Romans 3:10-26 (Sola Fide)

Introduction

In 1502, Cardinal Giovani de Medici (the man who would soon become Pope Leo X) commissioned a Dominican monk of the Roman Catholic Church to preach on indulgences. The monk was John Tetzel, and indulgences were (and still are) part of the Roman Catholic system of penance and the forgiveness of sins.

After some success, Albert of Mainz (another Roman Catholic leader) appointed Tetzel to preach in a handful of German areas for the purpose of raising money to repay a big loan he just got in order to buy his new promotion in the Church. Tetzel was not allowed in Saxony because Frederick the Wise had forbidden him from coming into his territory. Wittenberg was in Saxony, but another town nearby was not, so Tetzel went to Jüterbog, and many people from Wittenberg went out to see and hear him.

This was too much for the young Augustinian monk who was a new preacher and theologian in Wittenberg. That monk’s name was Martin Luther, and after hearing that some of his townspeople had bought into what Tetzel was selling, he wrote 95 theses (or arguments), condemning the sell of indulgences. These were the now infamous 95 theses that Luther nailed to the chapel door in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517.

An indulgence (according to past and present Catholic teaching) is “the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins.”[i] And an indulgence is obtained “through the Church who… opens… the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishmentsdue for their sins.”

These notions of temporal punishments and a treasury of merit and a priesthood which grants access… these are all part of an elaborate system of classifying sins, structuring the path toward forgiveness, and funneling the whole thing through the institution of a worldly priesthood (Christ’s representatives on earth)… and these are still fundamental to Roman Catholicism today.

According to a decree issued by Cardinal Angelo de Donatis in May of this year, Roman Catholics may receive a plenary indulgence anytime in 2025 by making a pilgrimage to any of the four major basilicas in Rome.[ii]

… Friends, the divide between Roman Catholics and Protestants is still real and it is still wide…

In the early 1500s, John Tetzel would roll into town with a big entourage (the latest Martin Luther movie, that came out in 2003, depicts this well). Tetzel would display paintings of people burning, and even light fires around them to enhance the effect.

Then Tetzel would say, “Friends of this town, you have heard how your loved ones suffer in purgatory. You have heard their cries. The flames have reached up and licked your very own boots.”

“How shamefully,” Tetzel would accuse them, “you go about your business. You spend your money on every little trifle. And, oh, how your loved ones suffer. Enough! Step forward. Leo X, the Pontifex Maximus, Vicar of Christ on earth, has been gracious and merciful to you and has affixed his seal to this indulgence.”

Then Tetzel would make his appeal, “Now come and do your duty. And now you have a very special deal reserved for you. For a few coins, you can free yourself from purgatory. Yes, God be praised, give to the church and the gracious Holy Father in Rome will see to it that you and all your dead relatives will be in Paradise itself, not enduring for a moment the purging flames of purgatory.”

And Tetzel would often recite his famous jingle:

“When a coin in the coffer rings,

a soul from purgatory springs.”

(and it even rhymes in German, “klingt” and “springt”).

Now, without delving into the differences (in Roman Catholic theology) between purgatoryand hell, the question of chief concern with indulgences is: “How can guilty sinners be justified before a holy God?” or “How can sins be truly and completely forgiven?” or “How can sinners be utterly free from their guilt?”

This was the sort of question that haunted the minds of so many people in Western Europe at that time. Their culture was Christianized to a degree that’s hard for us to imagine today. Everyone believed in God; everyone was a citizen of both the state and the church; everyone knew that priests and popes were Christ’s representatives on earth; and everyone knew that they would stand before God on judgment day.

It is not surprising, then, that many people wanted a sureand clear answer to the question “How can guilty sinners be justified before a holy God?” The answer, of course, is that sinners are justified by grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Christ alone. But that answer was not so clear from the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. And that is why many began to protest… and these became known as Protestants.

As I mentioned last Sunday, throughout the month of October, we will focus on what are often called the “five solas” of the Protestant Reformation. This is not because we want to bash Catholics or because we want to idolize Protestants. History is messy, and so is life today. There has only ever been one perfect man, and His name is Jesus Christ.

But the Protestant Reformation was a time when some of the most urgent questions of life and salvation were debated afresh, and I believe the main debates of the Reformation are perennial… they sprout again and again over time… And I also believe that the Protestants of the past can help us think well about those debates (over doctrine and practice) in our own day.

In this topical series, (1) we want to highlight the burning heart of the gospel message, (2) we want to learn a bit of church history, and (3) we want to encourage each other to think of our Christianity as older, richer, and more significant than just our own church or just our own experience.

Let’s turn now to a passage that speaks directly to the material cause of the Protestant Reformation… a passage that speaks to the very heart of Christianity itself… it speaks the divine word about justification for guilty sinners like us.

Scripture Reading

Romans 3:9–26 (ESV)

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.”

13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.”

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

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.

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 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.

Main Idea:

Sinners are justified by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Sermon

1. Reformation Reality

1. Faith plus works

a. The divide between Roman Catholics and Protestants of the sixteenth century was not a disagreement about the necessity of faith.

i. Both Catholics and Protestants agreed, faith is necessary for any sinner to be justified before God.

ii. Rome claimed, however, that faith and works cooperate in justification, and good works even preserve and increase one’s justification throughout life.

b. The Council of Trent (1545-1563) – Counter Reformation

i. Canon 9, on Justification – “If any one shall say, that by faith alone the [sinner] is justified; so as to mean that nothing else is required to co-operate in order unto the obtaining the grace of justification… let him be anathema.”[iii]

ii. Canon 12, on Justification – “If any one shall say, that justifying faith is nought else but confidence in the divine mercy which remits sins for Christ’s sake; or that it is this confidence aloneby which we are justified; let him be anathema.”

iii. Canon 24, on Justification – “If any one shall say, that the justice received is not preserved, and also increasedin the sight of God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of justification received, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema.”

2. The Protestant protest

a. To these anathemas, Protestants responded with a full-throated affirmation that faith alonein Christ is what justifies guilty sinners.

i. Protestants did not deny that Christiansought to do good works, but they did deny that anything other than simple faith or trust in Christ contributed to one’s justification.

b. Martin Luther – “It is a high and excellent matter to be at peace with God; and therefore, in this case, we have need of a far better mediator than Moses or the Law. Here we must be nothing at all, but only receive the treasure which is Christ, and apprehend Him in our hearts by faith – although we feel ourselves to be never so full of sin.”[iv]

c. The Heidelberg Catechism (authored by Zacharias Ursinus in 1563)[v]

i. Q60) “How are you righteous before God?”

ii. “Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. That is: although my conscience accuses me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commands of God, and have never kept any of them, and that I am still prone always to all evil, yet God, without any merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me, if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart.”

iii. Q61) “What do you mean that you are righteous only by faith?”

iv. “Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith; but because only the satisfaction, righteousness and holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God, and I can receive the same and make it my own in no other way than by faith only.”

3. So, how do we know which is right?

a. Last week we focused on the formalcause or fundamental debate of the Protestant Reformation – the question of authority.

b. I argued, in line with the reformers, that Scripture is our ultimate authority in all matters of Christian belief and practice.

c. So, let’s turn to Romans 3 to see how the Bible addresses this question of justification – “How is a guilty sinner justified before a holy God?”

2. Reformation Recovery

1. The nature and state of fallen man (Rom. 3:10-18)

a. The book of Romans is a lengthy descriptionand explanation of the gospel, and it’s also an extensive interaction with some of the implications of the gospel – Romans is a thoroughly gospel book/letter.

b. Chapter 3 is the climax of the description and explanation part.

i. In chapter 1, we learn the sinfulness of all people everywhere.

ii. In chapter 2, we learn that the descendants of Abraham (right along with everyone else)… they are guilty too, even though they had the incredible advantage of receiving the revelation of God’s law.

iii. Chapter 3, then, is a summary of what the Apostle Paul has been saying, and a climactic conclusion about how in the world guilty sinners can be justifiedbefore God.

c. First comes the bad news – “all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin” (Rom. 3:9).

i. What follows in v10-18 is a litany of OT citations that summarize the radical fallenness or total depravity of man.

1. “none is righteous, no, not one” (v10).

2. “no one seeks for God” (v11).

3. “no one does good, not even one” (v12).

4. When they open their mouths, there is the stench of death and the confusion of deception (v13).

5. “Their mouth” is also “full of curses and bitterness” (v14).

6. “Their feet are swift to shed blood” (v15), which means they have no real concern for trampling human dignity and life.

7. And, of course, along such a path as these people walk is a wake of “ruin and misery” (v16) with no knowledge of any peaceful way (v17).

8. In sum, “there is no fear of God before their eyes” (v18).

ii. Friends, this is a description (not an exhaustive one, but an accurate one) of fallen human nature and experience… and it describes the default setting for all people everywhere.

1. Theologians call the human condition after the fall of Genesis 3 “total depravity” or “radical fallenness.”

2. We are not as depraved or wicked as we might be – we could always be worse – but there is no part of us that is not affected by sin…

3. Apart from God’s grace, we are bent toward destruction, we are ignorant and proud, and we have no fear or love for God.

d. In this situation, we might be tempted to think that what we need is a plan… a way out… we need to know how to rectify our position.

2. The failure of the law and works (Rom. 3:19-20)

a. These two verses (19-20) disabuse us of any illusion that there is hope within ourselves.

i. When God’s law is revealed to humanity (both in creation order, generally, and from Mt. Sinai, specially), its purposeand result is not rescue but clear and unmistakable accountability.

b. “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 accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:19-20).

i. The law of God is like a mirror that shows us all our blemishes.

ii. The law of God is like turning on the light in our disastrously dirty room.

iii. The law of God is like a prosecuting attourney who gets access to everything – he reads all your text messages, he opens up all your mail, he recovers all of your deleted internet history, he looks under your bed and in your closet, he talks to all your friends and all of your enemies – and he meticulously documents every sin.

c. Friends, under this kind of exposure, we learn that the description in v10-18 does not speak nearly as bad of us as we deserve.

i. Charles Spurgeon said, “Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied, for if he knew you better he might change the accusation, [but] you would be no gainer by the correction.”

d. Here, then, our mouths must stop… our self-defense must be put down… all we can do is agree with the judgment of God’s law… we are guilty, we are guilty, we are hopelesslyand irreconcilably guilty.

i. God demands righteousness, and we have none… we have the oppositeof righteousness; we have nothing but sin.

e. When we are able (by God’s grace) to acknowledge the true state of our souls… our true hopelessness before God’s law and justice… then we are ready to hear the best news of all time.

3. The justifying (i.e., propitiatory) work of Christ (Rom. 3:21-26)

a. Consider the claim we read here in these next several verses.

i. “21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

1. The Apostle Paul says that there is a way for guilty sinners to have “righteousness,” but it is not “from the law.”

2. Rather, the “righteousness of God” is a gift to be received “through faith in Jesus Christ” by “all who believe” or trust Him for it.

a. This is real hope! But it does not yet tell us how.

ii. “For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25a whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.”

1. Here now, we get to the burning heart of the gospel message!

2. The reformers called this gift of justification a gift of “passive righteousness,” because we do nothing to earn it.

a. God Himself is the active agentin this work!

i. Christ is the “propitiation,” which God the Father “put forward” to reconcile or “redeem” those who believe or trust or have faith in Him.

ii. And, of course, God the Holy Spirit is the one who opens our eyes to this gospel, who brings us to spiritual life, and who applies this divine work on our account.

b. Luther said, “When the devil casts up to us our sin, and declares us worthy of death and hell, we must say: ‘I confess that I am worthy of death and hell. [But] I know One who suffered for me and made satisfaction for my sins, and his name is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So long as he shall live, I shall live also.’”

3. Not only is God the active agent in this work, but this passage teaches us that He is also the primary concern (i.e., His own justice and grace).

iii. “25b 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.”

1. God is the righteous judge, and He does not just let sins or sinners go free… No, He punishes all sin and all sinners.

a. The gospel assurance of justification is that God has already punished my sin in and on Christ, and I am now justified because of what Jesus did for me.

2. Friends, this ought to provoke in us the greatest assurance and hope, not only that God has been gracious to those who believe in Christ, but that He has vindicated His own justice and revealed His own grace in the doing of it.

3. Reformation Resolutions

1. We must resolve never to loosen our trust in Christ’s justifying work.

a. From start to finish, justification is the root of our Christian hope.

i. God Himself (in Christ Jesus) has done what we could never do!

b. Martin Luther suffered from various ailments from his fortieth year onward, and he finally died (due to a series of heart attacks).

i. Luther had preached earlier, “On our deathbed, it is neither fitting nor timely to brood over our sins; this we should do while we are living. But thus, the Evil [one] turns everything upside down for us. While we are living and ought to have the picture of death, sin and hell constantly before our eyes he closes our eyes for us and hides these pictures. At death, when we should have only life, grace and salvation before our eyes, he opens our eyes for us first of all and then frightens us with untimely pictures to keep us from seeing the proper ones.”

ii. But, said Luther, at that moment, we ought to “gaze at the heavenly picture of Christ, who descended into [the grave] for your sake and was forsaken by God as one eternally damned when he spoke the words on the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” Luther said, “In that [cry] picture your hell is defeated and your uncertain election made sure… Seek yourself only in Christ, and not in yourself, and you will find yourself in him eternally.”

c. Friends, the beginning of our hope… and our hope until the very end… is that Christ is our propitiation (He has suffered on our behalf), and we are justified in Him through faith alone.

2. We must resolve never to confuse Christ’s justifying work with our works.

a. The Bible urges us and even warns us that Christians are those who do good works.

i. Just a couple of chapters later in this same book we’ve been considering this morning, the Apostle Paul asks and answers the question: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom. 6:1-2).

b. But we must not confuse the necessity of good works in Christian living with the work of Christ which justifies us.

i. As Luther famously noted, we are simul justus et peccator… simultaneously just (or righteous) and sinner.

ii. Christ alone has lived and died for sinners, and we must continue repenting and believing in His finished work for our justification.

3. We must resolve to make Christ’s justifying work the substance of our gospel message.

a. Martin Luther – “Justification is the article upon which the church stands or falls.”

b. R.C. Sproul – “I’ll give up my relationship to any leader in Christendom over this doctrine; I’ll split my family over this doctrine; I’ll split the church over this doctrine. This is the gospel itself! If the Lord marks iniquity, who shall stand? Well, guess what? He does mark iniquity! And blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.”

c. Friends, this is one of those first level or first tier or primary doctrines.

i. We must fight to believe it… we must fight to keep on believing it… and we must point to it, explain it, and clarify it for those who are not believing it.

Sinners are justified by faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

May God grant us faith in Christ… may He give us fascination and joy in what Christ has done for sinners like us… and may He help us to be faithful witnesses of this good news… until Christ comes.

Endnotes

[i] See the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church in the Catholic Catechism here: https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/372/ [ii] See the decree and further details here: https://www.ncregister.com/cna/how-to-obtain-a-plenary-indulgence-during-the-2025-jubilee [iii] See the canons from the Council of Trent on Justification here: https://www.ecatholic2000.com/trent/untitled-18.shtml#_Toc385685512 [iv] Luther, Martin. Commentary on Galatians. Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997, p. 143. [v] See the full Heidelberg Catechism online in PDF format here: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/a/anonymous/heidelberg/cache/heidelberg.pdf