Received by Faith Alone

Driving home: There has probably been no department of divine truth against which the assaults of Satan have been more fiercely directed ever since the Christian church than the doctrine of justification.

Martin quotes William Cunningham, a church historian, who states that no doctrine has been more fiercely assaulted by Satan than justification, and its preaching accurately indicates the state of vital religion in the church.

The closer any man or woman, boy or girl, comes in his thinking and in his concern to the most vital issues relative to man's salvation and acceptance with God, the more he can expect and feel and even at times sense the work of that foul fiend of hell in seeking to confuse and blur the great issues concerning the matters that touch his salvation. And since there is no issue of more vital importance than that which is couched in the question, how can... Can sinful man be just with God?

0:02 - 0:51 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Faith so dominates in this matter of justification that we read in verse 28, I'm sorry, verse 27, that faith actually becomes a law. By what manner of law? Of works? Nay, but by a law of faith. And that word law there si…

The 'law of gravity' is used as an analogy to explain that 'law of faith' means faith is the sole operating principle for justification, just as gravity is an operating principle for material objects.

because He knows on the one hand how slow the human heart is to grasp this grand truth and how viciously the enemy of our souls will attack us in seeking to lay hold of it. And here in this passage is the explicit testimony and perhaps the key phrase that, as it were, conditions everything else. Faith so dominates in this matter of justification that we read in verse 28, I'm sorry, verse 27, that faith actually becomes a law. By what manner of law? Of works? Nay, but by a law of faith. And that word law there simply means an operating principle.

9:58 - 10:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Justifying faith then is this spiritual activity by which the sinner goes out of himself and into Christ. Justifying faith is that spiritual activity in which he rests the whole weight of his soul upon the righteousness …

Martin uses the mouth, hand, ear, and eye to illustrate the difference between active (giving) and receptive (receiving) organs, explaining that faith is uniquely receptive, unlike love or other graces.

I want you to get hold of what Pastor's talking about. You all have a mouth. Hmm? You all have a mouth.

30:07 - 30:17 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Faith is always and only, justifying faith, an empty hand stretched out in the presence of a giving God and of a willing Savior.

Martin quotes an unnamed 'servant of God' who explains why faith, unlike humility, meekness, hope, love, or penitence, is the sole means of justification: because it is totally receptive.

That's why God has chosen to make the instrument of our justification faith, and faith alone, because the peculiar nature of faith is that it is completely receptive. A servant of God seeking to make these truths plain to another generation wrote a popular treatise of great Christian doctrines and when he's dealing with the whole matter of faith in relationship to justification, notice how he treated this point. How are we justified by faith? Why are we never said to be justified by the other Christian graces?

33:01 - 33:41 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Strictly speaking, it is not even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. Faith unites us to Christ in the bonds of abiding attachment and entrustment. And it is this union which ensures that the…

Martin quotes Professor Murray, who clarifies that the efficacy of faith is not in itself but in Christ, and faith's specific character is to look away from itself to Christ.

Professor Murray in speaking to this thing says in the same vein, the reformers recognize that the essence of saving faith is to bring the sinner lost and dead in sin, into direct personal contact with the Savior himself, which is nothing less than that of self-commitment to him in all the glory of his person and the perfection of his work as he is freely and fully offered in the Gospel. It must be remembered that the efficacy of faith does not rest in itself. Faith is not something that merits the favor of God. All the efficacy unto salvation is in the Savior.

35:13 - 35:57 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates that faith is the 'marriage bond' that unites the sinner to Christ, bringing them into possession of all His wealth and righteousness.

The analogy of a wealthy king marrying a pauper woman is used to illustrate how faith, as the marriage bond, unites the sinner to Christ, bringing them into possession of all His spiritual wealth.

And what is the effect of faith? It is the bond that unites us to Jesus Christ. As old Charnock said, it is the band of our union to Christ. Again, let me illustrate.

37:52 - 38:07 Read in full sermon

The point: You still think there must be something that you discover in yourself that will make you worthy enough to flee to Him. My friend, it is faith alone that justifies. And until you've come to the place where you say, I refu…

The story of the smitten Israelites looking to the uplifted serpent is used to illustrate that sinners must look away from themselves and solely to Christ for salvation, without any self-examination for worthiness.

Every day you live to wake and see another day, there's something akin to gratitude to God that He spared you for another day, because you do know through the Word of God and the activity of a conscience under the pressure of the Word that you have offended God, that you deserve His wrath and His judgment. But the reason you've not believed is because you do not believe that Jesus Christ is an able and a willing Savior. You do not believe that in Jesus Christ there is everything needed for your complete pardon and acceptance with Almighty God. You still think there must be something that you d...

42:21 - 43:48 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin shares a powerful anecdote from a church member facing surgery, illustrating the terror of facing God without a righteousness received by faith alone, and the peace found…

Martin recounts a note from a church member facing surgery, detailing their fear of death and judgment, and how they found peace by remembering and clinging to God's promises of salvation by faith alone in Christ.

I don't know if I've ever done this before. It was from one of our members who had to undergo surgery. And this particular member recounts in this note from which I'm going to read some of his or her thoughts as he or she lay there realizing that I may, I may not ever wake up in this world again. And here's a transcript of some of the thoughts.

46:28 - 46:56 Read in full sermon