Sola Fide - Faith Alone

Our Scripture lesson this morning comes from Ephesians 2:1-10, which was one of our texts last Sunday. There are two reasons why I have chosen to read from this text again: First because it is such a key for not only understanding the role of grace in salvation, but also of faith. Second, it highlights that both grace and faith can only be properly understood in relational terms. We often reduce Christian doctrine to a cold intellectual exercise, when in fact it should drive us to a warm, heart-felt relationship with God! God is gracious towards the human beings He has created because He loves them and created them to be in a relationship with Him. Conversely, faith is the only appropriate response to such a gracious and loving God. The lack of faith is a sign of how deeply a person’s relationship with God has been damaged by sin.

Let us now hear God’s Word to us from Ephesians 2:1-10.

Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

I want to begin today’s message by reviewing one of the key points of last week’s sermon:

Grace Describes God’s Relationship Towards Sinners

We saw this very clearly in Exodus 34:6-7, but we also see it in Ephesians 2:1-10. Paul begins chapter 2 with a brutal assessment of the human condition—we are dead in our trespasses and sins! This is not a pretty picture, because to be spiritually dead means we have no hope within ourselves. For this reason many have rejected the biblical doctrine of sin—they refuse to believe that a person is in such bondage to sin that they are spiritually helpless and hopeless.

This is a frightening place to be when you don’t know or believe that God is gracious and merciful. As I pointed out, most people assume that God’s first response to our sin is wrath and judgement. Of course the Bible does say that God judges sin and that sinners are under his wrath. Last week we saw from Exodus 34, that God “will by no means clear the guilty” and in today’s passage that all of mankind are “by nature children of wrath.”

However, judgement and wrath are NOT the emphasis of these two passages or the rest of Scripture for that manner! Humanity may not have hope within themselves, but because God is merciful and gracious there is great reason for hope! In order that we would not miss the reason for our hope Paul says this right after he reminds us that we are all by nature “children of wrath”:

Ephesians 2:4 ESV

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

Paul does not stop there, in verse 7, he writes this:

Ephesians 2:7 ESV

so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Did you catch the significance of this? It will not be until the age to come that the fullness of the grace God is giving us now, will be fully appreciated! Only resurrected minds will have the ability to comprehend what God has done for us in Christ Jesus!

Last Sunday, using Exodus 34:6-7, I said that grace is God’s first response towards human sin. Because we are so ungracious to other people, we assume that that is the way God deals with us. The bible certainly speaks of God’s justice and his wrath towards sin and sinners, but this is not his first response. Perhaps it would be good that we look at that passage again so we can see it for ourselves.

Exodus 34:6–7 ESV

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Two things about this passage that teach us that grace is God’s first response towards human sin. First the order: grace comes first and after grace comes judgement. Second, the extent, God shows grace and love for thousands of generations, but judgement only until the fourth generation! This order and comparison are not accidents. We find this throughout Hebrew literature. This is the way the Hebrews communicated truth and the truth they are communicating is that God’s grace takes priority over His wrath!

The devil of course wants us to believe otherwise. He comes to us as a false christ and attempts to reverse the order. His name Satan, means Accuser and Jesus taught that by nature he is a murder. His desire is to kill all hope within us, so that we will not turn to God in faith.

Because this series is on the five key Reformation doctrines, I want to use some of the Reformer’s quotations to illustrate my points. As to this Satanic lie that God’s wrath takes priority over God’s mercy, Martin Luther wrote:

Luther’s Works, Volume 26 Who Has Bewitched You?

This was a sheer lie, a bewitchment of the devil, and a fanatical definition of an alien Christ, about which Scripture knows nothing at all. It depicts Christ, not as a judge or a tempter or an accuser but as the Reconciler, the Mediator, the Comforter, the Savior, and the Throne of grace.

God is a God of grace, and when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see that grace our hearts are filled with love and faith towards him. John Calvin, another Reformer, makes this observation:

But how can the mind be aroused to taste the divine goodness without at the same time being wholly kindled to love God in return? For truly, that abundant sweetness which God has stored up for those who fear him cannot be known without at the same time powerfully moving us. And once anyone has been moved by it, it utterly ravishes him and draws him to itself.

Our being “ravished” by the beauty of God’s love and grace points us to the true nature of faith and our second point:

Faith (or the Lack of) Describes Our Relationship to God

John Calvin very intentionally used the word “ravished,” for he understood that when Scripture speaks of the relationship between Christ and His church. Just as a bride is to receive and rest in the arms of her husband to protect and provide for her, so we are to receive and rest in Christ. Paul beautifully describes it this way:

Ephesians 5:25–32 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

Christ is a husband worthy of our trust, that is the whole point! Paul is saying to men, be husband worthy of trust, just like Jesus! But if Christ is worthy of our trust, it would be wrong for us not to give it to Him. That is why I said Faith (or the Lack of) Describes Our Relationship to God. Faith is the indicator of how healthy our relationship with God is. You see...

Only Through Faith Alone Can You Enjoy a Saving Relationship with God

Many people think we are saved by faith. It is not that uncommon to hear someone say, “Faith is the only thing that you can contribute to your salvation.” This is a very dangerous thing to say, because it makes faith a work and something we can boast in. It is very easy to look at the unbelief of other people and take pride in the fact that we are not like them—at least we believe!

But in our text today, Paul excludes both works and pride.

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

That said, faith IS something we do, something we MUST do to be saved! So what role does faith play and why must do have it? We have already been told by Paul that it is by GRACE that we have been saved. So it is grace, not faith that saves us. The word “through” is telling us the instrument by which we can enjoy this salvation.

Martin Luther and the other Reformers liked to speak of faith being like a bowl.

Imagine yourselves as a refuge in a food line. You have waited all morning to receive your ration. You see the people before you cupping their hands into bowls to receive the food. When the time comes for you to receive your food you refuse to cup your hands and as a consequence your food falls to the ground! Faith is nothing more than our cupped hands by which we receive God’s grace!

True faith is humbling—it is nothing more than being like a beggar holding out his hands to receive God’s bounty! As Paul writes to the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

So many reject the doctrine of Salvation by Grace Alone, Though Faith Alone because they want to leave room for human boasting. Last Sunday I spoke of the difference between Rome’s view of “infused” grace verses the Reformers view of “imputed” grace.

Rome viewed (and still views) grace and righteousness as something God infuses us with. If we make good use of that grace and become righteous in our own deeds we will be saved. This is one of the reasons Rome invented the doctrine of Purgatory, obviously no one in this life obtains the perfect righteousness needed to be in God’s holy presence, Purgatory gives them more time to work things out.

Contrast this with the biblical view of Righteousness by Faith. There is perhaps no passage that more beautifully illustrates this than Philippians 3 where Paul gets very personal and shares with his readers the transformation of faith that took place in his life.

Philippians 3:4–10 ESV

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Earlier we heard John Calvin say that true faith is “ravished” by the beautify of God’s grace, mercy, love and faithfulness—Paul clearly is a man who was ravished by the beauty of Christ! He looks at all the things he once trusted in and took pride in and now considers them as “rubbish”! Once you have seen the righteousness of Christ, no other righteousness will do nor is any other righteousness needed!

Now some call this imputed righteousness a “legal fiction.” How can God receive me as righteous, based on Christ’s righteousness? This is were the marriage metaphor we spoke of earlier is so helpful. Using Ephesians 5, Martin Luther explains how by faith we can be justified and counted righteous.

But faith must be taught correctly, namely, that by it you are so cemented to Christ that He and you are as one person, which cannot be separated but remains attached to Him forever and declares: “I am as Christ.” And Christ, in turn, says: “I am as that sinner who is attached to Me, and I to him. For by faith we are joined together into one flesh and one bone.” Thus Eph. 5:30 says: “We are members of the body of Christ, of His flesh and of His bones,” in such a way that this faith couples Christ and me more intimately than a husband is coupled to his wife. (Luther’s Works, Vol. 26: Lectures on Galatian)

The point Luther is making is this: In a biblical marriage, all that a husband owns becomes the property of his wife, in the same why, all that Christ owns becomes the property of His bride-the church! The righteousness that Christ has earned by his perfect obedience becomes His bride’s righteousness! This is the “righteousness of God” revealed in the gospel. As Martin Luther was prepared his lectures on the book of Romans, the light of the Gospel finally opened his eyes as he read these word:

Romans 1:16–17 ESV

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 was the verse that launched the Protestant Reformation. Righteousness is not earned, it is received by faith! This is why our text calls salvation a “gift.” Gifts are received not earned!

We have seen today that God is a loving and gracious God. He has prepared the most valuable, the most necessary gift that has ever been given—salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Have you received that gift by faith? There is no other way to be justified and righteous before God. Today is the day of salvation. Tomorrow might be too late. Stop believing the lie that God has to be appeased by your good works. By faith give your sin to Christ and He will give you his righteousness!

Let us pray.