True saving faith, the gift of
God's grace, is always alone. If it's not alone, it's not faith. All it is is knowledge. And may
I add that it's not saving knowledge. True faith is always alone. And the true faith that's always
alone is never alone. Never. Wherever you find faith
that is alone, you will find that it is never alone. Now did you notice in those three
scriptures I read, each one said faith without works is dead. being alone. And the last verse
in particular, verse 26, for as the body without the spirit
is dead, or as the body without breath is dead. When is the last
time you were in a funeral home and looked at the body of somebody
you used to know? The breath is gone. there they
lay dead. There's no life in that body
at all. It's kind of a sobering sight,
isn't it? And just as a body without breath
is dead, so faith without works is dead also. It too is just knowledge. If there's no works, if there's
no life, And this works is really life. Faith without life is dead. And the works that accompany
that life, the deeds, the spirit that accompanies that life, faith
without life is dead. It's nothing more than knowledge.
Now let me give you a few examples of knowledge only. The law of aerodynamics. I'm
glad I know what it is. It makes me feel better when
I'm in a plane. The plane, the wing has a slant to it. When the air hits it at a certain
speed, it puts it back down. It creates a lift. brings the
plane up. I enjoy understanding how that
plane lifts off the ground. I can remember a time when I
didn't have, I just said, how's this thing up here? You know,
just mysterious, but I understand it now. But what good would that
knowledge of aerodynamics do me if I didn't get on the plane?
It'd just be knowledge, wouldn't it? Useless, pointless knowledge. I can have a complete knowledge
of the ingredients of a piece of bread. I can know how many
carbohydrates are in it and what kind of wheat and what kind of
flour, what was used, how it was baked. I can know that completely.
I can know everything there is to know about that piece of bread.
But what good will it do me if I don't eat it? No good at all. I can know That exercise will
help me, but what good will it do if I don't exercise? Now that
is knowledge that doesn't do you any good. And faith without
works is knowledge only. Faith that's not alone is knowledge
only. Now I'm thankful for knowledge.
But knowledge by itself won't do anybody any good. Now what
I want to do is consider what faith alone means and what faith,
the works of faith, mean. I want us to consider those two
things. Now what is meant by faith alone? Now, if it's not
alone, it's not faith in the first place. So what is meant
by faith alone. What did the Lord mean when he
said only believe? What did the Lord mean when he
said this is the work of him that sent me that you believe?
He didn't say anything else did he? This is the work of him that
sent me that you believe on him whom he hath sent. Now faith
alone means all you have is Christ. What we just heard in that song.
Faith alone means all you have is Christ. only what you have. You have
nothing else. You wouldn't dare plead anything
else but the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now that's what faith
alone means. You don't have assurance of your
salvation because of how holy you are. If you have assurance,
of your salvation because of how holy you are, you're a very
unholy person, I can assure you. And you don't know the gospel
at all. That's not where assurance comes
from. You don't believe you're saved because your life is different
from what it was before. You don't believe you're saved
because of an experience you had in the past. And you go back
and think about that experience and say, I must be saved. I remember
when it happened, how I felt and what took place. You don't find your salvation
from what you've learned and what you understand. When you
came to understand the doctrine of grace, You don't find assurance
because you no longer commit some of the sins you used to
commit. The man who has faith only, all he has is Christ. If you have something other than
him, you do not have faith alone. The man who has faith alone looks
to Christ only. Now if all you have is Christ,
is that enough? The answer is, it is if he's
all you've got. Faith alone. Now where does this idea of faith
alone come from? I was reading a where someone
made the objection that you never find the phrase faith alone in
all the Word of God. So how can you talk about faith
alone if you don't read that phrase in the Word of God? Well,
it's on every page of the Word of God. That phrase might not
be there. Well, sovereignty is not in the
Word of God either, but boy, it's taught, isn't it? The sovereignty
of God The word Trinity is not found in the scriptures, but
it's taught. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. And on every page of this book, we read faith alone. You see, we look to the scriptures
alone as our only rule of faith and practice. And the only place
we're going to find faith alone is in this book. Where do you
get this? Where does this faith alone come
from? It comes from the scriptures.
Now, we don't look to our denominational distinctions. We don't look to
our creeds. We don't look to our religious
traditions. We don't look to our logic or intelligence. We look only to what God's Word
actually says. Now, what does the Word of God
have to say about this thing of faith alone? We dare not believe
anything but what the Word of God says. Before I read the Scriptures,
I want to read another Scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, if
you turn there. Verse 6, And these things, brethren,
have I in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for
your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of men above
that which is written. Now notice of men is in italics.
You know what that means? That means it was put there by
the translators and it's not in the original document. Read
it this way. that you might learn not to think
above that which is written. Now that's all that counts. So
where does this thing of faith alone comes from? Well, we better
find it in the Scriptures. And if it's not in the Scriptures,
if it's not the teaching of Scripture, we don't want it. Now what does
the Bible have to say about this? Well, turn to Romans chapter
3. Romans chapter 3. Verse 19, Now we know that what
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. 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. But now the righteousness of
God What's the next word? Without the law. Without the
law, without my personal works, without my personal obedience. Now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. There's
no difference. Look down in verse 27 of the same chapter. Where is boasting then? It's
excluded. There's nothing I can boast in.
There's nothing that I can take credit for. By what law? Works? Nay, but by the law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Now that's called faith alone. Look in Romans chapter 4 verse
5. But to him that worketh not, This man knows there's nothing
that he can do to earn or gain God's favor and acceptance. But
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now that's
faith alone. You look to Christ only as everything
in your salvation. You don't believe anything else.
I love that song, All That I Have. All that I plead, all that I
need is Jesus. I look in no other direction. Now, the message of Scriptures
is Christ alone. I think of that passage of Scripture
in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3, where Paul said, I fear less
by any means as Satan deceived thee, beguiled thee through his
subtleties, so your minds should be corrupted from the, what? Simplicity. The simplicity. I love simple things, don't you?
This is not complicated. The simplicity that's in Christ. Now, if you introduce the word
and Christ and this, fill in the blank, you've been corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ. Now, simple means not
compound. If something's compound, there's
at least two parts, isn't there? In Christ, there's simplicity. Now, what's that mean? That means
the only righteousness I have is the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. It's that simple. It means the only ground I have
for God forgiving my sins. It's not because I did anything. It's not because I asked for
forgiveness. It's not because I wanted forgiveness. It's for Christ's sake. Holy
for Christ's sake. He only is everything in salvation. I love that passage of scripture,
Colossians chapter 3 verse 11, Christ is all. Now what's that
leave everything else? Do the math. If he's all, what's
that leave everything else? Nothing. Zero. He only is all that God is. He only is the message of the
scriptures. He only is the reason for salvation. Take election. He only is the
reason for election. God didn't choose you and then
put you in Christ. No, you were chosen in him. Never viewed independently of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He only is how God can be just
and justify the ungodly. And I'm going to refer to that. I hope I refer to that every
time I preach. Somebody says, you talk too much about that.
How can you talk too much about that? How God can be just, consistent
with His glorious, holy, righteous character, and yet justify somebody
like me who is ungodly? That's the best news ever heard,
and I can't hear it enough. If you all get tired of it, you
probably need to go somewhere else because you're going to hear
it every time you come in here. He only. is how God can be just
and justify the ungodly. He only is my sin payment. He only is the object of my faith. I look to Christ only. He's everything
in my salvation. Now that's what faith alone is.
Faith alone looks to Christ only. It's that simple. I need no other
argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died. And that he died for me. Now, where you have the scriptures
alone, where you have Christ alone, where you have faith alone,
you're going to have grace alone. I mean, you can't have faith
only and believe anything but grace only. Real simple question. How much of salvation is by grace? I love that question. I love
the answer to it. One hundred percent. Now where you have scriptures
alone, where you have Christ alone, where you have grace alone,
you always, with no exceptions to this rule, you always have
faith alone. And if you have any other reason
to believe that you're saved, I believe I'm saved because I
fill in the blank. Because I accepted Jesus as my
personal Savior. Because I repented of my sins.
You know, I would ask somebody the next time they say that,
what do you mean by that? Explain it. Explain it. Tell me exactly
what you mean by that and be honest. I'm saved because of
a life-altering experience I had. That's not faith alone. That's
not saving faith. Faith alone. And if you like it that way,
I love it that way. I wouldn't want it to be any
other way. Now this faith that is alone, Jesus only, is all my salvation. This faith that's always alone,
singular, is never alone. That's what he's talking about
when he says faith without works is dead, being alone. As a matter of fact, it's the
most powerful thing there is, this simple faith that looks
to Christ only. Inherent in it are the works,
the actions, and the deeds of life. Faith without works, faith
without life is dead. Is dead. Now what in the world
does that mean? Abel believed the gospel. He believed that the only way
he could come into God's presence is through the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He believed that. What proved
it? Watch the offering he brought.
He brought the blood, didn't he? Cain didn't believe that. He proved it by what he brought,
didn't he? And I love to think of Cain. He's upset with Abel. God accepted your sacrifice and
he didn't accept mine. He's getting upset. And I can
just see Abel saying, the only way a holy God can be approached
is through the blood sacrifice. Cain, if you come pleading nothing
but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be accepted. Now
I can see Cain saying, blood, I'll show you blood. And he bashes
his brains out over it. He demonstrated what he believed
by his life, didn't he? What about Noah? I love to think
of Noah. Now, evidently, it had never
rained before. And the Lord told Noah, in 120
years, I'm going to destroy the earth with a flood. And here's
what I want you to do. I want you to build an ark, a
huge ark. And two of every kind of animals
are going to fit into it. And it's on dry ground. But you
build it here in this desert, this dry ground, and in 120 years,
a flood will come. Okay? Well, what proved he believed
God? He built the ark. It's as simple
as that. He built the ark. He believed
that the only place of safety was in that ark, and he built
the ark. What about Abraham? Abraham believed
God, didn't he? Scripture says he believed God
and was counted to him for righteousness. Now what demonstrated he believed
God? Well, God promised the promised
Messiah, the seed of woman, is going to come through your line.
You're going to have that child. Now God tells him some years
after that young man was born, Isaac, you go take him and kill
him. How can I do that if the seed
is going to come through him? Well, I know what's going to
happen. God's going to raise him from the dead because God said the seed's
going to come through that boy. So he lifted up the knife to
kill him, believing that God would raise him from the dead.
What proved he believed God? His works. What about Isaac? Isaac, the young man, what proved
he believed God? When he willingly laid down on
that altar. I'm sure there wasn't a struggle.
Abraham told his son, here's what's going to take place. I'm going to kill you. God told
me to do it. But son, we're going to trust God. God's going to
raise you from the dead because he promised that the seed's going
to come through you. Isaac said, all right. And he
laid down on that altar. What proved he believed God?
His works. What about his son Jacob? Jacob
believed that the only way he could be blessed is if Christ
blessed him. He was completely dependent on
the Lord Jesus Christ to do something for him. Now, what proved it?
When he wrestled with that angel, with the Lord Jesus Christ, that
pre-incarnate Christ, he said, I've seen God face-to-face afterwards.
He knew who he was wrestling with. He said, I will not let
thee go, except thou bless me. He had to have the blessing.
What proved? believed Christ was the only
way he could be blessed. If Christ would be pleased to
bless him. He said, I won't let you go except you bless me. That's when the Lord changed
his name from Jacob. What's your name? Jacob. You're
not Jacob anymore. You're Israel. And he went by
both names all the time. I love the way the scripture
speaks of Jacob and Israel. Jacob, the heel. Israel, the
prince with God. Two men and one man. What about
Moses? Moses believed God, didn't he? What demonstrated he believed
God when God said, if you go and you put blood over the post
of the door post and the lentils of the house, and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. What works did Moses demonstrate
that proved he really believed God? He went in the house with
the blood over the door, and he wouldn't come out. He stayed
right there because he knew that the only place of safety was
where the blood was. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. What about Joseph? I love to
think of him seeing his brothers some 17 years later. He was about 33 years old, which
I think is interesting. That's the same age of the Lord
when he died, 33 years. When he was 17 years old, he
was sold by his brother. He sees him 17 years. They don't
know who he is. He's the head of Egypt at this
time. He knows who they are. But he believed that God sent
him, didn't he? What proved it? He forgave his
brothers and said, God, you didn't do this. God did it. Can you
imagine that after what they'd done to him and all he'd been
through? He said, don't be grieved with yourselves. You didn't do
this. God did. What proved he believed God? You see, faith without works
is what? It's dead. It's lifeless. It's not saving. I think of Joshua. God said, circle around the town
of Jericho six days, and on the seventh day, circle around it
seven times with the ark, and then blow that ram's horn. And when you do that, the walls
will fall. Well, what proved he believed
that that would take place? He did exactly what God said. He
walked around the walls. When God says, trust my son,
you know what faith does? It trusts his son. That's the
obedience of faith. I'm going to read, David had
such amazing faith that he believed that the cause was God's when
he was going out against the giant. Listen to this scripture,
verse 42 of 1 Samuel 17. And when the Philistine looked
about and saw David, he disdained him for he was but a youth and
ruddy and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto
David, Am I a dog? that thou comest to me with staves.
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine
said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the
fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. Then said
David unto the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and
with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name
of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom
thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into my hand, and I'll smite thee, and take thy head from
thee, and I'll give the carcass of the host of the Philistines
this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of
the earth. And all the earth may know that there's a God in
Israel, and all the assemblies shall know that the Lord saveth
not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord, and he'll
give you into our hands." And he came. What proved that he
really believed the battle is the Lord's? when he came running
at that giant with no fear, ready to put the stone through his
forehead. He really believed the battle
was the Lord's. That's why I wasn't scared. Would you be scared if
somebody was 10 feet tall and had a 20 foot? Sure you would.
But if you really believed that the Lord, the battle was the
Lord's and he was the one who's going to cause the victory, you'd
go right at him, wouldn't you? That's what he believed. I think
of the Roman centurion. I mean, there's so many examples
of the works of faith. That Roman centurion, who the
Lord said his faith was the greatest faith in Israel. He didn't even
feel... He came to the Lord through some messengers and said, would
you heal my son? And the Lord said, I'll come
and heal him. And he proved what he really believed when he said,
you don't have to come. Speak the word only and my servant
shall be healed. I understand authority. I have
a hundred soldiers under me. I say to one go and he goes and
another do this and he does it. All you got to do is say it and
it's going to take place because you have absolute authority.
And the Lord said, I've not found so great a faith. No, not in
Israel. What about the Syro-Phoenician woman? One of my favorite characters
in the scripture. She comes, Jesus, thou son of
David, have mercy on me. He didn't even answer. He didn't
respond. Did that stop her? No, she kept,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And then he said,
I'm not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
I didn't come to save everybody. Did that stop her? You know,
the scripture says, then she came and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, help me. And he said, it's not right to
take the children's bread and to cast it to dogs. And she said,
that's the truth, Lord. That's the truth. If I ever heard
the truth, amen to that. I'm not looking for a play setting
with the children. I don't even think of anything
like that. But I know that dogs eat the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. And if I could just get
some crumbs of your mercy thrown my way, how grateful I'd be.
And the Lord said to her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto
thee even as thou wilt. How much did the poor widow depend
on Christ for after she cast everything into the treasury?
What was she left with? Nothing but total dependence
upon Christ to take care of all her needs. What about the publican
in the temple? He knew he had a problem. He
was a sinner. And he knew something had to
be done about his sin. And he cried to the only one
who could do anything about it. God, be perpetuous to me, the
sinner. I believe my perhaps favorite example of faith
is the thief on the cross. John Calvin said this is the
greatest instance of faith ever seen in this world. Now he had
been cursing Christ with his buddy, and all of a sudden he
became strangely quiet. You see, he heard the things
the Lord said from the cross, and he was listening. And then all of a sudden he says
to his friend who was cursing him, he rebuked him. He said,
don't you fear God? He knew this was God. Don't you
fear God, seeing you're in the same condemnation? For we indeed
justly, we receive the due rewards of our deeds." We're getting
exactly what we have coming. But this man has done nothing
amiss. He believed in the absolute sinlessness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he became a bold confessor
of Christ when nobody else was confessing. He said, Lord. He knew he was the Lord. How
did he know? He was revealed to him. He knew
he was the Lord. He said, Lord, you're not going
to stay here on the cross. You're going to come back as
a mighty reigning king. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Oh, his works proved his faith,
didn't they? The faith that is always alone never alone. Faith is always alone. It looks
to Christ only. It holds us to nothing else.
The only hope I have of being in heaven is simply because of
this, Jesus Christ paid for my sins. That's it. The only righteousness
I know of is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I'm not thinking
I'm saved because of how much I'm growing and how holy I'm
becoming and how all the good works and the growth I'm demonstrating. No, I look to Christ only. And
that faith that looks to Christ only is never alone. Somebody
says, I look to Christ only and they can go to a church where
Christ only isn't preached. That's not true. That's not real. Their
works prove, don't they? I look to Christ only, but following
Christ is not my life. As a matter of fact, it doesn't
make much difference to me. Well, you don't have Satan's
faith. Faith that's alone, and faith that's always alone, is
never alone. May God give us this kind of
faith that's alone, I think one of the best examples of faith
alone is when Paul said, I know whom I believe, and I'm persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I committed to him against that
day. Now, what did you commit to him, Paul? I'm burning all bridges. Here's
my only hope, Christ only. And he sealed his belief of that
with his life. He died. He was poured out as
an offering. He died. He was put to death
because he believed Christ only. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might have
this faith in Thy Son alone. that's never alone. Lord, that's
the work of thy spirit. We can't produce that. We can't
come up with it. Lord, we ask you to give us this
faith that looks to Christ only and that's never alone but has
the works of life. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.