The Festival of the Reformation

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Scripture Alone. These three Solas remain inseparably connected to the Reformation and to those churches, like ours, which continue to confess the doctrine taught by our fathers in the faith who coined these terms. This doctrine of salvation by grace alone through faith alone is perfectly revealed to man by Scripture alone. This is the heart of our Lutheran confession. But there are those who reject this truth: From the Pharisees of our Lord’s day to the Arian heretics in the days of St. Athanasius. From the Iconoclasts in the days of St. John of Damascus to the Papists of Martin Luther’s day. From the Prussian Unionists in the early days of CFW Walther to the progressivist heretics of our own day. The true Church of God is constantly under threat. The words of our Lord in today’s Gospel text are eerily prophetic for every age of the Church:

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

But we, dear friends in Christ, have the truth of Scripture. We confess the true doctrine, which is so succinctly summarized by the three Solas: Grace Alone. Faith Alone. Scripture Alone. This is the foundation of Christ’s Church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (cf. Matthew 16:18). For as we sang earlier: For us fights the valiant One, whom God Himself elected (LSB 656:2). In the face of persecution, suffering, or doubt, this is our only comfort. Indeed, this is what matters most. And so, if you forget all else, remember this, for it is not only your hope of eternal salvation, but it is also your strength and comfort in this life: You are saved by grace alone through faith alone as perfectly revealed by Scripture alone. Let us further consider what this means and how it is our only comfort in this life.

First, salvation is by Grace Alone. And we must be clear for the sake of our obtuse opponents who accuse us of logical inconsistency that when we use the word “alone” we do not mean “to the exclusion of all else”. If such were the case, then “Grace Alone” and “Faith Alone” would be contradictory statements—if you have both grace and faith (let alone Scripture), then they are not “alone.” But that is not what we mean by “alone.” When we say, “Grace Alone”, we mean that man is justified by grace in isolation from alternatives. In other words, we are saved (which is just another way of saying that we are justified) by grace, not by our own merits or worthiness.

The Apostle says in today’s Epistle that we are “justified freely by [God’s] grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood” (Romans 3:23-25a). Note those words, that we are justified freely by His grace. Grace, by definition, is a gift—something which is offered to another, though not deserved. And the fact that the Apostle also uses the word “freely” further emphasizes that your character, your behavior, and your worthiness does not enter the equation. The Lord God loves you in Christ simply because He has chosen you. You are His. Like a parent who chooses a child for adoption and then loves him unconditionally for the remainder of his life, so too does God choose you. And He has sealed this adoption by the blood of Christ, whereby you who were once an enemy of God are made His son or daughter. All the wrath and ill-will that God should rightly have toward you because of your sinful rebellion against Him, He pours out upon Christ. And now, He sees you as nothing less than His child—and all this is by Grace Alone. For He has chosen you.

Second, salvation is by Faith Alone. Again, we have already said that we do not mean to set grace and faith against each other. Rather, we mean to say that salvation is by faith apart from works. The Apostle makes this clear at the end of today’s Epistle. Having articulated that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, he concludes:

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law (Romans 3:27-28).

Here we have it clearly stated: Man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. No human works are involved in salvation. It is faith alone that justifies. Our works serve our neighbor and supply the external proof that our faith is living, as the great hymn says (cf. LSB 555:9). The technical theological term for this is Divine Monergism. “Mono,” of course, means “one.” And so, we confess Divine Monergism, namely that God is the only one who brings about our salvation.

What role, then, does our faith play? And how is a confession of salvation by faith alone distinct from the confession of salvation by grace alone? Both questions are answered in the same way. Grace Alone describes the motivation of Christ’s salvation of humanity—it is His love alone and not our own worthiness which motivates Him to go to the cross. Faith Alone describes how the merits of Christ’s cross are received. We do not earn a right standing with God, nor do we merit His favor and grace through our own actions. His grace and love are received by faith alone. The Augsburg Confession summarizes this most clearly:

Our churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By His death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight (Augsburg Confession, Article IV).

So it is that Faith Alone describes the means by which one receives the grace of God—simply by believing. For faith—which, to be sure, is also a gift of God—faith receives the promises of God. All that is left, then, is to know where the promises of God can be reliably known, namely in Scripture Alone.

Third, then, we confess that salvation is by Scripture Alone. We cannot know Christ rightly apart from the divine revelation of Scripture. Tradition and the witnesses of the fathers are important because they bear witness to the trustworthiness of God’s Word. But Scripture Alone is our only sure source of divine comfort. For in it “the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22). In other words, true doctrine cannot be known, nor can Christ be known apart from Holy Scripture. Therefore, we must hold the Bible in highest regard because, speaking from an earthly perspective, it is the source of God’s revelation to humanity. It is God’s very word—the only place where He reliably and definitively teaches man about salvation by grace through faith. Therefore we cannot hold Scripture in high enough regard. And we cannot hear it and read it enough. For Scripture alone gives us the very words of eternal life (cf. John 6:68).

Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone as perfectly revealed by Scripture alone. This is the truth. And it is a truth which is profoundly comforting. We so easily get lost in the business of life or in worrying for the future. But let us take just a moment to rest in the comfort of this truth. You are saved. You are justified. You are righteous in God’s sight. God has declared it. And if God says it, then the matter is settled; you don’t need anything else. You are a baptized child of God, and no one can take this away from you.

Dear friends in Christ, this truth is the firm foundation upon which the church shall stand, even when steeples are falling (cf. LSB 645). This congregation may prosper and grow, which is my prayer and expectation. But it also may shrink and come to an end. You may receive a new pastor quickly, which, again, is my prayer and expectation. But it also may take a considerable amount of time to receive a new pastor. You may remain at this congregation a long time or you may depart soon. In the grand scheme of eternity, these things are but details. For what matters most is salvation by grace alone through faith alone as perfectly revealed by Scripture alone. This gift is yours in Christ. No matter what suffering or difficulty you may face, no matter what violence may be inflicted upon you, I pray that God the Holy Spirit will preserve and keep you in this faith always.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.