Faith Alone: Necessary & Enough For Salvation

Introduction: 

    When I was a little boy, I made it my aim to be the worst behaved child in Sunday School. I knew I could never be good enough to get a prize from the toy chest. I saw though that this did not go well for me. I decided to change my approach by trying to be perfect in my obedience of the ten commandments. I became miserable. Then I heard the Gospel, the "good news" that Jesus Christ lived the perfect life that I knew I could not lived and died on the cross to absorb the judgment of God on behalf of my recklessness. Christ alone was "perfectly righteous" or "just" in his humanity to provide the perfect righteousness a sinner like myself needed to ever have relationship and fellowship with an infinitely holy God. Amazingly, Jesus Christ is also, by nature, this very same God, who being infinitely just, is the source of the perfect righteousness without end, as well as reconciling in Himself all those who come to and and through Him in saving faith. Paul summarizes this truth of what we call "justification by faith alone" in Galatians 3:23-24 "But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith." 

    We have noted in recent posts that October 31st is Reformation Day. We’ve looked at Christ alone – salvation’s Savior. Also, grace alone – salvation’s work. Today, we shall explore "faith alone" (sola fide), salvation’s reception. 

What is meant by "justification by faith alone"?

    John Owen’s work, “Justification by Faith”, defines Biblical “justification”: “So by justification, a man is only esteemed, declared, and pronounced righteous, as if he were completely so.” 

    The righteousness or “rightness with God” which is declared by God about the believing sinner is the accrediting of Christ’s righteousness to the sinner. The means through which God’s judicial declaration of the sinner as being as righteous as Christ is faith, apart from works. Romans 3:28 "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law."

How is it that a sinner is regarded good enough to be in relationship with God (i.e. righteous)? Must they do enough good works to be actually righteous? Or is this state of “being in the right” with God received by faith apart from good works? This was the issue that occupied the minds of many in the 16th century and is at the core of what the Bible terms: “justification”. 

    When we turn to the account of the woman who hemmoraged for twelve years in Mark 5:25-34, we observe a situation in which a poor, miserable soul was in desperate need. She had nothing left. The woman in this account had "spent all she had". Her one desire was to somehow touch the hem of Jesus' robe - the man whom she had heard so much about. The entire account, which we can also read of in Matthew 8 and Luke 9, is most detailed in Mark 5:25-34. Notice the underlined terms I highlight in the text, since we will reference them in grasping how the truth of "justification by faith alone" is underscored in this passage:

"A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, 26 and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— 27 after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. 28 For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. 34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

    Certainly, this woman in our account knew she did not have what it took to be right with God – for as we shall see, she lived a life of unrighteousness. 

    To contrast the woman in Mark's text, we can note the sixteenth century Protestant Reformer Martin Luther. Luther was a Catholic Monk, who attempted to be right with God, but fell short, knowing that despite trying to be self-righteous – He could not get hold of the righteousness of God needed for salvation. Whether someone lives a life devoid of any evidence of "rightness", or if someone lives a life of self-righteousness, both approaches result in the person falling short of the glory of God. 

    If good works cannot make me right with God, nor avoiding good works all together (as I had discovered in my own little childish way or as we shall see in the lives of this woman and Martin Luther), what then is necessary and enough for salvation, if every sinner neither possesses righteousness nor can attain it by being self righteous (as I had)? Consider these three thoughts that will help us answer this most vital of all questions: object of faith is Christ alone; reception of salvation is faith alone; faith in Christ is never alone.

1. Object of faith: Christ alone. Mark 5:25-27

Faith is only as strong as its object. Justification by faith alone tells us that Christ alone is the object of faith (Acts 16:31). What happens though whenever you see yourself very far away, unworthy of Christ’s love and forgiveness, and yet you see Him as the only solution to your deepest need? Before we can be brought to the point of saving faith, we first must be made desperate by the working of the Holy Spirit in saving grace. John 16:8 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

<<DESPERATION DUE TO UNRIGHTEOUSNESS>>The Woman

Mark 5:25-29 gives us some clues as to the sort of life this woman had lived, and what it took for God to get her attention. 

*Confidence in man, not God (Mark 5:26). 

    Mark 5:26 states:“and had endured much at the hands of many physicians.” The underlying Greek text reads: "πολλὰ παθοῦσα" (polla pathoosa), literally, "many continual sufferings". This woman had placed all her proverbial apples in the carts of men - men failed. Psalm 118:8, the middle verse of our English Bibles reads: "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in men".

*Careless living in unrighteusness. (Mark 5:26). 

    Mark 5:26 goes on to state: “had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse” In Luke 15:14 we read of the prodigal son:“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.” Notice the underlined phrases in both texts. Both underlined phrases employ the same identical Greek verb, meaning that like the more familiar "prodigal son", this woman had become reckless in her pursuits. We are not told of course what all she may had done. We do know from ancient reference works pertaining to medical treatments, it was quite common for the wealthy in the ancient world to get "addicted" to the latest fads in medicine. 

*Call of the Gospel. (Mark 5:27) 

    Mark 5:27 tells us: “after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.” God in His providence, His common grace which He supplies to all people, made available an opportunity for this woman to somehow hear about Jesus. In so doing, God positioned her to then become a recipient of His "seving grace", wherein it would arise within her heart to desire to seek Jesus for the healing of her soul and body.

Now lets consider this same sort of desperation in a man that was self righteousness.

<<DESPERATION DUE TO SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS>>Luther

    I won't go into too much detail pertaining to Luther's life. Instead, I will only highlight his achievements before his conversion. Note how old he was, how much he had achieved, and yet how miserable and wretched he was in his heart. Also notice too how similar his story is to the woman in Mark. Although he and she had different lives, yet the underpinnings of why they did what they did are very similar.

*Confidence in man, not God. 

-Born: 1483. Died: 1546

-teens to 22 Luther trained as a lawyer

*Careful living in self-righteousness

-22 yrs becomes a monk, July 2, 1505

-24 yrs Ordained priest, May 2, 1507

-mid-twenties, he could not obtain peace in the soul

-26yrs, Bachelor of theology, 1509

-27 yrs, Pilgrimage to Rome. 1510

-29 years, Doctor of Theology, taught Psalms and Romans.

*Call of the Gospel.

    Luther would later reflect back on his life before salvation: 

“My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit (of good works) would satisfy Him. Therefore, I did not love a just, angry God, but rather hated and murmured against Him. Yet, I clung to the dear Apostle Paul and had great yearning to know what He meant. Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the righteousness of God and the statement: ‘the just shall live by faith’” 

    I do not find it a mystery that Martin Luther identified with the Apostle Paul. Paul too was, by all human accounts, quite an accomplished fellow by the time he reached thirty years of age (that is how old someone had to be before having the chance to join the coveted ruling body of the Jews, "The Sanhedrin"). Paul notes in Philippians 3:7 "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

2. The reception of Christ: Faith alone. Mark 5:27-32

    So the object of faith must be "Christ alone". We once again compare the woman in Mark 5 to Martin Luther. Notice now how each of them received the grace of salvation in Jesus Christ alone through faith alone.

<<A MISERABLE WOMAN RECEIVES CHRIST BY FAITH ALONE>

*Mark 5:27-29. As we turn once again back to the woman, we see her faith come forth in response to the Gospel. What is faith? Faith is firm persuasion and trust (Hebrews 11:1). Mark 5:27-29 gives us what I call “the working forth of faith in the heart”, that is, there is that working of the Spirit in the heart and on the mind that brings me to freely draw the conclusion that Christ alone can save me from my miserable condition. Jonathan Edwards in his “Religious Affections” notes it this way: 

“Their conviction is an effectual (conclusive) conviction; so that the great, spiritual, mysterious, and invisible things of the Gospel have the influence of real and certain things upon them….and govern them through the course of their lives.” 

*Mark 5:30-32. We know it was the power of grace through the Lord Jesus Christ that reached this lady, as seen in His comments in Mark 5:30-32 

"Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” 31 And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” 32 And He looked around to see the woman who had done this." 

    This lady was physically healed, but more importantly, her soul was saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Jesus speaks to her these words in Mark 5:35 "And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

<<A MISERABLE MONK RECEIVES CHRIST BY FAITH ALONE>

    Martin Luther writes about his marvelous conversion experience- 

“Then I grasped that the righteousness 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 to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before "the righteousness of God" had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven...".

3. Faith in Christ is to be never alone.  Mark 5:33-34

So we have seen how the object of saving faith is Christ alone. We then observed how salvation is received by faith alone. Typically people who contest that there must be something more we can do to merit salvation accuse those who proclaim the Biblical Gospel of "justification by faith alone" as advocating a reckless gospel. "Afterall", they counter, "if salvation is a simple matter of faith, then it must not matter how one lives! Where does ones works or deeds fit into the Gospel?" 

    As we look at this woman once more, Mark’s version is the most detailed of the Gospel records of it (compare Matthew 9:20-22; Lk 8:43-48). As we noted already, Mark 5:34 is the key verse: “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” Peter writes of the healing of the soul that occurs at saving faith in 1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” You may notice that justification by faith alone, true saving faith, leads to a life of faith that puts forth works. 

    It must be underscored that in the case of the woman and the man, Martin Luther, their lives were changed and did abound in good works following their justification. To quote John Owen once again, he writes about the relationship of works to saving faith: “We are saved by grace through faith alone unto a faith that is never alone.”  In other words, if you have been justified by faith alone, there must be fruit which follows. Take note of our final comparison between the woman and Martin Luther below.

<<HER LIFE WAS CHANGED

    Almost immediately, Mark 5:33-34 displays fruits flowing from this woman's newfound faith in Christ. 

*She had an awareness of change, seeing Christ as her Lord, drew near to Him, rather than hiding from Him. 

Mark 5:33 “But the woman, fearing and trembling aware of what had happened to her”.  

*She hungered for truth. 

Mark 5:33 “came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.” This reflects what we read of in John 8:31-32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

*She had the assurance of having been adopted into the family of God. 

Mark 5:34 “And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” Whenever one reads Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:4-6 and Hebrews 2:11-14, the rich truth of the believer's adoption is spelled out as follows: God the Father becomes my heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, per his humanity, becomes my elder brother. 

<<LUTHER’S LIFE WAS CHANGED>>

*Luther had an awareness of change. 

    A few years after his conversion (which historians refer to as his "Tower Experience"), Luther would nail his famous "95 theses" on the church door at Wittenburg on October 31, 1517, wherin he protests the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church in their selling of indulgences (what I call "get out of purgatory free cards"). In Thesis #62, Luther wrote: “The true treasure of the church is the Holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God.”

*Luther had a hunger for truth and would have the assurance of being an adopted son of the Father. 

    Luther evidences the fruit of faith when defending the Gospel against opponents at his trial during the Diet of Worms in 1521 (note:"diet" was a German term to refer to an official meeting, "Worms" was the name of the town in Germany where this confrontation with Luther occured). Would he recant everything he had come to embrace? His reply was as follows:

“Since your majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply, I will answer without horns and without teeth. Unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason-I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted one another-my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise. God help me! Amen”. Diet of Worms 4/16/1521

Closing:

    In today's post we have looked at the important truth of "justification by faith alone". To remind ourselves of what this means, let's once more consider the definition offered by John Owen: “So by justification, a man is only esteemed, declared, and pronounced righteous, as if he were completely so.”

    We saw this marvelous truth illustrated in the lives of the woman who had hemmoraged for twelve years and from the life of the 16th century Reformer, Martin Luther. We noted three important points regarding justification by faith alone:

1. Object of faith is Christ alone. 

2. Reception of salvation is faith alone. 

3. Faith in Christ is never alone.

    Faith, by itself, is certainly necessary to receive God's salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church, in the 16th century and today, would agree. However, contrary to what Roman Catholic teaching espoused, and the reason too why Luther protested so strongly against them, was that faith by itself is also enough for salvation. Praise be to God, one need not to add participation in the sacraments, nor the merits of saints to faith to receive God's declaration of being "right" or "just". The woman who hemmoraged evidenced this. Martin Luther experienced this. Anyone who by the wonder of God's saving grace places their trust in Jesus Christ will be, in an instant, made right with God. I close with a wonderful hymn the 19th century hymn writer E.E Hewit that captures what we explored in this post:

"My Faith Has Found A Resting Place"

1 My faith has found a resting place,

from guilt my soul is freed;

I trust the ever-living One,

his wounds for me shall plead.

Refrain:

I need no other argument,

I need no other plea,

it is enough that Jesus died,

and that he died for me.

2 Enough for me that Jesus saves,

this ends my fear and doubt;

a sinful soul, I come to him,

he’ll never cast me out. [Refrain]

3 My heart is leaning on the Word,

the written Word of God,

salvation by my Savior’s name,

salvation thro' his blood. [Refrain]

4 My great Physician heals the sick,

the lost he came to save;

for me his precious blood he shed,

for me his life he gave. [Refrain]

Part One - Without "This", You Do Not Have The Good News

Introduction: 

       I once did a little experiment. On a piece of paper I wrote, with my eyes closed, the word “righteousness” (which turned out very badly). The reason I began my experiment in this fashion is because the Bible describes me, apart from Jesus, as "spiritually blind" and "spiritual incapable" of exercising "righteousness" or what I shall call "in-line-ment" with God's will and character. Put another way, by myself, I am spiritually blind and without righteousness and thus, I am “not-in-line” with God. I then drew a solid straight line on the left side of the paper, representing “God”. 

       Next, I drew another solid red line parallel to the first line, representing “Jesus”. Jesus is Perfectly Righteousness, that is, always in-line-with-God by being God and perfect man. I then rewrote the word “righteousness” with my eyes open and near the red line. Although my writing was still not perfect, yet, because of Jesus (the red-line), what I wrote was acceptable and “lined-up” with the original solid line. Christ’s righteousness or “in-line-with God” achievement is credited as if I was always in-line-with-God. The little exercise illustrated “justification by faith alone”. In justification, the main question: how is a person made right with God? Today’s message will answer that question, which is central to the good news.

What is "Justification by faith?"

        Justification by faith refers to God’s legal declaration of the sinner “lining-up-perfectly” with God because of Jesus’ “perfect alignment” credited to them in saving faith. How does this take place? God "credits" the righteousness of Jesus (His perfect active obedience to the will of God the Father in His earthly life and ministry followed by His "passive" or "surrendered" obedience by His work on the cross) to myself at saving faith (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). In the Biblical teaching on justification, faith is both the necessary and sufficient condition for receiving God's legal pronouncement that I am "righteous" or "in-line" with Him. Furthermore, as Paul notes in Romans 4:25, Jesus' resurrection from the dead guaranteed that what Jesus achieved in His active and passive obedience was not only "good-enough", but more than good enough to be credited to any sinner that places their trust in Him (see Galatians 3:6-7). Without justification by faith, there is no good news.

       What follows in this post and the next is a summary of this crucial doctrine of "justification by faith". I shall cover two related truths today and two related truths in the next post. My desire is that these posts would remind everyone of how wonderful the Biblical Gospel is, and that to "add-to" or "subtract from it" is to "eliminate the good news".

1. The reason for justification is grace alone.       Genesis 14:17-24

         Readers may note that I am drawing from an episode in the life of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham. Why? Because in three New Testament books (Romans, Galatians and James), the statement: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to Him as righteousness" is cited to express the doctrine of justification by faith. Let us note first the reason for justification - that justification is by God's grace by itself or "alone".

*God’s grace is God coming to us on the basis of the saving work He did. 

      In Genesis 14, we see the encounter between Abraham and a king by the name of "Melchizedek". Melchizedek, whom is described in Hebrews 7:1 “For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.” Melchizedek functions as a “type” or “picture of Christ”, coming to Abram, elsewhere pictured as a “type” or “picture” of the believer justified by faith alone. Romans 4:16 “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all .” Romans 9:16 reminds us "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy."

*We cannot be declared righteous by God by adding to what He did.

         In Genesis 14:21-23, the king of Sodom is also present to meet Abram with an offer which sounds lucrative and generous. Abram, already a believer, recognizes that the offer would result in either Abram himself or the king of Sodom taking credit for a victory which God alone had brought about. Romans 4:4-5 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Ephesians 2:8-9 underscores the reason for justification as being that of “grace alone, apart from works”.

2. The reception of justification is faith alone.      Genesis 15:1-6

        You may have noticed I put “alone” in the first heading ("grace alone") and this one ("faith alone"). Why faith alone?

*First, Why emphasize “faith alone”? it is Biblical. 

        As we read in Genesis 15:1-6, verse 6 brings to light why God would declare Abram as “perfectly-in-line” with Him. Even in the conversation of Genesis 15:1-5, God’s response to Abram’s question in verse 2: “What will you give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” , God’s response in verse 4 removes anything contribution by Abram, “this man shall not be your heir.” Romans 4:2-3 “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  Galatians 3:6-7 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.

*Second, Why emphasize “faith alone”? it is historical. 

        The Roman Catholic Church, throughout its history, has always taught that justification is received by “faith + baptism” and is kept by “faith + participation in the sacraments”. The Reformation of the 16th century attempted to recover the Biblical truth of “justification by faith” by emphasizing “alone”. In response, Rome convened the Council of Trent, beginning in 1525, to cover a total of 25 sessions that would serve to enunciate it's doctrinal positions and to "anathema" or "pronounce as cursed" those it deemed as heretical. It was in Trent's sixth session of 1547 that the Roman Catholic Church pronounced heretical the Reformation teaching and reaffirmed it’s position: “the instrumental cause of justification is baptism”. (It is instructive to read through the records of all the councils of Trent, which are available here: https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/sixth-session.htm). 

        Even today, the Catholic Catechism of the Catholic Church (released in 1995 and available online here - https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM) in Part 3, chapter 3, article 2, on “grace and justification”, paragraph 1987, mirrors the council of Trent: 

“The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us the righteousness of God through faith in Christ Jesus and through baptism.”  

       It is not that the Roman Catholic Church denies the necessity of faith in in receiving salvation. Instead, Rome does not believe that faith, by itself, is sufficient to receive God's declaration of the sinner's "righteousness". Furthermore, they would deny that Christ's righteousness is "credited" to the sinner in saving faith. Instead, Rome advocates that His righteousness is "infused" or "poured into" the recipient over the course of their life by participation in the church's sacraments or "means of justifying grace", such as baptism and penance. 

       This is what Christian leaders such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, John Knox and others were opposing in the sixteenth century. Beginning with Martin Luther's reformation movement in Germany, his opponents described efforts to oppose the Roman Catholic view on justification as undue protest, thus calling him and his followers "protestants". What was meant as a slur turned into a rally cry to get back to the Biblical Gospel itself. For over 500 years, most churches have found union around the doctrine of justification by faith alone - rightly protesting what is a departure from the Biblical position. Sadly, though, this union is rapidly evaporating. Contrary to many today, it is still correct to "protest" the Roman Catholic view of justification, since the very Gospel itself is at stake. I am reminded of a line from Shakespeare's "Hamlet", that many may think applies to those (like myself) that would classify themselves in the protestant camp expressed in the Reformation, which was rooted in the Biblical record itself: "The lady protests too much, methinks". I would counter that since the Roman Catholic Church has not abandoned its view on justification, if for anything, evangelical churches must persist in their "protest" by preaching the Biblical and historical Christian doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Closing thoughts: Justification by grace alone through faith alone is what makes the "good news" of the Gospel "the good news". 

       If faith is not sufficient by itself to receive God’s declaration of forgiveness of sins and Christ’s righteousness, then what of Abram himself, who was justified by faith before circumcision? Or, the thief on the cross in Luke 23:43 “And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” The doctrine of justification answers the question: "How are we made right with God?" Since confusion over justification by faith attempts to import human efforts or other “add-ons” to Christ’s finished work, this is why we emphasize “alone”. Without this, there is no good news.

The Spark Of Conversion That Lit The Wick Of The Protestant Reformation - Reflections Upon Martin Luther's Conversion In 1513

Romans 1:16-17 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Introduction: The Spark That Lit The Fuse Of The Protestant Reformation

How powerful are the words found in the 66 books that comprise our Bibles? Nothing can turn a soul to God except the Holy Spirit working through the nearly 775,000 words in our Old and New Testaments. I rejoice in hearing conversion stories from people who have by grace through faith trusted in Jesus Christ for their salvation. Whether reflecting upon my own conversion, or reading about other people's conversions, such accounts stir the heart to give praise to God for all He has done through Christ. The 16th century Protestant Reformer Martin Luther's story and conversion is the focus of today's post. 

In the 16th century, Europe and the Roman Catholic Church were poised on a knife's-edge. The need for moral and spiritual reform was recognized a century before Martin Luther had come on the scene. The political, religious, moral and economic climate was ripe for reform. God's hand of providence was at work. Martin Luther would be His instrument for reform and reigniting of the Gospel.

Martin Luther was born in 1483 to a copper mining owner and worker. Martin's father, Hans, desired to see Martin get a good education. When young Martin acquired his Bachelor's degree and Master of Arts degree in Law, he began to practice law per his father's wishes. However, when traveling through the woods, a sudden lightening-storm startled Luther, with a near-by lightening strike evoking a rash vow from Luther's lips to serve as a monk. Author James Edward McGoldrick notes of this episode:1

"(H)e encountered a severe lightning storm in which he thought he would perish. In anguish he appealed to St. Anne, the patroness of miners, to intercede with God, and he promised that he would reciprocate by becoming a monk. Much to the dismay of his parents, Martin passed through the gates of the Black Cloister to become a friar. In doing so, he had chosen the lifestyle which his church extolled as the best means to obtain salvation."

Once Luther pledged his life of servitude to St. Anne - the patron saint of miners - he entered into the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt, Germany in July of 1505.

He quickly excelled in all things religious. As time marched on, Luther's incessant desire to quiet his sensitive conscience through religious ritual kept falling short. Luther was as a candle in the dark, with no inner light of his own. The wick that began the Protestant Reformation in Germany on October 31, 1517 would be Luther's nailing to the church door of Wittenburg, Germany his 95 challenges or "theses" against the abuses of the Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences (that is, "get-out-of-purgatory-free-cards"). However, for October 31, 1517 to become the beginning of the Reformation in Germany, there first needed to be the conversion of the Reformer - Martin Luther. That spark that began in Luther's heart was his so-called "Tower-Experience". 

Martin Luther's Testimony Of Conversion - The Needed Spark From God 

Thankfully, Luther's life was recorded in detail either by his own recollections or the eye-witness testimonies of friends and foes alike. Apart from Jesus and the Apostle Paul, many scholars have noted that no figure in all of church history has had more written about his life and writings than the mighty Reformer from Germany. Luther's "Tower-Experience" was the process through which he struggled to understand the relationship between God's just role in having the right to punish sin and Luther's own need for forgiveness. Erwin W. Lutzer makes the following observation about Luther's struggle:2

"When Luther began to teach the book of Romans, he trembled at the phrase 'the righteousness of God' (Rom. 1:17). Though he says he was an 'impeccable monk', he stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience. The righteousness of God struck fear into his heart because he knew that it was because of God's unbendable righteousness that sinner's were cast away from His most holy presence."

He was brought to the breakthrough of the doctrine of "justification by faith" in reading Romans 1:17 and upon reflecting on Augustine's commentary on the same-said verse of scripture. In Luther's own words, we find the following testimony that led him to finally discover peace in his heart and with God, from his so-called "Tower-Experience" in 1513:3

"I greatly longed to understand Paul's epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression "the righteousness of God," because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust."

"My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience, and I had no confidence that my merit would assuage Him. Therefore I did not love a just angry God, but rather hated and murmured against Him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant."


"Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the righteousness of God and the statement that "the just shall live by faith." Then I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith."

Now comes Luther's description of his conversion... 

"Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise. The whole of Scripture took on a new meaning, and whereas before "the righteousness of God" had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven...".

As a monk serving in the Augustinian order of the Roman Catholic Church (so-named from the 5th century theologian, Augustine), Luther had consulted Augustine's commentary on Romans while making his epochal discovery about how a person is truly made right with God - by grace alone through faith alone. The final sentences of Augustine's commentary on Romans 1:17 was instrumentally used by God in aiding Luther to connect the dots between God's righteousness and saving faith:4

"We have now the principal point or the main hinge of the first part of this Epistle, — that we are justified by faith through the mercy of God alone. We have not this, indeed as yet distinctly expressed by Paul; but from his own words it will hereafter be made very clear — that the righteousness, which is grounded on faith, depends entirely on the mercy of God."

Clearly, the doctrine of justification by faith alone has its roots reaching back a millennium to Augustine, who in turn derived it from the Apostle Paul in the first century. Justification by faith is that Divine, legal declaration of the sinner's innocence with respect to the law of God. At the moment of conversion or saving faith, I as a sinner am credited with Christ's righteousness. To help convey the meaning of the word "justification", the sinner is regarded by God to be "just-as-if-I-never-sinned" or put positively: "just-as-if-I-always-did-rightly". The doctrine of justification by faith alone is the core of the Gospel. Luther's conversion came as a result of the Holy Spirit's working in his heart through the scriptures to reignite the flame of the Gospel. 

Closing thoughts and applications

One thing I find fascinating about Luther's testimony is that we find a man giving credit to the Spirit's work through the scriptures in bringing about his heart-change. The work of salvation is a miracle-work brought about by the Spirit of God through the Word of God operating upon and in the human heart (see Romans 10:8-10; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23). What about you dear read today?  Have you experience such a saving faith? Have you trusted upon the finished work of Jesus Christ? Luther's explanation of salvation as the "opening of the gates of paradise" cement in the mind's eye a clear understanding of what salvation is all about: namely, reconciling sinners such as myself to a holy righteousness God through faith in Jesus Christ. This month of October celebrates the 501st anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, and more importantly, the reigniting of the flame of the Gospel. Were it not for the Holy Spirit's intervention through the scriptures in the heart of a troubled soul named Martin Luther in 1513, the wick of October 31, 1517 might not had been lit. Let us celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel which alone can save the soul which yields in response to His call by faith.  

Endnotes:

1. McGoldrick, James Edward. "Introducing Martin Luther". Reformation and Revival. Vol 7, part 4. Fall 1998. Page 20.

2. Lutzer, Erwin W. Rescuing The Gospel: The Story And Significance Of The Reformation. Page 45. Baker Books. 2016.

3. Quotation derived from the website: http://www.reformationtheology.com/2010/05/the_tower_experience_1.php. This well-known testimony of Martin Luther is cited in volumes that contain his main works. 

4. St. Augustine's Commentary On Romans. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom38.v.v.html

Blessed Assurances of Salvation in Romans 8:28-31 - Granting Christ's Righteousness by Faith and a Guaranteed Future

Romans 8:30-31 "and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"

Introduction:

Over the last couple of posts, we have considered the blessed assurances of salvation as spelled out in Romans 8:28-31. We've witnessed thus far: foreknowledge (i.e God's pre-eternal love); predestination (i.e God's purposes in Christ) and calling (i.e Gracious call of the Spirit). Today we continue this study of these five "golden-rings" of salvation. 

Contemplation of these truths does not yield any clarity on how we can resolve the tension that exists in scripture between God's Sovereignty to save those whom He wills and man's responsibility to believe, repent and be saved. Nevertheless, contemplation of the truths laid out in Romans 8:28-31 will yield deeper confidence in Christ and greater assurance of our salvation. Truly salvation is of the Lord!

We focus our attention on Paul's two final assurances, found in Romans 8:30 - namely "justified" and "glorified".

Granting Christ's Righteousness By Faith

What is meant by the term "justified" in Romans 8:30? The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 defines for us justification:  

"Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God."

Justification has to do with God's judicial declaration over the sinner at saving faith: "not guilty". Let the reader be reminded that justification can only occur when the sinner believes. Salvation is taught consistently in scripture as including both God's Sovereignty (election, foreknowledge, predestination, calling) and human responsibility (justified). No man can be saved lest God draws them (John 6:44). Yet, at the same time, no man can be saved until He repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38-40). If anymore proof were needed of the dual-teaching of sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation, than surely this text ought to suffice. 

With faith being both the necessary and sufficient condition to receive God's forgiveness, the question is: what sort of righteousness is credited to the sinner? Answer: Christ's accomplished life, death and resurrection. He is our assurance! Included in God's legal declaration of justification in saving faith is that relational declaration of adoption (Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:4-6). All the foundations of assurance mentioned here by Paul in these verses are from God, for God and by God. The believer as a recipient of saving grace is helpless and hopeless apart from Christ and God's working on their behalf. 

A Guaranteed Future - Romans 8:30-31

Here is what makes all the assurances mention by Paul in Romans 8:28-31 to be so glorious: namely, we literally see God's purpose of grace in Romans 8:28 stretching from eternity past (foreknowledge, predestination) through this present world and life (calling and justification) to eternity future (glorification). 1 John 3:1-2 states - "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." We will receive the perfection of our human souls following death and await for what will be the resurrection of our bodies. The goal of glorification is to behold Him with our own eyes (see Job 19:25; John 5:24-25; Philippians 3:20; Revelation 21-22).

Bounded on either side of these five assurances are two impregnable fortresses: Romans 8:28 and Romans 8:31. Romans 8:28 states: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." Paul's point in Romans 8;29-30 has been to expound what he means by God's purpose in 8:28. 

Now it can be quite mind-reeling when studying the deep truths of God like we have been these last several days. This is why we need Romans 8:31, that other impregnable fortress, to get our bearing: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?"  

Closing thoughts:

We can surely see that if God is for the Christian before they were born and before He created anything else; and if God is for the Christian up to their conversion all the way through their sanctification in this life; then why would He change in terms of eternity future? The blessed assurances of Romans 8:28-31 lay down for us a tremendous treasure trove of truth. In the end, we must retain humility and awe that this glorious God, revealed in Christ and made known to us by His Spirit would so foreknow, predestine, call, justify and desire to glorify the likes of us. This is indeed "blessed assurance"!

One Sweet Powerful Union - Understanding The Christian's Union With Jesus Christ

Romans 6:5 "For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection."

Introduction:

Whenever we talk about the Christian life as presented in the New Testament, certain terms are used to describe it. With regards to the beginning of the Christian life, we discover one is regenerated or born again - thus marking the official moment of entry into the Christian life. In this moment of entry, a whole host of graces are experienced simultaneously: regeneration (John 3:3-5); justification or God's legal declaration and accrediting of Christ's righteousness to the sinner (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:23-24); adoption into God's family (Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:4-6); sealing or preserving of one's faith (Ephesians 1:11-14) and of course the beginning of one's sanctification or growth in Christ (Philippians 1:6). 

The second way the New Testament describes the Christian life is by the broad term of sanctification. In conversion (which includes justification, adoption and all the beginning graces of salvation), one is declared positionally right with God in Jesus Christ. In sanctification, one is being made in experience and practice what God declared them to be in position and circumstance at salvation. In conversion, God is the one doing the work of calling, regenerating and justifying the sinner. The faith expressed by the sinner in salvation is a response to the call and facilitating work of the Spirit - apart from whose working there would be no faith to express (see John 16:8-16; Ephesians 2:8-9). Sanctification, or post-conversion Christian living, entails a cooperative effort between the Holy Spirit and the Christian (see Philippians 2:12-13). We can graphically illustrate what we're talking about below:

justification/conversion       Sanctification

point & time work of God(.)        Progressive                                                             cooperative effort 

                                             between us and God

                                                     --------Heaven

                                                ------

                                        (.)---          

                                       sanctification

                                                                                begins

Both ways of the describing the Christian life are distinct and yet related to one another. Conversion or justification by faith is a point and time event (symbolized by the "dot" (.)). Sanctification is, on the other hand, an "onward & upward" progression, signified by an onward and upward series of "ups" and "downs" which gradually and progressively increase one's experience of God. It must be noted that the course of one's sanctification may not be a consistent onward and upward upon close inspection, however, the overall course of the Christian life ought to be characterized by arriving at a closer walk with God and greater Christ-likeness. 

Avoiding extremes

The question is: how is one's conversion connected to their post-conversion or sanctification? This question is important, since many Christians live practically as if their sanctification is totally up to their will-power. Other Christians will go to the other extreme and say: "let go, and let God". The first extreme, called "activism", envisions the Christian doing all the work in sanctification. The second extreme, called "quietism", pictures God doing all the work. Both extremes are in error due to missing one key vital truth that connects God's work of conversion/justification to the cooperative work He and the believer have in sanctification: namely union with Christ. 

One Sweet Powerful Union: Union with Christ

The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology defines "union with Christ" as having to do with identification with Christ. It notes on page 588:

"...the theological concept of identification with Christ relates a Christian to the person and work of Christ by Divine reckoning, by the human experience of faith, and by the spiritual union of the believer with Christ effected by the baptism of the Holy Spirit."

Theologian Michael Horton on page 587 of his volume:"The Christian Faith" describes this union of the believer and Jesus Christ in both salvation and sanctification as follows:

"Nevertheless, our subjective inclusion in Christ occurs when the Spirit calls us effectually to Christ and gives us the faith to cling to him for all of his riches."

To understand this union more concretely, Jesus compares union with Him as a branch to a vine and the vine to the branches (John 15:1-7). In Ephesians 5:22-33, the union of Christ and His people is likened unto the union shared between a husband and the wife. This idea of "union with Christ" is vital, since Christ connects not only our justification and sanctification together, but also connects His Person and current work to us by the ministry of the Holy Spirit that both initially and progressively continue such a connection (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-13). 

In closing

As we have briefly considered the importance and meaning of "union with Christ", I want to leave the reader with a quote from a recent book on sanctification, with particular reference to the topic at hand. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson declares the sweetness of this union on page 59 of his book: "Devoted to God - Blueprints For Sanctification":

"Thus, through the Spirit's uniting us to Christ we have been connected to the source of our salvation. His justification-God's declaration that He was righteous-is our justification; his sanctification-since He sanctified Himself for our sakes-is also ours. Thus, everything Christ did He did for me in obedience to His Father. All that He has done is therefore mine as a gift. He gave Himself for me, in His love to me; and now through the Spirit all that He did is mine."

What Those Who Trust In Christ Are Saved To, From And For - Romans 5:1-11

Romans 5:10 "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
Introduction:

Years ago I heard a fellow-pastor friend of mine share a story of how he had worked on an oil derrick in the Gulf of Mexico as a 19 year old young man. As he was walking on the main platform, he ventured too close to the edge and fell into the water. Immediately the men up above began to cry "man over-board". As my friend drifted further from the oil derrick, he saw a helicopter lift from the platform to begin its search for him. Other than the distant lights, he could not see his hand in front of his face. He was drifting in the Gulf of Mexico, and began wondering whether he would be eaten by sharks or suffer hypothermia.  I recall my friend at that particular point in the story saying: "It was at that point that I understood what it meant to be lost." He then testified of how the helicopter spotted him, and how a life-raft sped toward him and pulled him out of the dark, cold, ink-black darkness and chilly water. In his message, he noted how although he had been lost, he was saved. He then drew the powerful parallel between his experience to the Biblical imagery of being "lost" and then "saved". 

So, what does this term “saved” mean Biblically? As early in the Old Testament we read in Exodus 14:30 "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore." New Testament passages such as Romans 10:9-10 describe one's confession of faith in Christ as resulting in the state of being "saved". Ephesians 2:8-9 similarly notes: "for by grace re you "saved" through faith...". The Gospel declares upon one’s trust in Jesus Christ, they are “saved” unto something, “saved” from something and “saved” for something. Today's post will aim to unpack what the Gospel promises to save you to, from and for. Upon our reception of the Gospel by faith, we are

1. Saved to…. Romans 5:1-5

a. 5:1 peace with God  
b. 5:2 access to God  
c. 5:3-5 hope in God  
d. 5:5 love from God

Ephesians 2:14 describes Jesus Christ as "our peace" who has torn down the barriers between us and God. In Hebrews 4:14-16, we're reminded of the access we have to the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer's eternal high priest, for finding grace and help in time of need. Concerning the believer's hope in God, we find how such hope describes their status before God in Ephesians 2:12 and Colossians 1:27. Then, passages such as 1 John 4:8-16 unfold the glorious love of God. All of these spiritual graces are entered upon from one's position granted in justification by faith. Paul's point is that since we are justified by faith, we begin in our sanctification, with the attendant blessings such as peace, access to God, hope and love ours to enjoy. Henceforth this is what the Christian is saved to. But now notice what it is that Jesus can "save from" for anyone trusting in Him. 

2. Saved from….Romans 5:6-10

The Bible Knowledge Commentary notes concerning Romans 5:6-8 - 

"Since the divine dilemma of justification (3:26) has been solved on the basis of Jesus’ shed blood (cf. 3:25), certainly Jesus Christ will see that justified sinners will be saved from God’s wrath. Believers will never be condemned to hell (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1) nor will they be the objects of God’s coming Tribulation wrath (1 Thes. 1:10; 5:9)."

Concerning what we're saved from in salvation, we can note three things: 

a. 5:6-8 our sins against God
b. 5:9 wrath from God
c. 5:10 our war with God

The first has to do with God's twin act of removing the penalty of our sin in what theologians call "expiation" (see Hebrews 9:14). The second thing we are saved from, God's wrath, follows on the heels of expiation by the satisfaction of of His wrath in what is called "propitiation" (see 1 John 2:1-2). Then finally, we find that in the end of warfare or enmity between us and God, we are described as those being reconciled to Him (see 2 Corinthians 5:15-21). The great commentator Matthew Henry notes concerning what believers are "saved from"...

"The dying Jesus laid the foundation, in satisfying for sin, and slaying the enmity, and so making us salvable; thus is the partition-wall broken down, atonement made, and the attainder reversed; but it is the living Jesus that perfects the work: he lives to make intercession, Heb. 7:25. It is Christ, in his exaltation, that by his word and Spirit effectually calls, and changes, and reconciles us to God, is our Advocate with the Father, and so completes and consummates our salvation."

So due to being justified by faith, the believer in Jesus Christ is "saved to" peace with God, access to God, hope in God and love from God. Likewise, the believer in Christ is "saved from" their sins, wrath and war with God. But now, what is it that the sinner saved by grace is saved for?

3. Saved for… Romans 5:11

In Romans 5:11, we can note two general realities to which the Christian is saved for: walking in fellowship with God and worship of God. In the Exodus account, we find God telling Moses to go to Pharaoh and state to him to "let my people go". We read for example in Exodus 4:21-23 "The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”

Now when you read the remainder of the Exodus account, including the Red Sea crossing and all of the events surrounding God's deliverance of the Hebrews from the Egyptians, you discover that the goal was not just to "save the people from Pharaoh". The goal was to make these slaves into worshipers and these people who "were formerly not a people in a people for God". Exodus 19-20 is the official birth of the Jewish nation. God made them a people, a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy nation. They were saved for the purpose of walking with God and worshiping Him. 

In the New Testament, we find that Christian salvation is described in these same terms. The Christian is saved for good works (Ephesians 2:10). 1 Peter 2:9-11 quotes from Exodus 19:5-6, the same exact identity in terms of Christians. As theologian R.C. Sproul has often said in conferences and in writing: "We are saved by God, from God, for God."

Closing thoughts:

Today we explored the Biblical concept of what it means to be "saved". We noted the following....

1. Saved to…. Romans 5:1-5
.peace with God  
.access to God  
.hope in God  
.love from God

2. Saved from… Romans 5:6-10
.our sins against God
.wrath from God
.our war with God

3. Saved for… Romans 5:11
.walking in fellowship with God
.worshipping God