also John Wesley's books.
The doctrine from Romans
4. An Exposition of Romans, Volume 1, by Robert Haldane
The Scottish layman's verse-by-verse exposition of Romans 1 to 5 is the place to study Paul's argument closely: all are guilty, the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, Abraham was justified by faith, and peace with God follows. Read his chapters on Romans 3:21–31 and Romans 4 first.
To believe for salvation, we must believe not in God absolutely, but in God as the raiser of Jesus Christ.
An Exposition of Romans, Romans 4
Preachers of free justification
5. The Works of George Whitefield, Vol. 6
Whitefield preached justification by faith in the open air to tens of thousands. Sermon XLVI, "Of Justification by Christ," on "but ye are justified" (1 Corinthians 6:11), asks what being justified means, why every person needs it, and why it can come only through the obedience and death of Christ. The same volume has "The Almost Christian" and "On Regeneration." See who George Whitefield was. Read Whitefield's Works, Vol. 6.
6. Faith and Life, by B. B. Warfield
Short addresses by the Princeton theologian to his students. Chapter 29, "The Alien Righteousness," on Philippians 3:9, is one of the best short pieces on the subject ever written. Warfield says the whole gospel turns on two orders of words.
The one antithesis of all the ages is that between the rival … Do this and live, and, Live and do this; Do and be saved, and Be saved and do.
Faith and Life, The Alien Righteousness
Chapter 30, on peace with God, follows naturally. See B. B. Warfield's books. Read Faith and Life.
For careful study
7. A Commentary on the Confession of Faith, by A. A. Hodge
Hodge's commentary on the Westminster Confession. Chapter XI, "Of Justification," takes the Confession's statement apart line by line, proves it from Scripture and answers rival views.
As to its nature, this justification is a purely judicial act of God as Judge, whereby he pardons all the sins of a believer, and accounts, accepts and treats him as a person righteous in the eye of the divine law.
A Commentary on the Confession of Faith, chapter 11
See who A. A. Hodge was. Read the Commentary on the Confession.
8. The Way of Life, by Charles Hodge
A. A. Hodge's father wrote this for ordinary readers, not students. Chapter V, on justification, is the longest in the book, and it sits between chapters on conviction of sin and on faith, which is where it belongs. The chapter summaries have scanning errors, but the text is readable. Read The Way of Life.
Three short readings for one evening
If you want to see that this wasn't one man's idea, read three short pieces together in a single evening: Whitefield's "Of Justification by Christ," Wesley's sermon "Justification by Faith," and Warfield's "The Alien Righteousness." Two preachers of the Great Awakening and a Princeton theologian, more than a century apart, give the same answer.
Related guides
Several classics that touch justification are in our other guides: Spurgeon's All of Grace, which opens with "God Justifies the Ungodly," in the best Christian books on faith and on grace; J. C. Ryle's Old Paths in Christian books on salvation; and A. A. Hodge's The Atonement in books on the atonement. For the history behind the doctrine, see the best books on church history.
More by these authors: John Bunyan and B. B. Warfield.