Sola Fide

Good Morning,

Again I am going to encourage you to be reading this book throughout the week, but because of the nature of this section and how connected it is, I included the last verse from last week into today’s passage.

Pray 3+

This week I asked Marc to read part of Romans 3. As I said when we began this study, the book of Romans is in many ways the sister book to the book of Galatians. It helps us to better understand some of the terms and ideas in the book of Galatians. In the book of Romans, we get the more Theological explanation of what Paul says in our passage today. I am going to turn to Galatians 2 and read verses 14-19. We are going to spend a fair amount of time in both of these passages this morning though.

Galatians 2:14-19 “But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.”

I am big on making sure that we define our terms to make sure as we speak we do not talk past one another. This is something that as followers of Christ we must make sure we are doing as we interact with people out in the world. Just to give you an example, if you talk with a Mormon and share the Gospel with them, the probability is that they will say they believe that. They mean something very different than Evangelical Christians do most of the time however, this is why it is important to make sure we are clear when we talk about things especially spiritual things with people. By the end of this sermon hopefully we have a good working definition of what Justifications is.

Paul in our opening verses here rebukes Peter for not being in step with the truth of the Gospel. He asks Peter, again this is a Jad paraphrase, but he asks, “How is it you Peter, want these Gentiles to live like Jews, when you don’t even do it?” While Peter had never explicitly said that these Gentiles needed to live like Jews, his behavior, his withdrawal from fellowship with the Gentiles did. That is why Paul’s next line says, “We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners.”

Gentile Sinners?

We have to remember the context that nearly all Jews at the time grew up with. They were God’s chosen people. It was God who set them apart through Abraham. We see this in the book of Genesis. Genesis 12:1-3 says

Genesis 12:1–3 “1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.””

We see God establish the sign of this covenant in Genesis Chapter 17:9-14.

Genesis 17:9–14 “9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.””

The Jews were God’s people

This was the people God had set apart as His own. God had established them. He had delivered them from Egypt and brought them to the promised land and He had given the Jews His Law. It is easy to see how they would come to describe others as Gentile sinners. Look how the Pharisees respond to Jesus in John 8 when he tells them that the Truth will set them free.

John 8:33 ESV

They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

This is ironic considering their most revered prophet was Moses who God used to deliver them from bondage, they had been exiled to Babylon, and they were currently under Roman rule and occupation. The Jews had developed and idea that because God had chosen the nation of Israel there was a superiority to everyone else. There is a sense in which this is true, but not in the way that the circumcision party thought to be true. Paul recognizes this and the advantage both Peter and himself have being born Jewish.

Romans 3:1–2 “1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.”

The advantage they had was the fact that they had the scriptures, the oracles of God. Paul uses this language here when he says Gentile sinners. Paul turns it into those who have God’s word as opposed to those who do not. It is because of this advantage that Paul and Peter know that no one can be justified through the Law.

Galatians 2:15–16 “15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law

Endeavor to be Justified in Christ

Galatians 2:17–18 “17 But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor.”

Paul is refuting an objection here. The argument is, “Christians still sin and a subject to it’s power, they don’t have the law to stop them, so isn’t Christ then endorsing sin?” It is similar to the one we hear today, all Christians are just hypocrites. They say one thing and do another, so why would I believe in the person they say changed them?

Paul’s response to this argument is certainly not!. If we continue to sin and here he is talking about rebuilding the Law; it does not show the character of Christ rather it just proves us to be sinful. The blame for my hypocritical attitude lies on me and not Him. But what is Justification if i can go on sinning?

What is Justification?

Lets go back to verse 16. Galatians 2:16 “16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

Paul states here that both He and Peter knew that a person could not be justified by the works of the law. But why not? Why is it that they know that a person cannot be justified by the works of the law? Merriam-Webster defines Justification as the act, process, or state of being justified by God or He judges, regards, or treats us as righteous and worthy of salvation. That at least gives us a bit of a definition for Justification, but that didn’t really answer our next question, why can we not be justified by works of the law? Turn with me to Psalm 14. In Psalm 14 David writes:

Psalm 14:1–3 “1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

In the Psalm here, David says that the fool is the one who, says there is no God, the fool is corrupt and does abominable deeds, but David says there are none who does good and in verse 3 They have all turned aside; there is none who does good, not even one. In David’s time, he says the Lord looks down on men and doesn’t see one who does good. David a man described as a man after God’s own heart, includes himself in this. There is none who does good, not even one. So now we get to Roman’s 3. I will start with Romans 3 verse 9.

All are guilty of sin

Romans 3:9–12 “9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””

Paul tells us we are all under sin, he even quotes Psalm 14 here, but he leaves out the part about the fool, to make sure his readers get it. But my good will outweigh my bad you say, I have been a good person most of the time. Paul has an answer for that argument, jump to verse 19 Romans 3:19–20 “19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” I would like you to imagine you are in a court room, in front of a judge for going 70 mph in a 50 zone. He is about to pass your sentence, but you raise your hand and tell him that you are a good person most of the time. You go to church, you volunteer your time, and give to the needy, if he is a truly just judge that doesn’t matter. You are still guilty and he must still pronounce judgement on you.

The law is only capable of showing us how sinful we are. We are each accountable because we each break the law. This is why in our passage in Galatians Paul tells us by works of the law no one will be justified. You cannot pay for sin through keeping the rest of the law. We all as verse 23 says, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and Romans 6:23 tells us the wage of sin is death.

It is a gift

Galatians 2:16 “16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”

This leads us to another question, how can a good God forgive sin? How can he look on us the sinful people we are and not give us the wage of death we deserve? If we are truly guilty there has to be a penalty or fine for our sin. Back to our courtroom analogy, the judge has to pronounce a sentence upon us for speeding.

Romans 3:24–26 “24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

It is as if the judge stepped down from his bench, and pays the sentence he declared. God stepped down from his thrown, to live the perfect life, that our penalty might be paid through his blood. He was beaten, stripped of his dignity, hung on the cross, and had all the wrath of God that was rightfully ours poured out on him. Justification does not excuse our sin, nor does it endorse our sin, but rather it has been fully paid through the suffering of Jesus. He substituted himself in our place. So that those who’s faith is in Jesus can be justified

We are no longer under the penalty of our sin

We are restored to God’s favor

The righteousness of Christ is credited to our account

These three points are adapted from Henry Thiessen’s Lectures in Systematic Theology. This all happens the moment of our salvation. So we are justified and we already saw that this does not give us free reign to live in sin.

I Died to the Law

Galatians 2:19 “19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.”

It was through Paul’s knowledge of the Law he saw just how sinful he was. It is through the Law that I see that I cannot be good enough to be Justified before God. There is nothing in me by my own power, that can keep the Law. I have worshipped other things before Him. I bear his name, I am a Christian and yet I do not live up to His standard, I have taken his name in vain. I have been guilty of what Jesus says is murder,

Matthew 5:21–22 “21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

I have lied, I have stolen, I have coveted. On my own power I am guilty, I am evil and do not seek God. The law demands my death. Through the law I died, the law when I am honest kills me, it shows me how completely inadequate I am and how desperately I need God to save me. In him I am a new creation 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

We can now live for Him, we no longer live in fear, or doubt, we now can live for his Glory through His power. When Jesus said come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, He spoke to those who lived under the burden of sin trying to perfectly keep the law, knowing how short we fall every moment. And yet through him we can find rest we can live by his power and through Him.

If you have not already, place your faith in Him, find the peace and rest he offers. He paid the price each one of us deserves to pay. If you have, Live to God. Abide in him, take his yoke upon you and he will work in your life. Making sanctifying you and making you more like him everyday.