Joel R. Beeke: Faith is instrumental, not the grounds of justifying righteousness, for the saved man believes unto the perfect righteousness of Christ

“Paul confirms in Romans 4 and Galatians 3:6-14 that the imputed (i.e. reckoned) righteousness of Genesis 15:6 is to be understood in terms of ‘by faith or through faith.’ … It is clear then that when Abraham was justified by his faith, the righteousness which was reckoned or ‘charged to his account’ was a righteousness not his own but that of another, namely, the righteousness of Christ (Galatians 3:16). … In these verses the Greek preposition eis does not signify ‘in the stead of,’ but always means ‘with a view to’ or ‘in order to.’ It could be translated ‘towards’ or ‘unto.’ Its meaning is clear from Romans 10:10, ‘with the heart man believeth unto [eis] righteousness’—i.e., faith moves toward and lays hold on Christ Himself.” (Dr. Joel R. Beeke, “The Relation of Faith to Justification,” in the book, “Justification by Faith Alone,” pp. 55-56)