Faith Alone

Having closely examined the Apostle’s creed, the authors of the catechism ask,

Q. What good does it do you, however, to believe all this?

A. In Christ I am right with God and heir to life everlasting.

A little while ago I was listening to a sermon and the preacher, I think it was Matt Chandler addressed some of the criticisms people raise against Christianity. They say that Christians use their faith as a crutch. The preacher answered, they’re absolutely right! It is a crutch! If humanity wasn’t lame, we wouldn’t need a crutch. The reality is, we’re all incapable of doing what we need to do! We cannot live a perfect life, just as no lame person, no injured person, could win an Olympic medal with a broken leg.

We’re broken people. The Gospel tells us that the good news is that Christ has fixed us! Another way of looking at it is this. If you commit a crime, if you break the law, say by shoplifting, you immediately put yourself into a wrong relationship with the store owner. You’ve sinned against him.

All humanity has sinned against God. All are in a broken relationship. Christ promises that we are now in a right relationship with God. Keep in mind that everyone, every human being has a relationship with God. Either they are right in Christ, or they are in a bad relationship, as sinners against God. As thieves against a holy proprietor.

The gospel, the apostle’s creed answers a very important question:

Q. How are you right with God?

A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.

Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me.

All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.

In our passage this afternoon, Acts 16:16-40, we have the account of a jailer who became a believer.

He encountered God in the aftermath of the earthquake. He knew what was going on. He realised that something powerful was going on. He was prepared to take his own life, thinking that with the jail open, all the prisoners were gone. The Romans would have taken his life in a heartbeat.

But the prisoners were all still there.

Immediately, he asked, how can he be saved?

The answer is simple. Believe in Jesus Christ. They told him the word of the Lord, probably a summary similar to the Apostle’s Creed. Then, after he’d heard it he believed! He was filled with joy because of giving his life over to God.

So, where are you today?

Is your life filled with Joy because of believing in Jesus Christ?

Are you right with God? Are you an heir of Christ?

God comes to you today and says, you’re my heir. You’re my child.

Let that sink in for just a moment. This is something that God does regularly in the scriptures. At this weekend’s Act Like Men Conference, Pastor Eric Mason preached on Gideon’s call. He pointed out how the call happened. Gideon was threshing grain in a wine press. He was hiding himself and the grain from the Midianites who had taken over the land.

So the picture you need to have in your head is a guy hiding out, working for the people, but doing it in as inconspicuously as possible. He knew if the Midianites found him, they would confiscate the grain and possibly even kill him. He certainly wasn’t being bold or anything.

But the angel of the Lord appeared to him, suddenly. Think about that! There’s Gideon, covered in grain dust, itchy scratchy, stinky, and God shows up. The angel says, “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valour.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound right, does it? Gideon is hiding, he afraid, he’s anything but courageous, anything but full of valour.

You see when God called Gideon, he didn’t call him as he was, but as he would be. God empowered Gideon to become a mighty man of valour, a man of courage. Gideon wasn’t that way already. God made him that way.

Now, think about your life. Apply this to you. God comes to you and says, “You’re my child. You’re my son. I’m your father. Because of Christ everything is forever right with me.”

But maybe you’re sitting there thinking, “But I’m a sinner. I know all the wrong things I’ve ever done. I think about them all the time. They float through my mind unbidden. I can’t help thinking about them.”

Hear this now. Satan is our accuser. He loves reminding us of all things we’ve ever done wrong. But what do we know, what has our confession taught us? God comes to us, like he came to Gideon and says, “When I look at you, I see Christ and his righteousness. In fact, I don’t see you as a sinner. I don’t see you as you were, I see you as you are in Christ.

A friend and colleague posted a comic strip on Facebook. It is called “Coffee with Jesus”. In the comic strip, a conversation takes place between a person and Jesus. In this particular strip, a man says to Jesus, “Sometimes, Jesus, I’ll be reminded of stuff I did years ago, stuff I’m ashamed of, stuff I confessed to you, and I’ll get this fresh sense of guilt.” Jesus replies, “I keep no record of wrongs, Carl, so it isn’t me doing the reminding.” Carl response with, “So that time in college, when me and the guys went off and did that thing.. You know...” Jesus answers, “Actually, I don’t know, Carl. Let it go. I did. I fact, I so let it go I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I have to admit, that I needed to read that comic strip. I keep getting reminded of past failures. That’s Satan, that’s not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings to mind unconfessed sin, so that we can deal with it. But sins that we’ve confessed, that’s gone. As far as the east is from the west, they’re gone!

Rest today. Rest in the finished work of Jesus. Reap that benefit. Believe that Jesus has done what he has promised to do. Rest in that belief, knowing that it all happened outside of anything you’ve done.

Remember Gideon. God comes to you today and says, “The Lord is with you mighty person of valour. Go and step forth into this week in the knowledge that the Lord is with you, He’s making you into the person of valour that he already knows you’ll be. If, after a couple of days, or even a couple of hours, you’re right back to where you are right now, remember that it takes time. You can’t climb Everest in one day. But getting to the top is so worth the view! Amen.