Title: Sola Fide – Faith Alone Scripture: Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:1-5
Type: Series on the Reformation Where: GNBC 10-8-17
Intro: Today we will examine the next main theme of the Protestant Reformation, Sola Fide. Sola Fide means “through faith alone” and has to do with the operational agency thru which the Christian is justified before God. Justification is one of the most important theological concepts. The late theologian John Gerstner once spoke to a group of business people on the subject of justification. There was a reporter from a local newspaper in attendance. Gerstner preached the great doctrine of justification as emphatically, clearly, and persuasively as he knew how. But he was a bit discouraged when he looked at the paper the next day and discovered that he had spoken the night before on the theme of “just a vacation by faith”! I don’t want anyone to think that I’m speaking today on how you can have a nice holiday by faith alone! Rather, I’m speaking on one of the most important truths in all of the Bible. You may not realize that this is so, but it is. You may a young person who thinks that the most important thing in your life is how to find the right marriage partner or how to know what career to pursue. You may be a married person who thinks that the most important matter is how to be happy in your marriage or how to raise your children properly. You may be a business person who is concerned about financial pressures and how to make wise business decisions. While each of these issues is important, none are nearly as significant as the issue which lies behind the biblical doctrine of justification by faith: How can I be right before a holy God? The answer to this matter of how to be right with God hinges on a proper understanding of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone.
Prop: As We Celebrate 500 years of Protestantism, let us exalt in the doctrine of Sola Fide.
BG: 1. The doct. of Justification by Faith was 1st clearly stated in Gen. 15:6 which says of Abram: “Then he believed the Lord and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
2. The Apostle Paul quotes this verse twice, in Rom. 4:3 and again in Gal. 3:6 as he explains how one can have a right standing with God.
3. This doctrine played a central role in the Protestant Reformation and it represents the fundamental difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to this very day. IN fact, this is without a doubt the most important distinction between the two churches.
Prop: Today we will notice 3 Messages Sola Fide Proclaims to the Church today.
I. Sola Fide Declares the Guilty Sinner Righteous on the basis of Christ’s Death.
A. Sola fide Speaks to the Errant View Most People have on how God will Judge their Sin.
1. God will judge our sin.
a. Most people have the idea that when it comes time for the judgment, God, who they conceive of as a “nice” God will not be harsh as long as a person has been sincere and has tried his best to be a good person. In other words, people pull God down from His position of absolute righteousness as revealed in Scripture and make Him out to be tolerant of some sin, as long as it isn’t too bad (by human standards). ( Hitler, Stalin, Stephen Paddock!)And, they artificially lift sinful men up from their condition of hostility toward God as revealed in Scripture and make them out to be basically good folks who mean well. So they erroneously conclude that the “pretty good God” will be nice and let “pretty good people” into heaven in spite of their faults. Nothing could be further from the truth!
b. Illust: Hear me clearly: Biblical love does not keep silent when it comes to matters of life and death. If you love someone, you must speak the truth when they are in serious error. The apostle Paul wrote Galatians to warn the churches about some men called Judaizers who believed in Christ, but who taught that faith in Christ alone is not enough to make a person right with God, but that people also had to keep the Jewish law, especially circumcision. Paul didn’t reason, “Well, these men believe in Christ, and unity and love are more important than right doctrine.” Rather, he said that these men were accursed because they were preaching a false gospel (Gal. 1:6-9).
2. God has an immovable standard by which He judges sin.
a. The Bible says that God is absolutely holy. He cannot tolerate sin dwelling in His presence. And, He is absolutely just, which means that the penalty for all sin must be paid. He never just brushes sin aside by saying, “Hey, no big deal. Don’t worry about it!” Also, the Bible says that if a person keeps all of God’s law, but stumbles at one point, he is guilty of violating the whole thing (James 2:10). Jesus clearly said in the Sermon on the Mount, that keeping God’s holy law is not just an outward manner of not murdering anyone; it is an inward matter of never being angry with anyone! It is not just an outward matter of never committing adultery; it is an inward matter of never lusting after a woman in your heart (Matt. 5:21-22, 27-28)! He sums up His teaching by saying, “Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48)! Here is the really scary part: HE MEANS IT! And He knows you cannot do it. Does that make you frustrated?
b. Illust: Back in HS, had a college prep English Class. Mrs. Ross was the teacher. She was tough. First day of class, had us stand to the chalk board and diagram sentences. Now, ashamed to admit this, but I wasn’t underclassman, yet never had English class deal with diagramming. Now, I was in good company, with exception of a few girls in my class no one else knew how to diagram either. Can still remember Mrs. Ross writing sentences and telling us to diagram them by parts of speech and seeing us look blankly at her. She began to get angry and we began to get frustrated because SHE MEANT IT and we knew we couldn’t do it!
B. Understanding this Doctrine is an Essential Point of Distinction still today.
1. There are distinctive and difference that are important to note in some instances.
a. There’s a strong push in the Church today to break down all denominational and doctrinal distinctives among professing Christians. This even includes Catholics and Protestants. . We’re being told that since both groups believe in Jesus Christ, we shouldn’t get hung up over some theological fine points on this matter of justification by faith alone. Love and unity and being perceived as being nice are more important than correct doctrine, so we are told not to debate distinctives. Yet, here is the truth, all groups have their own distinctive whether Protestant or Catholic, whether Orhodox or even the Noon Day Optimist club.
b. Illust: At the Council of Trent (in 1547), the Roman Catholic Church responded to the Protestant Reformation, including the doctrine of justification by faith. The Canons and Decrees of Trent represent the official teaching of the Catholic Church to this day. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s declared these doctrines “irreformable.” Trent did not deny that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. But it added works to faith by combining justification (right standing with God) with sanctification (our growth in holiness subsequent to being justified) and by making justification a process that depends in part on our good works.
If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified, in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, ... let him be anathema. (Session 6, Canon 9, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom [Baker], 2:112.)
If any one saith, that justifying faith is nothing else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake; or, that this confidence alone is that whereby we are justified: let him be anathema. (Session 6, Canon 12, in Schaff, 2:113.)
2. Man is a fallen sinner with no meritorious, inherent, goodness.
a. Paul argues in the first three chapters of Romans, everyone from the raw pagan to the most religious Jew has violated God’s law and is under His just condemnation. Paul is arguing, using Abraham as his prime example, that no one can gain right standing with God through good works. The only way to be right with God is to trust in God’s provision for sin in Christ.
b. The biblical meaning of both the Hebrew and Greek words used for “justify” is, “to pronounce, accept, and treat as just, i.e., as, on the one hand, not legally liable, and, on the other, entitled to all the privileges due to those who have kept the law. It is thus a forensic term, denoting a judicial act of administering the law--in this case, by declaring a verdict of acquittal, and so excluding all possibility of condemnation. Justification thus settles the legal status of the person justified” (J. I. Packer, “Justification,” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology [Baker], ed. by Walter Elwell, p. 593). Justification does not mean to make righteous, as the Catholic Church teaches, but rather, to declare righteous. By FAITH we believe that we are declared RIGHTEOUS by believing in what Christ has already done perfectly for us!
C. Applic: Sola Fide proclaims the sinner is made righteous by faith in the work of Christ.
II. Sola Fide Declares Justification Takes Place via Faith in Christ’s Death and Res.
A. Sola Fide is the Good News of Salvation by Faith in Christ!
1. We must believe in Christ and His meritorious work.
a. Illust: You may tell me that the moon is 238,857 miles from the earth. I have neither the time nor ability nor inclination to measure. So, since you are a generally trustworthy individual, I believe you that this is in fact is the correct distance. Now, am I staking my life on believing in that exact distance? Not on YOUR life. The sense of “believe” in which the Bible uses in relation to trusting in Christ is very different from our more casual understanding today.
b. The late U of I prof, Dr. George Forrell once wrote: “A person is a Christian by placing his entire trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. A complete and utter trust in Christ. Jesus becomes the cornerstone of one’s life. Therefore, Sola fide denies the efficacy of all other approaches to God. Period. This is what the Bible calls each of us to…a complete and total dependence upon Christ.
2. How as Abraham credited with Righteousness?
a. Read Gen. 15:6. Works? No! Faith? Yes! “Abram believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” at first glance, you may think that “it” refers to Abram’s faith, so that God exchanged his faith for righteousness, in a sort of trade. But that would give some sort of merit to faith, which it does not have. In God’s “ledger” in heaven, on the debit side is all our sin. No amount of faith would balance that out on the credit side, because faith cannot pay for sin. Faith is not the basis of our justification; rather, it is the means. Faith is the hand which receives God’s provision in Christ. The basis for justification is that the just penalty for sin has been paid by an acceptable substitute. The justice of God must be met, and Jesus Christ paid that penalty. (Rev. Stephen Cole, sermon Justification by Faith)
b. Remember what Abram believed: He looked forward to the promised Savior who would be his descendant (“seed”) and believed God concerning that Savior. God, in a judicial accounting procedure, took Abram’s sin and credited it to the book of Jesus Christ, who would bear that sin on the cross. Then He took the righteousness of Jesus and credited it to Abram’s book, so that Abram received the very righteousness of God. Faith was merely the channel by which the transaction took place.
B. Justification is completely and totally a work of Christ.
1. Sola Fide accepts by Faith the complete and total work of Christ.
a. If you come to God with your sin and say, “God, I want to exchange my sin for the righteousness of Jesus Christ,” God will take care of the transaction and declare you righteous in Him. God made Christ, “who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Faith means taking God at His word on the matter. It is the channel through which God’s promised blessings flow to us. You can be sure of heaven if you have let go of any supposed righteousness or goodness of your own and have laid hold of the death of Christ on the cross as the just payment for your sins.
b. Illust: If you were being held captive by a band of terrorists and Chuck and Barry organized a commando raid, where they swept into the camp by helicopter and brought you out to safety, it would be ridiculous for you later to say that it was your faith that saved you. No, the commandos saved you. Your faith was merely the means that allowed you to climb aboard the helicopter. In the same way, it is not your faith that saves you from your sin, much less any good deeds. God justifies the guilty sinner through Christ. Faith is simply the means by which His justification is applied to us.
2. Illust: It seems that there was a man in England who put his Rolls-Royce on a boat and went across to the continent to go on a holiday. While he was driving around Europe, something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce people back in England and asked, “I’m having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?” Well, the Rolls-Royce people flew a mechanic over! The mechanic repaired the car and flew back to England and left the man to continue his holiday. As you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, “How much is this going to cost me?” So when he got back to England, he wrote the people a letter and asked how much he owed them. He received a letter from the office that read: “Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce.” That is justification!
(W. Wiersbe, Key Words of the Christian Life, p. 16)
C. Applic: Sola Fide declares justification takes place thru faith in Christ’s death and Res..
III. Sola Fide Declares the Only People God Justifies are the Ungodly. (Rom.4:5)
A. Sola Fide Declares that Christ Justifies the Ungodly.
1. Christ Justification only Avails for the Ungodly.
a. This may shock you and it certainly goes against what most people think. But Paul makes it very clear in Romans 4:5: God justifies the one who does not work, and who in fact is ungodly! God does not justify pretty good people who go to church and try to live a decent life. He does not justify those who give money to the church and volunteer their time. God does not justify Catholics or Protestants, Episcopalians or Lutherans, Methodists or even Baptists! God justifies only one sort of person: the ungodly, and among the ungodly, specifically those who do not work for their justification, but believe in Him!
b. Illust: 500 yrs ago Martin Luther challenged the colossus of his time, the Catholic Church over this very point of Justification by Faith Alone! RC Church taught then and still teaches today that man thru his own merit may earn his own Justification with God. Protestants, at least in doctrine if not experience, believe that only when a fallen sinner turns to Jesus and accepts Him as God’s sole provision for salvation the transaction of Justification takes place by Faith.
2. If you want God to justify you, admit you are ungodly!
a. Do you view yourself as a basically good person? Then you should be alarmed! Jesus excludes you when He says, “I did not come to call the righteous.” Jesus spoke these words to men who were religious leaders. They had devoted their lives to God and to the Jewish religion. They never missed a synagogue service. They attended all the religious festivals at the Temple in Jerusalem. They ate only kosher food. They followed the ceremonial law to a tee, avoiding anything that would defile them. They had set times each day for prayer. They tithed not only their money, but even their table spices (Matt. 23:23)!
b.Illust: As soon as I get well, I’m going to go to the doctor.” If someone told you that, you might think that he needed to see a different sort of doctor, namely, a shrink! Doctors are not for those who are well. Doctors are for the sick. “As soon as I can clean up my life and conquer some of my bad habits, I’m going to become a Christian.” That statement is just as crazy as the man who says he is going to the doctor as soon as he gets well. But even though it is crazy, it is one of the most widespread mistaken ideas both inside and outside the church, that Christianity is for good people.
B. Sola Fide Declares the Transaction of Justification takes place the Instant a Sinner Trusts in Christ. (Illust: Instant online banking transactions.)
1. Praise the Lord, Justification is Instantaneous!
a. Illust: Remember about 25 yrs ago when internet was new. Carol went to make a payment. (Now, young people, in the old days you had to put a thing called a check in a thing called an envelope with a thing called a stamp on it. Put it in a thing called a mailbox and tried to figure out about how many days would take to get to the payment center.) She confidently told me that the payment had been made. How? Was instant online! No way!
b. Abraham believed and God reckoned. It happens as quickly as the judge banging the gavel and saying, “Not guilty!” At that moment, a soul passes from condemnation to acquittal, from the sentence of death to life, from the darkness and chains of the dungeon of sin to the light and liberty of God’s free grace. Abram didn’t do penance, get baptized, receive extreme unction, or any other thing that sometimes individuals believe incurs merit for the individual.
2. Do you believe that you can be Justified by Faith in Christ Right now?
a. In regard to this truth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “If you cannot see that you can become a Christian immediately, at this moment, you have not grasped the doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone in Christ. The moment one sees this doctrine one says, ‘Yes, I see that it is as possible for me to become a Christian now as it will be in a thousand years. If I withdrew from the world and became a monk or a hermit and spent my whole days in fasting and sweating and praying, I would be no nearer than I am now.’ God justifies the ungodly” (Romans: Atonement and Justification [Zondervan], p. 179) at the instant they believe in Christ.
b. May I ask you right now, do you believe that at this moment you are right with God entirely through what God has done for you in Jesus Christ, so that if you were to stand before Him right now, you would not enter into condemnation because Christ has borne your sins? If you say, “Well, I need to go home and read my Bible more and pray more before I settle that,” you have not grasped this great truth. If you feel that you still have to do something more or feel something more or rid yourself of some sin before you can come to God, you do not understand justification by faith alone.
C. Applic:
Conclusion: Charlotte Elliott was a young woman who was deeply concerned about her relationship with God. She went to church and had heard the gospel several times, but she had not yet trusted Christ to forgive her sins. One day an old Huguenot preacher visited her home. In the course of conversation, he said in his direct way, “Charlotte, when are you going to come to Jesus?” Taken aback, she replied, “Oh, I don’t know how.” The old preacher said, “You don’t know how? Why, you come to Jesus just as you are.” Later that evening, she couldn’t shake those words. She knelt by her bed and put her trust in Jesus Christ as her sin-bearer. From that experience, she wrote a hymn:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou biddest me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot;
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
