FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

TITLE: FAITH ALONE!

TEXT: ROMANS 5:1a

INTRODUCTION: (1) NO ONE WOULD ARGUE WITH ME THIS MORNING THAT THE SPOTLIGHT OF THE WORLD HAS BEEN ON ROME FOR OVER A WEEK NOW WITH THE PASSING AWAY OF JOHN PAUL II.

* T.V., RADIO BROADCASTS, NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND DISCUSSIONS HAVE BEEN CENTERED ON THE POPE AND ROMANS CATHOLIC BELIEFS.

** 3-4 MILLION WAITED IN LINE UP TO 24 HOURS TO SEE THE POPE IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA, LIT. A RIVER OF HUMANITY WAS FLOWING THROUGH ROME AND VATICAN CITY.

*** THERE HAVE BEEN CATHOLIC SERVICES FOR THE POPE, PRAYERS FOR THE POPE AND EVEN COMMENTATORS AND CATHOLICS MAKING STATEMENTS LIKE: “WE NO LONGER PRAY FOR HIM, BUT TO HIM.”

**** THE POPE HAS BEEN AND IS VENERATED AND EVEN WORSHIPPED AS THE “HOLY FATHER” BY MANY CATHOLICS.

(2) AND KEEP IN MIND THERE ARE 1 BILLION 100 MILLION PROFESSING CATHOLICS IN THE WORLD APPROXIMATELY 17% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION.

* AND PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT EVEN CATHOLICS ALL OVER THE WORLD HAVE BEEN MOURNING THE POPE’S DEATH.

** AND WITH ALL THE FOCUS ON ROME, PEOPLE ARE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT THE POPE, ROME’S BELIEF AND HOW IS A PERSON JUSTIFIED.

*** I’VE BEEN ASKED ON DIFFERENT OCCASIONS, IS THE POPE IN HEAVEN? OR CAN THE POPE BE IN HEAVEN?

**** I RECEIVED AN E-MAIL THIS WEEK FROM A DEAR PERSON TO ME WHO IS CATHOLIC ASKING THESE QUESTIONS:

(3) HOW IS IT THAT I AM DIFFERENT FROM A “BORN AGAIN” CHRISTIAN?

* HOW COULD IT BE THAT SINCE I AM CATHOLIC THAT I SHALL GO TO HELL?

** AND I ENTER CHURCH AND FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OF MASS WE STATE OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS AND WAS SENT BY GOD FOR OUR SALVATION. WHAT AM I MISSING?

*** NOW THOSE ARE GREAT QUESTIONS AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE ANSWER THEM FROM SCRIPTURE.

**** BECAUSE COMMON QUESTIONS AND THOUGHTS ARE, DON’T WE BELIEVE IN THE SAME SAVIOR? DON’T WE BELIEVE THAT CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION AND I RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS MY SAVIOR EVERY TIME I GO TO MASS.

***** WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? AREN’T WE BEING A LITTLE TOO PICKY AND JUDGMENTAL?

- HOW IS A PERSON SAVED? HOW IS A PERSON JUSTIFIED? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BELIEVE?

(3) WELL IN AN ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS WE WILL GO BACK TO THE REFORMATION AS A MEANS OF INTRODUCTION AND ULTIMATELY BACK TO SCRIPTURE, FOR SCRIPTURE IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY.

** THE REFORMATION WAS NOT PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH THE ISSUES THAT EVANGELICALS TODAY OFTEN THINK OF FIRST: THE PAPACY, SUPERSTITION AND THE CULT OF THE VIRGIN AND THE SAINTS.

*** FIRST AND FOREMOST, IT WAS A CHALLENGE TO ROME’S CONFUSION OVER THE VERY MEANING OF THE GOSPEL.

**** HOW CAN A SINNER BE ACCEPTED BY A HOLY GOD?

(4) WELL, THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION CAUSES A GREAT DIVIDE BETWEEN WHAT CATHOLICS BELIEVE AND WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES.

* AND THERE SHOULD BE GREAT CONCERN OVER THE TENDENCY TO BURY CONCERN OVER THE CONTENT OF THE GOSPEL FOR THE SAKE OF UNITY AND ECUMENICAL THOUGHT.

** AND THAT KIND OF THINKING MINIMIZES THE GOSPEL AND MAKES JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE “DOCTRINAL ISSUES” THAT ARE TO BE OF LITTLE CONCERN TO THE AVERAGE PERSON IN THE PEW.

*** WELL THAT KIND OF THINKING IS FLAWED AND IS DANGEROUS.

**** FOR THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION IS CENTRAL TO THE GOSPEL AND IT IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE MESSAGE THE CHURCH IS TO BE PROCLAIMING.

(5) NOW NOTE THAT THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IS WHAT THE REFORMERS CALLED THE “ MATERIAL PRINCIPLE” OF ALL THEOLOGY.

* THEY CALLED THE DOCTRINE OF SCRIPTURE ALONE (SOLA SCRIPTURA) THE FORMAL PRINCIPLE BECAUSE IT IS FROM THE BIBLE THAT WE DERIVE OUR THEOLOGY.

** WE BELIEVE WHAT WE BELIEVE BECAUSE WE FIND IT IN THE BIBLE.

*** BUT THEN, HAVING ESTABLISHED THE SOLE SOURCE FROM WHICH OUR DOCTRINE OR BELIEFS COMES, THE REFORMERS TURNED TO JUSTIFICATION (SOLA FIDE, FAITH ALONE) AND CALLED IT THE “MATERIAL PRINCIPLE” BECAUSE IT INVOLVES THE VERY MATTER SUBSTANCE OR HEART OF WHAT ANY MAN OR WOMAN MUST UNDERSTAND AND BELIEVE TO BE SAVED.

**** SO STATEMENTS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE AND CENTRALITY OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ARE FOUND THROUGHOUT THE REFORMER’S WRITINGS.

(6) FOR EXAMPLE, JOHN CALVIN SPOKE OF JUSTIFICATION AS “THE MAIN HINGE ON WHICH SALVATION TURNS.”

* THOMAS CARNMER BELIEVED THAT JUSTIFICATION IS “THE STRONG ROCK AND FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION” DECLARING THAT “WHOSOEVER DENIETH IS NOT TO BE COUNTED FOR A TRUE CHRISTIAN MAN…BUT FOR AN ADVERSARY OF CHRIST.”

** AND THEN MARTIN LUTHER, THE FIRST OF ALL REFORMERS SAID: “WHEN THE ARTICLE OF JUSTIFICATION HAS FALLEN, EVERYTHING HAS FALLEN…THIS IS THE CHIEF ARTICLE FROM WHICH ALL OTHER DOCTRINES HAVE FLOWED…IT ALONE BEGETS, NOURISHES, BUILDS, PRESERVES AND DEFINES THE CHURCH OF GOD; AND WITHOUT IT THE CHURCH OF GOD CANNOT EXIST FOR ONE HOUR.”

*** AND THEN LUTHER MAINTAINED THAT JUSTIFICATION IS “THE MASTER AND PRINCE, THE LORD, THE RULER AND THE JUDGE OF ALL DOCTRINES.”

**** NOW THESE STATEMENTS ARE NOT EXAGGERATIONS. THEY ARE SIMPLE TRUTH BECAUSE JUSTIFICATION IS GOD’S ANSWER TO THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL HUMAN QUESTIONS:

(7) HOW CAN A MAN OR A WOMAN BECOME RIGHT WITH GOD?

* AND BELOVED, WE ARE NOT RIGHT WITH GOD IN OURSELVES. ON THE CONTRARY, WE ARE IN DREADFUL TROUBLE WITH GOD. WE ARE UNDER HIS WRATH FOR OUR SINS. SO EITHER WE MUST BECOME RIGHT WITH GOD OR WE MUST PERISH ETERNALLY.

** AND IF THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH LOSES THIS DOCTRINE, AS SOME ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DOING, IT WILL FALL AS LUTHER SAID.

*** FOR YOU SEE THE GOSPEL DEFINES THE CHURCH, NOT THE CHURCH DEFINES THE GOSPEL.

**** AND THE GOSPEL DECLARES JUSTIFICATION BY GRACE ALONE THROUGH FAITH ALONE BECAUSE OF CHRIST ALONE.

(8) AND I WILL DECLARE THAT BIBLICALLY AS WE GO TO ROMANS 5:1A, WHICH I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, FAITH ALONE!

* BUT BEFORE I GO TO SCRIPTURE I NEED TO COMMUNICATE WHAT ROME TEACHES ABOUT JUSTIFICATION.

** AND THERE ARE SOME THAT THINK THAT ROME HAS CHANGED ITS THEOLOGICAL POSITION FROM THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.

*** NOW THE COUNCIL OF TRENT WAS THE 19TH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND WAS HELD AT TRENT IN NORTHERN ITALY BETWEEN 1545 AND 1563.

**** AND THIS COUNCIL MARKED A MAJOR TURNING POINT IN THE EFFORTS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH TO RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION AND FORMED A KEY PART OF THE COUNTER-REFORMATION.

(9) IN SUMMARY, IN THE AREA OF RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE, THE COUNCIL REFUSED ANY CONCESSIONS TO THE PROTESTANTS AND IN THE PROCESS, CRYSTALLIZED AND CODIFIED DOGMA MORE THAN EVER BEFORE.

* IT DIRECTLY OPPOSED PROTESTANTISM BY REAFFIRMING THE EXISTENCE OF 7 SACRAMENTS, TRANSUBSTANTIATION, PURGATORY, THE NECESSITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD AND JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS AS WELL AS FAITH.

** CLERICAL CELIBACY AND MONASTICISM WERE MAINTAINED AND DECREES WERE ISSUED IN FAVOR OF THE EFFICACY OF RELICS, INDULGENCES AND THE VENERATION OF THE VIRGIN MARY AND THE SAINTS.

*** TRADITION WAS DECLARED COEQUAL WITH SCRIPTURE AS A SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE AND THE SOLE RIGHT OF THE CHURCH TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE WAS ASSERTED.

**** NOW SOME SUGGEST THAT THINGS HAVE CHANGED ABOUT JUSTIFICATION WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH WITH THE ADVENT OF VATICAN II DOCUMENTS AS WELL AS THE NEW CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH PUT INTO OPERATION BY FORMAL PROCLAMATION BY POPE JOHN PAUL II (WHICH I OBTAINED A COPY OF THIS WEEK).

(10) BUT THE REALITY OF THE MATTER IS, THESE TWO NEWER DOCUMENTS REINVOKE THE THEOLOGICAL POSITION OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT, CONDEMNING THE GOSPEL OF JUSTIFICATION.

* ROME STILL BELIEVES WHAT IT DID BACK IN THE 1500’S WHEN IT COMES TO JUSTIFICATION, WHEN IT CONDEMNED THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH WITH ANATHEMAS.

** ROME STILL BELIEVES THAT JUSTIFICATION IS A SUBJECTIVE PROCESS THAT IS BEGUN BY FAITH AND COMPLETED BY WORKS.

*** THE BIBLICAL POSITION IS THAT JUSTIFICATION IS AN OBJECTIVE DECLARATION THAT THE BELIEVER IS RIGHTEOUS THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE, APART FROM WORKS.

**** NOW IT WOULD BE NICE TO THINK THAT THIS DIFFERENCE IS MINOR, NOT THAT IMPORTANT AND MERELY A MISUNDERSTANDING; BUT IT IS, IN FACT, A PRINCIPLE AND IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCE ON A MATTER OF VITAL IMPORTANCE.

(11) NOW I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME DIRECT QUOTES FROM THE NEW CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AGAIN BLESSED BY POPE JOHN PAUL II,

* CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE ON PAGE 26 UNDER ARTICLE 2 NUMBERS 80 – 82.

** ARTICLE 2 NUMBER 80 SAYS: “SACRED TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE, THEN, ARE BOUND CLOSELY TOGETHER AND COMMUNICATE ONE WITH THE OTHER. FOR BOTH OF THEM, FLOWING OUT FROM THE SAME DIVINE WELL-SPRING, COME TOGETHER IN SOME FASHION TO FORM ONE THING AND MOVE TOWARDS THE SAME GOAL. EACH OF THEM MAKES PRESENT AND FRUITFUL IN THE CHURCH THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST, WHO PROMISED TO REMAIN WITH HIS OWN ALWAYS, TO THE CLOSE OF THE AGE.”

*** ARTICLE 2 NUMBER 81 – “SACRED SCRIPTURE IS THE SPEECH OF GOD AS IT IS PUT DOWN IN WRITING UNDER THE BREATH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.”

**** “AND HOLY TRADITION TRANSMITS IN ITS ENTIRETY THE WORD OF GOD WHICH HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED TO THE APOSTLES BY CHRIST THE LORD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. IT TRANSMITS IT TO THE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES SO THAT, ENLIGHTENED BY THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, THEY MAY FAITHFULLY PRESERVE, EXPOUNDS, AND SPREAD IT ABROAD BY THEIR PREACHING.”

(12) AS A RESULT THE CHURCH, TO WHOM THE TRANSMISSION AND INTERPRETATION OF REVELATION IS ENTRUSTED, “DOES NOT DERIVE HER CERTAINTY ABOUT ALL REVEALED TRUTHS FROM THE HOLY SCRIPTURES ALONE. BOTH SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION MUST BE ACCEPTED AND HONORED WITH EQUAL SENTIMENTS OF DEVOTION AND REVERENCE.”

* NOW BASICALLY ACCORDING TO ROMAN CATHOLIC TEACHING THE BIBLE ALONE IS NOT THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IN SOLA SCRIPTURA OR THE FORMAL CAUSE OF THE REFORMATION.

** NOW MOVING ON FROM THE FORMAL CAUSE WE COME TO THE MATERIAL CAUSE OF THE REFORMATION, SOLA FIDE OR FAITH ALONE.

*** HERE’S WHAT THEY BELIEVE ON PAGE 315 AND ARTICLE 1 NUMBER 1229 UNDER CHRISTIAN INITIATION-

**** FROM THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES, BECOMING A CHRISTIAN HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED BY A JOURNEY AND INITIATION IN SEVERAL STAGES. THIS JOURNEY CAN BE COVERED RAPIDLY OR SLOWLY, BUT CERTAIN ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS WILL ALWAYS HAVE TO BE PRESENT: PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD, ACCEPTANCE OF THE GOSPEL ENTAILING CONVERSION, PROFESSION OF FAITH, BAPTISM ITSELF, THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND ADMISSION TO EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION.

(13) NOW TO ADD TO THAT JAMES G. MCCARTHY IN HIS BOOK “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ROME” BREAKS DOWN THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM AND GIVES ARTICLE NUMBERS TO COMMUNICATE HIS POINTS. HE SAYS CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION ON PAGES 37&38 OF HIS BOOK:

* UNLIKE NEWBORN INFANTS WHO ARE TO BE BAPTIZED WITHOUT DELAY, ADULTS SEEKING JUSTIFICATION IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH MUST UNDERGO EXTENSIVE PREPARATION ACCORDING TO ARTICLE 1232.

** 4 STEPS ARE INVOLVED: COOPERATION WITH FIRST ACTUAL GRACE, FAITH, GOOD WORKS AND THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM.

*** NOW ONCE THIS JUSTIFICATION TAKES PLACE, TO PRESERVE IT YOU MUST BE INVOLVED IN CERTAIN WORKS TO MAINTAIN IT LIKE PENANCE WHICH IS ONE OF THEIR 7 SACRAMENTS.

**** MCCARTHY SAYS: “PENANCE IS NECESSARY FOR RESTORATION TO THE LIFE OF GRACE SHOULD A CATHOLIC FORFEIT GRACE THROUGH SERIOUS SIN. CONFIRMATION, ANOTHER SACRAMENT, ANOINTING OF THE SICK, ANOTHER SACRAMENT, AND ESPECIALLY HOLY EUCHARIST (HOLY COMMUNION) ANOTHER SACRAMENT, PROVIDES GRACE NEEDED TO AVOID SIN AND DO GOOD.”

(14) NOW CATHOLICS CAN FORFEIT GRACE THROUGH MORAL SINS, SO YOU MUST WORK TO MAINTAIN SALVATION AND THE SACRAMENTS AFTER BAPTISM ARE THEN TO KEEP YOU IN THE STATE OF GRACE.

* IN SUMMARY, FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC, ETERNAL SALVATION INVOLVES A LIFETIME OF DOING, WORKING AND STRIVING.

** THE CATHOLIC MUST KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND OF THE CHURCH. HE MUST RECEIVE THE SACRAMENTS AND PERFORM ACTS OF PIETY. HE MUST DO GOOD WORKS, HIS ETERNAL SALVATION DEPENDS ON ALL OF THESE.

*** ONE LAST QUOTE FROM THE NEW CATHOLIC CATECHISM UNDER ARTICLE 3 NUMBER 2030 ON PAGE 490.

**** “IT IS IN THE CHURCH, IN COMMUNION WITH ALL THE BAPTIZED, THAT THE CHRISTIAN FULFILLS HIS VOCATION. FROM THE CHURCH HE RECEIVES THE WORD OF GOD CONTAINING THE TEACHINGS OF “THE LAW OF CHRIST”. FROM THE CHURCH HE RECEIVES THE GRACE OF THE SACRAMENTS THAT SUSTAINS HIM ON THE “WAY”.

***** “FROM THE CHURCH HE LEARNS THE EXAMPLE OF HOLINESS AND RECOGNIZES ITS MODEL AND SOURCE IN THE ALL-HOLY VIRGIN MARY; HE DISCERNS IT IN THE AUTHENTIC WITNESS OF THOSE WHO LIVE IT; HE DISCOVERS IT IN THE SPIRITUAL TRADITION AND LONG HISTORY OF THE SAINTS WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE HIM AND WHOM THE LITURGY CELEBRATES IN THE RHYTHMS OF THE SANCTORAL CYCLE.”

- NOW WITH ALL OF THOSE QUOTES AND FACTS IN MIND, LET’S MOVE INTO ROMANS 5:1A FOR THE REST OF OUR TIME TODAY UNDER MY TITLE OF FAITH ALONE TO SEE HOW A PERSON IS JUSTIFIED FROM SCRIPTURE.

*** AND WE’LL LOOK AT JUST TWO POINTS: THE GREAT THEREFORE AND THE GREAT TRUTH. AND FIRST OF ALL WE’LL LOOK AT THE GREAT THEREFORE, LOOK AT ROMANS 5:1 PLEASE.

I. THE GREAT THEREFORE, (READ V. 1A)

A. NOW THE WORD “THEREFORE” IN THE GREEK IS A WORD THAT LIT. MEANS THEN, ACCORDINGLY, CONSEQUENTLY OR THESE THINGS BEING SO AND THIS WORD TAKES US BACK TO CHAPTER 4 OF ROMANS.

* THE WORD “THEREFORE” LOOKS BACK, IT REACHES BACK TO THE TRUTHS, THE CONTENTS OF CHAPTER 4.

** THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED NOT BY WORKS, VV. 1-5 (READ ROMANS 4:4&5).

*** THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED NOT BY RITES, VV. 9-12.

**** THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED NOT BY THE LAW, VV. 13-17.

1. THEREFORE HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED BY FAITH.

* AND THIS IS ONE OF THE 4 GREAT THEREFORES IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS, THE THEREFORE OF JUSTIFICATION.

** NOW THE FIRST GREAT THEREFORE IS FOUND IN ROMANS 3:20, THE THEREFORE OF CONDEMNATION, (READ IT).

*** AND BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW OR WORKS WE ARE LED TO THE SECOND THEREFORE, WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, ROMANS 5:1, OUR TEXT.

**** AND WHEN WE ARE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, WE ARE LED TO A THIRD GREAT THEREFORE, THE THEREFORE OF NO CONDEMNATION, ROMANS 8:1 (READ IT).

- AND WE THAT HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED CANNOT BE CONDEMNED, ROMANS 8 TEACHES THAT THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION AND NO SEPARATION FOR TRUE BELIEVERS.

2. WHICH LEADS US TO THE FOURTH GREAT THEREFORE, AND THAT IS BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE CONDEMNED WE SHOULD BE MOVED TO THE THEREFORE OF DEDICATION, ROMANS 12:1 (READ IT).

* NOW AS WE START TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE GREAT DOCTRINES OF GOD’S MERCY IN ROMANS 1-11, WE ARE MOTIVATED TO GIVE OUR LIVES AS A LIVING SACRIFICE WHICH IS OUR SPIRITUAL WORSHIP, DOCTRINE LEADS TO DUTY.

** SO THE FOUR GREAT THEREFORES IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS BUILD ON EACH OTHER. AND TODAY WE’RE LOOKING AT THE SECOND ONE IN ROMANS 5:1.

*** NOW AS WE MOVE ON FROM THIS GREAT THEREFORE, WE MOVE ON TO THE WORDS “HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED” OR “SINCE WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED” OR “BEING JUSTIFIED” DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE.

**** AND JUSTIFICATION IS PRESENTED HERE AS A PAST ACTION, ONE THAT IS UNDERTAKEN BY GOD HIMSELF.

3. PAUL IS WRITING TO CHRISTIANS, BELIEVERS AT ROME, ONES WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN JUSTIFIED.

* THEREFORE HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED. NOW THE VERB JUSTIFIED HERE LIT. MEANS TO PUT INTO A RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, TO ACQUIT AND PRIMARILY TO DECLARE AND TREAT AS RIGHTEOUS.

** JUSTIFICATION THEN ACCORDING TO JAMES MONTGOMERY BOICE IS “AN ACT OF GOD BY WHICH HE DECLARES SINNERS TO BE RIGHTEOUS BY GRACE ALONE THROUGH FAITH ALONE BECAUSE OF CHRIST ALONE.”

*** THE WORD COMES FROM THE WORLD OF THE LAW COURTS AND DESCRIBES THE ACT OF A JUDGE IN ACQUITTING AN ACCUSED PERSON.

**** LEON MORRIS SAYS THAT “JUSTIFICATION IS A LEGAL TERM INDICATING THE PROCESS OF DECLARING RIGHTEOUS.”

3. IT REFERS TO A DECLARATION MADE BY GOD. IT IS WHAT A JUDGE DOES IN COURT WHEN HE DECLARES A PERSON TO BE IN RIGHT STANDING BEFORE THE LAW.

* AND SPIRITUALLY, SINCE WE AS SINNERS HAVE NO RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR OWN AND ARE NOT INNOCENT, WE ARE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS SOLELY ON THE GROUND OF CHRIST’S ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS AND CHRIST’S RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED TO US.

** OUR SIN WAS IMPUTED TO CHRIST AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IS IMPUTED TO US.

*** JUSTIFICATION DOES NOT MEAN TO MAKE RIGHTEOUS IN THE SENSE OF ACTUALLY PRODUCING RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE ONE JUSTIFIED.

**** NOW ACTUAL RIGHTEOUS DEEDS FOLLOW AS A FRUIT, BUT RATHER THROUGH A LEGAL ACT OF GOD WE ARE DECLARED RIGHTEOUS BY GOD, AGAIN AND ARE NO LONGER UNDER THE PENALTY OR CURSE OF THE LAW.

4. AND HOW CAN THIS BE WHEN A PERSON IS STILL A SINNER? IT IS BECAUSE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST IS IMPUTED TO THOSE WHO HAVE FAITH IN CHRIST, AND IT IS ON THIS BASIS THEY ARE DECLARED JUST OR RIGHTEOUS.

* WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D AND LAST POINT TODAY THE GREAT TRUTH. LOOK BACK AT ROMANS 5:1 PLEASE.

II. THE GREAT TRUTH, (READ ROMANS 5:1A)

A. NOW HOW ARE WE JUSTIFIED? TWO WORDS “BY FAITH”.

* FAITH IS THE CHANNEL BY WHICH JUSTIFICATION ACTUALLY COMES TO US OR ACTUALLY BECOMES OURS.

** NOW FAITH IS NOT A GOOD WORK. IT IS NECESSARY AND ESSENTIAL. BUT IT IS NOT A GOOD WORK.

*** IN FACT, IT IS NOT A WORK AT ALL. IT IS GOD’S GIFT, AS PAUL MAKES CLEAR IN EPHESIANS 2:8&9 WHERE IT SAYS: (READ THEM).

**** NOW THE END OF V. 9 SAYS: “LEST ANY MAN SHOULD BOAST.”

1. AND THOSE WORDS REMIND US IT CAN BE TAKEN AS A GIVEN THAT IF ANY PART OF OUR SALVATION WAS ACTUALLY BASED UPON HUMAN WORKS OR MERIT, PEOPLE WOULD AS A RESULT BOAST, EVEN IF THEIR PART IN THE PROCESS WAS SMALL.

* THEREFORE, SALVATION MUST BE TOTALLY OF GOD, JUST AS THE SCRIPTURES TEACH.

** NOW THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT ACTIVE AS A BELIEVER, SEEKING GOD’S WILL, OBEYING GOD’S LAW, DOING GOOD WORKS, BUT THE CLEAR PROCLAMATION OF SCRIPTURE IS THAT THESE ARE ALL THE RESULTS OF THE ACTIVITY OF GOD IN MAN.

*** GOD’S ACTION IS ALWAYS PRIOR, ALWAYS FIRST, THE FIRST CAUSE, THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF FAITH AND SALVATION.

**** IN OUR DEAD STATE IN SIN WE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SAVING FAITH WITHOUT THE INTERVENTION OF THE GRACE OF GOD.

2. IN SALVATION OR CONVERSION WE TURN FROM SIN, WHICH IS REPENTANCE AND WE TURN TO JESUS WHICH IS FAITH. AND THIS IS A GOD-GIVEN GIFT THAT THE NATURAL MAN CANNOT DO WITHOUT THE GRACE OF GOD. WE ARE ENABLED TO REPENT AND BELIEVE.

* AND GETTING BACK TO OUR THEM OF FAITH ALONE, FAITH IS THE ONLY CHANNEL BY WHICH WE ARE JUSTIFIED.

** FAITH IS NOT THE BASIS OF JUSTIFICATION, THAT IS THE WORK OF CHRIST.

*** FAITH IS THE INSTRUMENT BY WHICH GOD JUSTIFIES, THE CHANNEL BY WHICH JUSTIFICATION COMES TO US OR ACTUALLY BECOMES OURS.

**** NOW QUICKLY, WHAT IS FAITH? FOR SOME EVANGELICALS FAITH IS ONLY A MENTAL ASSENT AND INTELLECTUAL BELIEF ABOUT CHRIST AND WHO HE IS, WHAT I CALL DEMON FAITH, READ JAMES 2:19.

3. NOW BIBLICAL SAVING FAITH HAS 3 ELEMENTS – KNOWLEDGE, BELIEF AND TRUST OR AS SPURGEON PUT IT, AWARENESS, ASSENT AND COMMITMENT.

* OR A D. MARTIN LLOYD-JONES SAID USING LATIN TERMS, NOTITIA, ASSENSUS AND FIDUCIA.

** NOTITIA MEANING KNOWLEDGE, FACTS, TRUTH. WE BEGIN WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH OR THE CONTENT OF THE GOSPEL BECAUSE FAITH STARTS HERE.

*** THEN ASSENSUS OR ASSENT. IT IS POURING INTO THE HEART WHAT THE MIND HAS ABSORBED, OUR EMOTIONS ARE INVOLVED, NOT JUST OUR MINDS. THERE MUST BE AGREEMENT OR ASSENT TO THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL.

**** AND THEN THE THIRD ELEMENT IS FIDUCIA OR TRUST OR COMMITMENT. IT INVOLVES NOT ONLY THE MIND AND OUR EMOTIONS, BUT OUR WILL, YIELDING OURSELVES TO CHRIST TO FOLLOW HIM. IT IS THE SUBMISSION, COMMITMENT, WILL PART OF GENUINE SAVING FAITH.

4. SO THE MIND, EMOTIONS AND WILL ARE INVOLVED IN GENUINE SAVING FAITH AS ILLUSTRATED IN PETER’S MESSAGE ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST WHERE 3000 WERE SAVED.

* ACTS 2:36&37 COMMUNICATES THIS CLEARLY: “THEREFORE LET ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL KNOW THAT GOD HAS MADE HIM BOTH LORD AND CHRIST – THIS JESUS WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED.”

V. 37 – “NOW WHEN THEY HEARD THIS, THEY WERE PIERCED TO THE HEART, AND SAID TO PETER AND THE REST OF THE APOSTLES, “BRETHREN, WHAT SHALL WE DO?”

** SO WE SEE MIND, EMOTIONS AND THE WILL INVOLVED IN GENUINE SAVING FAITH.

*** NOW BEFORE MY WRAP UP, SCRIPTURES THAT COMMUNICATE FAITH ALONE STARTING IN ROMANS.

**** ROMANS 3:21-30 ( READ ROMANS 3:28)

5. ROMANS 4:5 AND ROMANS 4:24&25 (READ ROMANS 4:5)

* ROMANS 9:30-33.

** ROMANS 10:10 – “FOR WITH THE HEART A PERSON BELIEVES, RESULTING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND WITH THE MOUTH HE CONFESSES, RESULTING IN SALVATION.”

*** ACTS 18:38&39, GALATIANS 2:16, GALATIANS 3:11-14, GALATIANS 3:24&25 (READ THEM).

**** GALATIANS 5:4&5 AND PHILIPPIANS 3:9 – “AND MAY BE FOUND IN HIM, NOT HAVING A RIGHTEOUSNESS OF MY OWN DERIVED FROM THE LAW, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH FAITH IN CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH COMES FROM GOD ON THE BASIS OF FAITH.”

- AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, EPHESIANS 2:8&9 WHICH I QUOTED EARLIER.

6. NOW THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST, BUT SOME OF THE SCRIPTURES THAT CLEARLY COMMUNICATE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.

NOW IN WRAP UP, I KNOW I HAVE COVERED A LOT OF GROUND TODAY, BUT A COUPLE OF FINAL POINTS FOR CLARIFICATION AND APPLICATION.

(1) NO. 1 UNDERSTAND WORKS FOLLOW GENUINE SAVING FAITH. THE REFORMERS WERE FOND OF SAYING, “FAITH ALONE BRINGS SALVATION, BUT THE FAITH THAT BRINGS SALVATION IS NEVER ALONE.”

* SPURGEON SAID: “ALTHOUGH WE ARE SURE THAT MEN ARE NOT SAVED FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR WORKS, YET WE ARE EQUALLY SURE THAT NO MAN WILL BE SAVED WITHOUT THEM.” (END QUOTE)

** TO SAY IT ANOTHER WAY, WE ARE NOT SAVED BY WORKS BUT FOR WORKS, READ EPHESIANS 2:10.

*** NOW JAMES 2:14-26 CONFIRMS THIS, FOR JAMES IS NOT TEACHING AGAINST JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH BUT IS COMMUNICATING THAT FAITH PROVES ITSELF BY WORKS, WORKS ARE THE EVIDENCE OF GENUINE SAVING FAITH AND IF THERE ARE NO WORKS THERE IS NO FAITH.

**** THE FRUIT OF FAITH IS WORKS. JAMES DENOUNCES FAITH WITHOUT WORKS AS DEAD AND USELESS, READ JAMES 2:26.

- JAMES TALKS ABOUT TESTS OF TRUE FAITH IN HIS EPISTLE, ALL OF WHICH ARE PRACTICAL FRUITS OF FAITH.

(2) NO. 2 IN APPLICATION, THOSE WHO DO NOT PREACH AND TEACH FAITH ALONE ARE COMMUNICATING ANOTHER GOSPEL AND HERESY AND PAUL IN GALATIANS SAYS LET THEM BE ACCURSED, DESTROYED IN ETERNAL HELL, AS CONTEXTUALLY HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE JUDAIZERS WHO WERE ADDING REQUIREMENTS AND CEREMONIES AND WORKS TO THE GOSPEL, ESSENTIALLY WORKS AND WERE DESTROYING GRACE, TURNING THE MESSAGE OF GOD’S UNDESERVED FAVOR TOWARD SINNERS INTO A MESSAGE OF EARNED AND MERITED FAVOR.

* READ GALATIANS 1:6-9.

** NOW PERVERTING THE GOSPEL IS NO SMALL MATTER. IT IS NOT A SLIGHT DISAGREEMENT, IT IS NOT A MINOR ISSUE OF DISAGREEMENT THAT WE AGREE TO DISAGREE ON.

*** IT IS A TRUTH THAT SEPARATES PEOPLE FROM HEAVEN AND HELL AND FROM THE GOSPEL AND ANOTHER GOSPEL.

**** AND IF WE NEED TO BELIEVE ANYTHING RIGHT ABOUT DOCTRINE, IT IS THE GOSPEL, AND THAT IS NOT BEING HARSH BUT PREACHING TRUTH WHICH I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT.

(3) NO. 3 AND LAST OF ALL. ARE THERE ROMAN CATHOLICS THAT ARE SAVED? MY ANSWER IS YES, IF THEY BELIEVE IN JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.

* BUT THEIR CHURCH DOES NOT TEACH THAT. AND I HAVE MET SOME CATHOLICS THAT HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, BUT THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF OTHER MINISTRIES AND OTHER INDIVIDUALS, THE GOSPEL OF GRACE HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED AND GOD HAS SOVEREIGNLY OPENED THEIR HEART.

** AND NORMALLY IN TIME THEY COME OUT OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH BECAUSE SALVATION BY GRACE ALONE, THROUGH FAITH ALONE BECAUSE OF CHRIST ALONE IS NOT TAUGHT.

*** AND ANY OTHER GOSPEL IS A FALSE GOSPEL AND A DAMNABLE HERESY.

(4) AND IF YOU ARE HERE TODAY OR WATCHING OUR BROADCAST AND ARE TRUSTING IN RELIGION OVER RELATIONSHIP, TRUSTING IN WORKS AND NOT CHRIST, I WOULD CALL YOU TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH.

* MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOUR FOR THESE THINGS ARE HARD TO HEAR, MY FATHER WAS ROMANIAN CATHOLIC. I LOVE CATHOLICS, BUT I ABHOR ANY TEACHING FROM ANYONE THAT DOESN’T COMMUNICATE FAITH ALONE.

** MY HOPE IS THAT IF YOU ARE TRUSTING IN A MAN, A CHURCH OR A RELIGION AND NOT CHRIST THAT YOU WILL CAREFULLY CONSIDER YOUR OWN RELATIONSHIP OR LACK OF RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

*** READ ROMANS 5:1 AND PRAY.