FAITH ALONE Adrian Wong

think of a thing, a problem in life,

in a subject at school that you've been stuck on

and you find it hard to understand

and no matter how hard you try, you can't get it.

So for example, it's maybe a concept in math or science.

And so it's so hard, eventually you just drop the subject

and you vow that in life you'll never have anything to do with that subject.

So throughout the last few weeks,

we've been looking at some of the bigger issues

that Luther and others were facing in the Reformation.

So today we'll look at Martin Luther, the man,

and we'll look at one of the issues

that he's been wrestling with in the Bible

and how today's passage, Romans chapter 3, verses 21 to 26,

Romans 3:21–26

help him to understand this problem.

So we'll try something a little bit different today.

So I'll ask the AV team to keep putting the Romans passage on the screen.

So while I preach, we'll work through the passage together.

So one of the other things I've been reminded of

in the last couple of weeks is

I went to Heartbeat a couple of weeks ago

and one thing that Steve reminded me

is to look at the Bible slowly.

So Romans 3 is a passage that a lot of us will know very well.

So one thing that we need to do is actually slow down,

look carefully and to make sure God is speaking to us.

So I'm going to ask God to help us to do that.

Let's pray.

Dear God, we thank you for your word.

We thank you that it is so precious.

We are sorry at times.

We assume that we know it

and we assume that what we have learned before will feed us.

So pray that even for myself as I'm preaching right now,

that we will look slowly at your word,

that we will understand it and look intensely

so that you will speak to us,

so that you will change us for your sake.

I pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So today the topic we have is faith alone.

So faith alone is actually like a shortened cash cry

for a bigger concept that we need to explore.

So the idea that we are trying to explore is

how we can be justified by faith alone.

So to understand these ideas well,

we need to go back to the story of Luther.

Because one of the concepts that Luther wrestled with

is the righteousness of God,

which is a word that's repeated many times

in the book of Romans and in this passage.

So in particular, he struggled with chapter 1,

verses 17 to 18.

So I'll read those verses to you.

Verse 17 in Romans 1 says,

The righteous shall live by faith.

And verse 18 says,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven

against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,

who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.

Luther said he hated Romans 1, verse 17

Romans 1:17

before he figured out what God's righteousness meant.

So that's what he wrote about this passage.

I had been captivated with an extraordinarily ardour

for the understanding of Paul in the epistle to the Romans.

But a single word in chapter 1, verse 17,

in which the righteousness of God is revealed,

stood in my way.

For I hated that word righteousness of God,

which I had been taught to understand

is the righteousness with which God

punishes the unrighteous sinner.

So that's what the church has taught him

about 500 years ago,

that God is the righteous judge

and we are the unrighteous sinner.

So he hated that word

because he knows how unrighteous he is.

In fact, this word weighed on him so heavily.

So before he depended fully on Jesus' salvation,

it affected many aspects of his life.

So there's another quote about what he tried to do

in light of his unrighteousness.

So that's how he saw Jesus,

a terrible judge, sitting up high.

So this problem that Luther had

isn't just his problem.

It's actually everyone's problem.

So one of the big questions we need to ask is,

how can a righteous God

pardon an unrighteous person?

So before we tackle this passage,

I'd actually like to fast forward

to the time that Luther understood

the concept of God's righteousness

and read his reaction to what he read.

So another quote,

A night and day I pondered

until I saw the connection

between the justice of God

and the statement that

the just shall live by his faith.

Then I grabbed that the justice of God

is that righteousness by which

through grace and sheer mercy,

God justifies us through faith.

Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn

and have gone through open doors

into paradise.

So we can actually see

Luther's excitement

when he finally understood

what it means

for the righteous God

to justify him.

And I hope by the end of this message

that you will feel

the same excitement that Luther felt

when he first understood the passage.

So to figure out

what this passage means,

I'll get the AB team

to pop verse 21 on the screen

of Romans chapter 3.

Romans 3 · chapter mention

So if you have a Bible,

please turn to that as well.

So in verses 21 to 22,

we notice a few different aspects

of righteousness.

So righteousness is manifested

apart from the law,

but the law and the prophets

bear witness to it.

Righteousness is given by God,

is obtained through faith

in Christ Jesus

for all who believe.

So let's look at each part

of this sentence.

The first part is that righteousness

is manifested apart from the law.

What this means is that

we cannot become righteous

by doing good things.

The law means the moral standard,

revealed by God

in the Ten Commandments,

summarized by the Ten Commandments.

So we can actually see

why our works can't make us righteous

in Romans chapter 3, verse 20.

Romans 3:20

So just before verse 21,

therefore no one will be declared

righteous in God's sight

by the works of the law.

Rather through the law,

we become conscious of sin.

So just to understand

why the law will make us

conscious of sin,

I'll give you an example

that will be close

to some people's heart,

which is at this time of year,

we can think about the tax season

for those that are working.

For those that are studying,

it's still,

we've got a few years ahead of you.

So if you think about

the tax season,

and you think about

what we try to do with tax,

is that a lot of people

try to minimize

the amount of tax we will pay.

So you see ads

from an accounting firm,

you probably see

the accountant

that was very excited

when they got

a maximum deduction.

So that's what we feel sometimes.

So we try to push

against the law

and try to get

everything that we can.

But if we realize

that God actually

has appointed governments

to rule this land,

even if they don't do it

perfectly,

they still give us

roads to drive on

and social security

and HECS

and uni

and all those things.

So we should actually

be glad to pay tax

so that the government

can do their job.

But our hearts

try to go against

what the government

has said in the law

and try to get

as much as we can.

So that's sort of

similar to what we do

when we look at God's law.

So the law

sets up the boundary

in terms of

what we can do,

but our sinful hearts

tend to try to push

against the boundary.

So if the law says

you have to drive at 60,

you'll drive at 59 and a half

or something like that.

So that's how we look

at God's law.

We try to disobey

as much as we can

within the limits.

So the law

sometimes actually reveals

how sinful our hearts are.

The second part

of the sentence

is that the law

and prophet

bear witness

to this righteousness.

I'll explain this concept

by a conversation

that I had at church

and I was very happy

to have that conversation.

There was a lady

that is seeking

to understand Jesus

and she is still

so we can pray for her.

She has been doing

some Bible studies

and she's so interested

in the Bible

she has started to read it

from the beginning.

And she asked me,

like,

I've read from Genesis

to Leviticus so far

and she thought that

the God that is revealed

in the Old Testament

is very different

from what she has heard

in the Bible study.

So she asked me,

what does it mean?

How does it work?

And I actually thought

that was an awesome opportunity

to bring up this passage

because it says

the law and prophet

testify about God's righteousness.

And in fact,

today we will look at

the different aspects

in the Old Testament

that Jesus has fulfilled.

And the Old Testament

actually points to Jesus

and we'll actually see

how that happens

in the next few verses.

And the last bit

of the phrase says

that the righteousness

is obtained

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who believes.

So if you look at

that phrase,

through faith

in Jesus Christ

for all who believes,

one of the first questions

you might ask is,

isn't Paul being a bit

redundant and repetitive?

He tells us to believe

in Jesus Christ

and then for all

who believes.

So why does he say that?

Actually,

that phrase,

faith in Jesus Christ

can be translated

as faith of Jesus Christ.

And that might actually

make better sense

of this passage.

Because the thing

that we need to believe

is the faithfulness

of Jesus Christ.

How he is completely

obedient to God

and how he is

completely obedient to death.

So we will actually work out

how Christ's faithfulness

affect us.

So that's the second question

we need to ask.

How does Jesus'

faithful obedience

to death

make us right with God?

So Paul,

in the book of Romans,

to help us understand

this concept,

he paints sort of

three mental pictures

for us.

So we will look

at verse 24.

The first word

that God,

that Paul uses

is justified.

We can see this word

in verse 24.

So when we think

of the word justified,

Paul is trying to get us

to think of

a law court

with God

as a presiding judge

giving the verdict.

So,

unfortunately,

for Luther at the time,

this concept

of justification

is sort of a bit

clouded

by the Latin Bible

that he is reading

and what he has been taught.

So, you see,

the word justified

comes from the Latin word

justificare,

which is like

justificare.

Justy is the righteous

bit,

like justice

or righteousness.

And ficare

is the word

to make.

So if you combine

the two words together,

justification means

to make righteous.

So that's what

the Roman Catholic Church

taught 500 years ago.

And unfortunately,

they still believe

that right now.

So basically,

for someone

to be righteous,

you have to be made

righteous

by the religious works

that you do.

You have to trust in Jesus

and you keep

taking sacraments

and doing all these

religious good works

to become righteous.

But when Luther

looked at the Bible

in Greek,

he realised that

justification

isn't to make righteous,

but rather for God

to declare us righteous

or to count us

as righteous.

So the difference is

if you are made

righteous,

God is trying to,

you have to be changed

to a certain moral standard

before you can be

accepted to God

by God.

But what it means here

is God

as a judge

is declaring

that you are righteous

from the outside.

It's not about

what we have been

doing inside

that matters.

It's about

God's verdict.

That's the thing

that makes us righteous.

So

we have to work out

how can

the question

still stands

so how can

like a righteous God

declare a sinful person

to be justified?

So we have to actually

look at

the second picture

that Paul is

painting here.

The second picture

is actually

a redemption.

But before we do that,

let's think about

an illustration.

justification.

So when you think

of justification,

you can think of

maybe perhaps

someone has committed

a crime.

So what Jesus has done

in justifying us

is that

he steps

into your place

as an innocent man

and actually

goes to jail

for you,

basically.

He pays for the penalty

that we deserve.

The amazing thing

about God

is that

God has not only

taken away

our sins,

God has chose

to put the obedience

of Jesus

onto us.

So the earlier reading

in Psalm,

it talks about

because of our sin,

we actually need

to cry out to God

to forgive.

So God actually

does forgive

and take away

our sins.

But more than that,

God chooses

to put

Jesus' righteousness

onto us.

So we can see

this concept

in Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

When Abraham

believed in God,

it was credited

to him

as righteousness.

So it's more

than just

forgiving our sins.

God actually

gives us

Jesus' work,

Jesus' good works

onto us.

So I want to

use this

analogy of the courthouse

a bit further

and think about

what it means.

So imagine

I was getting

sentenced

and somehow

I received a letter

in the mail.

It says that

my sentencing date

is on Australia Day.

That would be

pretty weird

to get a sentence

on a public holiday

but that's how

it goes.

And

on that day

Jesus says

I want to

actually take

your penalty.

I will stand

in your place

and appear

in front of the judge

and I will

take your punishment.

And Jesus said

actually I've

double booked myself.

On that day

I was actually

due to be

awarded the

Australian of the Year

Award for

Outstanding Community Service.

How about

you go and

take the award

in my place.

So that's

sort of

what God

does for us

in Jesus.

He has taken

the guilt.

He stood

before the judge

taking away

our guilt.

More than that

God is putting

all of Jesus'

righteous works

onto us.

So when we

appear

before God

God sees

all of Jesus'

good works

instead of

our sinful life.

So that's

the amazing

thing about

justification.

But

we have to

actually look

at the second

picture to

work out

how God

can do that.

So the second

picture that

we can see

is from the

word in

verse 24

redemption.

So redemption

Paul is trying

to get us

to think about

the picture

of a slave

market in

the first

century.

So we don't

have slave

markets nowadays

which is

quite good.

But imagine

2,000 years

ago at the

slave markets.

If you are

a slave back

in the first

century it

means that

you probably

were born

into slavery

or somehow

you incur

some economic

debt and

you have

to be

sold into

slavery.

And you

have no

means of

escaping

slavery.

Like if you

have the

money you

would obviously

buy your

freedom.

The way

that God

redeems

is like

him paying

the price

that is

required to

free a

slave so

that we

can be

free.

Another

way of

thinking of

redemption

is the

idea of

pawnbrokers.

I'm

sure most

of you

wouldn't

have heard

of what a

pawnbroker is

because we

are way

too young.

Nowadays

we are

out of

money we

just sell

something on

eBay or

something.

But 20

years ago

or maybe

in some

country towns

sorry that

was bad

but I've

actually seen

them in

country towns

so it's

nothing against

Nick or

other people

but it's

actually easy.

If you run

out of money

what you do

is take

something

precious like

a guitar

and you

take it to

the pawn

shop,

pawnbroker

and you

say I

need some

money so

you take

your guitar

to the

pawnbroker and

you get

some money

and you

want to

redeem your

guitar you

have to

make a bit

more money

than what

they gave

you and

give it

back to

them and

take your

guitar back.

So that's

how you

redeem, you

pay a

price to

take something

back.

This same

idea is

actually the

idea in

Exodus.

God

redeems

the people

for himself

by paying

a price.

So these

illustrations help

us to

understand the

idea of

redemption but

we actually

need to

understand we

are incapable

of paying the

redemption price.

So that's

why Paul

brings in a

third mental

picture.

In verse

25 it

talks about

the sacrifice

of atonement

at the start

of verse 25.

So in

other

translations it

can be

translated as

propitiation.

So these

concepts mean

God is

turning away

his

propitiation

means turning

away of

anger.

So the

picture Paul

is trying to

paint here is

a picture of

a temple.

So Jesus'

sacrifice turns

away God's

anger.

So we

have heard

Sam preach

a couple

of weeks

ago about

Christ alone

and he

went through

the passage

in Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10.

So Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

is about

Jesus'

sacrifice,

about the

sacrificial

system that's

mentioned in

Leviticus and

how Jesus as

a perfect

sacrifice he

paid for

our sins

once for

all.

So we

put all

these mental

pictures together.

We'll have

enough answers

to work out

the questions

I've been

asking through

the sermon

which is

how can a

righteous God

forgive and

pardon an

unrighteous

person?

And how

does Jesus'

death make

us right

before God?

So the

way that we

can work it

out is to

think about

the three

mental pictures

again.

So think

of the

temple.

Because Jesus

is obedient

to death

and he's

completely

sinless.

He's paid

the price

that is

demanded for

a sinner.

The perfect

righteous

death.

Think of

a slave

market.

Jesus'

death is

actually the

ransom price

that is

required to

free us

from the

bondage of

sin and

the penalty

of sin.

And think

about the

law court.

We can go

free because

Jesus, the

innocent man,

has stood in

front of the

judge so that

we can be

pardoned.

And what's

more, if

you look at

the end,

chapter 3,

verse 26,

it's actually

fair for

God to

pardon us

when Jesus

dies for

us.

Because God

has already

sent Jesus

to die for

us.

So what that

means is that

he's not

being unjust

in forgiving

us.

So a lot of

people will

ask, why

doesn't God

just forgive

us, just

say, if you

have sinned,

just forget

about it.

It's much

better just to

forget about

sin than to

actually have to

punish someone.

The reason is

that God

actually has

to punish

someone.

He has

set the

price for

sin.

Those that

sin deserve

to die.

Therefore,

Jesus needs

to actually

pay the

price for

sin.

So when

God

pardons as a

judge right

now, he's

being completely

fair.

Someone has

actually died

for our sins.

That person is

Jesus.

We have

to ask the

question, why

would God

do something

like this?

It's too

wonderful and

unimaginable.

We see the

answer in

verse 24.

So we go

back to

verse 24.

Verse 24 is

we are justified

freely by

his grace.

So we

looked at

grace alone

last week.

Grace is

God's own

initiative.

It's a gift.

We don't

deserve grace.

Grace is

something that

God does

because he

just wants

to.

So if you

think about

the concept

of grace,

even when we

give gifts,

it's actually

usually due

to a reason.

Yesterday I

went to a

birthday party

for my

daughter's

friend.

And they

give gifts

because it's

someone's

birthday.

The week

after, if you

see them at

school, I'm

sure my

daughter won't

give that

person another

present.

The reason

why we give

is because

something of

that person

is a

birthday or

because they're

your children.

We usually

give gifts

because of

a reason.

But God,

the way he

gives gifts,

he gives it

to us,

we're totally

undeserving.

So if we

put,

have you

understood this

passage,

let's return to

the topic

sentence,

which is

justification

by faith

alone.

So you

might ask

me, I've

been talking

about the

whole passage,

but I've

never mentioned

the word

faith.

So why

are you

getting me

to think

about slave

markets and

pawnbrokers and

the law

court, and

how come

we have not

talked about

faith?

The reason

why we need

to think

is that

faith needs

an object.

When we

talk about

justification by

faith alone,

it means,

another word for

faith is to

believe, to

rely, to

trust, or to

depend on

something or

someone.

depend.

You can't

say that I

trust, I'm

safe by

depend.

Who are you

depending on?

It means that

we need to be

absolutely clear

on who we

are depending

on.

The reason

why we are

justified is

not based on

how much

faith we

have, but

rather we

need to

realize

completely that

we need to

depend on

Jesus.

So what I

want to do

is to play

a theoretical

exercise,

which the

theoretical

exercise is.

What if we

try to add

to what

Jesus has

done?

What would

happen?

If we add

our religious

good works

to what

Jesus has

done, what

would happen?

So let's

think of the

three mental

pictures that

Paul has

presented in

the book of

Romans.

If we

actually try

to add the

works that

we have done

onto Jesus,

it actually

takes away

from what

God has

done.

Think of

the temple.

what God

requires is

a perfect

sacrifice.

If we

try to

add our

works on

top, we

actually spoil

it because

we are

sinful.

Not that

we can do

it, but

if we try

to do it,

we actually

make the

sacrifice

defiled.

Think of

the slave

market.

God wants

a perfect

ransom to

be paid.

If we

try to

pay the

ransom on

top, we

actually make

it an

imperfect

ransom.

Think of

the law

court.

If God

requires an

innocent

person to

stand before

him, if we

try to

stand along

with Jesus,

I'm a

guilty person.

We can't

add to it.

All these

examples are

theoretical.

We can

never put

ourselves in

Jesus'

place because

he's the

only innocent

one.

He's the

only guiltless

one.

He's the

only perfect

sacrifice that

God will

accept.

This is the

reason why we

need to depend

on Jesus

completely.

The more

that we

realise how

wonderful Jesus'

death is, and

the more that

we realise how

undeserving we

are, the

more that we

realise that we

need to depend

on Jesus

completely.

So what

does it mean

for all of

us?

So if

you've

understood this

passage for

the first

time, just

like Luther

did 500

years ago,

you can

actually see

the excitement

that Luther

had.

And I

will be

excited if

you understood

this passage for

the first time

as well.

So you

can chat

to one

of us

after the

service,

or if

you want

to, you

can fill

in the

communication

card to

tell us

how you've

understood

Jesus'

righteousness

for you,

and we

would love

to hear

about it.

So also

the other

thing that

Sam's

already

mentioned

is the

piece of

paper on

your seat,

which is

the Investigating

Christianity

course.

I would

love for

you to

invite your

friends and

indeed your

enemies to

it, because

everyone needs

to hear the

gospel.

And in

fact, if

you look at

the outline,

the fourth

study is

how to be

right with

God.

And it

will actually

study this

passage.

The reason

why we need

to invite our

friends is

that we are

desperate for

the world to

know Jesus

and encounter

Jesus.

So I

really hope

that you can

pray through

this week

who we can

invite to

this course.

And the

other thing

is if you

missed out on

the training

course I ran

last week on

how to

lead this,

and if you

are keen to

learn how to

use these

set of Bible

studies to

help your

friends understand

Jesus, I'd

love to work

alongside you and

train you in

this, so you

can come along

as well, and

hopefully we can

do this on the

job.

We'll learn to

do this together,

and we'll do

this over the

next five weeks.

And lastly,

even if you've

heard this

passage many,

many times,

I hope that

the truth about

Jesus here will

help you grow

in wonder,

awe, and

trust in Jesus

and worship

Jesus, so that

we can know and

treasure Jesus by

completely relying on

what Jesus has

done on the cross

for us.