Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to follow along
with me in your Bible today, I'm going to be speaking to you
from Romans chapter 1. Romans 1 in verse 17 will be
our text but let's begin by reading verses 16 and 17. The Apostle
Paul said, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ 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 the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. For this message, I would like
for us to consider What is living by faith? What is that? That last line right there in
verse 17 says, the just shall live. That means the saved, the
justified, God's people shall live by faith. What is living by faith? What is that? Well, let's start
right here. What is faith? If we're going
to consider what is living by faith let's break that down a
little bit and consider this first, what is faith? I'll tell
you what man naturally thinks faith is, the natural mindset
of all men and women and then we'll see what God's word actually
says faith is. Man naturally thinks that faith
is an inner strength that he possesses within himself. That's
what he thinks faith is. That's what many people believe.
Faith is an inner strength or an inner courage that all men and women possess
in themselves. Many times you'll hear the story
of someone and he'll say the odds were all stacked against
me, you know, but I, I had my faith. I dug down. I was watching
a celebrity interview one time. Someone was interviewing a female
celebrity, and this woman had just come out of drug rehab.
And this interviewer asked the celebrity, what got you through
it? While you were in that stint
of rehab, what got you through it? And she said, my faith. That was her answer. She said,
I just had to dig deep down into my faith. My faith got me through
it. What she meant by that was I
believed in myself. That's what she was saying. I
believed in myself. I looked to my inner strength. And I trusted in myself that
I was able to get myself through it. That's what she was saying. Well, that's not faith. That's
not faith at all. That's not what faith is at all. Faith is not an inner anything. That's the first thing we need
to establish when we consider the subject of faith. Faith is
not an inner anything. Faith is an outer thing. I hope that'll sink in. I pray
the Lord will really reveal this to us. Faith does not look within. Never. Never. Faith looks without. Faith does not look to itself. Faith does not trust in itself
at all. Not at all. Here's a more accurate
term of what faith is. Faith is an inner weakness. People naturally believe that
it's an inner strength. It's actually an inner weakness.
looking to an outer strength. That's what faith is. If you'll turn with me over to
Galatians 2, if you have your Bible there with me and look
at Galatians 2 verse 20, it says the Apostle Paul, again, he said,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of, and let's pay special attention
to that, those two letters right there, of, O-F, the faith of
the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. What that
means is it's His faith. It's the faith of the Son of
God. It's not my faith. It's not your
faith. It's His. It's His faith. It's Christ's faith. All faith is Christ's faith. This is an important place to
start. Anytime we consider the issue
of faith, let's realize this. All faith is Christ's faith. It's the faith of Christ. If
we are going to look within something or look within someone to find
faith, we have to look within Christ. That's where we must
look. That's where all faith is found. Faith is in him. Faith is of
him. Faith is unto him. Look with
me at Ephesians chapter two, just a couple of pages over in
Ephesians chapter two, verse eight says, for by grace are
you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. There's those
two letters again, that word of it's not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God to sinners. If He does not give it, then
we will never have it. We will never possess it. It
is God's gift to His people. He only gives it to His people
and all of His people receive it. And if God does give that
faith, if He does give it to a sinner, that sinner is going
to know who gave him the faith where that faith came from and
what that faith is producing in him. That faith will quicken
the sinner to some things. That sinner will know where to
look and who to trust. Over in Hebrews 12, this is a
wonderful verse of scripture. Hebrews 12 verse two, it says,
looking unto Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, the author and
finisher of our faith. The author means the beginner,
the originator. He's the author and he's the
finisher of our faith, the faith that he gives to us, the faith
that he allows us to possess. He is the author and he's the
finisher. Now had that celebrity possessed
true God-given faith. She would not have been looking
to herself at all when that interviewer asked her what got you through
it, what pulled you through it? She would not have said my faith.
Faith doesn't look to faith, faith looks to Christ. She would
not have said my faith, she would have said Christ got me through
it. Faith points to a person. That's what faith does. It points
to him. It causes us to look to a person. And that's what every man and
woman will say when the question is asked, what is your hope?
What saved you? The answer will be, well, it's
not a what at all. It's a person. It's a person. A person saved me. A person pulled
me through it. So that's what faith is. Faith
is a gift that comes to a sinner from God, and it causes the sinner
to stop looking within. And see if this hits home, okay?
Most people, they believe that religion is all about looking
within. Salvation is all about looking
within. Well, I see some things in here
that I need to fix. I see some things in here I need
to change. I need to do better in some areas. That's not faith. When faith
comes, it causes a person to stop looking within and to start
looking without. I mean truly, truly looking without
to one singular object, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what faith
does. That's where comfort comes from.
That's where rest comes from. That's where assurance comes
from, faith that causes sinners to stop looking within and it
turns the head up to Christ and they truly do look to and trust
in Christ for everything, everything concerning salvation, everything
concerning daily life, everything, everything. Faith tells a sinner
and causes a sinner to believe that Christ is all. Truly all,
whatever the need is, faith will say Christ. Now, I believe this is the best
definition of what it is to live by God-given faith, all right?
We've seen what faith is. Our question is, what is it to
live by faith? When God puts his faith in a
sinner, That faith will convince a sinner of a few things. That sinner is going to walk
in, that sinner is going to live believing and trusting and confessing
what God has convinced him of. And there are four statements
in the scripture, four verses in the Bible that have four statements
connected with the phrase the just shall live by faith. These four verses are found in
Habakkuk 2 verse 4, Romans 1 where we began verse 17, Galatians
3 verse 11, In Hebrews 10 verse 38, they all say, the just shall
live by faith. They all say that, all right?
We're gonna turn to those, we're gonna read each one. And the
statement within each one of those verses that is attached
to that line, the just shall live by faith. Those statements
make up the best definition we could ever see of what it is
to live by faith? We're going to let the scripture
answer our question. Not a man. We're going to let
God through his own word answer. What is it to live by faith?
So if you want to look at him with me, the first scripture
is Habakkuk chapter two. It's toward the end of the Old
Testament. Habakkuk chapter two and verse four, it says, behold,
his soul, which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the
just shall live by his faith. All right. That first line in
the phrase here, it mentioned in this verse of scripture, it
says his soul, which is lifted up is not upright in him. That's the line that goes with
the just shall live by faith. His soul, which is lifted up,
is not upright in him. That's the first thing God will
convince a sinner of when faith comes. His soul, which is lifted
up, is not upright in him. You go ask somebody, do you think
that your soul is lifted up with pride and you're full of yourself
and full of sin and you're not upright before God? Do you believe
that? The average person will say, oh no, I'm not lifted up
that way. Oh yes, I'm right before God. Well, when faith comes,
faith will say, here's the truth of the matter. Your soul, which
is lifted up, is not upright in you. It's not right. It's not righteous. The soul
of every man, woman, boy and girl on this earth. All of us. Including the center, which is
truly living by faith. All of us. Are full of sin. All of us are ruined by sin and
the center who possesses faith knows that. He knows that. God-given faith reveals that
to a sinner. He has looked within. He has
seen what's truly within himself. That's what made him look without.
That's what caused him to look without. When true faith and
true trust in Christ comes, that's the first thing it does. It slays
all trust in self. And it makes a man cry, I'm just
a sinner, I realize that now. I realize that now, I'm just
a sinner, that's all that I am. The Lord said, when the Holy
Spirit comes, here's the first thing he will convince of, sin. Before he comes, before that
faith comes, man believes, yes, I'm a good person before God,
I'm trying to be good, I'm trying to do good things. But once faith
comes, a man will cry, Oh, I acknowledge to you what I am. I see what
I am now. I acknowledge my pride. I'm so
full of pride. I'm so full of religious pride. Religion will make a man proud.
That's all it'll do for a man and just puff him up and make
him proud. When true faith comes, it will break him down. He'll cast away all of his false
religion. And he'll cry out to God, I acknowledge
my unrighteousness before you. I'm not upright before you. And that's why I'm looking to
you. That's why I need you, because I see what I am. All my faith
is in you, all of it. I'm convinced of the fact. I
cannot do anything for myself. I'm convinced of that. I can't
do anything for myself. I can't do anything for any other
man. I'm convinced of that. I'm convinced of that. So that's
the first thing that men and women will get a hold of when
true faith comes. This is what truly living by
faith is. It's crying, I'm a sinner. I'm
a sinner. I'm only a sinner. That's living
by faith. I'm only a sinner. That's where it starts. All right. Turn with me back to our text
in Romans one. It says in Romans one, verse
17, the end of that verse says the just shall live by faith.
And the statement that goes with it says, For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith." Faith sees. This is what faith causes a believer
to see and realize and believe. I am unrighteous and Christ is
all righteousness. I have none of it and He has
all of it. That's what faith will cause
a sinner to see. He is all that is right before
God. He is all that is perfect before
God. All of the holiness, all of the
purity, all of it is owed to him. All of it belongs to him. He's all that I have. He's all that I need because
he has it all. If I need righteousness, I need
Him because He has it all. If I need holiness and purity,
I need Him because He has it all. There's a song that says,
He is all my righteousness. I stand in Him complete and worship
Him. And that's what faith cries,
that is living by faith, that is walking by faith, living in
a state of faith. It says, I'm completely sinful
and he's the only righteousness that I have before God, he's
it. Therefore, turn with me over to Galatians chapter 3. Over
in Galatians 3, this is the third time that this This phrase is
mentioned in Galatians 3 verse 11. It says, but that no man
is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident here. It is for the just shall live
by faith. All right. The just shall live
by faith. I'm completely sinful. That's
the first thing I am completely sinful. And if everything that
I do is tainted with sin, I don't have any of the righteousness.
If I don't have any of the purity, I'm totally ruined. And if he
demands absolute perfection because he is absolutely righteous, no
sin in him, no imperfection in him. If he demands perfection and
I have none of it, then this statement must be so. Verse 11,
Galatians 3 verse 11 says, but that no man is justified by the
law in the sight of God, it is evident. Do we hear what that's
saying? But that no man, no woman is
justified by the law. What's the law? The Bible, the
scripture, the commandments. trying to do the commandments
before God to earn salvation, but that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God. It's evident. It's evident. That's the heart of living by
faith. It is evident to the sinner who possesses faith
that he could never do anything that would satisfy God. He sees
so clearly what he is. It's so obvious to him. He could
never do anything that would satisfy God, not in the deeds
of his sinful flesh. He's never loved perfectly. He's
never forgiven perfectly. He's never done anything perfectly,
all sinfully. Now, let's ask this question
while we're on this subject. Are those who live in faith realizing
that the law obeying the law will not justify me? It will
not save me. For those who possess that faith,
are they against the law? When they say, I see that obeying
the law is not going to be my salvation. Does that mean that
they reject the law and they ignore the law and they just
continue down the path of rebellious sin, loving it, living for it?
Do they live for sin just because the law cannot save them? Absolutely
not. Absolutely not. Paul cried, God
forbid. That's what they hate about themselves.
That's what they see in themselves. I'm just so against God's holiness
and perfection, he demands. David said, I love your law.
All who live by faith, they love the holy law. And they desire
one day to be in his presence, conformed into his image so that
they can fulfill the law. They just realized that they
cannot do it in sinful flesh here on this earth. That has
been made evident to them. It's also evident to them that
Christ did perfectly obey that law for them. Substitution. What I could not do, Christ did
for me. That's evident. It's evident
to them. Faith is what causes a sinner to absolutely trust
in the fact that he was justified in the sight of God by the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means the perfect walk,
the perfect doing. the perfect obedience of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His righteous work given to His
people. His holy spotless blood that
was shed on behalf of His people. That's their hope. So I'm completely
sinful. All righteousness belongs to
Christ. And my only hope before God is
that he would live for me and do for me what I could not do
for myself. Now, if you'll turn with me to
Hebrews 10, this is the last time the phrase is mentioned,
and it says in verse 38, now the just shall live by faith. And here's the statement that
goes with it. But if any man draw back, my soul shall have
no pleasure in him." What that means is, it's Christ
or nothing. The just shall live by faith
but if any man draws back, if any man or woman goes back to
the deeds of the law, trying to look within, trying to fix
this, trying to make this perfect before God, no longer looking
to Christ and everything he earned, everything he accomplished. If
any man draws back, the moment we add a little leaven to the
lump, the moment we add a little bit of man and man's works to
what Christ accomplished, a little bit of self, the moment we try
to share the responsibility and share the glory with him, we
ruin it. We totally ruin it. And God said,
I won't accept it. It's grace alone. Christ alone. Christ alone. That's what it
is to live by faith. Honestly, that's what it is to
live by faith. It's faith alone. I am completely sinful. He is
completely righteous. He must do all the work, and
there's no buts about it. That's what it is to live by
faith. Now, may God give us faith. I pray God will give me faith,
and I pray God will give you faith to believe that. From here on out, let's stop
looking to ourselves, let's stop looking to our works, and let's
look to Christ. Until next week, may the Lord
bless His word to our hearts. You have been listening to a
message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign Grace
Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday Morning Bible
Study at 10 o'clock a.m., Worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 730 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.