Justification By Faith Alone (Part I)

Introduction: Gen. 15:6

My grandfather worked in a blacksmith shop when he was a boy, and he used to tell me how he had toughened himself up so he could stand the rigors of blacksmithing.
One story was how he had developed his arm and shoulder muscles. He said he would stand outside behind the house and, with a 5 pound potato sack in each hand, extend his arms straight out to his sides and hold them there as long as he could.
After awhile he tried 10 pound potato sacks, then 50 pound potato sacks and finally he got to where he could lift a 100 pound potato sack in each hand and hold his arms straight out for more than a full minute!

Next, he started putting potatoes in the sacks.

Today we are continuing our study of the book of Genesis.  Many say they have read the Bible, but never studied it.  That’s like lifting potato sacks w/o potatoes, some good, but …

This is Part I to introduce a very serious subject, one of which Martin Luther said:

"In short, if this article concerning Christ — the doctrine that we are justified and saved through Him alone and consider all apart from Him damned — is not professed, all resistance and restraint are at an end. Then there is, in fact, neither measure nor limit to any heresy and error."

"Of this article [justification] nothing may be yielded or conceded, though heaven and earth and whatever will not abide, fall to ruin; for 'there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved,' says St. Peter (Acts 4:12); 'and with His stripes we are healed' (Is. 53:5). And on this article all that we teach and practice is based, against the pope, the devil, and the world. That is why we must be very certain of this doctrine and not doubt; otherwise all is lost, and the pope and the devil and all things gain the victory over us and are adjudged right."

 "If the article of justification is lost, all Christian doctrine is lost at the same time.

What Luther Says, by Edwald M. Plass, Vol.2, pp.702-704, 715-718.  

I. Definition of Doctrine Rom. 4:1-5.

            Abram, Paul, all of us are the ungodly that need to be justified by God.

Justification is an instantaneous legal act of God in which he (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in his sight.

Wayne Grudem Systematic Theology p. 723

Justification is a judicial act of God, in which He declares, on th basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner. L. Berkhof Systematic Theology p. 513

II. Who Is This Doctrine For? Rom. 5:6-8; 1a.

A. Two Kinds of Sinners – I have met.

1)               The under-confident - * Man I know – There will always be some that will never “feel” saved.  They have such a morbid preoccupation with their own vileness; they refuse the grace of God.

2)               The over-confident - *Publican – There are others that are way too proud of their abilities to do what religion demands; they feel they deserve all the blessing of God.

B. What Will Help Them?

At Sea World, our grandson absolutely refused to see the show featuring Shamu the killer whale, but he wouldn't tell us why. No amount of discussion could get him to change his mind.
Later, when we got home, we discovered the reason for his reluctance. An aunt had told him how exciting the show would be because "They choose children from the audience to feed Shamu."

What people hear, and what is the truth, sometimes is two different things.

1)               They need a right concept of their own depravity. Rom. 3:9, 19;

I Cor. 2:14

My mom has a pet Yorkie, “Buster”.  She loves him more than a dog deserves to be loved.  When he gets a bath, he looks like a drowned rat.  What do we look like to God?  We think all sinners are looked at by God w/the affection my mom has for Buster, but the truth?  Because we are sinners, we look more like a rat to Him!

Remember the movie “Star Wars”?  In one of the sequels there was a big fat alien that had captured Princess Leah.  We, as sinners, think we look like Princess Leah to God, but in reality we, in our rebellion, are as gross as that giant frog eating alien!

2)               They need the gospel message told in truth. Rom. 4:23-25; Acts 13:38-39.  If we understand Justification as all-inclusive and everlasting, we will have a grasp on how great this grace of God is.  God grants me saving faith, forgives my sin, declares me eternally “not guilty”, and then imputes Christ’s righteousness to me.

The wonder of it all, is although I was a drowned rat, a fat alien, in Christ God calls me beautiful and lovely and precious, not because I now obey Him, but because of imputed righteousness!  Because of Justification….

III. Problems Today

*One of the problems missionaries face in certain countries like India; a person will gladly “accept Christ”, because they feel it is good to get all the help you can.  By their accepting Christ, all they are doing is adding Christ to their other gods.  But Jesus demands exclusivity, and that is an offense.

*But the problem isn’t just in other countries, people will ask me about friend or relative, “They received Christ; they’re on their way to heaven, right?”

We don’t want to make the way to God so difficult that we put on others a yoke that neither we nor our fathers could bear, but we can’t be ignorant of the truth either.

Salvation is a gift of God, something He grants, not something we as created beings can casually take or not take if we so choose.

Conclusion:

I read Luther, Owen, Packer, Spurgeon; the giants of the faith, I think I understand and agree.  Yet, would I also be persuaded by a Roman Catholic apologetist? 

Is it logic or is it the scriptures that persuade us?

What did the Reformers know, what battles did they fight that we have not yet had to?

The word, “Help”, comes to mind to explain some of the difficulty they faced.

The Roman Catholic, any works religion really, will agree with the impartation of Christ’s righteousness but they insist it exists to “help” us do the good works necessary to obtain the salvation God has waiting for those who faithfully obey all the requirements.

They come to this because of following a translation and the Church fathers rather than the Bible.  The Latin word for justify can be interpreted to support their position; “Christ helps us to be righteous so we can do righteous deeds”.

But the Greek word which Paul uses is more forceful, it is forensic, legal, once for all.  It stands alone. 

The question, “Am I going to heaven?” is settled, not by something I have done, be it ever so godly, but by something done to me.

At the moment God granted faith to believe the gospel, I believed.

At that moment, as John Bunyan said, “There was a divine exchange”.

Adam’s guilt and my own were placed on the cross.

Christ’s righteousness was place (imputed) in me.

I was forever declared to be “not guilty”.

(Sanctification, walking out this righteousness, is another doctrinal study.)

Justification, as Luther and the Reformers were quick to see, is a once for all, done deal.

We do good works now out of a well-spring of hope; not in order to obtain salvation, but because - For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5:21

Next week, Lord willing, we will continue this topic.

Back to Sermon Archives