I am Weak, But He's Able
Mountaintop Faith Experiences Don’t Last
Faith must be trained and targeted
Remember Who you’re dealing with
I can’t - but Jesus can
The Power of Prayer
Jesus is My Help
[IV. Concerning Justification]
[1] Furthermore, it is taught that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God through our merit, work, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith [2] when we believe that Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us. [3] For God will regard and reckon this faith as righteousness in his sight, as St. Paul says in Romans 3[:21–26*] and 4[:5*].
[V. Concerning the Office of Preaching]
[1] To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments. [2] Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel. [3] It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe.
[4] Condemned are the Anabaptists and others who teach that we obtain the Holy Spirit without the external49 word of the gospel through our own preparation, thoughts, and works.
[VI. Concerning the New Obedience]
[1] It is also taught that such faith should yield good fruit and good works and that a person must do such good works as God has commanded for God’s sake but not place trust in them as if thereby to earn grace before God. [2] For we receive forgiveness of sin and righteousness through faith in Christ, as Christ himself says [Luke 17:10*]: “When you have done all [things] …, say, ‘We are worthless slaves.’ ” [3] The Fathers also teach the same thing. For Ambrose says: “It is determined by God that whoever believes in Christ shall be saved and have forgiveness of sins, not through works but through faith alone, without merit.”
5245 “Whom Are You Doubting?”
I often use this illustration told by J. Wilbur Chapman, to close the message:
I will tell you how to be saved, and how you may know you are a Christian. I was studying for the ministry, and I heard that D. L. Moody was to preach in Chicago, and I went down to hear him. I finally got in to him after the meeting, and I shall never forget the thrill that went through me, when he came and sat down beside me, an inquirer. He asked me if I was a Christian. I said, “Mr. Moody, I am not sure whether I am a Christian or not.”
He asked whether I was a church member, and I said I was, but was not always sure whether I was a Christian or not. He very kindly took his Bible and opened it at the fifth chapter of John, the twenty-fourth verse, which read as follows: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
Suppose you had read that for the first time, wouldn’t you think it was wonderful? I read it through, and he said: “Do you believe it?” I said, “Yes.” “Do you accept it?” I said, “Yes.” “Well, are you a Christian?” “Mr. Moody, I sometimes think I am, and sometimes I am afraid I am not.”
He very kindly said, “Read it again.”
So I read it again, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”
Then he said, “Do you believe it?” I said, “Yes.” “Do you receive Him?” I said, “Yes.” “Well,” he said, “are you a Christian?”
I just started to say over again that sometimes I was afraid I was not, when—the only time in the years I knew him and loved him, he was sharp with me—He turned on me with his eyes flashing and said, “See here, whom are you doubting?”
Then I saw it for the first time, that when I was afraid I was not a Christian I was doubting God’s Word. I read it again with my eyes overflowing with tears.
Since that day I have had many sorrows and many joys, but never have I doubted for a moment that I was a Christian, because God said it.
Now what I ask you to do is to plant your feet upon this promise, and say, “Yes, from this moment I know I am a Christian.”
—Carl Johnson