Romans 3:21-26 + Hebrews 11:1-2, 32-40
Sola Fide, Faith Alone. How does faith work for how you live? Have you ever wondered how are we are declared right with God by God by faith alone? Martin Luther’s understanding ‘justification by faith alone’ was the spiritual turning point of his life. Luther was born 1483 in Germany
and was training to be a lawyer until one day he was caught in a bad thunderstorm. He was nearly struck by lightning and thrown to the ground he vowed he would become a monk. In 1512 Luther began teaching as a Bible Professor at the University of Wittenberg in Germany where he also became the priest for the Wittenberg Church. These Wiitenberg years were also for him his greatest spiritual turmoil he knew that it was important to be friends with God. Luther thought he could make that happen by doing good things himself. Luther had tried all manner of ways to justify himself to find peace with God. He tried sleeping on hard floors, and fasting. He tried crawling up a staircase while praying. The monastic life was harsh a daily routine of self-denial and confession and masses and absolution, good works. Luther had tried it all; for Luther none of it brought to him the peace with God he thirsted for. The breakthrough came when Luther was meditating on Romans 1:17
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Luther finally understood he could not make himself righteous that God had to do that through Jesus death. What Luther learnt was faith is totally all about God, and how God has graciously imputed his grace to us. This is how God has accredited us sinners with Jesus perfect righteousness, by faith alone; not by trying to win God’s favour by working hard, or trying hard or trying to be better people. Faith alone is about right standing before God is received by ‘Faith Alone”which is how God brings about saving sinners. Luther saw that the doctrine of grace alone, through faith alone because of Christ alone was the heart of the gospel and became for him ‘an open door into paradise…a gate to heaven. Luther soon realised that the Church of his time wasn’t teaching that one of these things the church of the time was doing to grant faith was by selling indulgences. These indulgences could be bought by someone so they wouldn’t be punished by God for some of their sins where you could even buy indulgences for people who were dead. Luther knew the indulgences were wrong that they didn’t work. On 31stOctober 1517 (500 years ago), which happened to be All Hallows Eve Day (Halloween), Luther nailed up his 95 theses on the door of the castle of Wittenberg. This was an act that changed the world forever. One of Luther’s lasting legacies was that he brought the world back to the message that sinners are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Luther also translated the Bible into German so that his countrymen could read the Bible for themselves. Luther used the printing presses to get Bibles and publications into people’s hands to get them thinking about their relationship with God themselves as we don’t see that as a radical idea at all these days but back then that was radical as it came for the Roman Catholic Church of Luther’s day the church controlled what the Bible said. The question is how does faith alone impact on how I live? Firstly it means works plays no part in our justification, as the problem of sin is that it infects us absolutely, so that even when I want to do the right thing or the best thing I know that my sin is always present so that even my best efforts are tainted by sin so I cannot in anyway contribute to my own salvation. Each one of us are totally reliant upon God to save us to provide a way for us to be right with him as Ephesians 2:8-9 says
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
In these verses the grace we receive is through faith as opposed to works. Also in Romans 3 Paul writes that no one is declared righteous by God by observing the law Romans 3:20
20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
As Paul then goes on to say
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
Faith alone in Christ Jesus is how we are saved as there are no set of rules or laws that we can follow to get it, and there are no secret words or formulas we say to receive it. Faith alone through God’s grace alone by Jesus alone, is the only way that we are saved. Let us now look a little closer at what Paul’s saying here in Romans 3. Paul says that faith in Jesus is what results in righteousness. This righteousness is thoroughly opposed to law-keeping as the way of winning God’s favour; and now that’s part of our struggle as well as we’ve grown up with the notion that there’s no such things as something for nothing. In a Christian sense we really want to be able to contribute something to our salvation we really want to be able to point out to some small thing to say that this is what we brought with us to God and now we’re saved. Faith is really then about us throwing ourselves upon the grace of God. That is faith is a response to God’s grace as Paul says in Romans 4:16
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
Horatius Bonar once said “Faith is not work, nor merit, nor effort, but the cessation from all these, and the acceptance in place of them of what another has done – done completely and forever.” The Bible is clear in its emphasis faith is not a work, as faith itself is an initiative of God. Just as Jesus made it plain in the parable he told one day in Luke 19:9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: `God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, `God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
This Pharisee was confident in his standing before God based upon his own righteousness and his own works. The tax collector knew that he could never be righteous enough to be accepted by God, as he knew his only hope was in God’s mercy, he stood by faith alone. As Jesus concluded that parable saying it was the tax collector who went home justified before God. It by faith alone which is God’s way to justify us. The truth about God and salvation can be found in the Bible Alone, the way of salvation by Jesus Alone, the mode of salvation by Grace Alone, the means of salvation by Faith Alone, all of this for God’s glory alone
Let’s pray
David Hassan @Tamworth Community Presbyterian Church 27/5/18