Justification, Part 6

Review of Justification's First Six Aspects

0:04 I would direct your attention again to the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, as found in the 18th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke,

0:17 as we engage tonight in the 10th of a series of studies in this vital parable of our Lord, a parable which addresses itself to the most fundamental religious question that any person can ever ask. And that question is, how can sinful man be right with a holy God? And though the answer to that question is found in many portions of the Word of God, there's a sense in which you can say the whole thrust of the message of the Bible is an answer to that question.

0:52 The passage which we've been studying addresses itself to the question explicitly, definitively, and very comprehensively. Listen again as I read the parable. We'll spend a few minutes reviewing the main threads of thought and then move into the area of our study for this evening. Speaking of our Lord himself, Luke says, And he spake also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and set all others at naught.

1:25 Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a Publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I get.

1:53 But the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be thou merciful. Be thou merciful to me, the sinner. I say unto you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

2:29 We've emphasized again and again in our verse-by-verse study of this parable that our Lord does not set the Pharisee and the Publican before us simply as a matter of historical, spiritual interest, that at a certain point in time there may have been a certain Pharisee and a certain Publican who went up to a temple and prayed in a certain manner. But rather our Lord is setting before us two specimen men who are a picture of all men who would be concerned about the issue, how can I find acceptance with God? And in answer to that question, all men either see God or do not see God. And in answer to that question, all men either see God or do not see God.

3:09 Seek acceptance, as did this poor, deluded Pharisee, or as this graciously enlightened Publican. On the one hand, the way of the Pharisee's acceptance is obvious. It is the way of trusting to something inherent in his own character and some virtue that he thinks he finds in his religious performance. I thank thee I am not his other man.

3:40 I ask thee to doDEN And to give your alms of these things. Inoffensive and vigorous being, I sheet out theожал. If it be so that within me my character is such to錢 CBD to God, I fast, I tithe, this buanecy will not make up any deficiency in my character. On the other hand, this Publican looks totally out of himself.

3:56 He makes but one claim for his character and his performance and covers it in this word sin. God be Thou merciful to me, the sinner. Sinner is my person. Sinner in my actions.

4:10 Sin is the sin that links. Sinner in my disposition, I am sinner through and through. I look for acceptance wholly out of myself in the mercy of the living God. Our Lord, in concluding this parable, says in verse 14, I say unto you, we have it upon the record of truth incarnate, this man, the publican, went down to his house justified.

4:36 And so for the past four Lord's Day evenings, we've been examining just precisely how that publican went down to his house. If he went down to his house justified, what did that involve? And so the very appearance of the word justified in the parable has been a legitimate taking-off point for a larger study of the biblical doctrine of justification. And because the doctrine is so massive a doctrine, because it is so expansive and broad, we've tried to collate and gather together the biblical materials under the framework provided for us in the larger catechism.

5:18 And for those who may be visiting with us, to whom the very mention of catechism makes you look around and say, did I get the Baptist church or the local Catholic church? Let me remind you that long before the Catholics catechized, the Reformed Christians did. The Catholics imitated them. The reason the Roman Catholic Church started catechizing was, was part of the Counter-Reformation when they found how a plowboy with Luther's Bible in his mother tongue and Luther's catechism could run the local priest out of town.

5:48 And they said, well, there's something in this catechizing business that gets common people grounded in the truth. And so in the Counter-Reformation, the Catholics began to catechize because they saw the benefit of it in the Protestants. And now in our day, the thing is reversed and it's to our shame. And there is something about a catechetical framework that is helpful in giving, giving us a precise understanding of the truth of Scripture.

6:12 So then what we have done is we have taken the question in the larger catechism of the Westminster Standards, what is justification? And we have seen that the doctrine of justification, as described here, breaks down into seven distinct categories and we've been taking them one by one, going to the Scriptures and seeing that the catechism is a beautifully guarded, balanced statement of how that publican went down to his house. I'll only mention the first six heads and then we're going to study the seventh tonight.

6:46 Justification is an act of God's free grace. God is the author. That publican did not go down to his house saying something about himself. He did not go down to his house doing something for himself.

7:00 He went down to his house justified by an act of God. God is the author of justification. Not the personal worker who thinks he can read your heart and says, now you're saved because you're saved. You've prayed a little prayer after me.

7:12 It is God and God alone who declares men justified. What is the source of justification? It's God's free grace. Justification is an act of God's free grace.

7:25 When you ask why would God have taken that publican who pleads nothing but his sinnerhood and his sinnership and send him down to his house declared righteous, you have to say that the answer is not found in the sinner but in God. And the answer in God, is his free grace. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In the third place we saw that the objects or the recipients of justification are sinners.

7:55 Listen to the confession. Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners. Romans 4 and verse 5. He justifieth the ungodly.

8:07 He didn't say to that publican, now look I'll put you on probation. He didn't say to that publican, Now look I'll put you on probation. Up till now you've been guilty. I'll suspend the sentence and if you're a good boy for six months I may declare you righteous.

8:16 Jesus said he went down to his house not on probation, but he went down to his house justified. God justifies sinners. They are the recipients of this great blessing. Then in the fourth place we saw that the essence of the blessing of justification is this.

8:35 It is an act in which he pardoneth all their sins and will forgive them. And accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight. What is the kernel of justification? It is an act of pardon, that's the negative, and acceptance, that's the positive.

8:53 This means that when that publican went down to his house, all of his sins, original sin, actual sin, sins of thought, sins of word, sins of attitude, sins of deed, all the sins of his whole life were pardoned completely. God says their sins and iniquities will I remember no more as far as the east is from the west. So far hath he removed our transgressions from us. But justification is not just pardon.

9:26 You say, well, what do you mean not just? That's pretty good, isn't it? To have all the sins of all my life pardoned? Yes, but you see that still would not give me a title to heaven.

9:35 For in order to have a title to heaven I must be perfectly righteous before the standard of God's law. And justification then is not only pardon, but there is this accepting and accounting of my person righteous in his sight. When the court says to a criminal, look, all the evidence is in, you're guilty, but we pardon you, that doesn't send him back into society as though he had never committed that crime. He's always regarded as a pardoned criminal.

10:06 But when God justifies, he not only says the sins are forgiven, but he says, I now accept you, as though you never had sinned, and I account you as righteous in my sight. That's the essence of justification. What then is the basis or the ground of justification? That's the fifth line of thought.

10:26 Not for anything wrought in them or done by them, two negatives, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ. What is the ground upon which God would say to that publican, I declare, I declare you pardoned and fully accepted in my sight a title to all the blessings of grace and eternal life. What was the ground? Not for anything he did in him.

10:55 Now when the Lord sent that man down to his house justified, he not only did something for him, he did something in him. He changed his heart from a man who naturally loved his sins and would justify his sins. He's now grieved for his sins. The grace of repentance has obviously been worked in that publican.

11:12 But he is not justified because of the repentance that's worked in him. He's not justified for anything wrought in him or done by him, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ. The ground of our justification is Jesus Christ in the perfection of His obedience. That obedience even unto death in which He bore our sins in His own body to the tree.

11:40 Then the last line of thought that we touched last week, what is the method of justification? By God imputed to them. It is imputation. That is God putting it to our account.

11:54 And how does He do that? By uniting us to His Son so that the perfect righteousness that Jesus Christ has and is becomes ours by virtue of union with Him. God constitutes us in Christ and then He declares us to have the perfect righteousness of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1.30

Introduction to Faith Alone as the Instrumental Means

12:15 But of Him are ye in Christ who is made unto us righteousness. Now we come tonight. That's the end of our review. That wasn't bad to summarize four or five hours and ten minutes.

12:30 I always wrestle with that. I don't want to put any to sleep who've been with us all the time and yet having visitors who come in and just catch one or two, I am conscious of them as well. You pardon me if I, in love to them, sometimes become a little tedious for you. You are regularly hidden.

12:44 Now the seventh aspect of this great biblical doctrine that is beautifully set forth, simply set forth in the larger catechism is this. The last phrase. By God imputed to them and received by faith alone. What is this?

13:02 It is a statement of the instrumental means of justification. Now let me explain what I mean by the instrumental means. Some of you kids sit there and say, oh boy, there goes the preacher, there goes our daddy using big words again. Even my kids accuse me sometimes.

13:20 So I'm conscious of them and I want no accusations when I go home for my snack tonight. All right? What do we mean by the instrumental means of justification? Well, we mean simply this.

13:32 Here's a man sitting out on Bloomfield Avenue destitute of any means of income and he's begging. Day after day he sits there and he begs, not money, but food. And you could say of that man, if people are kind enough to give him a loaf of bread, to throw him a carrot once in a while, you could be accurate in saying that man is kept alive by his begging.

13:58 And you would be perfectly understood. Everybody know exactly what you meant if you said he's kept alive by his begging. Now what you mean is the instrument, the means by which he gets the food which keeps him alive is his begging. It's the food.

14:14 It goes into his stomach and nourishes him that keeps him alive. It's not his begging. But when you say he's kept alive by his begging, everybody understands what you mean. That there's no virtue in his begging to keep him alive.

14:26 The virtue is in the food which comes by means of his begging. So then when the scripture says we are justified by faith, it does not mean that there is something in the faith which justifies us. It is simply the means by which we come in to possession of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And so then it is the instrumental means of our justification.

14:55 And there is no contradiction between a justification that has as its source free grace and as its instrumental means faith in Jesus Christ. Well, as we've done each night in our study, let's look at the biblical grounds for this statement. And the materials are so many we must of necessity be very, very selective. Turn, please, to the book of Romans.

Biblical Grounds for Justification by Faith Alone

15:24 And we'll see how that any reading of the book of Romans that misses this note has missed the heart of the whole message of Romans. For in that text that Mr. Morey sent before us so clearly several Lord's Day evenings ago, Romans 1, 16 and 17, the whole theme of the book of Romans is set before us. It's set before us in these words.

15:48 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith unto faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

16:07 You see, bound up in the very term, gospel, power of God, salvation, righteousness of God, the great blessings, the grace is the word faith. It's mentioned several times at the very outset of this treatise of the Apostle Paul on what the gospel really is. So then, when he comes formally to open up the blessing of justification, what note does he sound again at the very outset? Look at verse 21.

16:38 But now, apart from the law, a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe. So you see, at the very outset, we cannot rightly conceive of justification apart from a justification that comes by means of faith alone. And I emphasize again, the ground of our justification is not our faith. It is the perfect obedience and satisfaction of Jesus Christ.

17:18 We're not saved on account of our faith any more than the beggar is saved, kept alive on account of his begging. He's kept alive on account of the food that is assimilated into his body and nourishes him. He is merely kept alive by his begging. It's the means of coming into possession of the food.

17:41 So likewise, Paul is careful to say we are justified by faith. We have the righteousness of God by faith or through faith, but never on account of faith. Chapter 4 in Romans, to show that this is the one way of salvation that God has always had to justify guilty sinners, he goes to the Old Testament and asks the question, what shall we say then that Abraham, our father, hath found according to the flesh? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not towards God.

18:15 For what saith, and then going way back to Genesis 15, 6, he quotes, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth. You see what the antithesis, the opposite of working and merit is?

18:39 It is believing. So any idea that faith is some kind of a work, some kind of an ingredient that I throw into the Bible, a hopper of my salvation, is mixing Paul's thought here. He says, opposite to any thought of merit and work is a justification that comes by means of faith. Now this is the testimony all the way through the fourth chapter of Romans.

19:06 He summarizes it in chapter 5, verse 1. Being therefore, or better translated, having therefore been justified by faith, we have peace. We have peace with God. Do you have any question as to the dominant note, this dominant note in Scripture?

19:23 Read Galatians 3, 6-14, where again Paul argues from the experience of Abraham. That's perhaps one of the most powerful formal treatments of this last phrase, and received by faith alone. How did the apostles preach? Well, this note was constantly sounded in their preaching as well as in their formal teaching in the epistle.

19:46 Take this example from the book of Acts, chapter 10, and verse 43. Acts chapter 10, and verse 43. Peter, preaching to the household of Cornelius, says to him, that is to Jesus Christ, bear all the prophets witness, that through his name, there's the ground of a man's forgiveness and justification, that through his name, that is the revelation of who he is and what he's done. His name is not just saying the name Jesus.

20:23 The Hebrew concept of the name is that it embodies the character, the revelation of the person, the significance of who he is and what he's done. That through his name, the revelation of his work and his person, everyone that believeth on him shall receive remission of sins. And then the classic text that we all know. For by grace are ye saved.

20:48 What? Not on account of faith, but through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

20:57 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. You see what the apostle does? He says, sure, faith is the means of our obtaining this salvation, this great gift of justifying grace. But he says even that faith must be seen within, the larger context of the workmanship of God.

21:22 We are his workmanship, created in union with Christ. How are we joined to Christ? By faith. Paul says if you ask the next question, how did I come to believe?

21:31 It's because you're his workmanship. He took you in hand so that even our faith is called an expression of divine grace. It says in Acts 18, I believe verse 37, speaks of those who believed through grace. And though we hold, I trust, with every fiber of our being that justifying faith is not a natural faith.

21:54 It is a faith which is the reflex response of a heart touched by the power of God in regenerating grace. Let us never play down the biblical emphasis that it is a necessary, instrumental means of justification. He that believeth not is condemned. God doesn't believe for you.

22:16 You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation. You are justified. You are justified by the faith that you place in the perfect salvation and in the perfect Savior. Well then, I need not labor this, I trust.

Why Faith Alone is the Instrumental Means

22:30 The biblical ground of the statement in the Confession is clear. That this justification with God as its author, free grace as the source, sinners the objects, pardon and acceptance the essence, Christ, righteousness the grounds, imputation the means, do you have any question that the category of God, catechism is biblically accurate when it says the method, I'm sorry, imputation the method that the means is by faith alone. The biblical ground of this statement is abundant. Now, having established that, and I believe there would be no controversy there amongst us tonight, let me press this question in the next place upon your mind.

23:12 Why are we justified by means of faith and no other grace? Is faith a greater grace than love?

23:23 No, it's said to be a lesser grace if you read 1 Corinthians 13. Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three, but the greatest is what? Not faith, but love. There's a time coming when faith will be no more.

23:39 Faith will merge into sight, but love will go on into eternity. Well, why then, if faith is not a greater or more noble grace than love, why should it be chosen as the alone, the means, as the alone, the means, as the alone, the means, as the alone, the means, as the alone, the means, as the alone, the means, as the alone, the means, of our justification? What about repentance? Is a man saved who doesn't repent?

24:04 Of course not. Not if you believe your Bible. Except you repent, you'll perish. But the Bible nowhere says we are justified by repentance.

24:15 No, it doesn't. You won't find one verse says we're justified by repentance. It connects forgiveness, one facet of justification with repentance. Repent unto the forgiveness of sins.

24:26 Repent if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee, Peter said to Simon Magus. But you will look in vain for one text in the Scripture that says we are justified by repentance. Well, why not? Seeing myself as a sinner, acknowledging that I've offended the holy God and sovereign of the universe, that I deserve His wrath, feeling what the publican felt, something of the meanness of my own heart and nature as a sinner so that I, fame, would beat upon my breast.

24:58 Isn't that a noble, God-honoring virtue? When implanted in the heart by God Himself? Well, of course, you'd have to answer yes. But the Bible doesn't say we're justified by love, we're justified by repentance.

25:09 Why? Well, I hope at least I've got you thinking about the question. Why? Why is it?

25:17 Well, you see, the simple answer is that faith is the only grace which is totally receptive. Now, just let that sink in. Faith is the only Christian. Faith is the only Christian.

25:35 Faith is the only Christian. Faith is the only Christian grace which is totally receptive. Repentance is active. I use the shorter catechism.

25:46 Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience. Repentance in that sense is an inwardly active grace. Love is an active grace. Love seeketh not her own.

26:09 Love commits itself to the well-being of its object. But the peculiar nature of faith is that it is a receptive grace. Faith is the outstretched, empty hand which receives righteousness by receiving Christ as He is offered in the Gospel. John 1.12

26:32 He came unto His own, and His own received Him not, but to as many as received Him. Even to them gave He the right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. There the receptive element of faith is beautifully and simply described by John. As many as received Him, even to them that believe on His name.

26:58 Go back to the beggar.

27:00 When he reaches out his hand to receive the bread offered, he's fed by his hand. We don't demean the other members of his body, but he's not fed by. He's fed by his foot. The foot has its function.

27:12 He wants to get up and go to a different corner and beg from somebody else. His eyes have another function when they show him that it's a red light now and he can cross. It's a green light he shouldn't cross. But when you say the beggar is fed by his hand, you're not setting the hand above the other members of the body in an absolute sense, but you're recognizing it is the hand which receives that which is offered.

27:35 So when the Bible says we're justified by faith, it is not demeaning repentance, and meekness, and humility, and love, and all the other graces, but it's zeroing in upon this simple principle that faith and faith alone is that receptive grace that lays hold of and receives what God Himself has so graciously and freely provided in Jesus Christ. So in answer to the question, why is it that faith alone is mentioned as the instrumental means of our justification, the first part of our answer is because faith alone is totally receptive. Second answer is this,

28:19 because faith is the means by which we are united to Christ Himself. You remember when we were dealing with the method of justification? It is imputation. God puts to our account the righteousness of Christ.

28:34 I was careful to emphasize that He doesn't do this simply by juggling the books. He does this by actually uniting us, bringing us to Christ, and seeing us in Christ clothed with His righteousness. He can declare us as righteous as His Son. Well, how does that union come to pass?

28:50 Well, from God's standpoint, as Dabney has so beautifully said in his systematic theology, you get some wonderful devotional thoughts in the systematic theology, God embraces us in electing and renewing love. We embrace Him in faith. And it's when there's that response, that expansive embrace of the sinner, already embraced in God's electing love, and in His renewing love, it's when the sinner, having had that response elicited from him in the effectual call of God, voluntarily embraces the Lord Jesus,

29:31 that union with Christ is effected in time and space, so that the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6.16 become a reality, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. That's the intimacy of the union. He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.

29:55 And it is faith which constitutes the bond of our union with Christ. That's why we're justified by faith, for faith which brings that union with Christ, then puts us in that relationship to Christ, that God now imputes His very righteousness to us. You say, I don't understand that. Joined to Christ, united to Christ, explain it.

30:22 I can't. I can only declare the wonder of it and glory in the reality of it. I can't explain it. There are no human analogies that begin.

30:32 God says marriage is something like it. The relationship between a vine and branches is something like it. The relationship between the persons of the Godhead is something like it. There are five or six analogies in Scripture, but all of them put together can't even tell us what it means.

30:52 But it's a blessed reality that believing on Him, I am joined to Him, and now I am so viewed in the Father's eyes as possessing His very righteousness. This is why faith and faith alone is declared to be the instrumental means. Two reasons. It is the only, totally receptive grace.

Luther's Illustration of Union with Christ by Faith

31:19 And secondly, it is that grace by which we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me quote from a servant of Christ in bygone days who quotes from Luther on this very concept of union with Christ and it's beautiful. Others very well represent the office of faith when they say that by means of it, a union is formed between Christ and believers. Thus, Luther says, quote, Faith unites the soul with Christ as a spouse with her husband.

31:53 Everything which Christ has becomes the property of the believing soul. Everything which the soul has becomes the property of Christ. Christ possesses all blessings and eternal life. They are henceforth the property of the believing soul.

32:10 The believing soul has all its iniquities and sins. They become, henceforth, the property of Christ. It is then that a blessed change commences. Christ who is both God and man, Christ who has never sinned and whose holiness is perfect, Christ the Almighty and Eternal, taking to Himself by His mutual ring of faith, His marriage ring of faith, all the sins of the believer, those sins are lost and abolished in Him, for no sin dwells before His infinite righteousness.

32:47 Thus, by faith, the believer's soul is delivered from sins and clothed with the eternal righteousness of her bridegroom, Christ. Oh, happy union! The rich, the noble, the holy bridegroom takes in marriage his poor, guilty, despised spouse, delivers her from every evil, and enriches her with the most precious blessings. Christ, the King and the priest, shares this honor and glory with all Christians.

33:15 The Christian then becomes a king and consequently possesses all things. He is a priest and consequently possesses God. And it is faith, not works, which brings him all this honor. A Christian is free from all things, above all things, faith giving him richly all things.

33:33 Should any be startled at such expressions as, He possesses God, let them consider the import of these words of the psalmist, Thou art my portion, O God. God is our refuge, and strength. I am the Lord thy God, and many such expressions in Scripture. On the other hand, how many scores of times does God call the saints, my people, the lot of mine inheritance, my redeemed, my love.

34:01 All grace flows from Christ, united to the soul, as all life flows from the soul, united to the body. This union between Christ and believers shall never be broken. It is in perpetuity, as to all its blessed consequences. Isn't that a beautiful statement of it?

34:23 That's why faith is the instrumental means. Faith becomes, in Luther's words, the exchange of the wedding rings, so that Christ so identifies me with himself, that all that he is, becomes mine. And he's willing to take all that I am, in my filth and rags and poverty,

34:46 and clothe it with his own richness. When that publican went down, to his house justified, there had been an exchange of wedding rings. All his guilt and sin had become the Savior's. All the Savior's virtue and righteousness had become his, because he believed unto justification and life.

First Qualification: Justification is by Faith ALONE

35:09 Now, when we make this statement, it is absolutely necessary, and if I can find my watch, I'll know how far we can go.

35:17 It is absolutely necessary to state some very fundamental, principles. I hope it's clear in your mind, now, that when the confession or the catechism says, the means is faith alone, that is biblical. We've looked at the biblical evidence. Then we've asked, and I hope answered the question, why is it that faith and faith alone is the means?

35:40 Because it's the receptive grace, it is the means of uniting us to Christ. Now, in insisting upon that doctrine, there are four or five things, we'll go as far as we have time tonight, and God willing, pick up the others next week. Four or five things that must be insisted upon, if we don't, and simply maintain the words, we're justified by faith, without these qualifying principles, we will depart from the biblical doctrine. First of all, we must insist that it is by faith alone that we appropriate Christ and his righteousness.

36:15 And the framers of the catechism were careful to say, this righteousness of Christ is received by faith, by faith alone. And that little word alone, that little word alone was the whole basic difference between the teaching of Rome that held men in bondage for centuries and the liberating message that God brought once again into the life stream of his church at the time of the Reformation. You wouldn't find the Roman Catholic Church officially denying the place of faith. How can anyone claim any kind of identification with the Bible and say, I have no place for faith?

36:53 The Jehovah's Witnesses got a place for faith. The Mormons got a place for faith. Romanism has a place for faith. Everything's got a place for faith.

37:01 But now you come up and say, I have a question, sir. What place do you give to this little word, A-L-O-N-E? And you watch him squirm. And that was the great heresy of the Galatians, of the Judaizers.

37:15 They didn't come and say to these people who'd been converted under Paul's ministry and under a pure apostolic preaching, of justification by faith, they didn't come and say, now forget that business of faith, and let's just make it a salvation of pure works. Throw out Christ, throw out the...

37:30 No, no. Paul had come along saying, we are guilty. God is holy. God is just.

37:38 Man stands exposed to his wrath. Jesus Christ, God and man, died in the room instead of sinners. He rose again. He lives mighty to save all who repent and believe on Him.

37:51 Shall be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and add nothing. The Judaizers came along and said, we don't want to cancel out that you're guilty. We don't want to cancel out the fact God's holy.

38:07 We don't want to cancel out the fact that there needs to be an atonement. We don't want to cancel out the fact that Christ died for sinners. We don't want to cancel out anything Paul said. We just want to change his punctuation.

38:17 And where he's put a period, after the word faith, we want to put a comma and say, thus, circumcision, keeping the law of Moses. And every word they added after their comma canceled everything that preceded. And that's what stirred Paul to the depths of his soul. It didn't fool him that they maintained the word saved, grace, Christ.

38:42 He said, the moment you take the little word alone out of there, you've broken down the whole fabric of the gospel. Now you see why some of us are such sticklers about theological definition? The life of the church depends upon it. Not preserved by indefinite vague statements.

39:06 Preserved by an apostle Paul who says, look, you Jews, you Judaizers who've come to mess up the people of God there at Galatia. You come and tamper with my punctuation and my adjectives in the gospel and you're preaching another gospel. He says, you keep my word alone in there. And you keep periods where I put periods.

39:28 And don't you start putting commas and adding to it. And so we must insist that it is by faith alone that Christ is appropriated. One of the great watchwords traditionally of the Reformation has been what? Not just fide, faith, but sola fide, faith alone.

39:49 And we must insist upon it. And you see, at that point, you see why only a heart touched by the power of God will ever truly believe. For you to say, I am willing to put nothing between me, God, heaven and hell, but the righteousness of a person I've never seen, I've never touched, and utterly repudiate everything that I've done that's decent and civil and say that has nothing to do with my acceptance, sin to my cross I cling. That's not natural to man to do that.

40:25 It takes a mighty work of God to bring the sinner to that place. These people that think, oh, faith's a simple thing, they've never understood their sinfulness. They've never understood who God is. Hence, it takes that mighty work of God's grace to bring a sinner to where he will say from the heart and the words of that well-known hymn, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.

40:51 One of the questions we've asked some of the people who this very night have been interviewed for membership, sometimes if I feel they know me well enough to know that I'm half facetious when I say it, I say, now look, what in the world ever makes you think, where'd you ever get the idea that a holy God would take the likes of you into heaven? What makes you think God would take the likes of you into heaven? What have you got to claim? Well, you see, when I state it that way, they usually begin to get the message.

Second Qualification: Justifying Faith is Never Alone

41:24 Thank God the answer I trust has come back from the heart from many even today, Christ and Christ alone. That's it. Christ alone, faith alone. Second thing we must remember in this doctrine of justification by faith, and if you've got what I've just said now and don't balance it with this, you've missed the biblical emphasis.

41:48 It is by faith alone that we are, that we appropriate the righteousness of Christ, but it is by a faith which is never alone that we appropriate Christ and his righteousness. You get it? It is by faith alone, but it is by a faith which is never alone, and the faith alone which is justifying faith will never remain alone in the life of the person who exercises it. Listen, as I quote not from the Catechism now, but from the Westminster Confession, and they've stated this beautifully, and this is in the Baptist Confession as well.

42:31 Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness is the alone instrument of justification. That's my first point. Yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is always accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but a faith which worketh by love. That's it.

42:56 And you see, we have heresies in the history of the church on the left hand and on the right, where you've had Galatianism and Romanism, and you have in our day Mormonism and all these other forms of works righteousness that say, it's Christ, his righteousness, faith, plus, plus, plus. There has been a parallel plague of heresy in the church. Damning the souls of men through the centuries, and that's been the heresy that says, oh yes, it's by faith alone, by grace alone, the righteousness of Christ alone. But they've believed that that faith could be present while there was no true repentance for sin,

43:38 no godly sorrow for sin, no careful obedience to Christ, no humility, no godliness, no holiness, no sanctification, and that position stands under an equally thunderous indictment from the Word of God. No, no, the Bible that teaches we are justified by faith alone teaches that that faith which is unto justification will never be alone, but it will be a faith that will always be accompanied by, to use the words of the Confession, all other saving graces. Isn't that the whole contention of James? Here come these people.

44:21 Swaggering out at church, saying, yeah, we're justified. Boy, it's great. We're accepted in the Beloved. James says, how do you live Monday through Saturday?

44:31 They look at him and say, huh, you're a legal preacher. You're a legalist. You're going to say that works have something to do with salvation. You don't understand.

44:41 It's by faith alone. It's grace alone. And James turns around and says, look, I've met your likes before. He said, what happens to you when your spirit leaves your body?

44:50 The man says, well, I've had it. I'm dead. He says, all right. If you claim to have a faith that isn't productive of works of godliness, your faith is just what your body is when the soul leaves.

45:04 It's dead faith. That's what he says. As the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead. There is no controversy between the teaching of Paul and of James.

45:20 There is a beautiful synthesis which together cuts at the root of both of these prophecies that have plagued the church and, worse than that, have damned the souls of multitudes. If I were preaching today up at the local ward of the Mormon establishment on Mountain Avenue, I wouldn't emphasize this second thing. I'd come right smack down on the message of Galatians, faith alone. And I'd say your baptism and your good works and all that you think you have to do to find acceptance are a lie.

45:55 If I were preaching in the average evangelical church tonight, I wouldn't put my emphasis there. I'd put it over here. Because we've got churches full of people, oh I believe, believe in the Lord Jesus, I'm saved. No serious regard for God's law.

46:12 No serious earnest efforts to be holy. No serious efforts to conform their family life to the word of God. No serious efforts to apply the scriptures in every structure and area of their common everyday experience. And yet they claim to have faith.

46:31 No, no. The Bible says that saving faith which is under justification is a faith, to use Paul's words in Galatians, a faith which worketh by love. It is a faith that has embraced the Lord Jesus in all his offices. In embracing him as my righteousness, I've embraced him who is a king and a prophet as well as a priest.

47:02 And implicit. In every true act of saving faith, and follow me closely, whether a person understands this or not is not the issue. Implicit, inherent, in germ form, in every true act of saving faith that looks away from everything in itself to Christ alone, there is every single act of gracious Christian obedience inherent in those initial actings of faith. Now at times they may be worked out with more perfection and more zeal than others.

Third Qualification: Justification is by Faith Exercised in Time

47:34 Yes, but they're there. And the uniform teaching of the word of God comes down squarely on that principle. Third thing I would say by way of a qualifying and hedging and sort of preventative qualification is this. It is by a faith exercised in time that we are justified.

48:04 And the framers of the confession were very careful to emphasize this. This is what they said. Let me quote from the larger catechism again. No, it's under the section on justification.

48:24 I'm sorry. I'm going to find it yet. So hold on. Yes, here we are.

48:33 Paragraph four. God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect. And that's clearly taught in scripture. He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love.

48:50 And Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins. And Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins. And that's taught in Romans, the end of Romans chapter three. Nevertheless, they are not justified until the Holy Spirit does in due time actually apply Christ unto them.

49:09 One of the heresies that is plagued the church and you ought to know it because there is no new thing under the sun in heresy. Every heresy is but the old one dressed up in mob garment. And the moment people begin to appreciate the biblical life of Christ in the sense that doctrine that what happens in time is not an accident, but is the unfolding of the eternal purpose of God, not only in the realm of nature and providence, but in the realm of grace. And the moment any given group of people or individuals or segment of Christendom begins to enter into an appreciation of the whole biblical teaching on the decrees and the sovereignty

49:49 of God, the devil is standing by ready to ruin them with the very truth that should be their health. And one of the ways you'll do it is you'll get people reasoning like this, now wait a minute, if I was chosen in Christ, and I was conceived as being in Christ before the foundation of the world, therefore I must have been justified from eternity. Well, if I was justified from eternity, then in reality, whether I believe and repent and persevere is really inconsequential, isn't it? I mean, I can sort of play games, but boy, if I'm justified from eternity, that can never be undone.

50:26 You see the implications? And one of the curses of the church has been an antinomianism, that is, a lawlessness that has been identified with this doctrine of eternal justification. No, my friend, listen, as you sit here tonight, and you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with a true and a living faith, you're under the wrath and the condemnation of God, I don't care. You think about whether you're elect or non-elect or anything else, my Bible says the wrath of God abideth on him that believeth not.

51:02 The Word of God says that divine wrath abides on those who believe not. Well, you say, Mr. Martin, how can you explain that? If God loved us from eternity, I can't explain it.

51:11 I'm not called upon to explain it. I'm a proclaimer, not an explainer. I've told you that before. To proclaim what God says.

51:23 If I stand tonight a believer justified. Accepted in Christ. It is part of my heritage to rejoice that I am not saved and I am not a believer by accident. It was in the purpose of God in eternity to save me.

51:39 He chose me in Christ. In time he sent his Son to die for me. In time he sent his Spirit to awaken me and to convict me, to tear the scales from my eyes, to give me life and to unite me to his dear Son. That's to be to my consolation.

51:55 It's to humble me in the dust that it's all of grace, but it was never revealed that I might go out on some great plank of man-made logic and draw all kinds of inferences that move me every step on that plank away from my clear duty as a Christian. Oh, may God help us to be simple-hearted believers who are willing to leave the unresolved implications of logic to that day when we meet him. Who is infinite in his wisdom, and then we shall know even as we are known.

52:32 You see, the disposition and tendency to go punch somebody in the nose, you quickly recognize as carnal and fleshly, don't you? At least I hope you do. I hope there's no one here who, if he suddenly got the impulse to march up the aisle and pop me one, would say, well, that may be of God. I ought to think about that for a while.

52:52 No, no. You would immediately recognize that this was a fleshly, sinful disposition. But now some of you don't recognize that you're itch for logical consistencies in the same category. When your mind starts working, saying, oh, isn't that something?

53:06 God chose me in Christ. Now, therefore, therefore, listen, you resist that temptation as much as you'd resist the temptation to go sock someone right in the nose. You let your mind be exercised to the point where you feel it will break and be blown on any text of Scripture. Meditate, think, wrestle, but don't get your eyes off Scripture.

53:29 And begin walking out on planks that are paved or that are forged and constructed by the mere dictates of human logic. And I say that for some of you, that's no problem. But there's some of you, that is a real problem. And this whole matter that the framers of the catechism were talking about in the confession goes back to the fact that the church had men in it who allowed themselves to submit to that driving, pushing pressure of human logic.

53:57 And they talked about eternal justification. Then you see, those people often then didn't preach the gospel freely to sinners. They only had a gospel for awakened sinners, a gospel for sensible sinners. And all kinds, I won't trouble you with some of the heresies that have come out of it, but we need to remember that.

Fourth Qualification: Justification is by Weak or Strong Faith

54:16 All right, three things. Having established the doctrine of justification by faith, why it is by faith, it is by faith alone that we appropriate Christ in his righteousness. Secondly, it is by a faith which is never. It is never alone that we appropriate Christ in his righteousness.

54:33 Thirdly, it is by a faith exercised in time that we are justified. And then my closing note tonight is this. It is by a faith, weak or strong, that we are justified. The Bible does not say, having therefore been justified by strong faith, we have peace with God.

54:54 It says, having been justified by faith. The scripture does not say, for by grace you are saved through strong faith. Strong faith, but through faith. Dabney, again, a theologian in a systematic theology book, has a very homey illustration.

55:11 Even you kids can get it.

55:14 Some of you big ones as well as you younger ones. He says, imagine that in a certain community there was an unusual piece of equipment. It had unusual powers. It gave out a kind of electrical energy that had power to cure disease.

55:32 And the only condition? That was laid out in order to have the virtue that emanated from that peculiar machine. To have its virtue enter your body if you had disease and heal you was that you get in contact with that machine. He said, now imagine that there are two men in the village.

55:53 They hear the news of this unusual machine that has these almost mysterious occult powers to heal the sick. One of the men has an affliction that is in his internal organs. He has excruciating pain. He can't digest his feet, his food, I'm sorry, but his feet are in good shape.

56:13 I'm sorry, my mind was going ahead of my tongue.

56:17 But his feet, the means of transporting himself are in good shape. He can still walk. He can even run if necessary. But he has a disease that's eating out the very vitals of his life.

56:28 Here's another man. His vital organs are fine, but he has a kind of disease in the joints that cripples him. And he can barely hobble with crutches. And if he can't walk, he can't walk.

56:38 If he tries to walk without them, he's got to crawl on all fours like an animal. And the news goes out that this machine has been placed in their village. And the summons goes out that any can come and partake of its virtue. The virtue is there for all who come.

56:53 And then it's made very clear that coming all you must do is touch the machine. Get in contact with that machine. Dabney goes on to say, here's the man whose internal organs are being eaten out. But the moment he hears that news, he runs.

57:08 And as he approaches that machine with that strain, he feels a strange power and virtue in it. He comes at it at such a force that his contact is almost like a blow. And as soon as he touches the machine, he feels virtue go into his body and he's healed and he knows he's healed. The other man comes staggering out of his house, hobbling slowly and painfully on his crutches.

57:32 And after some 15 minutes, he gets by the same machine. The other fellow's running all around the place like a crazy man, saying, I'm well, I'm well, I'm well. And wearied by that painful effort of coming that distance, his crutches almost staggering. He barely reaches out and he touches the machine.

57:53 And instantly the virtue enters his body and he's just as much healed as the man who came with all that vigor and struck it with a blow. Why? The virtue's not in the force with which the contact is made, but the virtue's in the machine itself. You've got the application, don't you?

58:16 Where is justification? In grace. It is in Christ Jesus. And what is faith?

58:23 Oh, thank God for some who come and lay hold of the Lord Jesus like the man who ran out of his house. And there are examples of that in Scripture and in human experience. Some of you here tonight, who as you trace your spiritual history, you can see that when God opened up the truth of the Gospel and the glory of the righteousness that is there in Christ, your heart, as it were, ran out and laid hold of Christ almost with the force. With the force of a blow.

58:50 There are others of you that to this day you say, I fit much more the picture of that second character. Ah, my friend, listen. It's not the strength of the hand that takes hold of Christ, but it's the virtue that's in Christ. He that believeth on the Son hath more.

59:10 Weak faith, strong faith, he that believeth. That's the issue. Now, granted, the man who has strong faith may enjoy his healthy state more, but he's no more healthy. And Bunyan understood this, didn't he?

59:29 He not only has great heart and faithful, but who else does he have on that road to the Celestial City? Mr. Weak Faith. Mr. Ready to Halt.

59:41 Mr. Feeble Mind. Why? He was a pastor.

59:45 He wasn't some theologian sitting up in an ivory tower just scratching his head and stroking his beard, saying, now what shall I write about for posterity? He was a pastor. He dealt with people. He saw some who came up and laid hold of Christ and never had a doubt.

60:02 He saw others who all their days wondered, have I really touched Him? Oh, I say to anyone tonight who's been troubled about the weakness of your faith, stop looking at the strength of your hand and look at the object of your faith. It is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And if that's a true faith, then there will be those other graces attended to.

Concluding Application and Self-Examination

60:30 You will long to please Him who loved you and gave Himself for you. Mr. And so we close our study tonight with that note of biblical truth I trust ringing in our ears. By grace, are you saved through faith.

60:47 Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Mr. You say why that's so simple a question? Yes, it is.

60:54 But your eternity depends on your ability to give an honest answer to that question. Mr. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you been justified by faith? Faith alone. No Pharisee

61:14 here tonight. He says, yeah, I believe, but I'm so glad I'm not quite so bad as other people. And I'm so glad I, no, no, no, that's not the language of faith. The language of faith is the language of the publican. It says, I am nothing but sin, but he is nothing

61:29 but righteousness. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you have faith alone?

61:38 Second question, is it a faith which is not alone? Is it producing those other graces in your life? Humility, repentance, obedience, holiness? Not so that you can advance and then say, well, I no longer need to say, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I can say, no,

61:56 no, no, no, no, no. The most advanced saint, Paul, Philippians 3, says at this stage, after all, these years as a missionary and a saint, I still want one righteousness, not that which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Jesus Christ. The confirmation and the vindication to his own conscience of the genuineness of that faith is that he was able to say, ye know how holy and justly and unblamefully we behaved ourselves among you. Is that true of you? Or do you have a faith that is alone? If it's alone, it's not real faith. You better

62:30 jettison it tonight and try to God to work in you that faith. It's a faith which is unto salvation. And it's a faith exercised in time. And thank God it's a faith whether weak or strong, which if it has Christ alone as its object, brings us into all the blessings of justification. Let us pray.