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Faith in Christ not Works Leads to Righteousness
Belgic Confession 22; Romans 3:9-31
October is when many churches remember the Reformation. We recall Luther nailing his 95 Theses - teaching that faith in Christ alone without good works, leads to salvation. But this didn’t start with him. It was taught by pre-reformers like John Wycliffe. He said - “Trust wholly in Christ; rely altogether on his sufferings; beware of seeking to be justified in any other way than by his righteousness. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation.” But it didn’t originate with him either. The early church taught it. Augustine said, “when someone believes in Christ who justifies sinners, that faith accounts righteousness to the believer, just as David declared - blessed is he to whom God has given righteousness, independent of any righteous actions.” And neither did it originate with him. It’s in the Bible. From both the New and Old Testaments.
But many outrightly deny this teaching, like the Roman Catholic Church. Canon 9 of the Council of Trent says, “If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate to be justified, and that actions of his own will are not necessary, let him be anathema or cursed.” To them, faith in Christ is not enough, there must be good works. Along with faith, they believe law-keeping is necessary for salvation. But we see this attitude also in evangelical churches. While justification by faith alone in Christ is taught, practically, faith is placed on other things. For example, how do you know you’re saved? I said the sinner’s prayer. I walked down the aisle. But no magic prayer or special walk can save. Only Jesus saves. And we must believe he alone is savior. Our passage teaches about this faith in 2 propositions. Firstly, the law is unable to justify sinners. Secondly, faith is the agent by which sinners are justified.
Firstly, the law is unable to justify sinners. In our passage, Paul makes the point that nothing but faith in Christ will lead to salvation. But some may ask - why not obedience to God’s law? Can’t good works contribute? Keeping God’s law can save, no? Paul says no. Christ is all we need. As our confession says, “Therefore, to say that Christ is not enough but that something else is needed as well is a most enormous blasphemy against God—for it then would follow that Jesus Christ is only half a Savior.” So in this passage he shows why keeping the law can’t save at all. In chapter 3, Paul compared the Jew and Gentile. The Gentiles were pagans. But the Jews were given the law - the oracles of God. They knew what God desired and what he hated. They knew what was right and wrong. They knew his commandments - what he prohibited and prescribed. They knew what pleased and displeased him. They were supposed to be law-keepers. But these law-keepers were not better than law-breakers. Verse 9 says, “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.” So even though the Jews were supposed to be law-keepers, they still sinned. They were not better than the Gentiles. And Paul had already proved they were sinners. He did this in chapter 2, verses 17-29. Here’s a summary: The Jews had God’s law and they were proud. They even thought they could teach others to keep the law - thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not worship idols. But the simple truth was this - they themselves were guilty of doing these things. Verses 23-24 - “Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you.” It’s like parents who tell their kids to put down their devices, but can’t themselves put down their devices. It’s like parents who yell at their children to stop yelling. The law-keepers were law-breakers. So much so that God was mocked by unbelievers. Look! The law-keepers who want to teach us to keep the law are themselves law-breakers! Who’s their God!?
So rather than making them righteous, the law actually showed how bad they were, verses 19-20. You have the law, you have no excuse for being unrighteous. But you’re guilty of sin. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” No one can keep the law to be saved. Now, why people can’t keep the law is not because the law is bad, in fact it’s good. But people can’t keep the law because they’re bad, they’re weak. That’s what Romans 8:3 says - the law can’t save because we can’t keep the law because we’re too weak.
So Paul demonstrates how all people are law-breakers. In verses 10-12, he quotes the Psalms - it’s been written that there’s none righteous - no, not one. How sinful is man? Triply. There’s none righteous, no, not one. And there are 2 reasons why - 2 contributing factors. Our mind and our will are at fault. There’s none that understands, none that seeks God. Sinners don’t understand enough of what righteousness involves to seek God. Some think they’re okay - seek God for what? They don’t know their sinfulness enough to ask God to save them. But it can also mean that our lack of righteousness causes a lack of insight. There are some who say - “what’s wrong with stealing for survival?” But not only is there a problem with their understanding, there’s a problem with their will. Verse 12 says they’ve turned away and become useless. They willfully don’t seek God and reject him. We all like sheep have gone astray, we’ve turned everyone to his own way. As a result, with respect to righteousness, we’re useless. We have no righteousness. Paul’s point? Relying on our obedience to save doesn’t actually save. We still sin. We still rebel against God. There’s none that’s good, no, not one.
And we see just how worthlessly sinful. Verses 13-18 contain a series of descriptions of sinners, even religious people. These law-keepers are law-breakers. And they break God’s law comprehensively. What irony. They do it with all their faculties. God designed the body for righteousness, but man uses it as a tool of wickedness. Their throats are an open tomb, their tongues have used or practiced deceit, their lips are coated with the poison of asps, their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, and destruction marks their paths instead of peace with God. Their eyes don’t respect God! Here, Paul’s being comprehensive. He’s already spoken about the unseen parts of man - how his understanding and will are sinful. Now, he speaks about the seen parts of men. And they transgress God’s law - thou shalt not murder - but their feet lead them to murder; thou shalt not bear false witness - but their tongues are deceitful; thou shalt not blaspheme - but their mouths are full of cursing. We can’t keep the law to save ourselves. Why? Because we can’t keep the law.
So how can one be saved? We must believe the gospel. Faith, not works. Romans 8:3-4 - “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” We must believe in Christ as our savior. And that kind of faith can only be given by the Spirit. Article 22 says, “We believe that for us to acquire the true knowledge of this great mystery the Holy Spirit kindles in our hearts a true faith that embraces Jesus Christ, with all his merits, and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him.” The Holy Spirit gives this faith which causes us to cling to Jesus for salvation, without our good works.
Secondly, we want to look at the agency of faith to justify sinners. Doing and keeping the law doesn’t save. Only faith in Christ. Verses 21-22 - “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” This teaching of justification by faith alone without the law was taught from the beginning. It was testified by the Old Testament scriptures. Not just by reformers, pre-reformers, early church fathers, or Paul - but from the Old Testament. Remember? Adam and Eve couldn’t keep their salvation by obedience. And they certainly couldn’t earn it by obedience anymore. They couldn’t even cover their shame. Fig leaves were the best they could come up with. They needed a savior. And they simply needed to trust in God’s promise to send the seed of the woman to destroy Satan. Also, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Even when he was called by God to sacrifice Isaac, he believed that Isaac would not remain dead, but that God would provide his own sacrifice. This was the message of salvation by faith from the beginning. As verses 21-22 say, God makes sinners righteous without the law. It has been only by faith in Christ since the beginning. All who believe are made righteous. Our confession says - “either all that’s required for our salvation is not in Christ or, if it’s in him, then those who have faith in him have his salvation entirely.” But over and over and over again the Bible says that salvation is by faith alone in Christ without good works. If you believe, you’re saved. This is a declaration of mercy. Notice the summary and progression. Verse 23 - all have sinned. But, verse 24, we can be made righteous through Christ freely, meaning without works. Why? Verse 25 - he’s God’s sacrifice for sin. All who believe this are made righteous. Verse 26 - this is how God saves - even for Adam and Eve in the past. He makes righteous those who believe in Jesus alone. As our confession says, “Jesus Christ is our righteousness in making available to us all his merits and all the holy works he has done for us and in our place. And faith is the instrument that keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits.” You want to be saved? Believe in Jesus. That’s enough.
And Paul speaks about the fruits of justification by faith in verses 27-28 - Where’s boasting? There’s none. We can’t boast in keeping the law or doing good works. Not by the law, but by faith. “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” One of the fruits of justification of faith is humility. When we really understand the gospel, we know that we can never be changed or accepted by God by any works we do. We can only cast ourselves at the feet of Jesus. This is what the millions upon millions of worshipers do at the end of the age. Revelation 5:11-12 tells us that all the angels, beasts, elders, numbering ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousand - and what do they say? “Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation…Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” They didn’t proclaim their own good works. But Christ alone saved them. And he saved them from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. As verse 29 says - he’s the God of both the Jews and Gentiles - of those who are law-keepers, but are actually law-breakers because he’s the God of all law-breakers because through Christ, the only law-keeper, he counts perfect righteousness to all who break the law, but come to Christ by faith alone. And that message humbles sinners. We learn of many accounts in Acts that when people heard the gospel, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48). When Paul, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a proud man who kept the law, was finally confronted with Christ and the gospel, he believed. He said in Philippians 3 that every law keeping he did to be righteous, he counted them “but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” That’s why our confession says that true faith embraces Christ, with all his merits, and makes him its own, and no longer looks for anything apart from him. It confesses that we are justified by faith alone, apart from works. Otherwise, Christ is half a savior - why worship him, if we contribute to our own salvation? Martin Luther showed this humility when he said, “If there be one stitch in the garment of my righteousness, which I am to insert myself, then I am lost.”
But another fruit of justification is fulfillment. Paul asks in verse 31 - “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” There are two ways to look at this. Firstly, justification by faith was something that was taught in the law. Verse 21 already said that the law and prophets taught this. So by teaching this, he’s actually upholding the law of God. But secondly, he’s saying that only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law. We’re law-breakers. No one can obey. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Only Christ has kept the law perfectly. As the Lord Jesus said, “don’t think that I’ve come to abolish the law and the prophets. I’ve come to fulfill them. Verily I say, till heaven and earth pass, not a jot or tittle will by any means pass till all is fulfilled.” Only Jesus has kept the law. But by faith, we have the benefits of all his good works. As our confession says, “And faith is the instrument that keeps us in communion with him and with all his benefits. When those benefits are made ours, they are more than enough to absolve us of our sins.” We believe that salvation is by Christ’s good works, not ours. We believe that salvation is by Christ’s keeping of the law, not ours. And by faith, we have his obedience accounted to us. To be clear, faith is not the thing that saves us. Christ alone saves us. As our confession says, “faith is only the instrument by which we embrace Christ, our righteousness.” And when we embrace him and have his righteousness, being united with him, we now love to keep the laws of God - not for salvation, but out of gratitude.
Friends and believers, do you have faith in Christ? Do you rest in all of his merits? Do you acknowledge that you can’t save yourself by your own works. Do you believe that you can never be reformed by keeping God’s laws? Do you believe that you can’t keep God’s laws? That only one person has kept it for you? Believe in Christ and all his righteousnesses will be yours. Some have grown up in church - is your faith in your church going, your Christian family, your respectability? Or perhaps you are a very moral person - or a qualified, educated person, maybe a person with position. You’re putting your faith in the wrong things. Look at your works and consider them as dung, as rubbish. Look to Christ alone for salvation.
1. The Inability of the Law to Justify Sinners
A. Law-keepers are not better than law-breakers
B. All people before God are law-breakers
2. The Agency of Faith to Justify Sinners
A. Justification by faith alone taught from the beginning
B. The fruits of justification by faith
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2024, Rev. Mark Chen
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