Sola Fide: Faith Alone

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. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Justification cannot be earned (3:19-20)

Romans 3:19–20 ESV

What is justification?

Lexham Survey of Theology Justification

Justification is a Christian’s judicial acceptance by God as not guilty because his sins are not counted against him.

At its root, justification is simply a legal declaration of “not guilty” by God.

Justification cannot be merited.

This can’t be granted to sinners through good works, because even one sin makes us guilty.

Imagine a criminal standing before a judge. He’s been charged with burglary, or whatever crime you want to imagine. Or, imagine that you’ve been pulled over by a cop for speeding. Would the judge be persuaded that you were not guilty of the crime of which you’re accused because of all the times you did good things? Would the cop let you off the hook because of all the times you did obey the speed limit?

No amount of good deeds can justify us before God, because any sin is enough to condemn us. And, as Rom. 3:23 tells us, “all have sinned.”

Story of Martin Luther’s attempts to merit God’s favor.

The Story of Christianity: Volume 2: The Reformation to the Present Day (2. Martin Luther: Pilgrimage to Reformation)

In July 1505, when almost twenty-two years of age, Luther joined the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt. Two weeks earlier, in the midst of a thunderstorm, he had felt overwhelmed by the fear of death and hell, and he had promised St. Anne that he would become a monk.

[But when Luther held his first mass,] he was gripped by terror upon thinking that he was holding and offering nothing less than the very body of Christ. That feeling of terror then became increasingly frequent, for he felt unworthy of God’s love, and he was not convinced that he was doing enough to be saved.

God seemed to him a severe judge...who, in the final judgment, would ask for an account and find him wanting. In order to be saved from the wrath of such a God, one must make use of all the means of grace offered by the church.

But those means were not sufficient for someone as deeply religious, sincere, and passionate as Luther. Good works and the sacrament of penance were supposed to suffice for the young friar’s need to be justified before God. But they did not. Luther had an overpowering sense of his own sinfulness, and the more he sought to overcome it, the more he became aware of sin’s sway over him.

he went to confession as often as possible. But such practices did not allay his fear of damnation. If sins had to be confessed to be forgiven, there was always the horrifying possibility that he might forget some sin, and thus lose the reward after which he was so diligently striving. He therefore spent hours listing and examining all his thoughts and actions, and the more he studied them the more sin he found in them. There were times when, at the very moment of leaving the confessional, he realized that there was some sin that he had not confessed.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (III. The Gospel)

He confessed frequently, often daily, and for as long as six hours on a single occasion. Every sin in order to be absolved was to be confessed. Therefore the soul must be searched and the memory ransacked and the motives probed. As an aid the penitent ran through the seven deadly sins and the Ten Commandments. Luther would repeat a confession and, to be sure of including everything, would review his entire life until the confessor grew weary and exclaimed, “Man, God is not angry with you. You are angry with God. Don’t you know that God commands you to hope?”

Luther sought justification with everything he had in him.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (II. The Cloister)

He fasted, sometimes three days on end without a crumb. The seasons of fasting were more consoling to him than those of feasting. He cast off the blankets permitted him and well-nigh froze himself to death. At times he was proud of his sanctity and would say, “I have done nothing wrong today.” Then misgivings would arise. “Have you fasted enough? Are you poor enough?” He would then strip himself of all save that which decency required. He believed in later life that his austerities had done permanent damage to his digestion.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther II. The Cloister

I was a good monk, and I kept the rule of my order so strictly that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his monkery it was I. All my brothers in the monastery who knew me will bear me out. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading, and other work.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther II. The Cloister

All such drastic methods gave no sense of inner tranquillity. The purpose of his striving was to compensate for his sins, but he could never feel that the ledger was balanced.

In the year 1510, Luther had the privilege of taking a business trip to Rome on behalf of his monastery. The piers of the new basilica of St. Peter’s had only just been laid, and the Sistine Chapel was not yet completed. But, for a Catholic pilgrim, Rome offered a unique opportunity to bank some grace. The Catholic Church taught—and still teaches—that there have been some individuals throughout history who have been more than good enough to merit salvation. Obviously, Christ, but also the Virgin Mary, and the saints (those whom the RC Church have sainted). The merits of these people can be shared with those of us who have been less deserving, by viewing relics, praying to the saints, or making pilgrimage to Rome. To this day, you can view the enshrined popes and relics at Saint Peter’s Basilica and various other places. Since most of us are not good enough to go straight to heaven when we die, we have to go to purgatory. Viewing relics and such reduces the time you spend in purgatory.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (II. The Cloister)

Popes frequently specified precisely how much benefit could be derived from viewing each holy bone. Every relic of the saints in Halle, for example, was endowed by Pope Leo X with an indulgence for the reduction of purgatory by four thousand years. The greatest storehouse for such treasures was Rome. Here in the single crypt of St. Callistus forty popes were buried and 76,000 martyrs. Rome had a piece of Moses’ burning bush...Rome had the chains of St. Paul and the scissors with which Emperor Domitian clipped the hair of St. John...Another had a coin paid to Judas for betraying our Lord. Its value had greatly increased, for now it was able to confer an indulgence of fourteen hundred years. The amount of indulgences to be obtained between the Lateran and St. Peter’s was greater than that afforded by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land...

In front of the Lateran were the Scala Sancta, twenty-eight stairs, supposedly those which once stood in front of Pilate’s palace. He who crawled up them on hands and knees, repeating a Pater Noster [the Lord’s Prayer] for each one, could thereby release a soul from purgatory. Above all, Rome had the entire bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul. They had been divided to distribute the benefits among the churches. The heads were in the Lateran, and one half of the body of each had been deposited in their respective churches. No city on earth was so plentifully supplied with holy relics, and no city on earth was so richly endowed with spiritual indulgences as Holy Rome.

But, when he arrived in Rome, Luther quickly became disillusioned. He witnessed firsthand how many of the clergy were unbelieving and irreverent. But the biggest disillusionment came with this idea that the RC Church was the source of grace and salvation.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther II. The Cloister

He was climbing Pilate’s stairs on hands and knees repeating a Pater Noster for each one and kissing each step for good measure in the hope of delivering a soul from purgatory. Luther regretted that his own father and mother were not yet dead and in purgatory so that he might confer on them so signal a favor. Failing that, he had resolved to release Grandpa Heine. The stairs were climbed, the Pater Nosters were repeated, the steps were kissed. At the top Luther raised himself and exclaimed,

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther II. The Cloister

“Who knows whether it is so?”

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther II. The Cloister

That was the truly disconcerting doubt. The priests might be guilty of levity and the popes of lechery—all this would not matter so long as the Church had valid means of grace. But if crawling up the very stairs on which Christ stood and repeating all the prescribed prayers would be of no avail, then another of the great grounds of hope had proved to be illusory. Luther commented that he had gone to Rome with onions and had returned with garlic.

Luther was beginning to realize, more and more, that mankind had a disease that went much deeper than what the sacraments, relics, and traditions of the Catholic Church could cure.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther III. The Gospel

There is, according to Luther, something much more drastically wrong with man than any particular list of offenses which can be enumerated, confessed, and forgiven. The very nature of man is corrupt. The penitential system fails because it is directed to particular lapses. Luther had come to perceive that the entire man is in need of forgiveness.

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther III. The Gospel

Luther later on formulated what he had learned by saying that the physician does not need to probe each pustule to know that the patient has smallpox, nor is the disease to be cured scab by scab. To focus on particular offenses is a counsel of despair. When Peter started to count the waves, he sank. The whole nature of man needs to be changed.

Good works simply couldn’t do that.

So, how can we be made right before God?

The righteousness of God must be imputed to your account. (3:21-26)

Romans 3:21–26 ESV

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.

It’s not the righteousness of the saints that is imparted to us, it’s the righteousness of Christ alone.

And this righteousness is not gained through rituals or good works, but through faith alone.

Luther had struggled with the phrase “the righteousness of God,” because he thought it meant the righteous standard by which sinners are judged. So, for him, the “righteousness of God” evoked a scene of judgment against a standard he could never live up to.

The phrase “righteousness of God” in this passage refers to imputed righteousness.

Ambiguity of the phrase “righteousness of God”

Eg., “Hunt for Jesus” could mean “we’re hunting Jesus,” “a hunt that benefits Jesus,” “a hunt done because of Jesus,” “a hunt done for the sake of Jesus”

Option 1: The righteous standard of God (by which he judges sinners)

Option 2: God’s righteousness

Option 3: The righteousness which comes from God (imputed righteousness)

Romans 3:21–26 (ESV)

21 But now the [righteousness which comes from God] has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the [righteousness which comes from 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.

You and I have—as Luther came to realize—a terminal illness called sin. In fact, we’re already dead in our sins. Good works are like vitamins. They’re great for the living, but useless for the dead. If you’re dead in your sins, no amount of holy living vitamins can raise you back to life—only the breath of life from God can do that.

We have a sin debt that is so enormous we could never pay it off. What we need is a credit from our heavenly Father to pay off our account. That is the only hope we have—the imputed righteousness of Christ to our account.

Justification comes through faith alone (3:27-31)

Romans 3:27–31 ESV

27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Romans 4:1–8 ESV

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather 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 counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Just as Abraham’s faith was “counted to him as righteousness,” so too will yours be.

You cannot be saved by good works, hail Mary’s, Pater Nosters, viewing relics, or taking communion.

Only faith in the accomplished work of Christ can save. When we attempt to add anything to that, we exhibit a lack of faith that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient.

Are you trusting in your own works to get you to heaven? to gain forgiveness?

Do you realize that outside of the work of Christ, you have no standing before a holy, righteous God?

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