SOLA FIDE (Romans 3:21-31)

SOLA FIDE (Romans 3:21-31) INTRODUCTION I am continuing my series on the Five Solas of the Reformation. Sola is the Latin word for alone. The Five Solas are: Sola Scriptura (Scriptures alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), Sola Fide (Faith alone), Sola Gratia (Grace alone), Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone). Last week we looked at Sola Scriptura. The issue in Sola Scriptura is what is the Christian s infallible authority, or final authority, or ultimate authority for faith and practice and by which all things are to be evaluated. During the Middle Ages the traditions of the church had gained an equal footing with the Scriptures and in some ways were above the clear teaching of Scriptures as being the authority for what to believe, etc. The Reformers wanted to go back to the Bible and proclaimed that the Scriptures alone is the only infallible authority and there the final authority for our faith. The Reformers wanted to reform the church according to the Scriptures. Now this morning we come to Sola Fide or Faith Alone. What is the issue here? It is the question of how to be righteous before a holy God. It is the question of what does God require of us to have a right standing with Him. Is it by doing good deeds, being serious about spiritual disciplines, or is it by faith alone? As you know, the Reformers clearly proclaimed that a person is right before God by faith alone. The specific doctrine related to Sola Fide is justification by faith. We are justified by faith alone. Justification by faith was the central doctrine the Reformers talked about. It is the heart of the Gospel. Sola Scriptura is the foundational principle; Sola Fide is the material principle or content which the Scriptures teach. So we want to talk about justification by faith the morning, but first let me give a little more background of the life of Martin Luther in order for us to understand how he came to see that salvation is by faith alone, not by adding works to faith. HOW AND WHY LUTHER BECAME A MONK At the age of seventeen in 1501 Martin entered the University of Erfurt. According to his father's wishes, Martin enrolled in the law school of that university. The young student received his Bachelor's degree after just one year in 1502! Three years later, in 1505, he received a Master's degree. The direction of his life was changed during a thunderstorm in the summer of 1505. A lightning bolt struck near to him as he was returning to school. Terrified, he cried out, "Help, St. Anne! I'll become a monk!" October 15, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 1

Spared of his life, but regretting his words, Luther kept his bargain, dropped out of law school and entered the monastery there. Luther struggled to find peace with God. Therefore he fully dedicated himself to monastic life, the effort to do good works to please God and to serve others through prayer for their souls. Yet peace with God escaped him. He devoted himself to fasts, flagellations, long hours in prayer and pilgrimages, and constant confession. The more he tried to do for God, it seemed, the more aware he became of his sinfulness. So here we have a person who desperately sought to be right with God. He was taught that the way to do this was through praying, fasting, beating himself, confessions, etc. But he still did not have peace with God. And he even came to the point of hating God s righteousness because all he could see is a God who stood over him as a holy and righteous Judge who would condemn him to eternal torment because he could not live up to God s righteousness required of him. Have any of you had that struggle? HOW LUTHER BECAME AWARE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH As Luther was studying the book of Romans his eyes were opened to God s way of becoming righteous before God. It was Romans 1:17 particularly that God used to open his eyes. Romans 1:17 NIV For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed-- a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Here in Martin s own words is when he came to understand that we are righteous (or justified) by faith: Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, "As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the Decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteousness and wrath!" Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. October 15, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 2

Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted. At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, "In it[the Gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, 'He who through faith is righteous shall live.'" There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." Here I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. There a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me... Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise. Later I read Augustine's The Spirit and the Letter, where contrary to hope I found that he, too, interpreted God's righteousness in a similar way, as the righteousness with which God clothes us when he justifies us.. JUSTIFICATION ILLUSTRATED BY THE GREAT EXCHANGE How can we be righteous before God by faith? It is by what some call the Great Exchange. The Great Exchange is where God exchanges our sin for Christ s righteousness because of what Christ did for us on the cross. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Luther s explained it this way in his Instructions to the Perplexed and Doubting, To George Spenlein (a fellow monk in another cloister, April 8, 1516", Now I should like to know whether your soul, tired of its own righteousness, is learning to be revived by and to trust in the righteousness of Christ. For in our age the temptation to presumption besets many, especially those who try with all their might to be just and good without knowing the righteousness of God, which is most bountifully and freely given us in Christ. They try to do good of themselves in order that they might stand before God clothed in their own virtues and merits. But this is impossible. While you were here, you were one who held this opinion, or rather, error. So was I, and I am still fighting against the error without having conquered it yet. October 15, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 3

Therefore, my dear Friar, learn Christ and him crucified. Learn to praise him and, despairing of yourself, say, Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, just as I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and have given to me what is yours. You have taken upon yourself what you were not and have given to me what I was not. Beware of aspiring to such purity that you will not wish to be looked upon as a sinner, or to be one. For Christ dwells only in sinners. Lord Jesus, you are my righteousness, just as I am your sin. You have taken upon yourself what is mine and have given to me what is yours. This called the Great Exchange by many theologians. God exchanged my sin for Christ s righteousness. When we believe this we are justified by faith because God accounts Christ s righteousness as mine. WHAT DOES THE BIBLE TEACH ABOUT JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH Is this what the Bible teaches? We are to evaluate all our beliefs by the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura. Paul wrote of justification by faith extensively in the book of Romans and Galatians. It was at the core of Paul s Gospel message. One clear statement of it is found in Philippians 3: Philippians 3:8-9 NKJV Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; Justification by faith means that God gives us the gift of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ, by faith, not by works of the law. The word justified comes from the legal arena. It is the verdict of a judge who declares the person not guilty. God s act of justification goes further than just declaring us not guilty. It goes further than declaring us innocent. It goes to the positive declaration of declaring guilty sinners as righteous. This is the good news! This is the heart of the good news. Other Scriptures which explicitly teach justification by faith: Romans 3:28 NKJV Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Galatians 2:16 NKJV knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, October 15, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 4

Justification by faith is the heart of the Gospel. This is why Sola Fide was so central to the Reformation message. And why it is to be central to us today. BY FAITH ALONE Let s focus now more on the idea of faith alone. In Romans 4 Paul uses Abraham to help us see what is involved in justifying faith. Romans 4:1-5 NKJV What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? (2) 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 accounted to him for righteousness." (4) Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. (5) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, Justifying faith believes on Him who justifies the ungodly. Paul goes on to talk about Abraham s faith in God s promise. Justifying faith is believing God s promises, that He will be faithful in fulfilling them. Romans 4:20-21 NKJV He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, (21) and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Genuine faith trusts God for specific promises, no matter how difficult it may seem for God to fulfill the promises. God promises to declare us righteous based on Christ s perfect obedience and substitutionary death for us. We are to believe that God will justify us. In other words when we read that God has the gift of His righteousness which He has worked out in the work of His Son in our behalf; we are to believe that this is what He will do. God is the one who justifies the ungodly. Are you ungodly? Yes. Then do you believe that God will declare you righteous if you believe in and receive His gift of the righteousness of His Son? Then your faith will be counted for righteousness and you are justified by faith. Justifying faith is a faith in God s promise to give us Christ s righteousness as the basis of him accepting us as righteous. We are justified by faith alone. Sola Fide! CONCLUSION One final point. How much faith does it take to be justified by faith? It depends. The answer is not much on one hand but on the other hand it takes all October 15, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 5

you've got. What do I mean? One the one hand all you need is to trust in Jesus and His righteousness. That doesn t take much. But on the other hand if you are holding back part of your faith, thinking that maybe you need to do something to help save yourself, forget it! Saving faith is putting all your trust in Jesus Christ and him alone. In order to do that you have to stop trying to save yourself. Lewis Sperry Chafer said that believing in Jesus means trusting him so much that if he can t take you to heaven, you aren t going to go there. I like that. Justifying faith says that If Jesus can t take me to heaven, then I ll never make it because I m going all in on him. I don t have a Plan B. Are you all in in trusting Jesus alone for your salvation? The Reformers cry of Sola Fide (Faith Alone!) means Faith alone! Not by works of the law. Faith alone! Not by obedience to the Church. Faith alone! Not by human righteousness. Faith alone! Not by baptism. Faith alone! Not by good intentions. Faith alone! Not by the sacraments. Faith alone! Not by acts of charity. Faith alone! Plus nothing and minus nothing! Have you experienced the Great Exchange? Do you see that God put your sin on Christ when He died on the Cross in your behalf? Do you see that God has accounted Christ s righteousness as your righteousness when you put your faith in Him? Justification by faith is the heart of the Gospel. Justification by faith is what Sola Fide was all about for the Reformers. This is our faith. Jesus is our Righteousness. Amen? Amen! October 15, 2017 Corntassel CP Church Page 6