Sola Fide

Introduction

Well, good morning!

Listen, I’m excited to be here, this morning…I’m grateful for the privilege God’s given me to teach you and shepherd you. I know I say this a lot but thank you so much for calling me to be your pastor…thank you for loving my family and I in the ways that you do. Pastoring FBC, behind being a husband and a father, its one of the greatest privileges I have. And so, thank you, guys, so much!

Alright, before we jump into our message this morning, let’s recite our church memory verse together. Remember its Acts chapter 2, verses 42 through 47. We’ve been learning it in parts…and so, we’re just reciting the first parts this morning, verses 42 and 43…but listen, as we learn this together, don’t forget why we’re reciting it…we spent the first month of the year talking about this passage and what the first century church looked like. We’re learning together because we wanna emulate these first believers. Amen? That’s why we’re putting it on our hearts.

And so, if you’re ready…I’ll begin, you finish it up.

Acts 2:42–43 (ESV)

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

[Prayers]

Alrighty…if you have your Bibles, and I hope that you do…keep ‘em open to Galatians chapter 2 with me this morning. Now, we’re gonna be doing a lot of flipping around as we look at this third Solas together…but if you’re visiting with us, please know that I believe in an expositional preaching strategy. We typically go through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse…and after Easter, which is right around the corner…we’ll get back into the second half of Genesis where we’ll spend a majority of the year just walking through that and of course getting back to our expository preaching foundation…but guys, to understand our topic this morning, we just really have to flip around and bring it all together.

If you’ve been with us these past few weeks, we’ve been walking through a sermon series looking at the five Solas of the Reformation…Five pieces of doctrine that essentially split the Catholic church over 500 years ago and formed what we know today as the Protestant church…which of course includes the Baptist and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and the Church of God…and so on. These five things, they’re what every Protestant church was built on. And the only reason we split into different denominations was because of what we call secondary doctrines such as baptism or the Lord’s Supper…things like that. But these five things, they’re crucial to our faith in Christ and understanding the gospel that’s presented in the Scriptures. It’s the five non-negotiables so to speak.

And so far in our series, we’ve looked at the idea of the Scriptures alone and grace alone. The Scriptures alone, it means that our sole source of authority and sufficiency, its found in God’s Word alone. It’s our foundation of truth…its not meant for us to interpret…its not changing…its not meant for us to decide what we’re gonna believe or not believe…it’s God’s inspired Word to us and every bit of it is true and infallible and inerrant.

Grace alone…it means that our salvation, it’s solely dependent on the grace of God…it’s an unmerited favor, an undeserving favor that God gave to us because of His great love for us. Salvation, it’s not based on anything we’ve done or will do…it’s not based on any kind of work…its solely dependent on God’s love for us. He chose to offer salvation…and He alone determines how and when it’ll be initiated…He determines the conditions of our salvation…because its dependent on His grace. As we saw last week, we were dead and lifeless and God alone gave us life. And so, salvation…its through grace alone.

But if you were paying attention to our passage from last week. Ephesians 2:8, Paul said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Meaning, there’s a piece of it we do own. But to kind of confuse it a little bit more…Paul continues in that verse, “This [faith], its not your own doing; it’s the gift of God.” And so, how can we be responsible for the faith part of our salvation, if that faith’s also not our own doing….meaning, it’s impossible for us to just choose God without God allowing us to choose Him. Biblical faith…which is our topic here this morning, it’s so much different than what many of us see as real faith. But guys, we have to understand this kind of faith because our salvation, its through grace alone and because of faith alone or Sola Fide (Fee-day)…the third Solas.

Listen, Charles Blondin…maybe its a name you’re familiar with. He became very popular in the 19th century when he walked across the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope…a 3 inch rope that stretched across 1100 feet and was suspended 160 feet above the Niagara River. Now, most people would call this man crazy, but he became famous because he didn’t do it just one time, he did it multiple times…he even began testing his limits by doing it blindfolded or on stilts or carrying a man on his back. He was what you would call in expert in this field, right?

But one day, after having walked across while pushing a wheelbarrow, he turned to the people gathered there and he called out, “How many of you believe that I could put a person in this wheelbarrow and push them across the Falls on this tightrope?” Everyone cheered and screamed, “Yes, we believe!” And so, he asked for a volunteer…and listen, the crowd got pretty quiet when they realized he wasn’t joking.

Listen, the point of that story…just because you believe in something, it doesn’t mean you have faith in something. In fact, to have the kind faith it takes to risk everything…to give yourself up for, it can only come from something outside of yourself…something supernatural has to happen in you first…because listen, we saw who we were last week. And that’s the point of faith alone…its not just believing…its not just acknowledging who Jesus is. It’s so much more than that…it’s recognizing what gives you this supernatural faith.

And so, our main passage this morning is Galatians 2:16…which is gonna help us examine our first point, which is…we must be reminded that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone…but we’re gonna flip around to look at our three subpoints…which is biblical faith begins with the right knowledge…biblical faith leads to the right belief…and then finally, biblical faith concludes in absolute trust.

And so, if you’re there with me…let’s look at this first point together.

I. We Must Be Reminded that Justification is Through Faith Alone in Christ Alone (v. 16)

We must be reminded that justification is through faith alone in Christ alone.

Look at our passage with me again. Paul, he’s the author of this letter…Galatians, it was actually one of his first letters written and it was written to a church plant that was struggling with the idea of salvation and how it was obtained…was it through faith in Christ…or were there other requirements like the Jewish laws? And in one of Paul’s most powerful statements, he says in verse 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.”

And so, let me just start by saying this…if we obtained salvation by simply believing in Jesus or believing that the gospel’s true…then that’s all dependent on us, which of course goes against what Paul said in Ephesians last week. Our salvation, our spiritual life…its not because of us…its not our works, its not our belief…because Paul, he also said in Romans that no one seeks after God…so in other words, we can’t simply believe in God on our own. And so, if the Scriptures are all true, it means they can’t contradict each other…In order for us to come to God and actually place a biblical faith in God, He has to lead us to that point…that’s why the grace alone part’s so crucial to our understanding of faith and salvation.

And real quickly, justification and forgiveness, those are two very different things. Forgiveness, that’s the removal of something…something sinful is removed from our record. But listen, justification, that’s the addition of something…which of course the Scriptures tell us is righteousness…righteousness is added to our record.

And listen, this is important because Paul says here that we’re justified by faith in what? Christ Jesus, right? Therefore, righteousness it’s through faith of course, which we’re gonna expound on this morning, but its found in Jesus…He alone’s our source of righteousness…which we’ll talk more about next week. His person and His work are the reasons God sees us as righteous today…we have to be careful because we’re not righteous because of anything we did. Our faith, its still all about Jesus, who He is, what He did, and what He does.

But if you pay attention to Paul’s words here…he’s clear…the only way to experience salvation and justification…its through faith in Christ…its not by works…its not by the law…its all through faith.

Well, I think its important to note that all throughout Scripture, we see different kinds of faith. In James 2:26, we see there’s a such thing as a dead faith…we see in James 2:19, there’s a such thing as a demonic faith, where James shows us that even the demons believe. Paul, he shows us in 1 Corinthians 15:2, that it’s also possible to believe in vain. Meaning, it wasn’t a true faith to begin with. And then we see in places like John chapter three that there’s a such thing as an infinite faith, where someone’s born again and given eternal life. Something in them changes and then faith follows. And listen, this is exactly what Jesus was speaking to in His parable of the four soils…these different kinds of faith.

And so, for those reasons…if faith’s so important to our salvation and justification, I think its crucial that we make sure we have the right kind of faith, a faith that actually justifies, a faith that saves…which the Scriptures shows deals with the right knowledge, and the right belief, and the right trust. And the faith the reformers staked their flag on…this idea of faith alone, that’s the faith we’re gonna look at…the faith that Paul writes about in Romans 3:28, where he says, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

And so listen, let’s explore what God’s Word shows us about a real faith…which of course begins with the right knowledge.

A. Biblical faith begins with the right knowledge

Listen, when we talk about things like faith…many people, they associate Christian faith as just this blind leap of faith or some kind of step in the dark, right? But guys, our faith, it’s not “object-less faith”…that kind of faith, its all based around emotions or feelings. Meaning, people, they come to God because of some emotion, but yet they didn’t really know anything about God.

Guys, its impossible to have God in your heart…if He’s not first in your mind. That’s what Paul meant when we said we have to confess with our mouth and believe in our heart in Romans 10:9. If you pay attention, it’s impossible for us to believe in our heart because that’s a function of the brain…but listen, that’s what Paul says anyways…and he says that because, faith, it begins with the right knowledge. You’re not just jumping in blindly, following a God you know nothing about.

Having a biblical faith, it involves hearing and being able to articulate the right knowledge. That’s why when I talk to a new believer or someone that wants to be baptized…I ask them about their knowledge of the gospel, right? I want them to demonstrate their knowledge of it.

And listen, there’s two different kinds of knowledge about God in the Bible. There’s what theologians call general revelation, or general knowledge…which of course is seen throughout creation. Psalm 19:1, it says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands.” And so, according to the Psalmist here, creation, it declares that there’s a maker…there’s a God that created all of this. But listen, even though creation gives this great testimony to the reality of God, that information alone, its still incomplete in leading a person to saving faith. They still need a special revelation, or a special knowledge. That’s why the psalmist added in verse 7, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.”…Listen the “law” here, its referring to the Scriptures…meaning the Word of God, it alone, reveals this saving knowledge of who God is…that’s our special revelation about God…and that’s the only place we can actually receive a knowledge that leads to salvation and justification. The Scriptures alone.

That’s exactly why Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 10, starting in 13, “13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Pay attention to that last part there…Paul said, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Meaning that the right knowledge when it comes to biblical faith, it begins with knowing that Jesus Christ, He’s the full and final revelation of God. Because the “faith alone” that saves is faith in Christ; well then, biblical faith, it has to begin with knowing about Jesus…which of course the author in Hebrews says in the first three verses of his letter, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through who also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

The author here, he literally says that in these last days, Jesus, the Son, He’s whom the Father speaks through. Meaning everything He tells us is of God and should be listened to.

And if you know your Bibles, Jesus, He tells us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6.

Listen guys, when it comes to faith, the Holy Spirit…the One that inspired the Scriptures…the One that convicts us and draws us today…the One that’s doing the sanctifying work in us even now…He doesn’t call us to a general “faith”…He calls us to a particular “faith”…to a faith in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But listen, before this faith can be born in us…because that’s what happens, there has to be a knowledge of the One in whom our faith is to be placed, right? That’s why the Reformers stressed not only that the Bible be translated into common languages but they stressed basic literacy as well…in the schools. People needed to be able to read the Bible and see God’s Word for themselves…because its impossible to come to a biblical faith without the right knowledge.

John Calvin, he wrote, “The object of faith is Christ,” and that “faith, it rests upon knowledge, not upon ignorance.”

We don’t obtain salvation because we believe that everything the church does is true…we don’t come to faith as a submission of some emotion we might feel at a certain time…because listen those emotions, they’ll go away just like they do with every other relationship we have. Biblical faith, it’s only initiated when a person learns and understands that God, he’s a merciful Father…and that He’s offers reconciliation through His Son Jesus…who died in our place…who took on our punishment…undeservingly….and its understanding that Jesus’s righteousness, it’s given to us…we can only come to faith when we receive and understand the humility of our position and what God offers…a life of sanctification and entry into the kingdom of God on Jesus’s behalf.

Again, going back to our passage in Galatians…that’s why Paul emphasizes that a saving faith…its a faith in Christ alone. It begins with the right knowledge.

B. Biblical faith leads to the right belief

But listen, once you’ve received that knowledge…and your eyes, they’ve been opened to that true…biblical faith, it leads to the right belief.

Listen, years ago…I worked with this professing atheist. And guys, this man, he could intelligently speak the truths of the Bible…he had read it…he knew it…he could articulate it…eloquently as well. He was able to explain the purpose of Jesus’s coming…the purpose of Jesus’s death…He understood better than most professing Christians that salvation occurred after someone repented and believed in the gospel. His knowledge of the Bible, it was literally impeccable…but guys, even though he knew the content of the Bible well…he didn’t believe a word of it.

Listen, its entirely possible to have the right knowledge…and still not have a biblical faith.

John wrote in his gospel, chapter 1, verses 11 and 12:

John 1:11–12 (ESV)

He [Jesus] came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

Listen, John, he says that Jesus came to His own…people that had the right knowledge about the Messiah…people that knew how Jesus would come…The prophets they gave them all the signs…but even with the right knowledge…there were some who still didn’t believe and receive Him. Only the one’s that actually believed in who He was were given the right to become children of God.

John also says in John 3:16, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

That word “believe” there, its actually the verbal form of the noun, “faith.” This verbal form of faith, it means “to agree with.” Meaning, a biblical faith, its to understand that Jesus died in your place because if He didn’t you were gonna die and be separated for all eternity…its to understand that on your own, without Jesus, you couldn’t have obtained salvation…its understanding that everything about your salvation, it deals with what we talked about last week…grace alone, right? God initiated it…And listen, then it’s agreeing with that knowledge…its humbling yourself and saying, “I’m worthless…and undeserving…and wicked…and without Christ, I’m powerless. I was dead on my own.” It’s agreeing with it. It’s agreeing that Jesus’s sacrifice, it’s sufficient to pay the penalty for my sins and to bridge the gap that separates me from the Father. My mind, it must regard the knowledge I’ve recieved as truth.

But listen, even with the right knowledge and even with the right belief…there’s still something missing…because when we receive the right knowledge and when we believe in that knowledge we begin to understand that our source of justification, its the grace of God, its grounded in the work of Christ…our faith, its just a means…its also something impossible to just wish up ourselves.

C. Biblical faith concludes in absolute trust

As our faith goes from knowing, to believing…something inside us begins to change…the Bible refers to this process as regeneration…we’re reborn, given new life…the Spirit of God, He takes up residence in us…and our belief, it transitions into an absolute trust…and listen, without this third component, there is no saving faith.

This is exactly what Jesus meant when He talked about the parable of the sower. Jesus said:

Mark 4:3–8 (ESV)

“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

That seed that fell among the thorns…they had the right knowledge…they believed in that knowledge…but there wasn’t a genuine trust in that knowledge. The trusting part…our ability to have a biblical faith in Christ, it’s all a supernatural work in us…its a gift of God. That’s why Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:25, “that God may perhaps grant them [the people he’s preaching to] repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” It’s why Luke writes in Acts 11:18 that God granted the believers repentance that leads to life.

It’s why in our passage last week, Paul said in Ephesians 2:8, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—” The grace and the faith, they’re both gifts from God.

Peter, in 2 Peter, he opens his letter up by saying he’s “obtained faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” He obtained it. Meaning, its not something he already had or could do on his own…it had to be given to him.

Paul he says in Philippians 1:29, “For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him,” Faith and trust…it was granted to them.

Here’s the point of giving you all those verses, a biblical faith…its one that absolutely trusts in Christ. You’re willing to give everything up…you’d be willing to get in that wheelbarrow and let Jesus push you across the Niagara River if He really wanted you to. It’s a trusting faith. And that kind of faith, as the Reformers taught and stood on…its not something you just wish up yourself…its one you receive at regeneration…its one you receive when the Holy Spirit comes into you. It’s a supernatural faith. Its a faith you can’t boast in. You’re able to come to Christ…you’re able to follow Christ…you’re able to trust in His promises…that He’ll complete the work He started in you…not because of YOUR faith (that’s an imperfect faith, which the Israelites showed us time and time again…that kind of faith doesn’t last…that kind of faith chooses, over and over again, to walk away from God) its not your faith, it’s all through the faith God’s given you. It’s a sign of your salvation. It’s through “faith alone, in Christ Alone.” We’ll talk about that part next week.

The historic position of the Catholic church was that faith + works, equals justification. But in response, the Reformers, they insisted that it was faith equals justification + works. Meaning, people struggled to truly trust in Christ, because the Catholic church was telling them that everything was dependent on their performance…even their ability to keep the faith or keep believing, that’s still works. But the Reformers, in trying to bring things back to Jesus’s teachings, they shifted the trust and placed it all back on Christ, including the faith part…because real faith or real trust, it can only come from Christ. If we’re given the ability to stop believing or if we’re given the ability to somehow walk away, the Scriptures show us through the Israelites, we absolutely will. As a result, there’s no genuine trust.

And listen, this isn’t God somehow robbing you of your freewill, that’s part of being made in the image of God…you chose to believe what you heard when the Holy Spirit opened your eyes…but what I’m saying, it’s impossible to have a saving faith, without the Spirit transforming you and giving you the ability to fully trust, which’ll maintain you for all eternity.

Biblical faith, saving faith, genuine faith…it always concludes with an absolute trust in the right knowledge. And that trust, its unshakable…it’s undeserving…and it’s all of God…because of His grace alone.

Closing

Martin Luther held “Sola Fide (Fee-day)” to be “the article by which the church stands or falls.”  John Calvin expressed the same thought when he called “faith alone” “the principal hinge on which (all true) religion turns.”

The first verse of Hebrews 11 serves to remind us that “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  As with the testimonies of the men and women that are recorded in that chapter, we see that faith, it doesn’t come without a cost.  J.I. Packer, he wrote that “The life of faith is lived not on beds of ease, but on battlefields. It is surely not for the faint of heart.”

And so, in closing…what does your faith look like today? What do people, around you, say about you as they watch you walk through the different seasons of life? Do they witness a supernatural faith? Because that’s what faith alone’s all about…its about this unshakeable faith in Christ…a faith that’s sufficient for your past…and for your present…a faith that’s sufficient for your future.

Going back to our initial story for just a moment, many had heard of Charles Blondin and they knew of his amazing accomplishments.  They believed in his ability to cross the Niagara on a tightrope, and that’s what they had gathered to see.  But listen, when the call came for a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow, their belief, it was tested and it was found wanting.  The only person who did get in was his agent, and he did so because he knew Blondin, believed in his ability to perform the feat, and he was willing to entrust himself to him.

“Sola Fide!” or Faith Alone…No other doctrine illustrates the sinfulness of man and the fruitlessness of his efforts to save himself.

No other doctrine so glorifies Christ as the sole ground of our salvation.

No other doctrine so establishes the security of the believer in Christ.

No other doctrine’s so vital to biblical preaching and effective ministry in this and every age.

That’s why we mustn’t relinquish it.  And that’s why the Reformation still matters today.

And so, that’s exactly what I want you think about this morning, as you bow your head and close your eyes with me.

What’s your faith look like? Is it strong enough to stand anything this world throws your way? Guys, this earthly life…because of the effects of sin…its hard. There’s sickness, there’s disease, there’s pain, there’s suffering, there’s grief, there’s hurt, there’s death…is your faith strong enough, no matter the circumstances?

A biblical faith, a faith that leads to one’s salvation, its unshakeable in the person and work of Christ. That’s where all your confidence and trust should be. And listen, its not because your own power, its because of the power at work in you. We don’t have the ability to have the kind of strength so many of us have in trying times…its the Spirit in you.

Sola Fide, it was central to the Reformation…and these two words…Faith Alone…it still addresses a fundamental question that each of us have to answer today. After all, life’s short and eternity’s long. One day, we’ll stand before God. It’s an encounter that we can’t escape from. Therefore, we’re to constantly be living in the reality of that coming day. It’s by faith we’re saved, and it’s by faith that we live each and every day, expecting that future day.

And so, are you trusting anything or anyone else, other than Jesus Christ as a means of your justification? Would you seek the Spirit and ask Him that question this morning? Are you relying on faith alone, in Christ alone?

But listen, if you’re here and if you don’t know Jesus this morning, what’s holding you back from turning your life to Him…The Bible says all you have to do is repent and believe…All you have to do is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that He died and that He rose again…believe that He came to be your substitute, that He took on your punishment…and that through Him, you no longer receive death, but you get to look forward to eternal life.

Listen, if that’s you this morning, I just wanna give you a chance to respond to that. I know a lot times, it just seems so overwhelming…you hear about eternity…you hear about the gospel and there’s just so much going through your head.

And so, this morning, if you’re battling with this and you wanna turn your life over to Jesus, you feel the Spirit tugging on your heart…maybe drawing you this morning…all you need to do is repeat after me…you don’t have to use words, you can speak them in your heart…because that’s what matters…it’s what’s going on there, in your heart. These words I’m gonna say, they don’t save you, they’re not magical in any kind of way…they’re just words…but all I wanna do is help you process what the Spirit’s doing in your heart right now, and all I wanna do is help you turn to Him. And so, if that’s you this morning, would you bow your head and just repeat after me?

"Lord Jesus...I believe you are who you say you are....I believe you came into this world and I believe you lived a perfect and sinless life...I believe you went to a cross and wore the weight of my sin....I believe you experienced the punishment met for me...I confess to you now that I am sinful and wicked....I am in need of grace and mercy and forgiveness...Jesus come into my life and fill me with your Spirit....Help me live in your ways and grow me to be more and more like you…I pray this in Jesus's name...Amen!"

Listen, if you prayed that and met those things in your heart...The Bible says that you've now been given a new life...you've been reborn. You now have hope and assurance in your salvation. It tells us that the Spirit of God has now taken up residence in you. But guys, you don't need to keep that to yourself...you need to let someone know. You need to come alongside of a church and let that church disciple you. You need to grow and learn what it means to follow Jesus.

And so, as we close this morning, the praise team, they’re gonna play, I challenge you...let someone know. Come talk to me, let me pray with you. Or if you’re struggling with something or need to just lay something at the feet of Jesus this morning, these steps they’re open. I’m here if you need me.

Listen, you take this time and I’ll close us in just a moment.

[Prayer]