Sunday School: Sola Fide

Romans 4:4-5

We must continue to see that the core problem causing the division among Roman Catholics and the protestant reformers during the 16th century, was not merely indulgences and Luther being upset that people were being ripped off and abused. The core problem substance of the gospel itself.

This article in the 5 solas, sola fide, is what Martin Luther claimed is the very article of faith upon which the church stands or falls. And if we read Romans, or Galatians, or even the words of Jesus, we should come to agree with Luther on this point.

This chiefly has to do with the biblical doctrine of Justification and how a person receives a right standing before God as a sinner.

In other words, we’re answering this question: how can a person be truly be forgiven, set free from guilt, and receive the right to eternal life? Justification by faith alone is the very core of the gospel. If pull this thread and throw it away, the entire ball of yarn unravels. We risk losing everything if we do not get this right.

Let’s look at the Central issue, the great dilemma, the true solution, the instrumental cause or means.

The Central Issue

The Righteousness of God

This is primarily revealed in the law. There is no justice outside of God’s law, and we wouldn’t properly know sin apart from God’s law. The moral law seen in the 10 commandments, is what enshrines or displays the holy Character of God. The law of God gives us a glimpse into His glorious perfection.

But it’s also Seen in the gospel: Romans 1:17 “For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

This is not just speaking of a righteousness that comes from God like his perfect actions, but a quality, an attribute that only belongs to God Himself. It’s a God-righteousness in complete contrast with human righteousness or our righteous deeds. Only God is truly righteous, and in His law we see the true standard of holiness because it’s the reflection of His holy Character. In the gospel we see the righteousness of God.

How? How is this played out? Tale of two Adams.

Adam represented us. He was to take us to glory by perfect obedience to God’s command, but he failed the test through disobedience. It’s like in fantasy sports like fantasy football. When your team wins in real life, you say things like “We won, we scored, we’re doing well.” But you’re not doing anything. You’re just sitting down watching. Why do we talk like that? Because the players represent you and if they lose, your fantasy team loses.

Now we are condemned under the same covenant He was, what’s known as the the covenant of works. The requirement of that covenant remained after Adam. Someone needed to obey this covenant of works, someone needs to obey God’s law perfectly because this is what we originally owed to our creator. God requires all of us, even us who were dead in trespasses and sins, that we would walk in perfect, personal, perpetual obedience. If we don’t we’re condemned. We stand guilty just as Adam did. Obviously we know, we can’t do it.

The Great Dilemma

This is what we’re faced with. It’s what Athanasius of Alexandria called “The divine dilemma.” On the one hand, God will not let his creation crumble and be all destroyed though He would’ve been just in doing so. Scripture reveals God as love and forgiving.

On the other hand, God has to be true to His character and Scripture condemns those who justify the wicked.

Proverbs 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.”

Exodus 34- God “will by no means clear the guilty”

Think about Martin Luther for a moment. He came across this verse in his study: Romans 1:16–17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

This for Luther, was terrible news. Because if in the good news the righteousness of God is revealed, then I’m doomed. What I find when I see the righteousness of God is that I’m in no way righteous. So, God is seen as love and merciful, and yet, He’s horribly just and will by no means clear the guilty… How are those two things reconciled? How is the dilemma solved?

Rome’s solution—Justification: The decree of God over the sinner at the final judgement after the long process of sanctification.

For them, it’s inward transformation. It’s Imparted and infused righteousness by grace administered through the sacraments of the church, causing someone to grow in righteousness over time—In Roman Catholic theology, God can’t justify sinners as sinners. Thus, the ground, or BASIS for someone’s final right standing before God, was their own spirit-empowered righteous living or performance. It was a righteousness inside of them. The big issue is that it was never known whether someone would attain to eternal life.

There wasn’t a measurable standard whereby someone can have confidence that their good works and efforts and cooperation with grace would cause them to stand before God blameless and guiltless.

(Dever) Treadmill analogy—Constant effort, the goal frustratingly always out of reach and uncertain.

To be justified or saved, it was by Faith formed by love. Love for God being at the root of true faith rather than the fruit of true faith. Faith began salvation, but it was faith, plus efforts and works of the moral law of God. Assurance cannot be known, justification can be lost by mortal sin, and you may be finally saved when you stand before Christ so long as you cooperated with this imparted or infused grace.

This reality taught by 1,000 years in the name of Christianity—Justification is the completion of our sanctification (being progressively made holy). As the scriptures plainly teach. If it is by works, then grace is no longer grace. If our salvation has anything to do with our work or effort, then Christ’s death becomes meaningless and we no longer have good news. This is the gross error we’re pushing back against.

They did not bring a true solution because if our obedience isn’t perfect like God requires, then we’re not truly righteous, and we’re still left guilty before God. This is the sorrowful state of humanity in light of Adam’s sin and our original and actual sins. This is what describes us outside of Christ:

Romans 3:10–12 “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.””

The True Solution

The Second Adam

Jesus through His obedience while on earth, earns eternal life because He perfectly obeys the law of God. Someone needed to obey, and Jesus passed the test. But was crucified in the place of all those under the curse of the law. You see, the covenant of works in Adam brings you and me under the curse of the law which is eternal death and condemnation no matter how hard we try to obey. It’s never enough. But Jesus’ righteousness was perfectly accepted by the father in His sacrifice for us and resurrection from the grace so that we can now say, Jesus represented us, and grants to us His own righteousness and perfect obedience. That’s what we call…

Justification by faith

Romans 3:21–25 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 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.”

Romans 4:4–5 “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,”

How does this happen? How can God justly forgive our sins and give us a right standing before Him?

Q. What is justification?

A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins (Rom. 3:24; Eph. 1:7), and accepts us as righteous in his sight (2 Cor. 5:21) only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (Rom. 5:19), and received by faith alone.

Imputation of Christ’s righteousness—Not by impartation, but by imputation. Not “making us righteous” but Declaring us righteous. Justification is not a moral change in you, it’s a declaration about you. It’s a legal decree upon us as ungodly and as sinners.

Think of “imputation” as a banking term. The Bible describes it as crediting. Abraham believed God and it was credited to Him as righteousness. It’s as if you were bankrupt and your savings acount was empty and someone deposits into your account 1million dollars that is not your own. According to the bank, you have a rich status that did not come from you. The bank considers you rich.

In sum, the covenant of grace, also know as the new covenant, says we are brought into union with our creator once again being forgiven, given true righteousness and adoption into God’s family based upon no works of our own.

So what is the Basis for this?

God, because of Christ’s finished work on the cross, considers us, declares us righteous because He credits to our account the perfect obedience of Christ to the whole law. This is the GROUND or BASIS of our right standing before God.

Make no mistake, we are saved by works, justified by works, just not your own works. It’s Christ’s perfect obedience to the law of God and His suffering throughout His life and death in submission to the will of the Father that earns for us true righteousness.

This is how God can legally forgive and set you free, and still uphold His just demands and holy requirements. The penalty for sin is paid by Jesus by our sin being imputed to him on the cross, and His righteous obedience is imputed to me though all i’ve done was stand as an enemy of God.

Now we’re no longer under the law as a covenant of works—meaning, we’re no longer under the law as a means of earning eternal life. Christ did that already in our place. And because He was made a curse for us, instead of getting condemnation, we get His righteousness.

Thus, We receive a righteousness not our own. The phrase to focus on is—outside of you. It’s not a righteousness inside of you like Rome teaches. It’s an alien righteousness, imputed to us. And this righteousness imputed to you is instantaneous—think of the future judgement given to you right now as if the future already happened. Rome says, being just in God’s sight, justification is a process. You can add to it and it can be lost. But according to Scripture, It’s instantaneous. Justification happens at one point and time right now upon belief and it’s secure until that final judgement on the last day.

Now the righteouness of God revealed in the gospel is good news for us. Because we know this side of the cross that it’s a righteousness we receive from God Himself because of the righteous work of His own son.

The Instrumental cause or means

How does one receive it? By Faith

Faith is key

God is not being arbitrary when the requirement to be brought into the covenant of Grace is through faith. It’s not as if it could have been justification by hope, justification by love, justification by kindness, but He chose faith.

It’s not a random virtue.

Faith is a being convinced of the truth and placing total confidence in it. But Christian belief is being convinced of the truth of the gospel and committing oneself to the Christ of the gospel.

It’s not a kind of empty faith that the demons have, it’s a trusting in Christ and having confidence in the promise. That’s why Paul contrasts faith and works in Romans. It’s implied there that faith is NOT a work. Our confession sums up true saving faith this way:

Faith that receives and rests on Christ and His righteousness is the only instrument of justification.

The reformers, in keeping with the Bible, summed up true faith in Christ this way—

Knowledge: We must have a knowledge about the truth, who Christ is, who God is, His finished work for sinners.

Ascent: The conviction that the knowledge you have is actually true. You’re convinced of the truth of the gospel.

Trust: this is the confident resting upon Christ as He is offered to us in the gospel.

All three of these elements are needed for it to be true saving faith.

We can know this is a chair and believe that the chair is real, but then we must sit in the chair. But notice what’s important, it’s not the faith or confidence in itself that saves, it’s what you faith rests upon. In this illustration it’s the chair. The object of your faith is what is key—so faith justifies you, only because of what it holds— like the prongs on a ring, the prongs possess the diomond. and that’s what biblical faith is. Faith is confidence belief in what is unseen and faith is only as good as it’s object that it’s placed in. And for the Christian, Christ and Him alone is the true object of faith.

By Faith Alone

We say alone because we’re denying Rome’s teaching and we’re confessing instead that Faith is the sole instrument of justification. In other words, faith, as it rests upon Christ, is how we possess the righteousness that God grants to us. By receiving and resting upon Christ, we’re united to Him and when we’re united to Him, we receive justification.

Rome says is faith + love for God which is the instrument of salvation or final justification on the last day.

Canon 9

"If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will: let him be anathema." (Council of Trent, Session VI, Canon 9; Denzinger 818)

We’re pushing back and saying, no, faith and only faith in the person of Christ is the means by which a person can be justified. To add works to the mix through infused grace inside of a person still make the ultimate decider of one’s salvation rest upon man and not God.

Going back to the analogy of the ring possessing the diomond. It has to be justification by faith because faith is a receiving and a resting, just like the ring upholds the diamond and like you resting upon the chair. It’s nothing about effort or earning but it’s receiving. That’s why the reformers compared faith to the extended empty hands that simply receives Christ and all of His saving benefits. It’s reliance upon Him. We’re not actually doing anything, faith is a gift from God and in that analogy our hands are simply the means or instrument for receiving something.

So, we have to recognize, since it’s only about the object of faith, namely Jesus, that faith never saved anybody. Even our faith is not the ground of our justification. I already mentioned it. As Luther even discovered, faith only justifies because it possesses Christ.

Christ, His merits, His finished work. We’re not saved BECAUSE of our faith as if God looks at faith as some thing we brng to the table and in exchange he rewards us with salvation. No, we’re not justified BECAUSE of faith, we justified through faith or by faith.

BB Warfield on saving Faith:

'The saving power of faith resides thus not in itself, but in the Almighty Saviour on whom it rests. It is never on account of its formal nature as a psychic act that faith is conceived in Scripture to be saving. ... It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ. ... It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith.”

Implications for us:

How do these truths change our lives day to day?

The World around us is “awash with guilt.”

We seek to do more but feel like we can never do enough.

The crushing weight of social issues around the world that many in the world place upon us make us feel like climbing a mountain of trying to change the world but we can never reach the top.

And to top it off, our lives have often felt like a constant striving to attain a new identity. The world tells us to leave all that we know and find ourselves and what’s at the core of that message: By your own efforts you will be accepted.

We stand day to day knowing that God forever accepts us because we’re hidden in His son.

We stand day to day now knowing that our identity in Jesus is received not achieved by our works.

We stand with confidence knowing our salvation doesn’t depend upon us one bit. Even the faith we possess is a gift from God. And now we as sinners can be declared legally righteous before a holy God. God views you in His son and thus sees you as spotless.

So when the accuser comes to you to remind you of your past sin, or even your present struggle with sin, we say, When satan tempts me to despair…