The Five Solas (2017): Sola Fide

Please take out your copy of God's Word, which I pray is with you.

It's well read and treasured in your hearts.

And turn to the book of Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

On the 31st of this month, we will celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 theses being nailed to the door of the Wittenberg Church.

An event which ignited a flame of doctrinal purification in Europe.

Much of the Reformers' teaching has been summed up systematically in what are known as the Solas, which we are considering one at a time leading up to the Sunday before the 31st.

So far we have considered a Sola Scriptura, and that is that God's Scripture, the Bible, the 66 books that we have canonized in our Protestant Bible,

are the final authority of God on earth.

We considered last week, Sola Gratia, by grace alone.

Salvation is a gift of God.

Today we're going to consider Sola Fide, or faith alone.

That is to say that we are justified through faith alone.

And in the coming two weeks, Solus Christus, in Christ alone, or justified by faith alone, in Christ alone.

And finally, Soli Deo Gloria.

That is, all is to the glory of God alone.

Now the Reformers were speaking to audiences that considered themselves Christian.

It was a very Christianized culture.

There was not opposition in Luther's day to Scripture, or grace, or faith, or Christ, or the glory of God.

But there was much addition and subtraction from these key doctrines.

And that is why the Reformers loved the word alone or only.

And we find in our day much error as well.

And it's why we should also look to the past and to our Bibles to see that the Bible alone is authority of God.

Final authority.

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

And this is all to the glory of God alone.

So as we consider today, Sola Fide, faith alone, let's look at Galatians 3, verses 10-14.

Galatians 3:10–14

Before I read, I remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.

It was written for His glory and for our good.

And we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Let's begin in verse 10 and following.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.

For it is written,

Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law,

for the righteous shall live by faith.

But the law is not of faith.

Rather, the one who does them shall live by them.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For it is written,

Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.

So that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles,

so that we might receive the promised spirit through faith.

The producer of a podcast called The White Horse Inn,

which I would commend to you,

recently conducted a survey at a conference for evangelical pastors

where he asked the following questions.

Number one,

are we justified by faith alone,

by faith and works,

or by works alone?

And,

in your view,

is justification a one-time declaration,

or a lifelong process?

Now these two questions are pursuing the same point,

and it is a point that is extremely vital

to a proper understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ.

So I know I've tipped you off a little already,

but take a moment and consider how you would answer these two questions.

Somebody comes up to you on the street with a microphone,

and says,

are we justified by faith alone,

by faith and works,

or by works alone?

And,

in your view,

is justification a one-time declaration,

or a lifelong process?

The majority response of the pastors at this particular conference were,

we are justified by faith and works,

and justification is a lifelong process.

If you answer these questions in the same way,

you are dreadfully wrong.

This is likely not entirely your fault.

You may have grown up in a church

that one of these men pastored,

that never addressed the matter,

or,

if they did,

they did so poorly.

But,

beloved,

a proper understanding of justification

is at the very heart of the gospel.

And at the end of all things,

you will not be able to plead before God

that your Bible went unread

because of the church you grew up in.

You see,

if we fail to understand justification

through faith alone,

we fail to understand the gospel.

In fact,

any misunderstanding of justification

is antithetical to the gospel

and is very egregious.

That is to say,

it's the opposite of the gospel.

I fear that in our day,

there is more misunderstanding

of how a person is saved

than there was in the medieval Europe

of Luther's day.

So let's be sure today

that we all have a clear understanding

of justification through faith alone

so that,

number one,

we can be saved.

You may find yourself here this morning

believing that you're in Christ

because you have not understood

justification by faith alone.

You may think that you can be justified

by your works.

That you even being here

is gaining you some favor with God

so that we can be saved.

Secondly,

if we are,

in fact,

saved,

that we can have assurance

of our salvation.

How is it that we can know

that we belong to God,

that we are justified

before Him?

And thirdly,

so that we can help others

come to faith

and have assurance.

If I am correct,

and I believe that I am,

about how much our culture

is erring on this,

then we need to be ambassadors

for Christ.

We need to preach the true gospel

and help people understand

how it is they can be saved

and how it is they can be confident

that they are saved.

So let's do so by asking

and answering four questions.

I'm not going to alliterate today

to make John MacArthur proud.

I'm going to ask questions

to make Clay Namor proud.

Those questions are going to be as follows.

Number one,

what does it mean to be justified?

I'm going to use that word a lot today.

What does it mean

to be justified?

Secondly,

why do we need to be justified

through faith?

Thirdly,

how are we justified?

Through faith?

And fourthly,

what is the relationship

between faith

and works?

So number one,

what does it mean

to be

justified?

At Christ Family Church,

we don't use

large words

because we want to

appear smart.

We try to use

Bible words

because if you're going to be

faithful to the Scripture,

you're going to come across

these words.

Some of you,

I know,

might be going,

justified,

that seems like a kind of

churchy word.

Yeah,

it is.

Because we're a people

of the Word.

So you've got to know

what these things mean

when you come across them

in the Scripture.

So we don't want to

do away with

big words,

but we want to press you

to understand

big words.

What a novel idea

to give you an education.

What a crazy thing.

So,

justification

is a

one-time

declaration

that we are

righteous

before God.

The doctrine

of justification

includes

both the idea

that our guilt

has been

expunged,

it's been done

away with,

and that we have

been granted

perfection.

So,

the negative

debt that we had

has been brought

up to zero,

and we've been given,

we've been credited

to our account,

perfection,

the righteousness

that is Christ's.

The occasion

for Paul's writing

of this letter

to the church

of Galatia

was men

who had come

teaching

what Paul calls

a different

and contrary

gospel,

right?

An antithetical

gospel.

Look at Galatians

Galatians 1:6

chapter 1

verse 6

and following.

Paul writes,

I am astonished

that you are so

quickly deserting

him,

this is Christ,

who called you,

excuse me,

it's the spirit,

who called you

in the grace

of Christ

and are turning

to a different

gospel.

Not that there

is another one,

he's saying that

there isn't good

news found anywhere

else,

not that there

is another one,

but there are

some who trouble

you and want

to distort

the gospel

of Christ.

He then has

some very strong

words for anyone

who would preach

such a gospel

beginning in verse

8.

But even if we

or an angel

from heaven

should preach

to you a gospel

contrary to the

one we preach

to you,

let him be

accursed.

As we have said

before,

so now I say

again,

if anyone is

preaching to you

a gospel contrary

to the one you

have received,

let him be

accursed.

These men

who would come

into the church

of Galatia

who are often

called Judaizers

were teaching

faith in Jesus

plus circumcision.

Faith in Jesus

plus the observation

of certain feasts

and this equals

justification.

This was the equation

that they were teaching.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

Right?

Faith is good

but also

must add on to

faith

works.

And Paul

cries out

in his letter

to the Galatian

church,

no,

by faith alone

is one

justified

before God.

So this is

what justification

is.

A one-time

declaration

that we are

righteous

before God.

Secondly,

why do we need

to be justified

through faith?

Back in our text,

chapter 3,

verse 10

and following.

For all who rely

on works of the law

are under

a curse.

We are

cursed

and we are

incapable

of earning

our justification.

Right?

this is the purpose

of the law

to bring us

to Christ.

To show us

how incapable

we are

of pleasing

God

apart

from Christ.

As previously stated,

we are justified

through faith

alone.

No one is justified

by their works.

Paul is abundantly

clear about this

in Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

Turn with me,

if you will,

please,

to Romans 3.

beginning

in verse 10,

Paul cites

ancient words.

He appeals

to the authority

of Scripture

to make his case

in Romans 3.

As it is written,

none is righteous.

No,

not one.

No one understands.

No one seeks

for God.

All have turned aside.

Together they have

become worthless.

No one does good.

Not even one.

Their throat

is an empty grave.

They use their tongues

to deceive.

The venom of asps

is under their lips.

Their mouth

is full of curses

and bitterness.

Their feet

are swift

to shed blood.

And their paths

are ruin

and misery.

And the way

of peace

they have not known.

There is no

fear of God

before their eyes.

This is not

the beginning

of the gospel

preached

in most churches

today.

Apart from Christ,

you have become

worthless.

In Christ,

you have

great worth.

But apart from Him,

you are as dross

to be thrown away

of no value

whatsoever

in the kingdom

of God.

Flee

to Christ.

This is what

the law

is doing for us.

It's showing us

our great

need.

I've heard

visitors of

our church

go away

and complain

that don't make

them feel good

about themselves

when they come here.

It's not my job

to make you feel

good about yourself.

It's my job

to make much

of Christ.

God is aimed

at this

very purpose.

Paul is aimed

at this

very purpose.

Flee to Christ.

We have no

righteousness of our own.

We need the

righteousness

of Christ.

And Paul's not

alone in this.

Remember verse 10,

he says,

as it is

written.

Psalm 14,

1-3.

Psalm 53,

1-3.

Psalm 5,

9.

Psalm 143.

Psalm 10,

7.

Proverbs 1,

16.

Chapter 3,

verse 15-17.

Isaiah 59,

7-8.

And Psalm 36,

1.

The text I just

read to you,

those are the places,

those are all of the

references for the

places.

The scripture speaks

loudly to this point.

We are under the

curse of Adam.

We have his

sin apart

from Christ.

So,

we cannot

earn

our way

to heaven.

It is

a grand

impossibility.

Paul has been

pressing this

same point

in his letter

to the Galatians.

You can go back

to Galatians

Galatians 2:16

chapter 2,

verse 16.

We know

that a person

is not justified

by works

of the law,

but through faith

in Jesus Christ.

So,

we also have

believed in

Christ Jesus

in order to be

justified by faith

in Christ

and not by works

of the law.

Because by works

of the law,

no one

will be

justified.

This is the

very beginning.

This is the

bad news

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

No one will be

justified before God

by their own

working.

And in many

churches today,

this doctrine,

justification by faith

alone,

has been disregarded

altogether.

Many churches

today,

even this morning,

I say with a

great deal

of grief,

are preaching

a soft

prosperity gospel

that says,

do good

so that you'll

feel good

and you'll

get good.

Beloved,

this is not

the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

Once a person

realizes their

need of

justification,

they recognize

they cannot

stand rightly

before the

creator of

heaven and

earth.

They need

to be

justified.

There is no

greater question

for that person

to ask

than,

how must

I be

justified?

How is it

then?

If I can't

do it,

how is it

then that

I can be

justified?

This was the

great question

of the

Reformation.

This was the

splinter in

Martin Luther's

mind.

This is what

drove him to

become a monk.

He thought,

certainly if

there's any

place that

righteousness

can be

found,

it's in

the good

work of

the

monkery,

which is

the proper

word.

But he

did not

find it

there.

Rather,

he found

it in

the scripture

as he

was preparing,

he was

translating,

preparing to

lecture from

Romans chapter

one.

The righteous

shall live

by faith.

It is of

highest importance

this morning

that you see

your need

of justification

by faith

alone.

Now,

what is

faith?

Faith is

not merely

a mental

ascension.

Faith is

not merely

going,

yeah,

yeah,

Jesus.

But it

is belief

or I

prefer

trust.

But this

trust can

not just be

placed anywhere

that you would

like to place

your trust.

You cannot

simply have

faith in

anything,

but you

must place

your trust

in the

person and

work of

Jesus Christ.

So we are

justified

through faith

alone in

Christ

alone.

And that

brings us to

our third

question,

which I just

kind of

answered.

but how

are we

justified

through

faith?

Verse 13,

Galatians

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

Christ

redeemed us

from the

curse of the

law by

becoming a

curse for

us.

So saving

faith,

trust that

Jesus

is the

Christ.

It's a title

given to

him,

the promised

redeemer of

the Old

Testament.

God a

promise to

sin,

and that

he is

the son

of God.

Christ

redeemed us.

Christ

paid the

ransom to

deliver us

from the

captivity of

our sin.

John writes

in 1 John

5,

1,

everyone who

believes that

Jesus is

the Christ

has been

born of

God.

So saving

faith,

trust in

the person

of Christ,

who he

in fact

is,

who he

said he

is,

and saving

faith,

trust in

the work

of Jesus

Christ.

So in

verses 13

to 14,

we have

these two

phrases,

Christ

redeemed us

from the

curse of

the law

by becoming

a curse

for us.

As it is

written,

cursed is

everyone who

hangs on

a tree.

So Jesus

takes our

place on

the cross

of Calvary.

And the

second phrase,

so that

we might

receive the

promised

spirit

through faith.

I see in

these two

phrases both

sides of

justification.

Recall that

our previously

defined

justification

as follows.

Justification

is a

one-time

declaration

that we

are righteous

before God.

And then I

went on to

say the

doctrine

includes

both the

idea that

our guilt

has been

expunged

and we

have been

granted

perfection.

So first

we see that

our sins

have been

forgiven

because

Christ

became

a curse

for us.

Beloved,

you see,

because God

is just,

He cannot

merely dismiss

crimes

against Him.

He doesn't

simply overlook

the offense

because it

would be

against His

character.

He cannot.

He must

punish

crime

against Him.

And if you

have placed

your faith

in Jesus

Christ,

then your

sins were

punished

in Christ.

This is

often called

Jesus'

passive

obedience.

He died

in your

stead.

He was

sacrificed

as your

substitute.

This is

called

substitutionary,

atonement.

This is a

good

reformation

phrase.

Christ

died.

He atoned

for us

in our

place.

Only

God

Himself

could bear

the wrath

of God.

Eternal

punishment

poured out

in those

moments on

the cross

in Christ.

Your sins

were imputed,

were given

to Christ

as He

suffered

on the

cross.

And secondly,

that we have

been granted

His righteousness

because we

have received

the promised

Spirit

through faith.

In verse

11,

Paul cites

Habakkuk 2.4,

the righteous

shall live

by faith.

In Romans

8.4,

and then in

verse 9,

Paul wrote,

In order

that the

righteous

requirement of

the law

might be

fulfilled in

us,

who walk

not according

to the

flesh,

but according

to the

Spirit.

And then in

verse 9,

You,

however,

are not in

the flesh,

but in

the Spirit,

if in fact

the Spirit

of God

dwells in

you.

If anyone

does not

have the

Spirit of

Christ,

he does

not belong

to Him.

You can tell

my notes

got goofy

there for

a second.

So that

we can

receive the

promise of

the Spirit

through

faith.

I believe

that Paul

here is

given that

other

expression

of it.

Because we

are found

righteous

in Christ

by the

power

of the

Spirit.

God

requires

perfection.

And through

faith,

we are

made

perfect

in

Christ.

He

perfectly

kept

God's

law.

This is

often referred

to as

His

active

obedience.

And His

righteousness

is imputed,

it's given

to us.

Martin Luther

called this

the great

exchange.

We can

find in

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:21

chapter 5

verse 21

a beautiful

summary of

Christ's

work in

our

justification.

Paul

wrote,

For our

sake,

God

made

Jesus

to be

sin

who

knew

no

sin

so

that

in

Him

we

might

become

the

righteousness

of God.

This

double

imputation

is what

justifies

us

through

faith.

It

cannot be

achieved

by works

but only

through

faith in

Jesus

Christ's

person

and

work.

Faith

is the

instrument

of our

justification

but our

justification

is still

all of

grace.

We are

justified

by grace

through

faith

in

Christ.

That is

why we

do not

say we

are justified

because

of faith

but rather

through it.

Here

a reformer

spoke of

faith like

an open

hand.

A hand

that receives

the merit

of Christ.

It's not

the work

of faith

that makes

us justified.

It's that

we believe

in the

merit of

Jesus Christ.

This open

hand

grasps

hold of

Him

and what

He did

bearing

our sin

and granting

us

His

righteousness.

And that's

why we

often link

the solos

together

as we

speak of

them.

Justified

by grace

alone

through

faith

alone

in

Christ

alone.

In

this way

saving

faith

is a

resting

faith.

It

rests

in

Christ's

work

on our

behalf.

This is

one way

you have

assurance

before God

because

Christ

accomplished

it.

In the

beloved

accepted

and free.

We're

accepted

in

Christ.

Jesus

tells a

parable

in

Luke

Luke 18 · chapter mention

chapter

18

beginning

in

verse

9.

Luke

records

Jesus

also

told

this

parable

to

some

who

trusted

in

themselves

that

they

were

righteous.

They

thought

they

could

work

their

way

into

favor

!

and

treated

others

with

contempt.

Two

men

went up

into

the

temple

to

pray.

One

a

Pharisee

and

the

other

a

tax

collector.

The

Pharisee

standing

by

himself

prayed

thus,

God

I

thank

you

that

I

am

not

like

other

men

extortioners

unjust

adulterers

or even

like

this

tax

collector.

I

fast

twice

a

week.

I

give

tithes

of

all

that

I

get.

There's

things

I

don't

do

and

there's

things

that

I

do.

I

thank

you

that

I

am

so

pleasing

to

you.

Verse

13

But

the

tax

collector

standing

far

off

would

not

even

lift

up

his

eyes

to

heaven

but

beat

his

breast

saying

God

be

merciful

to

me

a

sinner.

And

then

Jesus

says

verse

14

I

tell

you

this

man

went

down

to

his

house

justified

rather

than

the

other

for

everyone

who

exalts

himself

will

be

humbled

but

the

one

who

humbles

himself

will

be

exalted.

The

one

who

comes

humbly

I

have

nothing

to

offer

for

my

justification

except

the

completed

work

of

Christ.

So

this

is

how

it

is

that

we

are

justified

through

faith.

And

fourthly

and

lastly

!

What

is

the

relationship

between

faith

and

works?

What

of

all

the

commands

of

scripture?

What

of

the

moral

law?

We

mentioned

that

this

morning

with

the

kids.

Exodus

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

chapter

20

the

Ten

Commandments.

Can

a

Christian

now

just

live

in

any

way

that

they

please?

Paul

of

course

denounces

this

type

of

thinking

in

Romans

Romans 6:1

chapter

6

verses

1

and

2.

What

shall

we

say

then?

We

just

talked

about

justification

through

faith

alone.

What

shall

we

say

then?

Are

we

to

continue

in

sin

that

grace

may

abound?

And

in

verse

2

he

uses

the

strongest

Greek

expletive

which I

cannot

translate

into

English

for you

and

our

English

translators

have

rendered

it

by

no

means

by

no

means

you

can

insert

what

you

think

he

may

have

said

there

how

can

he

we

who

die

to

sin

still

live

in

it

by

no

means

we

are

not

justified

by

works

we

are

justified

by

faith

alone

but

yet

we

work

so

what

is

that

relationship

good

works

are

the

evidence

of

our

faith

and

beloved

we

must

get

this

equation

right

and

we

must

help

others

see

it

not

Jesus

plus

circumcision

and the

observation

of

certain

feasts

equals

justification

or

Jesus

plus

attending

church

or sharing

the gospel

or going

on mission

trips

or dressing

modestly

or avoiding

course

joking

or

serving

the poor

all wonderful

things

but not

Jesus

plus

those

things

equals

justification

but

rather

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

equals

justification

which

yields

good

works

faith

alone

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

equals

justification

which

yields

good

works

the

good

works

become

the

evidencing

of

the

faith

that

we

have

so

we're

accepted

therefore

we

work

not

we

work

in

order

to

be

accepted

having

been

accepted

out

of

grateful

response

the

spirit

of

God

abiding

in

us

changing

who

we

are

from

the

inside

we

begin

to

work

that

out

outside

so

we

pick

up

and we

obey

the

commands

of

God

right

we

grow

in

this

this

is

the

process

called

sanctification

right

sanctification

is a

lifelong

process

justification

is a

one

time

declaration

it

grieved

me

at a

small

local

baptist

school

that I

used to

work at

to see

the

testimonies

of students

coming in

all of the

applications

of the

school

had

testimonies

on it

how the

the

I could

sum up

for you

the

common

testimony

for young

people

coming to

this

small

baptist

college

were

something

like

this

I

grew

up

in a

Christian

home

I

attended

church

all my

life

at

summer

camp

I

responded

to an

invitation

and now

I go on

mission

trips

and I

serve

in the

church

and I

hope

with every

one of

them that

I read

I hoped

that that

little

response

was saving

but they

seem to

bank so

much

in their

pedigree

and in

their

activity

this is

how I

know

because I'm

working

look at

me

working

rather

than

praising

in their

testimony

the work

of Christ

on their

behalf

and beloved

you are not

the hero

of your

testimony

Jesus

Christ

is

and a

testimony

that's

not

just

covered

in his

blood

may not

be a

testimony

of saving

faith

now

Martin

Luther

notoriously

called

the book

of James

an epistle

of straw

and wished

it had been

excluded

from the

canon

because of

its apparent

contradiction

of the

doctrine of

justification

by faith

alone

all of

these men

had errors

at some

point

he offered

to award

anyone

who could

reconcile

James

and Paul

I wonder

what the

award would

have been

for that

I believe

this was

largely

a reaction

to Rome's

improper

use of

the book

of James

they love

to flee

to James

to make

the case

for

justification

by

works

and it's

because of

the following

text

I'm going to

invite you

to turn

with me

to James

James 2 · chapter mention