Ebracing Christ by grace, through our Faith - not by our Work!

Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

At the very centre of God’s movement towards us as Creator, and even more as our Saviour - is the Incarnation the Son of God coming towards us in the closest possible way and then doing His Atoning Work ion the Cross. To really get who Jesus Christ is as the Son of God coming toward us even now with divine and human nature perfectly united for us, and to really get what that moment when he made complete and total atonement on the cross - is simple yet profound and it is “this great mystery”. Historically and theologically, even philosophically this can all be reflected upon - but at the heart of our confession after it has told the story - creation, fall redemption; and people need those well-embedded nail, those teachings of who God is , who we are, what the problem and solution - why before speaking directly of the cross - the justice and mercy of God; but those three arrows, don’t stop flying - as you get that knowledge it now shifts gears, now less the story of what God has done Father and Son, and now what does God the Holy Spirit do- in applying this to people’s lives, in creating and equipping and sustaining people who experience the gospel and who like those arrows now shot into the world for witness!

This article is not about spelling out more knowledge of what Christ has done, but about how the salvation, the grace, the new relationship with God that the knowledge speaks about is acquired!

I once heard a story about a man, whom Princess Anne of Britain dated. who just kept going to school, one college degree after another, maybe I’ll be this, that, accumulated a lot of knowledge in all these spheres, but guess what he never truly experientially acquired any of it - he didn't become a welder, chemist, a politician, or an artist. The facts just really stayed out there. I think eventually he settled on photography.

But the same could be said of all humanity - can get outside knowledge of these events without it changing who we are and what we are relying on for the core of our life! Our confession really presents an either/or that our whole world is in: either we actually embrace this Incarnate God-man and rely on Him and every benefit He’s won - for our standing, identity, and way of life. The Confession says that’s make Christ your own, by true faith; OR your faith, your relying and trusting into is actually more about what you can do - trust in your good works, or your religious performance attendance, rituals, your own choosing and performing. Why when we come to the table we are asking - Coming with Christ alone as our righteousness, or with self-righteousness? Asking not only what or whom are you relying on to be saved, but what or whom are you relying on to keep living. That is what is at stake in speaking of justification - same root word for righteousness - what is the basis of your life, your standing your identity, before the holy God who made you! Is it Christ and all His benefits won in his incarnation, atoning death, resurrection, and ascension Christ and His works and all the benefits that flow from Him; OR is that just God’s first step of saving, even giving you a bit of grace to kick start your salvation; but the new birth, justifying, sanctifying that only comes when you with you and the church working to merit your salvation. Is it your efforts, works, spiritual accomplishments, or is it a combo of the two - where i. Christ gives everyone some grace but the decisive factor is our choosing our response (many evangelicals believe) , or a combo of Christ starting you off in new life but your obedience is what keep s you in it (as RC and some in Reformed Camp - pedaling

That is the issue here and in our OT and NT texts. SO important that even this early in the Reformation, breaks it into two articles, the first makes it so clear issue isn’t our faith, done as the work that merits God’s acceptance. No the cause of God accepting us, communing with us, forgiving and granting us new life - is the righteousness of another grant freely as a gift with no works. So

A. The Source of our Righteousness is not ourselves, but in Christ alone.

George Whitefield greatest sermon on Christ our righteousness. He did so on the basis of this mornings Assurance of Pardon. DO you see the source of our righteousness in 1 Cor 1:30?

1 Corinthians 1:30 ESV

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

The issue of faith isn’t our faith earning God’s salvation, but of our faith getting us in Christ. That’s what Jer 23:6 was predicting:

Jeremiah 23:6 ESV

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

This is all important the source of our righteousness, in understand this justification by pure grace. The source, the cause is Christ and His Work, and the free mercy of God to us, that is simply received through faith. The source in no way is God giving us a bit of grace and then with our help working more grace in us! B. But then when we got that cause understand, then we can turn to that question of how is this received by us - that’s the instrument of our righteous standing with God.

B. Faith is the instrument that merely receives but doesn’t cause our justification.

Do you get that? We’ve just spelled out everything God has done turning towards us in love to come to us caught in this crisis of sinning and running from God - and the question isn’t OK what do we have to do to add our part to patch things up. NO the question is this great mystery of who Christ is , what atonement is - how does that get applied in peoples lives. And the answer is not just - faith! Today you see that word on beautiful little signs, especially around Christmas - BELIEVE - For most people it just means - feeling of faith - believing in anything, as long as you are sincere, and your subjective inner feeling of faith will save you. But no amount of your faith actually works your salvation , even if it is the right thing. The question before us is not about the subject of our faith, but the object of our faith, what are we trusting in - and the answer is so wonderful -it is this God who worked this wonderful salvation, Father and Son moving to us, the Holy Spirit in all ages moves toward us too - and He wakens within us a confidence in the free turning of God to us in Christ.

Life is about relationships. And the primary relationship of life has been broken by the whole human race, guilt, shame, rebellion, avoidance, fear keep us all running from God. But the Holy Spirit alone can give you and I a new heart - so we do trust that God has moved to us in this Christ and we then freely choose to embrace Christ - we believe by this gift of faith from the Holy Spirit - that in Christ we can exist in God’ presence - right standing accepted, and alive to him. This is the first thing we must see then in terms of the grounds of justification - it is the gift by the Holy Spirit to trust in Christ.

Jesus said, unless Father draws, only in Holy Spirit able to say Jesus is Lord. Do you see that the source of the faith that takes hold of justification in Christ, the source is a pure gift, and not a performance of anything we do: Romans 3:24-25

Romans 3:24–25 ESV

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.

Your faith and mine, happens when we get his discovery within us of the Holy Spirit showing us Christ. It is not so much, that our believing is so great, that we say, Id o’t need the facts, just make a blind leap of faith and my faith is so great in Jesus - and then God looks at your faith and then says, well I guess she is going to believe after all, now I will decide to respond to her leap of faith by saving her. No. Faith is the gift of seeing Jesus as your North Star and then trusting everything to his absolute faithfulness to you!

And hear you must hear the language used to describe how such a discovery is made: Look again at that first paragraph:

“We believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ,with all his merits, and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him.” Belgic Confession Art. 22

It is the same as our Catechism

“The Holy Spirit produces [faith] in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it by the use of the holy sacraments.” Heidelberg QA65

Even those who don’t want to speak of God’s sovereign grace, end up speaking like this of the Spirit’s sovereign and powerful work in their lives. Just the knowledge even just the Word of Scripture, God proclaiming the person and work of Christ to us - can’t save us, until the The Spirit - gets us hearing the voice of the One, who is addressing us personally in this proclamation!

Now the source of Justification is important in our day and age where people think there religious experience, their faith is the ground of their salvation, the reason why God saves them, Leaves them like Muslims - wondering if good enough, faith strong enough. But the instrument, the means of justification is so important today - because if we are not pointing people to the Spirit applying the preached gospel - they are left living as if believing is just their religious experience and it doesn’t matter what they are believing in. But look what our confession says: This faith as an instrument is a faith in Christ in all his saving acts - completely saves us: Paragraph 2 - In other words, its the Spirit’s primary work - not to give us high flying super-spiritual feelings and experiences, extraordinary gifts - remember Christ says in John 16:14-15.

John 16:14–15 ESV

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Our faith is just relying on what the Spirit reveals about Christ to us - he appropriates it and allies it in our lives, and our faith is simply the great big receptor that the Spirit has formed in our hearts to receive Christ and all His benefits. In other words, if you get the instrument of faith down, very practically won’t just be looking within judging whether have enough faith, enough spirituality, enough to be right with God. That leads to self-confident parading performing holy-rollers on one side and dejected timid believers who don’t live with freedom that they are liberated and right with God on the other. But you understand faith as an instrument that Spirit has granted for you to not only get in right relationship with God, but to keep living everyday in that relationship - than faith firmly fixed on Jesus and receiving His benefits!

This is why the Confession states words that some evangelicals would cringe at, even though they are biblical truths. Last part:

“However, we do not mean, properly speaking, that it is faith itself that justifies us— for faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, our righteousness.”

Some evangelicals will say, even if they mean differently that God has done his part, but what saves you is when you do your part, and so when you do your part, it is your act of faith that actually brings that change in your relationship with God. They would say you are saved by your faith as the cause of your salvation and God’s change in your life. But that is not what Scripture nor the Reformers mean when they say, justification by faith, more specifically saying faith are empty hands receiving what God graciously gives, just the tool to receive the cause. Listen to Ephesians 2:8-9

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.

And do you see how that will change how you think of faith and use it in the future. Not just saved by believing some unbelievable miraculous facts or saying some words, or your will choosing Christ as the way you live. Something much more wonderful happens than that. When the Holy Spirit awakens faith in you, you embrace Christ, not only for your justification, but for how you live day by day drawing from Him new life, peace righteousness. He is our righteousness, our justification, but faith is also relying on Him day day by - to save you to the uttermost, receiving Him for your sanctification.

But Jesus Christ is our righteousness in making available to us all his merits and all the holy works he has done for us and in our place. And faith is the instrument that keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits.

DO you see it, you believe God loving, planning predestinating, God sending his, the Son stepping forward becoming incarnate like us in every way, dying for us ,raising us united to Him - ascending representing us in heaven - You believe that’s all necessary for your salvation, pure free grace and mercy. But do you understanding this particular God moves toward us in His Spirit and Word, and working togetehr Jesus saving to the uttermost - people in the world today, including you and me - and that is just as necessary - and this part of the confession explains our receiving this salvation, and the church living in it and extending it to the whole world!

Well, if this is all true we should ask with the Confession, if Christ’s righteousness is so good, is it completely and totally sufficient so we don’t have to add any of our good works, any of our ritual any of our spiritual experience to it. This is the third point of this sermon, not only knowing the source, and the instrument of justifying faith. But its sufficiency.

C. For Salvation: Christ plus anything, is nothing!

Here we meet some strong strong words. Fighting words. Words that go to the heart of our witness to the world. Here they are from our text: Romans 4:5-6

Romans 4:5–6 ESV

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

The whole world wants to say that way of working so God owes us a wage is the way to perhaps get payment from God in the end. Even if Christ demonstrated way of love, even if he merited some grace for us, still God will only accept us in the end, only get reward as we show him our good, and he pays us back. RC church says, initial grace in baptism wipes out original sin, by grace of Christ, but then fall into sin, and keep in grace by your ritual and works in the sacramental system. Some evangelicals even though they don’t have the sacramental system, kind believe same that Christ work, righteousness not enough, but added performance of Christian devotion, and our obedience, there is a prev grace - but your response is what ultimately saves you. And as I mentioned even in Reformed circles - New perspective on Paul that get in by grace, but stay in by covenantal obedience. And don’t misunderstand that its impossible not to respond with obedience if truly have this faith but its not the cause, nor the focus.

But look at the language at the end of 4:6 counts righteousness apart from works. We want to believe that we can pay God back,that the Cross wasn’t necessary, that our works, our righteousness can be added with Christ - but the Bible declares even for us saints in Christ - our righteousness like filthy rags, break one law, shattered the whole thing. Even our best works empowered by grace cooperation with the spirit still stained and require purification by Christ.

Do you see what is at stake here, its not just what God did in sending Christ, him dying on the Cross and raising for us, but it is also in whether we receive that as fee gift, whether we will live the Christian life on our own steam - or whether - we will do the Christian living part of our life of being a Christian - by faith in Christ as well. Whether every day my faith is embracing Christ to keep communion with him. So that I can say with Paul its no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me. This is the foundation of both our justification and our sanctification our union our abiding by this gift of faith through the word in the living Christ. And the reality this doctrine points us to in experience ing salvation and trust in Christ is the way we can say Amen to Jesus saying to us: John 15:4-5

John 15:4–5 ESV

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Dear friends, we are catholic Christians - church universal - so far whole Confession just summarizing what Scripture teaches and Christians through the ages - God’s Character and His saving Acts. But with this Article - and the three that follow after it - we have the heart also of the Reformed Faith - union with Christ in our life for justification and sanctification. May it result in greater confidence in our acceptance in Christ as our righteousness, and may it result in greater expectation of Christ working His righteousness in our daily lives as we abide in Him.