Luther on Justification by Faith Alone

Introduction: Luther's Peerless Importance and the Sermon's Aim

0:01 Before we come to this most central and important part of the Spirit's teaching ministry in the history of the church, let us again pray together. Last night we examined one of the major figures and turning points in church history as we looked at Augustine's doctrine of irresistible grace. Tonight we come to examine perhaps the only figure in the history of the church who in terms of his sheer importance can be called with any credibility Augustine's peer. And the man of whom I am speaking is Martin Luther.

0:47 Luther's significance is rooted more than anything else in his experience, articulation, and defense of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. And it is this doctrine of justification. By faith alone, which will form the focus of our considerations this evening. Luther's doctrine of justification is important in its own rights.

1:17 But I am turning your attention to it because of the peculiar theme which we are examining in this historical conference. It is my goal to explicate for you the place of particular and reformed Baptists in the doctrinal development of the church. In pursuit of this goal, I am proving that such Baptists stand in the mainstream of and are debtors to orthodox and reformed theology. Last night I attempted to illustrate this from the fact that humanly speaking they owe to no little degree their distinctive views of grace to Augustine, the Catholic Bishop of Hippo in Numidia of the Roman Empire. I want to illustrate this same theme from the fact that they owe their doctrine of justification their doctrine of justification by faith alone to no small degree humanly speaking to a former Augustinean monk turned Lutheran reformer whose name was Martin Luther. Now in setting out for you Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone. We will discuss four things First of all, as you see from your outline, œ

The Paramount Importance of Justification by Faith Alone

2:34 its paramount importance, then secondly, its doctrinal advance, then its logical basis or accompaniment, and then its essential features. Now, the first three of these points will be comparatively brief, but don't get your hopes up. So, first of all, Roman numeral I, its paramount importance. Now, Paul Eltos, who is a Lutheran church historian, and to Paul Eltos' treatment of Luther's doctrine, I owe a great debt in the materials I'll be sharing with you this evening.

3:16 He begins his chapter entitled, Righteousness in Faith, in his book, The Theology of Martin Luther, he begins that chapter with these words. The doctrine of justification. It is not simply one doctrine among others, but as Luther declares, the basic and chief article with which the church stands or falls, and on which its entire doctrine depends. The doctrine of justification is, and now he begins to quote Luther himself, is the summary of Christian doctrine.

3:55 The sun, which illuminates God's holy church. It is the unique possession of Christianity, and, quoting what Luther again, distinguishes our religion from all others. Now, the Reformed churches have perhaps not attached the same exclusive importance to this doctrine, which many Lutherans have, yet there are few evangelicals of any camp, and there are certainly few Reformed theologians, who would want to deny or even debate the paramount importance of the doctrine of justification. The doctrine of justification is the unique possession of Christianity, and, quoting what Luther again, distinguishes our religion from all others.

4:29 The doctrine of justification, by faith alone, to either the church in general, or to the individual Christian. Thomas Lindsay asserted in his history of the Reformation, the Reformation was embodied in Martin Luther. It lived in him as in no one else.

4:52 And, in response to those words of Lindsay, we may ask the question, who can doubt, then, that the reason for this... The reason for this was that God chose in Martin Luther to give a permanent proof to the church of the crucial significance of that doctrine which is synonymous with the name of Luther, that doctrine which Luther's experience in preaching exemplified in a way that had never been exemplified before, the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

5:24 And so that's its paramount importance for Luther and, indeed, for ourselves. But, secondly, I want you to notice its doctrinal advance. Its doctrinal advance.

The Doctrinal Advance of Luther's Justification

5:42 Now, one might assume, you might be assuming, that because of the very foundational character of this doctrine, this doctrine of justification by faith alone, which lies at the heart of the gospel, you might be assuming that this doctrine is exempt from the doctrine of justification by faith alone, from that progressive development of doctrine which I have said characterizes church history. And so you might assume, because of the foundational character of this doctrine, that it had been clearly understood and carefully articulated in the church from its very outset. Such an assumption is, however, not borne out by the facts. Now, of course, the church's heart was not wrong. Of course, the church had experienced justification. Justification by faith alone.

6:37 And indeed, more or less accurate statements about salvation and justification had been made before Luther and the Reformation. For instance, Bernard of Clairvaux's Advice to the Dying contains very, very wonderful statements about these means of salvation by Christ alone. But all I am saying here is that it is that plain, clear, plain doctrine of justification that no other hatted, pointed and balanced articulation of this doctrine had never approached the level to which it was brought in the 1,500s by Martin Luther. And I intend to assert, and I do assert that the doctrinal development, which the Word of God leads us to expect in church history, does not exclude from its embrace even the fundamental doctrines of the gospel. doctrinal advance and progress in luther's doctrine could be illustrated in several ways it is well known that augustine's doctrine of justification was not stated so clearly as to prevent many catholic opponents of luther's doctrine from claiming him augustine though there is great debate about exactly what he thought about the doctrine of justification

8:01 whatever you may conclude about augustine's own thinking on that subject certainly anyone has to realize that he did not state the thing nearly so plainly as did luther we must remember as buchanan in his fine book entitled the doctrine of justification points out that it was not the doctrine of justification by faith alone with which augustine was dealing in his disputes about grace with the pelagians it was rather about the the doctrine of justification by faith alone with which augustine was dealing in his disputes about grace with the pelagians it was rather about the efficacy of grace and buchanan points as well he points us to the best illustration i think of the doctrinal advance present in luther's doctrine of justification and the best illustration of this i think comes from the very foes of luther's doctrine buchanan in his lengthy account of the response of the council of trent to luther's doctrine

9:03 gives us this illustration you see the council of trent met in the fifteen forties for a number of years and was basically the response of the roman catholic church to the doctrine of martin luther and especially the doctrine of justification by faith alone and in that in that that event which perhaps more than any other marked the articulation of roman catholic heresy on the doctrine of salvation in the council of trent the roman catholic church denied a number of the fundamental doctrines of the faith including salvation by grace alone and faith alone but in the council of trent there were some very interesting things said and thought by roman catholic theologians as they attempted to grapple with luther's doctrine and buchanan remarks they seem indeed he's referring to the roman catholic theologians to have been much perplexed in dealing with the doctrine of justification with the subject it was felt to be singularly important as all the heirs of luther resolved themselves into his doctrine concerning it they mean he means his doctrine of justification

10:17 and also singularly difficult since justification by faith was regarded by many now listen as a doctrine which had never been thought of by any school writer and therefore never discussed or confuted before you see what the right Roman Catholics were saying they were saying this is a new heresy we've never heard this before we don't have we can't go back to any of our scholastic theologians and glean their response to this doctrine you see there was something you see new and more plain and pointed in luther's doctrine that was recognized even by his opponents buchanan remarks in this same place that the decrees of the council of trent against justification are very dogmatic but when they came the Roman Catholics came to try to give their own explanation of the doctrine of justification what they say is very vague and unclear and he also shows that various Roman Catholic theologians actually held parts of luther's doctrine themselves and it's very interesting account and I urge you to read it sometime in buchanan's the doctrine of justification well you see the catholic confusion over the doctrine of justification shows I think very clearly that in luther's doctrine they were confronted with views that in a certain sense weren't familiar to them

11:44 and this suggests that luther's articulation of this doctrine was an advance upon previous less clear statements of it now of course the reason then why luther's articulation of this doctrine is more clear than that of augustine is both obvious and instructive and that is because luther's articulation of this doctrine was obvious and instructive in the Roman Catholicism and scholastic theology of luther's day luther confronted a deviation from the doctrine of justification which previous defenders of the faith had not so clearly confronted you see there had been a great degrading a great downward trend in Roman Catholic theology into salvation by penance into salvation by satisfaction into satisfaction into salvation by giving money to the church and of course that was what provoked luther to articulate his doctrine so strongly the giving of money and that being a means of having your sins forgiven and also building St. Peter's in Rome well you see that's why I think there is this new and more blatant heresy that was coming more and more plainly to the forefront of Roman Catholic theology and so in response to that God overruling heresy again in the history of the church Luther articulates his doctrine of justification

13:12 in response to the wicked doctrine of penance then becoming common in the Roman Catholic Church thus and so often had happened before heresy was overruled for the clarifying of the church's understanding of truth and so just as Athanasius brought out the doctrine of the trinity in response to Arianism and Augustine the doctrines of sin and grace in response to Pelagianism so now Luther and his fellow reformers with a new clarity see and then articulate the doctrine of justification and so it is now in the 1500s that Roman Catholicism takes its place with Arianism Pelagianism Apollinarianism Nestorianism and other heresies as a recognized foe of the Christian gospel now James Orr in his book The Progress of Dogma has rightly seen the doctrinal advance which took place at the Reformation I'm going to allow his fine statement to conclude our examination of the doctrinal advance found in Luther's doctrine of justification here's what he says it will hardly be disputed by any

14:38 that it was this group of doctrines and especially this great doctrine of justification by faith and then he uses the Latin articulus stantus ut cadennis ecclesiae the article of the standing or falling of the church as Luther called it which supremely occupied the minds of men in the momentous religious crisis of the 16th century every doctrine says Orr I have urged has its hour

15:09 the period when it emerges into individual prominence and becomes the subject of exhaustive discussion and the crisis of the Reformation unmistakably brought the hour for the doctrine now named positively the way was prepared for it by the previous developments of the doctrines of sin and atonement negatively it was prepared by the crushing burden of legalism in the Roman's church which in earnest minds developed a despair of salvation by works righteousness similar to that wrought in Paul by his experience of the Jewish law and drove them back as it did him on the free grace of the gospel as an absolute necessity only to discover that the grace they sought had been confronting them all the while on the gospel page though their eyes were holding that they could not see it what a wonderful statement of how God overruled on the one hand the developments positively of the doctrines of sin and atonement and Augustine and Anselm and also overruled the negative developments in Roman Catholicism with the increasing legalism of the Roman Catholic church overruled that to in Luther's day give him the opportunity out of a sense of his own earnestness of soul his own sense of despair at ever being saved in that Roman Catholic system gave him the sense of need that brought him to finally rediscover in the scriptures the same salvation and justification by grace

The Logical Basis: Christ's Penal Substitutionary Atonement

16:38 that Paul had come to experience well that's its doctrinal advance but now in the third place I want you to notice its logical basis or accompaniment I'm not sure which your outlines may read there as the statement of Orr suggests there is a close relationship between the doctrine of justification and the doctrine of the atonement now the medieval theologian Anselm his name is spelled A-N-S-E-L-M Anselm during the middle ages had correctly argued that the primary orientation of the atonement was the character of God and thus he taught that the atonement of Christ was not primarily an example for men or an attack upon the devil but a satisfaction for God you see it was very common in the middle ages for men like Abelard to look at the work of Christ as primarily that of a good example which if men followed they would be saved and that's still the way that liberal theologians view the work of Christ if they have any doctrine of the work of Christ today on the other hand there were these strange doctrines around which felt that the work of Christ was primarily directed toward the devil and there was even some

18:07 lurid and graphic and grotesque imagery used of how Christ's humanity was the bait and the deity of Christ was the hook and God had extended the humanity of Christ into the world which clothed the deity of Christ so that Satan would attempt to seize the perfect humanity of Christ and be caught on the hook of his deity and that the great purpose then of the atonement was then to destroy Satan to catch him so to speak and to break his power well of course we're not here to argue this evening that Christ's work was not a great example for men it certainly was he left us an example says Peter and we're not here to argue that the work of Christ did not affect Satan and did not break the power of Satan he led captivity captive he dethroned principalities and powers says Paul but we are here to argue and argue what Anselm and Luther after him argued that the primary focus the primary orientation of the work of Jesus Christ was not to be an example to men was not to destroy Satan but there was some far deeper some far greater reality that had to be dealt with if men were to be saved and that greater reality which had to be dealt with was something in the character of God himself it was ultimately the character of God that stood in the way of men's salvation

19:35 it was the justice of God that stood in the way of men's salvation it was the honor of God that stood in the way of their salvation and so was the character of God that needed to be dealt with in the work of Christ and Anselm saw this clearly and argued for it clearly and Luther built on the work of Anselm agreeing with Anselm that the primary focus of the atonement was God Luther taught that Christ had appeased or satisfied the justice of God and what it demanded of men because of their sins Luther saw plainly that the justice of God demanded constrained that those sins should be punished and that God would have to un-God himself not to punish the sins of men he saw plainly what the Psalmist says again and again that righteousness and justice are the foundations of God's throne and of God if God does not continue to be righteous and justice the throne of God itself will be overturned and so he taught that the justice of God had to be satisfied against men's sins and it was this that Jesus Christ did on the cross in offering himself as a penal and substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of men he propitiated the wrath of God he satisfied the justice of God

21:03 he did this taught Luther through his penal substitutionary sufferings in behalf of men now this doctrine of the atoning work of Christ is assumed throughout Luther's doctrine of justification and what shows this so plainly is that Luther says the same things about the atonement as he says about justification you know how some preachers do every week they'll get up and say the most important thing I can ever tell you or they'll say something like that it's preacherly overstatement well Eltos argues that Luther's not doing that but when Luther says it's the work of Christ that's the most important thing and then when Luther says it's justification that's the most important thing he's not contradicting himself he's talking in reality about fundamentally the same thing here's what Eltos says Luther says the same things about the doctrine of Jesus Christ that he says about the doctrine of justification the doctrine of Christ is the essence of all Christian knowledge it is the decisive element of Christianity which distinguishes it from all other religions in it, quoting Luther rests all our wisdom, salvation and blessedness all Christian certainty depends on this doctrine it is the criterion by which all matters of doctrine

22:31 and life are to be judged the entire Christian faith stands or falls with this doctrine he said that the article of justification is the article of the standing or falling of the church well now he says it's the doctrine of the atonement that's the article of the standing or falling of the Christian faith the fact that Luther could say the very same thing about both doctrines shows that they belong very closely together and are interdependent interdependent in his theology justification through faith alone is not a second or a new element in relation to faith in Christ rather it is precisely this faith itself what Elthaus is saying is absolutely correct when Luther talked about salvation by Christ alone and we talked about salvation by faith alone he was talking about the same thing now it is the doctrine then of the substitutionary sin bearing and suffering of Christ which is the necessary logical basis for Luther's doctrine of justification by faith alone but now we come in the fourth place to the essential features of Luther's doctrine its essential features now the essential features of Luther's doctrine of justification I will treat this evening

Essential Features: The Nature of Justification

23:59 under three headings A as you see the nature of justification B the instrument of justification C the fruitfulness of justification A is the nature of justification and one under that this is why you have an outline because my outline begins to be a little bit catacomb like is its structure the structure of justification in justification there is a double imputation Elthaus says justification is the act by which God considers and receives the sinner who is unrighteous before him as righteous and so described negatively this means that God does not impute our sins to us but forgives them there is the negative imputation he doesn't impute our sins to us he doesn't put them to our account but he forgives them described positively justification is the imputation of righteousness to us the righteousness of Christ to the sinner so you have this double imputation our sins are put upon Christ they are not imputed to us and his righteousness his perfect spotless righteousness the righteousness of the one

25:26 whom the book of Hebrews says was holy, harmless, undefiled separate from sinners and exalted above the heavens that righteousness is put to our account wonderful doctrine justification therefore according to Luther provides the sinner with what Luther describes as an alien or passive righteousness now it's in that word alien righteousness that something of the poignancy and point and clarity of Luther's doctrine so clearly emerges alien righteousness that's a very strange sounding phrase isn't it but it was nothing less than that that our justification before God and our righteousness before God is on the basis of something other than what we do it's an alien righteousness Luther says Christ or Christ's righteousness is outside of us alien to us he also remarks to be outside of us means to be beyond our powers he goes on to say it is our possession to be sure yes we have a righteousness it is our possession to be sure since it was given to us out of mercy nevertheless it is alien to us

26:55 because we have not merited it you see it and in the same vein as he talks about alien righteousness Luther talks about a passive righteousness a passive righteousness in other words we didn't have any actions or were not active in making somebody else made this righteousness we were passive it was simply given to us here's what he says thus says Luther I am justified just as though I were a piece of material there's graphic Luther I am justified just as though I were a piece of material and I suffer I do not do anything allow someone else to give his righteousness to me I'm not doing anything to make this righteousness I do not do anything again he remarks the righteousness which comes from us in other words our good deeds the righteousness which comes from us is not Christian righteousness Christian righteousness is just the opposite it is passive and we receive it we do nothing for ourselves but allow someone else in us and again he says as far as we are concerned the whole procedure of justification is passive you see there's Luther's point

28:23 that it is the righteousness of Christ and not our own good deeds that forms the basis of our acceptance before God but now in the second place I want you to notice the basis of justification you will pardon me my cold is coming back and I don't want to keep clearing my nose without blowing it alright the basis then of justification Elthaus asserts Luther can say both that our righteousness is Christ's righteousness and that our righteousness consists in God's mercy each says that righteousness comes to a man from outside himself and is not a quality of his heart each is the opposite of being justified through our works and achievements it is important to maintain the fact that this grounding of righteousness in God's mercy does not for Luther exclude that it happens for Christ's sake propter Christum as is so often asserted in modern theology on the contrary precisely this is included for God's mercy comes to us for Christ's sake what Elthaus is saying there

29:51 is that liberal theologians today say these two things are contradictory either we are justified on the basis of Christ's righteousness as legal you know or it is simply an act of God's sheer mercy God simply decides to justify us and modern theologians the ones that Elthaus is talking about see being justified by God's mercy as gracious and being justified by the imputation of Christ's righteousness through a blood atonement as legalism but you see what Elthaus is saying is that Luther didn't make that kind of distinction between God's mercy and Christ's righteousness God's mercy is exhibited to us precisely in ascending his son to give us Christ's righteousness and to make the righteousness by which we can be justified it is both just and legal and gracious at the same time and the two things ought not to be divided but now in the third place we have to come to the effect of justification its effect the effect of justification is strikingly stated by Luther in one of the most wonderful phrases I think any uninspired man has ever uttered Luther says that the Christian as a result of being justified is at one and the same

31:19 time a righteous man and a sinner he is not a sinner before he was converted and a righteous man now he is at one and the same time as a Christian now as a Christian he is at one and the same time a righteous man and a sinner Luther uses this phrase to emphasize our justification by an alien righteousness here are some of his classic statements on the subject at one and the same time a righteous man and a sinner a sinner in fact but a righteous man through faith in the promise and through hope of its fulfillment and he goes on to say those who have been justified in Christ are not sinners and are sinners nevertheless at one and the same time therefore both righteous and a sinner he goes on to say even though I am indeed a sinner yet I am not a sinner no Christian says Luther has sinned and all have sins or he goes on to say and this is a wonderful statement I love this in myself outside of Christ I am a sinner in Christ outside of myself I am not a sinner now we laugh at the kind of paradoxes that Luther is using

32:47 but you see it was nothing short of this kind of paradox that was needed to state the truth and my dear friend if you are here this evening and you don't understand what it means to be at one and the same time a righteous man and a sinner at one and the same time to be able to say I stand perfect and accepted in the sight of God I am accepted by him at the same time to say I am the chief of sinners and I am the chief of sinners and I am the chief of sinners and I am the chief of sinners you don't understand how those two things can go together you don't understand the gospel yet you don't understand the gospel yet not the gospel that Luther preached that the Bible expounds these wonderful statements in myself outside of Christ I am a sinner in Christ outside of myself I am not a sinner oh can you say that in Christ you know what something about that have you ever gotten outside of yourself in your dealings with God have you ever dealt with God on the basis of Christ's righteousness rather than your own excuses in Christ outside of myself I am not a sinner well that's the nature of justification we come in the second place here as we expound its essential features to the instrument

Essential Features: The Instrument of Justification (Faith)

34:12 of justification the instrument of justification and as you see from your outward outlines the instrument of justification is faith but now adequately to understand Luther's view of faith we have to comment upon and understand its nature for Luther its origin and its function first of all its nature faith for Martin Luther was above all things personal appropriation faith is personal appropriation Elthou's summary of Luther on this matter is very helpful and I simply want to quote it he says man receives justification only through faith that is by believing in Jesus Christ to believe in him is to recognize and grasp the love of God in the history of Jesus Christ a man believes when he accepts personal appropriation when he accepts God's gracious judgment over him he accepts the fact that God can say he is righteous on the basis of Christ he takes the risk

35:40 of living before God on no other basis than that righteousness of Christ which God's mercy imputes to him now we might question that language risk, how is it a risk but you see that's the way it feels to sinful men they've always dealt with life on the basis of their own good deeds they've always thought of dealing with God on the basis of their own good deeds on the basis of their own excuses but now they've got to take a risk they've got to give up their excuses they've got to give up their good works they've got to give up their own righteousness they've got to throw it all away and they've got to risk living before God and dealing with a God who can either save them or send them to hell they've got to risk living before that God with their God just because of what Jesus Christ did. It appears it will feel like, in some cases, a risk, you see.

36:37 This justifying faith is thus more than merely being convinced that the facts of salvation are true without being personally related to them. It's more than this historical assent. It includes this, but what has happened must be appropriated as having happened for me and for my sake. This for me is the decisive and essential factor in justifying faith, which definitely distinguishes it from everything else which we otherwise call faith, and especially from a mere historical faith.

37:15 Luther sees the essence of justifying faith in the fact. That it grasps Christ.

37:26 Personal appropriation, you see. Justifying faith means that you grasp Christ. In the words of the Shorter Catechism, that you embrace Christ as He is freely offered in the Gospel. It is a grasping and appropriating faith, says Eltos.

37:47 And so we may say, then, that justifying faith is an act of personal appropriation. Personal appropriation. This is, for Luther, its essential nature. And though it's not in my notes, it certainly is a biblical view of faith that we're dealing with here.

38:04 Faith cannot stop short, if it is to be saving faith, of actually receiving Christ. As many as received Him, to them gave He the authority to become the children of God. Faith, if it is to be saving faith, cannot stop short of actually...

38:22 ...eating the bread of life.

38:24 You see, eating is an act of personal appropriation. And my friends, we are not saved, and we do not avail ourselves of Jesus Christ and His grace as Christians until we eat Him, until we take Him, until we receive Him, until we personally appropriate what He's done to ourselves.

38:47 Oh, even as Christians, we need to be reminded again and again, in the sense of our weakness, in the sense of our guilt, in the sense... ...in the sense of our having blown it again and again and again, in the sense that we don't deserve to go back to Christ anymore. We have to remember that it is only when we actually take Christ that we are exercising justifying faith. We must take Him. We cannot look at Him from a distance.

39:13 We cannot simply smell the bread of life. We cannot simply admire the bread of life. We can't simply talk about how good it is and how wonderful it is. We have to take it.

39:21 We have to eat it. There must be. If there is to be saving faith, personal appropriation of Jesus Christ to yourself, it must become something that you say, that's for me.

39:35 He did it for me. That's for me. I'll take it for myself. And until there is that kind of personal relation, that kind of personal identification and taking of Christ's work for yourself, there is no saving faith.

39:50 But in the second place, we must speak of the origin. The origin of saving faith, of justifying faith, its origin as a divine gift.

40:10 Luther labored self-consciously in the tradition of the Augustinian view of irresistible grace. He said on occasion that his treatise on the bondage of the will directed against Erasmus in which he vindicated the doctrine of the total inability of men ever to break the bondage of sin over sin. He said on occasion that his treatise on the bondage of the will directed against Erasmus He said on occasion that that was one of the few good things he ever wrote.

40:39 You see, Luther held self-consciously to the Augustinian tradition and doctrine of sin and grace that we examined last night. And thus he viewed this all-important justifying faith as a gift of God. And I love the way Eltow summarizes Luther's teaching in this. He says of Luther, It is not...

41:03 not enough, however, to say that faith receives justification, though that's true, but it's not enough to say that faith receives justification or that man receives justification in faith. Luther's thought must be expressed more definitely. Justification is received with faith, that is, in the form of faith. Faith is the work and gift of God. God justifies a man by giving him faith. There's the wonderful conception of Luther. How does God justify a man? How does a man get justified? Well, God does it. He does it by giving the man faith so that Christ comes into the man's life, so that justification and righteousness comes, and it all comes in the form of faith. It doesn't come in the form of sight. It doesn't come in the form of feelings. It comes in the form of faith, you see. God justifies men with

41:59 faith. That's the way He does it. It reminds me of Acts 15. Acts 15.9, where Peter says that God purified our hearts by faith. You see, God did it, and what He did was purify our hearts, and the way He did it was by faith. Well, it's the same thing that Luther is saying here. God justifies it. There's this act of justification, and the way God does it is by giving us faith in Jesus Christ. That's the origin of saving faith for Luther. But finally, we must speak of the function of saving faith.

42:37 Luther is fond of the analogy of the ring and the jewel. Now, my wedding ring doesn't have any jewel on it, but most of you ladies do have a jewel, a diamond on your wedding ring, or at least your engagement ring. Eltos epitomizes Luther when he says, the believing heart holds fast to Christ just as the setting of a ring grips the jewel. You see, that's why faith is important.

43:08 You see, it's not the gold that's so valuable in your ring. What's valuable is the diamond set in it. The ring is valuable because it holds that jewel. And that's what Luther is saying. Faith is important, yes, but only because it's faith that holds Christ, you see. That's the value. That's the function of faith. The believing heart holds fast to Christ just as the setting of a ring grips the jewel. We have Christ.

43:38 In faith. Wonderful thought. We have Christ in faith. Luther himself describes the value of faith by saying, hear the words of Luther, faith justifies because it takes hold of and possesses this treasure, the present Christ. See, faith doesn't justify because it's such a wonderful thing in itself. Faith doesn't justify because it's such a wonderful quality that God will take it away from you. Faith doesn't justify because it's such a wonderful quality that God will take that in substitution for a perfect life. No. If that's what you think, you've got it all wrong. Faith justifies because it holds Christ, because it embraces Christ. That's why faith justifies. Elthaus concludes, faith is powerful only because it grasps the power of God's mercy in Christ and because it rests on Christ's own righteousness.

44:46 And this is why we were saying it earlier, to say that we are justified by faith alone and that we are justified by Christ alone is for Luther to say the same thing, because the whole function of faith is to hold Christ. Now, because this was the justifying function of faith, Luther came to have doubts about the wisdom of describing faith as a work. Now, that's interesting because Luther himself had described it as a work. In his exposition of the Ten Commandments, in fact, he says that faith is the fulfillment of the first commandment. Thou shalt know all the gods before me. Luther says that the work that fulfills that command of the first commandment is faith. But as he thought about that, he had a certain fear. He feared that people might conclude that faith justifies as fulfilling the law. Thus concludes Elthaus, the description of faith as the work of the first commandment may have its place within an ethical exposition of the fulfillment of the commandments, but it does not belong in the theology of justification. Now, this is an important distinction. Is faith

46:06 something that fulfills the law? Well, of course it is. Galatians 5.6, in Christ Jesus, circumcision avails nothing, and uncircumcision avails nothing, but what? Faith working through love. Yes, faith works through love. Faith does work. Faith does fulfill the law of God. The whole fulfillment of the law of God is love, says Paul, and it's faith that works through love. So faith is a work. Faith does work through love in fulfilling God's commandments. But Luther's right. That's not why it justifies. To him who works not, said Paul, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted as

46:52 righteousness. Faith works, but faith is not justified because of its working. Faith justifies in its resting on Christ. There must be the exercise of faith in resting on Christ before there can be the exercise of faith in working through love. And so Luther's onto something here, don't you see? Faith is a work.

Essential Features: The Fruitfulness of Justification (Good Works)

47:13 Faith does fulfill God's law. Faith does keep God's commandments, but that's not why it justifies faith. But now, this distinction raises, the whole question of the relation of justification, faith, and good works. And it is to this question so much disputed in our own day that we must now turn. Here we deal with, then, the fruitfulness of justification. The fruitfulness of justification. Now, the issue of good works as the fruit of justification by faith, that is, the fruit of justification by faith. That is, the fruit of justification. Now, the issue of good works as the fruit of justification by faith. Now, the issue

48:00 in Luther's thought may be summarized in five statements. We may summarize what Luther said about faith and justification by faith and good works in five statements. Let me briefly give them to you. First, good works are the fruit, according to Luther, of justifying faith because it begins the new creation in us. When God gives us justifying faith, that's the beginning of the new creation. And good works are the fruit of justification by faith. That's the beginning of the fruit of justifying faith because in it, the new creation is begun. And Luther says this very plainly. I quote him now. The start of a new creature accomplishes this faith and the battle against the sin of the flesh, which the same faith in Christ both pardons and conquers. You see what he's saying? Faith in Christ gets our sins pardoned and faith in Christ begins to conquer sin. Just justification, sanctification. And then he says this very graphically. Our empty law, you see

49:08 there's this law, but we haven't done anything to fulfill it. It's still empty as unconverted men. And Luther says our empty law is ended by Christ, who fills the vacuum first by being outside of us because he himself fulfills the law for us. Then he also fills it with the Holy Spirit. And then he also fills it with the Holy Spirit. And then he also fills it with the Holy Spirit. And then he also fills it with the Holy Spirit. And then he also fills it with the Holy Spirit who begins this new and eternal obedience within. See Luther making the distinction. Christ fulfills the law for us outside of us, but he also fulfills the law in us by the Holy Spirit beginning new and eternal obedience in us. And then Luther says as well, faith is a divine work in us, which changes us and makes us to be born anew of God. Well, there's the fact that good works are the fruit of justifying faith. But secondly, there's more to be said about the good works. Good works, though not the ground of justification, are integral to justification. In

50:12 other words, you have to understand that they're a part of the whole thing that God is doing. In other words, it is impossible for Luther to think that God would justify a man. Now listen carefully. It is impossible for Luther to think that God would justify a man that he did not also in the first place. He did not also in the first place. He did not also in the first place. He did not also in the first place. He did not also in the first place. He did not also in the first place. Good works and holiness are the goal of justification. And without this goal in mind, God would not justify any sinner. Thus, Luther establishes two reasons why God does not impute sin to Christians. Now, this is Luther's language. He says, first, because we believe in Christ, who through faith takes our place and covers our sins with his innocence. That's the first and primary reason

51:03 why God doesn't impute sin to us. And secondly, because we believe in Christ, who through faith but second, because we battle unceasingly against sin to destroy it. One of these two reasons are not present. Sin is imputed, is not forgiven, and condemns us eternally. See what Luther is saying?

51:19 God's whole point in justifying men on the basis of Christ's righteousness is ultimately to make them holy, to make them righteous themselves. And where that purpose is not in mind, and where that purpose is not in mind, God would justify nobody. But you see, God justifies men on the basis of sin. God justifies men on the basis of sin. God justifies men on the basis of sin. God justifies men on the basis of sin.

51:37 Because at the same time, and by that justification, he begins to destroy their sins in them, you see. That's why I say that good works, though not the ground of justification for Luther, are integral to justification. Not its ground, but its goal. But thirdly, good works are not only the fruit, but the essential hallmark or evidence of faith for Luther. Good works are not only the fruit it's not only that faith sometimes bears fruit in good works but in fact luther asserts that they're the essential hallmark or evidence of faith and here luther speaks very bluntly he says we must therefore maintain that where there is no faith there also can be no good works and conversely he goes on to say that there is no faith where there are no good works therefore faith and good works should be so closely joined together that the essence of

52:49 the entire christian life consists in both and luther goes on to say in another place true faith is not idle we can therefore ascertain and recognize those who have true faith from the effect or what follows and he says again accordingly if good works do not follow it is certain that this faith in christ does not dwell in our heart but dead faith a fourth thing that luther asserts about faith and good works good works are therefore a partial basis of assurance they are a partial basis of assurance again i quote luther works are a certain sign like a seal on a letter which make me certain that my faith is genuine as a result if i examine my heart and find that my works are done in love that i am certain that my faith is genuine if i forgive then my forgiving makes me certain that my faith is genuine and assures me and demonstrates my faith to me well how could you more plainly assert that faith exercising itself in good works as a partial basis of assurance and fifthly

54:11 good works do not contradict luther's document justification by faith alone and christ alone good works are necessary for us but not as the ground of our justification or salvation and again i want to let mister l pulse explain he says the christian should not take these things into consideration in the sense that he is not to depend on his works as the basis of his salvation and justice so that he can see the truth of this baby's life holster of his salvation and should not bring them before God as achievements. He should take them into consideration as giving him a certain sign of true faith. They can neither gain nor guarantee salvation, but as the fruits of faith, they provide a posteriori certainty of it. This has nothing at all to do with meriting salvation. For that purpose, works would have to be without spot and blemish and be perfect. However, even in their imperfection, Christian works are imperfect.

55:13 They are able to serve as a sign of the salvation which has been given to us. Because of this crucial distinction, Luther believed that the expression, works are necessary for salvation, should not be used. He thought that that expression, works are necessary for salvation, was equivocal or ambiguous, and therefore he desired not to use it. But that should not disguise the fact, the undeniable truth, as we have seen it here this evening, that good works are the inevitably certain and assuring hallmarks of true faith.

Summary and Application: Rebuke to Easy Believism and Debt to Luther

55:55 Well, let me summarize and apply what we have learned tonight by asking four questions of you.

56:04 The first question which I would ask of you is this. Is it not plain from what we have seen this evening? Is it not plain from God's own words? Is it not plain from God's providence and the facts of church history that God himself chose to illustrate the importance and crystallize the character of justification through the instrumentality of Martin Luther as he had never done it before?

56:29 Isn't that plain? I think it is plain. I think our study tonight shows that this is very plainly the case. But then a second question.

56:38 Does not the teaching ministry of Martin Luther wonderfully and strikingly crystallize for us the doctrine, the central, the all-important doctrine of justification?

56:54 Well, speaking for myself, I must testify that every time I review the great elements of Luther's doctrine, my heart burns within me like those disciples with Christ on the road to Emmaus. How, brethren, how can we not rejoice? How can a true Christian...

57:16 How can a true Christian heart not rejoice at the truth contained in those burning words of Luther, in myself, outside of Christ, I am a sinner, but in Christ, outside of myself, I am a righteous man? I say, how can we not say amen and rejoice at that kind of exposition of the very heart of the gospel? Is this not, brethren, the teaching of Scripture? Is it not the truth we believe?

57:44 Is it not the very gospel? Is it not the very gospel we preach?

57:50 But in the third place, we ask this question. Does not an understanding of Luther's doctrine rebuke and expose the superficiality of modern evangelicalism's easy believism? Does not an understanding of Luther's doctrine rebuke modern easy believism?

58:19 Now, of course, I grant that Luther was no more involved in the teaching of Scripture than any other mortal, but still, is it not tremendously significant that Martin Luther would have denounced the views of grace taught by so many evangelicals? Is it not significant that in teaching that good works were the fruit of faith, the evidence of faith, a partial basis of assurance, that faith begins the new creation in every man to whom it comes? Is it not significant that in teaching that good works were the fruit of faith, the evidence begins the new creation in every man to whom it comes? Is it not significant that Martin Luther would have denounced the views of grace taught by R.T.

58:59 Kendall, Zayn Hodges, Charles Ryrie, and many popular evangelicals? Is it not incredible that these evangelicals are calling the doctrine of Martin Luther, the man who in the history of the church more than any other stood against legalism, whose very life and experience in doctrine and preaching epitomizes justification by faith alone? Is it not incredible that such men are calling what Luther is saying? calling what Luther taught legalism. I say it is incredible. It's a mark of the historical theological bankruptcy of modern evangelicalism. If any man ever understood salvation by grace alone, Christ alone, and faith alone, it was Martin Luther. Yet we can safely say that he would have had nothing to do with the views of such men. Luther taught justification by faith alone, but he saw nothing to contradict this in teaching that good works were the evidence of saving faith and a partial basis of assurance. And we must not see anything

60:05 contradictory either. And we must not give one inch to calling what Martin Luther taught as justification by faith alone and what the Bible teaches as justification by faith alone, but not by a faith which is alone. We must not give one inch to those who call that legalism. It is of the essence of the gospel as well. But finally then, do we not as particular Baptists owe under God then a great debt to the clarity and poignancy with which Luther articulated and defended the doctrine of justification by faith alone? Well, my brethren, we emphatically do. But because when the Westminster Confession of Faith, and then our former fathers following them, came to discuss this matter in the Confession of Faith which we hold in our churches, it was Luther's doctrine clearly epitomized that they came to state there. Because is this not what we have been taught this evening by Luther? I quote chapter

61:14 11, paragraph 2 of our Confession. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. That's exactly Luther's doctrine. And it was Luther's doctrine that Calvin adopted and saw as scriptural. And it's Luther's doctrine that made its way into the Westminster Confession of Faith. It's Luther's doctrine that made its way into the Savoy Declaration of Faith. And it's Luther's doctrine that's epitomized and stated in our Confession of Faith. And so I say, we emphatically do, owe a great debt to Martin Luther. We should count it then, brethren, a privilege to preach,

62:08 yes, what is the biblical doctrine of justification, but what God has in church history identified as well as Luther's doctrine of justification. And we should count it a privilege to find it enshrined in our Confession, any view which finds itself uncomfortable with this frank acknowledgment of our indebtedness to God. And I say this to Martin Luther as Baptist is in need of a better appreciation of our heritage and of a deeper gratitude to the God who gave it to us. Let us pray.