Through Faith

In this part of the sermon: Martin continues his exposition of Ephesians, highlighting the profound contrast between humanity's natural state and the transformation wrought by God's grace. He introduces…

Martin uses the common phrase 'as different as night and day' to illustrate the profound contrast between humanity's natural state (Ephesians 2:1-3) and what they become by God's grace (Ephesians 2:4-10).

He said, in common everyday conversation, we often speak of two things as being as different as night and day. Perhaps there are two children, born of the same parents, reared in the same environment, and yet their temperaments so entirely different, their aptitudes, their interests, their natural inclinations, that we shake our heads and say, how could two children as different as night and day come from the same two parents? Or, some of you who may be athletically inclined, you notice perhaps two golfers, two baseball players, both tremendously advanced in their aptitude athletically, and ye...

1:01 - 2:26 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The instrumental means never becomes the focus of gratitude. And so when the apostle says, for by grace have he been saved through faith, he is setting before us the place of faith in our salvation. And it is nothing mor…

A boy falls through ice; a storekeeper is the author of his salvation, compassion the cause, and a pole stretched out is the instrumental means. Laying hold of the pole is the boy's 'faith' in this analogy, illustrating how faith is the means, not the cause or object of worship.

We'll only have time this morning to consider the means described, the little phrase, through faith. Now what do we mean when we talk about something being the instrumental means of another thing? Well, the you who were here last week will remember the illustration I used trying to illustrate what the Bible means by saved. We had our boy floundering around in the cold waters of the pond where he shouldn't have been.

9:16 - 9:46 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The instrumental means never becomes the focus of gratitude. And so when the apostle says, for by grace have he been saved through faith, he is setting before us the place of faith in our salvation. And it is nothing mor…

A destitute beggar is saved from starvation by a kindly, wealthy man. The man's kindness is the cause, and the beggar taking and eating the offered food is the instrumental means. This further clarifies the role of faith as the means, not the source of salvation.

The channel of God is the last of these upsets. The house is consigliness. Sometimes the plan is too easy. starvation, unto health and physical well-being. Well, who's the author of that salvation? The kindly, benevolent man. What was the principal cause? The grace, the kindness, the undeserved favor of that man. What was the instrumental means of that salvation from starvation to health?

10:31 - 11:23 Read in full sermon

Driving home: The instrumental means never becomes the focus of gratitude. And so when the apostle says, for by grace have he been saved through faith, he is setting before us the place of faith in our salvation. And it is nothing mor…

Martin asks if the rescued boy would build a monument to the pole, or the beggar to his hands or digestive system. This illustrates that the instrumental means (faith) should never become the focus of gratitude or worship; all praise belongs to the Savior.

in the case of the little boy who's rescued, the instrumental means laying hold of the pole stretched across the ice. In the case of the destitute beggar, taking and eating the offered food, can you ever imagine the boy building a monument to the pole and worshipping the pole and always talking about the wonderful pole that he laid hold of? You say, ridiculous. If he thinks about his rescue at all, all of his attention will be focused upon the strength and the love of the man who held out the pole. Likewise with the beggar. Can you imagine him building a monument to his own hands and saying, I...

12:17 - 13:09 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first distortion is substituting human performance and character for faith as the means of acceptance with God, exemplified by the Pharisee. This approach allows for boasting…

The Pharisee who thanks God he is not like other men and boasts of his character and performance (fasting, tithing) embodies the spirit of error that substitutes works for faith as the means of acceptance with God.

seized upon by the spirit of error and your life's blood will flow out at your feet so may God help us to listen carefully and we have one more verse for you that we can read in the Bible that says that God is the creator of the earth the creator of the heavens and the earth and the heavens and the heavens and the earth and the heavens and the heavens upon their performance and their character for the attainment of acceptance with God. You say, Pastor, will you never weary of quoting that character in the temple? No, I will not! For he's the embodiment of this spirit of error.

33:42 - 34:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second distortion is adding something to faith as an instrumental means of salvation, as seen with the Judaizers in Galatians who insisted on circumcision and other…

Martin personifies 'Mr. Faith' and 'Mr. Performance and Works' as antagonists, illustrating that works cannot stand with faith as the ground of acceptance. He then shows how 'Mr. Works' tries to join hands with 'Mr. Faith' by adding to it, rather than replacing it.

Here's Mr. Faith. And here's Mr. Performance and Works.

36:21 - 36:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second distortion is adding something to faith as an instrumental means of salvation, as seen with the Judaizers in Galatians who insisted on circumcision and other…

The Judaizers in Galatia are used as an example of those who don't replace faith, but add to it (e.g., circumcision, Jewish regulations), thereby altering the 'punctuation' of Paul's teaching on justification by faith alone.

And when you understand what I really am, you won't be against me. You'll be all for me, too. That's the book of Galatians. These Judaizers did not come down and say, look, give up believing in Jesus Christ.

37:08 - 37:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of the spirit of error that exalts faith to the place of the Savior, remembering that Christ saves through faith, not faith itself.

Martin quotes B.B. Warfield extensively to explain that the saving power of faith resides not in faith itself, but in the almighty Savior on whom it rests, emphasizing that Christ saves through faith, not faith saving itself.

Therefore I must be saved. My friends, our faith does not save us. Christ saves us. As one has said and I want to quote Warfield who speaks now not so much as theologian though there is impeccable theological accuracy but he speaks as pastor.

43:12 - 43:29 Read in full sermon