The Time of Reformation

Q: What does the Bible say about the authority of Scripture?

The Bible alone is the word of God and our only rule of faith and practice. The Bible asserts its own authority as the full and final revelation of God to man, stating that no additional word from God can be valid. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, it is declared that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for instruction in righteousness. As such, any doctrines or beliefs derived from human reasoning or logical conclusions that depart from Scripture are not acceptable. Isaiah 8:20 emphasizes that if teachings do not align with the Word of God, they contain no light within them.

Q: How do we know salvation is by grace alone?

Salvation is solely the work of God's grace, not based on human works or merit. The doctrine of grace alone denotes that salvation cannot be bought or earned; it is purely a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8-9 declares, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.' The Reformation affirmed this truth against the prevailing belief that works and human effort contribute to salvation. Instead, salvation is rooted in God's eternal purpose and grace, secured by Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice.

Q: Why is faith alone important for Christians?

Faith alone in Jesus Christ is the means by which we receive God's justification. The principle of faith alone asserts that no works can justify a sinner before God; rather, justification is received through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 3:28 states, 'Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.' This emphasizes the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice and that our faith should rest solely on Him as the object of our trust, not on our achievements. The Reformation highlighted this truth to combat the idea that human actions could influence divine favor.

Q: How does the Reformation impact today's church?

The Reformation calls Christians to uphold Scripture, grace, and faith as central tenets. The Reformation's impact on today's church is profound as it challenges believers to return to the core truths of Scripture, grace, and faith. Despite many modern churches adopting a blend of doctrines, the Reformation's principles remind us that Scripture is the sole authority for faith and practice. It implores believers to reject any teachings that detract from the sufficiency of Christ's grace and the necessity of faith for salvation. The spirit of the Reformation encourages Christians to boldly proclaim the truths of the gospel in an age where these messages are often compromised.

Q: What does faith alone mean in relation to justification?

Faith alone means our justification is received through belief in Christ, not by works. Faith alone emphasizes that justification — being declared righteous before God — is not achieved by our deeds but rather received through faith in Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1 states, 'Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' This means that when a person puts their faith in Christ, they are justified, irrespective of their works. The Reformation highlighted this distinction to counter the prevailing belief that adherence to laws and rituals could merit God's favor, affirming that genuine faith in Christ is the sole means of attaining righteousness.

is Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 10. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 10. It is not my intention to give an exposition of this verse of scripture this morning. I've chosen it for my text simply because I want to take the title of my message from the text. The last words of verse 10 are these, until the time of reformation. And I want to talk to you this morning about the time of Reformation. Now, that may seem a strange subject for you, but for the past several years, I really don't know for how long, the last Sunday of October has been designated by most denominational churches as a day to remember the great Protestant Reformation and to celebrate the accomplishments of God in those days.

Now, because we are Baptists, we are neither Protestants nor Reformed, that is, we did not a rise out of the Catholic Church. Our doctrine and our heritage is not traced back to Rome. We did not protest Rome. We did not attempt to reform Rome. Because we're Baptist, neither Protestant nor Reformed, I've never paid much attention to what folks call Reformation Sunday.

But last week, driving through several large cities, I observed signs. I'll read church signs as I drive by. There's a plenty of things going. I observed several signs where folks were observing Reformation Sunday. And one of them was on a great big Timberlight church, of all places, had a sign they were going to have a commemoration of Reformation Sunday.

And I couldn't help laughing and at the same time lamenting. Laughing at the folly and hypocrisy of men. Though they despised the doctrine of the Reformers, they despised what the Reformers taught. And I'm not talking about a few, I'm talking about the wholesale mess we call religion. They despise the doctrine of the Reformers, but they wear their names. They delight in their names.

I couldn't help but to think, because I read those signs, of our Lord's statement to the Pharisees back in Matthew chapter 23. You don't have to turn there, but let me turn there and read it to you. Our Lord is abrading the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, and in verse Verse 29, he says, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, woe unto you, because you build tombs of the prophets. That is, you erect monuments to the prophets.

You wouldn't hear them. You killed them. You wouldn't have anything to do with them while they were on the earth. You despised them, and you murdered them, and their blood's on your hands. But now you build tombs to them. You erect monuments to them. When I was over there, I was again reminded of that passage of scripture.

The very churches that imprisoned and persecuted our forefathers, men like John Bunyan, now have erected monuments to John Bunyan, and they give praise to John Bunyan, and they make a good bit of money on you coming as tourists and paying to see the historical sites about John Bunyan. But while John Bunyan was living, they put him in prison. While John Bunyan was living, they wouldn't have anything to do with him. And in these days, men raise up monuments and they celebrate the reformers, but utterly despise their doctrine. That's utter hypocrisy.

And I couldn't help lamenting as well. Lamenting the fact that organized religion today is every bit as corrupt as it was in the days of the Protestant Reformation. As those days called for decisive boldness and clarion voices so do the days in which we live. So today, while others around the world remember and celebrate the fact of the Reformation, I want to rouse within you and me, if God the Holy Spirit will help me, I want to rouse within us the spirit of the Reformation and urge all who hear my voice to return to and to proclaim with earnestness and zeal the message of the Reformers.

On October the 31st, 1517, 478 years ago, Martin Luther posted what were called his 95 Theses, that is, 95 propositions of doctrine, on the church door at Wittenberg in Germany. And when he did so, he made a public declaration in defiance of the entire religious world Now listen to me. This was not a time when there were a good many men around who believed and taught the things that Luther believed and taught. But rather he nailed those 95 doctrinal propositions to the church door at Wittenberg, the most public manner in which he could possibly display his doctrine. And in doing so, he defied the whole of organized religion and the essence of his doctrine were these three things. First, Luther declared the Bible alone is the word of God and therefore must be our only rule of faith and practice. Now in those days, that was a tremendous statement. Secondly, Luther declared that salvation is by grace alone.

And again, in those days, Grace was not a term that was thrown around in the religious world like it is today. But in those days to declare salvation by grace alone, men understood exactly what he was saying. He was declaring salvation is not to be found in the church. Salvation is not to be found in your work. Salvation is not to be found in your will. Salvation is the work of God. And Luther thirdly declared that the only way sinners can obtain God's salvation and be justified in God's sight is through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And thus the threefold cry of the Reformation began to ring aloud through Europe. Men everywhere heard the words, and men everywhere picked up the words, men who were called of God, and they declared through the world, Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone. That's the threefold cry upon which the Reformation was built and by which all the great works of the Reformation were accomplished by the power of God. This message was echoed throughout France by men like William Farrell and in Switzerland by men like John Calvin. It was echoed in Scotland by man whose voice shook the very throne of the Queen of England, or the Queen of Scotland rather, and that was the voice of John Knox, and it was constantly being reverberated through the ages.

God had prepared the way. God had providentially prepared the way, in that the church had become insignificant. The church was massive. The church was a great political force. The church included the whole arm of papacy engulfing the whole world so that the whole world was taken in in the delusion of papacy. But the church was utterly meaningless.

Most of the folks in those days didn't even pretend to be religious. They were political figures. Remind you of anything today? Most of the religious leaders of our day don't say anything concerning the gospel of God's grace. You listen to them on television or on radio, they're talking morality, and they're talking politics, they're not talking grace, they're not talking salvation, they're not talking Christ, they're not talking of God. The church has become, in this day as it was in that day, an irrelevant thing that just simply exists in the world utterly. utterly irrelevant in so far as the professed church of this world is concerned.

But God also had graciously made way for the Word of God to be translated into the language of the people. And by now, men and women were everywhere beginning to get copies, particularly of the New Testament, and reading it. And I'll tell you something, when men and women began to read the Word of God, Religion's in trouble. If men and women would just take down their Bibles and read, just see what God says, then false religion must fall before the Word of God. Men and women are duped by religion because they ignore the Word. In those days, the Word of God had been hidden from the people for years, and no one had copies of Scripture. And when they began to get it, they took the Word of God and said, Let's see what God says. It opened a book. That's not what I've been taught all my life. That's not what the priest has been telling me. That's not what the church has been telling me. But this is what God says. And what God says is what matters.

And so the arms of papacy were broken by the power of God. The darkness, the bondage, the superstition, the idolatry of papacy was dispelled by the power of God's word being published throughout the world. God in his providence made way for the printing press and the great multiplication of copies of scripture and his sermons went through the world. Oh, what a privilege we have in our day. God has in his providence made way for the gospel to be preached. We have access to the printed page, we have access to tapes, we have access to videos, we have access to the public media of all kind, and God has given us the opportunity.

When religion is corrupt, like it was in that day, all doctrine all doctrinal differences, all doctrinal barriers become meaningless, irrelevant, indifferent things. In the name of love and unity and peace and brotherhood, sweet, sweet deceivers come along and tell you these things don't matter. After all, we're all going to the same place, we're all doing the same thing, we're all worshiping the same God, and so they push aside their differences, and nothing is objectionable.

Nothing is objectionable, except to me, who stands up and says, no, there's only one way to God. There's only one way you can approach God. There's only one way you can find acceptance with God, and that's through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ by the power of God's free grace. And the whole world says that fella, he's a troublemaker.

And that's exactly what happened in the Reformation, just as it is in our day. But as God made way for the gospel to be proclaimed in that day, so God has made way for it to be proclaimed in our day. Today, as Rome once more is gaining respectability. And the world leaders of our age bow and grovel and scrape before the Pope as if he were indeed the vice-sergeant of God and Jesus Christ in this world. Men and women, political figures and religious figures want an interview with the Pope. Oh, the Pope's coming and the whole world goes crazy.

I'm telling you, the most dangerous indication of reprobation in this world is the ascendancy of papacy again. Don't be deceived. Don't be deceived. The ascendancy of papacy demonstrates that the world has indeed been engulfed again in the doctrine of religious idolatry and in religious works and in religious deception, and the world is again engulfed in darkness. How dare you speak so as a lone voice against all the religious authorities of the age? Because all the religious authorities of the age have denied the book of God. That's why. That's why. We must both defy and deny the idolatry of this age.

The souls of men, the truth of God, and the glory of God are at stake. But if God is pleased to do so, he can again spread through all the world the light of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. And he can again dispel the darkness that has engulfed this generation. He can again, if he will, send forth a tremendous working of his spirit through the preaching of his word.

Now I see no hope for this generation. I see no hope for our sons and daughters. I see no hope for the age in which we live except this, that God might be pleased, he might be pleased once more to send out the message the Reformers proclaimed in the power of his spirit to recover the souls of men from darkness. So to that end, I want to bring this message to you this morning, and I want to simply echo in your hearing the threefold message of the Reformation.

The scriptures alone, grace alone, and faith alone. I will move through the scriptures as quickly as I can, but I want you to hear these things and hear them well. First, the scriptures alone. This is the first. and in many ways the most important article of all true doctrine. This book that you have in your hand, the Bible, this book alone is the Word of God.

There is no other word from God. It is the full, final, complete revelation of God to man. That means that any man who comes along and says that he has an additional word from God is a liar. Either he's a liar or the Holy Spirit who wrote this book and the men he used to write it are all liars. For this book protests itself to be the word of God alone. And those who come and say, but I have a vision from the Lord and I have an extra biblical revelation from God, they too are liars.

This book alone is the word of God. But pastor, what about a man who saw an angel come sit on his bedpost? What about a man who said he died and went to heaven? Don't you think he has a word from God? No, I don't. He has a word, but not a word from God. A satanic delusion, but not a word from God. A satanic deception from him, but not a word from God. This book alone is the word of God. Therefore, this book alone must be our authority and our only rule of faith and practice.

Now this is the area of greatest weakness among Protestants, as it was the area of greatest weakness among the Reformers themselves. Now bear with me, I think this is something that you need to understand. Both Protestants and Catholics embrace a doctrine that is called the doctrine of necessary consequence. Simply stated, this is what the Doctrine of Necessary Consequence is. It's not talked about much, I had never read much about it until just recently, but it is the doctrine that says this.

Anything taught in the Word of God and anything that may be logically and reasonably deduced or inferred from the Word of God is authoritative. Now that may sound pretty good, but that makes your reason That makes your intelligence, that makes your logic to be the basis of authority equally with the Word of God.

Now, Ron, that's dangerous. That's dangerous. Let me see if I can put it to you so that you can't mistake me. If this point A is so, and point B is so, and point C is so, then the logical conclusion is point D must also be so. Therefore, we conclude that this, too, is a doctrine of Holy Scripture. Oh no. Let me illustrate it for you. We believe, according to the Word of God, that God Almighty chose and predestinated a people unto everlasting salvation. That's taught in the Word of God.

Now somebody comes along and says, well now the logical conclusion that must be drawn from that is that there are some people predestinated for hell. The book doesn't say so. Did you hear me? The book doesn't say so. It does not matter how logical or precise it may appear to be to your teeny brain or mine, if it's not written in the book of God, we dare not embrace it as a point of doctrine. You understand what I'm saying?

The only basis upon which any Protestant group can argue for infant baptism, the only basis upon which anyone can argue for sprinkling for baptism, is if they do it on the basis of necessary consequence. That is, if somehow baptism has some merit, some efficacy, some benefit, some relationship to a covenant family, then those infants must be baptized. And if the infants must be baptized, then it can't be reasonable to expect that you immerse an infant. And so sprinkling is acceptable as well.

And it is accepted simply on the basis of a system of logic that totally ignores, yes, I said, totally ignores the Word of God. This cannot be acceptable in any way whatsoever. So as Baptists, we reject that doctrine altogether. We recognize that the Word of God and the Word of God alone is authoritative for all doctrine and for all our rule of life.

Let me show you in the scriptures. Turn to Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 20. Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 20. Now these are simple, simple statements of truth, but they must be understood. This, above all other issues, distinguishes Baptists from Protestants, and we recognize many of our brethren who are not Baptists. I don't have any hesitancy in declaring to you any man who believes and preaches the gospel of God's free grace, any who embrace salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, we embrace as brethren. But we must reject anything contrary to this word. and the doctrine that says that man's reason may be accepted as authority, we must reject for this reason.

Isaiah chapter 8 and verse 20, to the law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to this word, do you see that? This word, the whole unity of Holy Scripture, the whole message of Holy Scripture, it's because there's no white in them. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15.

Listen to me, young and old alike. One of these days, God's going to open this book and he's going to judge you according to this book. That's right. You would be wise to find out what this book says. You'd be wise to find out what God says in the Word.

2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15. The Apostle is writing to his young friend Timothy and he says that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture, Old and New Testament, all Scripture Poetic books, prophetic books, historic books, epistles, gospels, everything, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. The whole Word of God is breathed out by God and is profitable to the souls of men for doctrine, for all true doctrine.

For reproof, that is, there is no basis of reproof but this word. For correction, to correct your life and the mistakes and errors and faults and failures and weaknesses of life. And for instruction in righteousness. You want to know what righteousness is all about? Forget what men say about it. Forget what men say about it.

Men have written creeds. They've written confessions of faith. They've written rules of order. They've written church covenants. And they said, this is how we live in righteousness. Forget what men say about it. This book will tell you what righteousness is.

It's Christ in you. Christ in you. Christ in you. That the man of God may be perfect, complete, throughly furnished. that is furnished throughout the entirety of your being, body, soul, and spirit, mind, heart, thought, and deed, thrillingly furnished unto all good works." One more text in this regard, 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1.

Remember, Peter was up on the Mount of Transfiguration. He saw the Lord Jesus transfigured. Have you ever seen anybody who even compared to think about declaring they've had such an experience? They saw, Peter, James, and John saw the Lord Jesus translated. They saw Moses and Elijah and heard Moses and Elijah speak to him about his death, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. They heard God the Father speak.

He said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And Peter says concerning all of that, verse 19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. You mean something better than this kind of vision? You mean something more authoritative than hearing God speak from heaven? Yes, sir. Something more authoritative than seeing Christ transformed right in front of our eyes? Yes, sir. We have a more sure word of prophecy.

Verse 21, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. There are various theories of interpretation, or various theories of inspiration rather, various interpretations that men give of it. I have no difficulty at all, but rather great delight in asserting to you that when the scripture talks about holy men of God speaking or writing the scriptures as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, the best comparison that can be given is that of dictation.

God the Holy Spirit indicted the very words of scripture, and yet all the while he uses the personality and character of the man who's writing. So when you read Paul writing, it doesn't sound like you're reading John. And yet you're reading the same message. When you read Nahum's writing, it doesn't sound like you're reading Moses, but you're reading the same message. So the Holy Spirit of God dictates the very words of Scripture, but he did so as he used the character and personality and experiences of men as only God could. And so the Scriptures of God alone are inspired. The Word of God alone is an Eric. That is, it simply is a declaration that this book contains no errors. None. None. Say, well, I found some. I've searched out the errors that mean claim are found in this book, and I found them to be baseless, altogether baseless.

This is not a book about history, but when it speaks about history, it's truthful. This is not a book about science, but when it speaks about science, its declarations with regard to science are exactly precise and accurate. And all other things must be interpreted in the light of this book.

So, well, that's narrow-minded, I know that. But I haven't stated it near as narrow as I intended. I intend for you to understand. You'll either bow to this book. That's God's statement. That's God's statement. You'll either bow to what God reveals in this book, or you'll go to hell. There's no in-between ground. There's nothing in-between. It's either the scriptures alone, or no life before God.

This book alone is authoritative. That is to say, our doctrine, in all points of doctrine, arise from the plain statements of Holy Scripture. Only from the plain statements of Scripture. I hear young men get together and have rap sessions about the scriptures and they talk about the scriptures and they discuss things. And this is one of the dangers of these home Bible studies where everybody gets together and says, well, this is what I think.

What do you think? This is what I think that means. What do you think it means? It doesn't matter what you or I think. What does the scripture say? That's all that matters. What does the book of God say? That's the only thing of significance. And our doctrine, we derive only from the plain statements of Scripture. We believe the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. You say, well, where on earth do you get that in Scripture?

First John chapter 5, verse 7. The Trinity simply means the triunity of the Godhead. Three persons, three distinct persons in one glorious Godhead. There are three that by record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. We believe that Jesus Christ is God, because the scripture says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We believe in the total depravity of man. That simply means that all men since the fall of Adam are born sinners, dead in trespasses and in sins, with no ability in themselves to do anything God would. Because the word of God said, by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all men, for that all are saved.

We believe in the sovereign, unconditional, electing grace of God. God Almighty, before the world began, chose a people of whom he said, they shall be my people and I will be their God. He chose them without regard to anything they had done or might do, but only with regard to his everlasting love. For he said, I've loved thee with everlasting love, therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. We believe in the doctrine of limited atonement. We preach it without hesitancy. I am not the slightest bit embarrassed to use the words limited atonement when describing the death of Jesus Christ.

That simply means that Christ died for a specific people. He died and made atonement for those whose sins are actually atoned by his blood, for those who were actually redeemed by his death. For the scripture says, for the transgression of my people was he stricken. The scripture declares, he entered in once into the holy place with his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

We believe the doctrine of irresistible grace because the word of God declares plainly and clearly, blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and calls us to approach him today. That simply means this. That doesn't mean, irresistible grace doesn't mean that God's going to force you to get saved whether you want to or not. Irresistible grace means God's going to make you willing, if you're His, to come to Christ. And you'll come to Christ with a delightful heart. Because He chose you. Because He redeemed you. Because He sends His Spirit to call you. And we believe in the perseverance of God's elect.

That is in the preservation of the saints and their continuing in the faith because the scripture says, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never One of the other great weaknesses of the Reformers was with regard to the law of God. They seemed never to be able to grasp what most people never can grasp. Even many in our day who claim to believe the gospel of God's free grace and do, simply cannot grasp this fact. The believer is totally free from the law of God. Totally free.

Well how on earth do you get that? Because the book says you're not under the law but under grace. That's what it says. I defy anybody, anywhere to find me any statement like this in the scriptures. given to God's elect on the basis of the fact that the law says. Oh no, the scripture teaches that we're motivated by grace, compelled by the love of Christ, driven by gratitude, governed by faith. You're not under the law but under grace. You're dead to the law and married to Jesus Christ. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. Well our ordinances, ordinances of divine worship, are unquestionably The ordinances of worship prescribed and practiced in the New Testament.

We're tenacious about our simplicity. We don't have any rituals and rules and ceremonies and rites and all the nonsense that goes along with religious paraphernalia. When you come here, we open the scriptures and read. We sing God's praise, we pray, and we preach and we go home. no burning candles, no recitations, no parades up and down the aisles, no altars, no crosses, no robes, no stained glass, no appearance of anything with regard to just ritualism.

Why? Because that's the way our Lord taught us to worship. And they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Our worship is not governed by carnal things. We put away carnal things. That's for the age of childhood and infancy in the Old Testament. We come now to the maturity of grace in the new. And we worship God in simplicity. We practice believer's baptism.

Because the New Testament clearly teaches that baptism is an ordinance of the public confession of Jesus Christ for believers only, not believers and their children. The Word of God never, one time, gives us one indication of any place where anybody ever baptized a baby.

Find it and I'll eat this book and eat my hat with it. It's just not in here. It's not in here. There's not one indication of it anywhere in the scriptures. When Philip came to the water with the eunuch, the eunuch heard Philip talk about baptism somewhere along the way, and the eunuch said, here is water, why should not I be baptized? Acts chapter 8, verse 38, this is what Philip said.

If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. That's the condition. Do you believe on Jesus Christ? If you believe, baptism's for you. If you don't believe, it's not for you. Baptism is to be performed only by immersion. Romans chapter 3 says we're buried with Christ in baptism. Now folks can hem and haw, try to get around that all they want to. But in Romans chapter 6, Paul is not talking about spirit baptism, he's talking about baptism. And he says you're buried with Christ in baptism.

And you don't bury somebody by sprinkling a few grains of sand in their face. Neither do you baptize someone by sprinkling a little water in their face. Baptism is immersion. Immersion is not a mode of baptism. Immersion is not a method of baptism. Anything that is not immersion is not baptism.

Let me sit down and be clear for you. You know how much I reverence and highly regard our authorized King James Version of Holy Scripture. In my opinion, it is the best translation of scripture you can buy anywhere. God's given us an excellent translation of his word.

But the King James was translated by men who were themselves pedo-baptists. That is, they were men who practiced infant baptism. And when they came to the word baptize in the Greek, they didn't translate it. It's not a translation. The word baptize was not even an English word until they came along and invented this word, baptize. Baptize, as it is written out in our English Bibles, is simply a transliteration of the Greek word for baptize, and it's spelled out like this.

For example, if we were going to translate the Greek word fote, the word would be light. That's the word. That's the translation. If you were going to spell it out, you would spell it out, P-H-O-T-O, photo. And that's how we got the word photo, it was a transliteration.

The word baptize, baptizo, if it were translated, would be dip, immerse, plunge beneath water. Never would it be translated sprinkle or pour. But because men would not have it translated, they transliterated the word baptized, and they now say, well, this word means wash, or sprinkle, or pour, or dip, or plunge. It could be any number of things. Oh, no. No, the word means to dip. And that's the only way you can be baptized is if you are dipped in water.

It's all together according to the New Testament. We observe the Lord's Supper. with simplicity, just exactly as our Lord taught his disciples to. We come together, we break bread, pass out the wine, we sing a hymn in remembrance of Him. That's exactly, that's all there is to it. No more and no less than that.

Some folks want to make it hail. Great ceremony. Great procession you go through. And folks who don't use priestly garb and priestly mumbo-jumbo, Turn around and make the Lord's table to be some terrible, awesome, fearful, dreaded thing. You don't dare come unless you're just near akin to perfect. You don't dare come. Oh no. No. This is a celebration.

A celebration of redemption for sinners. And sinners come. believe in Christ, remember in Christ, and celebrate holiness and righteousness, redemption and forgiveness through Jesus Christ the Lord. And when we go out and sing his praise, say, thank God he died for me. Thank God he died for me. Now we dare not add anything to this world. We dare not take anything from it. The second cry of the Reformation is grace alone. Grace alone. I'm not going to spend much time on these next two.

I talk about them all the time. But when the Roman priest walked through the streets of Wittenberg selling indulgences, they told men... Now, I'm not just pulling this out of my sleep. This is what they told me. They came along with their little tin cups, like beggars. Good thing for them to do. Came along with their little tin cups. And they said, when the sound of your coin jingles in the cup, a soul will be released from hell. You know they didn't say that. I know they did. It's exactly what the selling of indulgences is. And when Luther heard it, he was enraged. He was enraged.

No, salvation cannot be bought with your money, earned by your works, or obtained by your will. Salvation by grace alone. And so he declared it from the rooftops everywhere God gave him opportunity. This was the doctrine of the Reformation, and this is the doctrine of Holy Scripture. Salvation is of the Lord. How can I state it emphatically enough?

God hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. By grace are you saved through faith, and that none of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Oh, may God give us a holy fury for his truth and against the errors of our day. Men come along today.

I don't know of any who would say, when your money jingles in the cup, the soul's released from hell, but I know a lot who'll tell you, you do this and God will reward you. Oh, you can't out give God. You want your wallet to swell? Boy, we need to raise some money. You want your wallet to swell? Give it all. Give it all. You want a big crown in heaven? You serve the Lord. You want to get something from God? Give something to God. God will honor you. You can't buy off God. You can forget that. You're not going to earn anything from God.

How on earth is a sinner going to do anything to put God in debt to him? I'm outraged by the religion of our day. I'm outraged by the deception of men. I'm outraged by the doctrine that opposes the grace of God and deludes the souls of men with the idea that somehow they have got God by the throat and God's going to do their bidding.

Salvation is by the gracious purpose of God the Father. God, before the world began, purposed to save a people and his purpose will be accomplished. Salvation is by the gracious purchase of God the Son with His blood, Jesus Christ entered into heaven, and by the authority and the merit and the power of His blood, He obtained eternal redemption for His people. And salvation is by the gracious performance of God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit comes And he works his work of regeneration. Men, you thought about it this morning. It's called the first resurrection. He causes dead sinners to live by the power of his grace.

He gives life where there was none before and he seals us in the covenant of grace and seals to us all the blessings of that covenant. We're saved by grace alone and all grace is in Jesus Christ alone. Grace isn't found in the church, not the Catholics, the Baptists, or the Protestants. Grace is not found in your works, not found in your good works, any more than in your bad works.

God's just as likely to reward you with salvation for adultery as he is for doing good. Just as likely. Because your good works are just as vile and contemptible in the sight of God as adultery. You understand that? Salvation by grace. Salvation is not in your decision for Jesus. I have family and friends, and you do too, who are this day on the brink of eternity, about to enter into hell forever. Because some preacher, some lying, deceiving, self-serving preacher, Told him, now you've made your decision for Jesus, now you're saved and everything's alright.

Everything's alright. One told me just last week, if I wasn't saved back yonder when I was seven years old, I'm not saved at all. And my heart cries, I'm sorry. He missed it all. He missed it all. Oh, I wouldn't take anything for that day! I wouldn't take anything for that hour!

Salvation is not! in your decision, salvation's in Jesus Christ the Lord. You understand what I'm saying? If you base your hope on something you did when you were seven years old, or something you did when you were 70 years old, you've missed Christ. Salvation's in the Redeemer. Salvation's in Christ alone. Salvation's coming to Christ by faith alone. And salvation's not in your experience. Not in your experience.

I've had folks describe all kinds of experiences, trying to defend themselves, and trying to convince themselves they're saved when they're lost. I saw a crown of thorns, and I know the Lord saved me there. Oh, I know I was saved back yonder. I just had a sensational warmth feeling come all over me. I did too, and I got in a too hot a shower one day. Just a sensational warmth feeling come all over me.

It's got nothing to do with grace. Grace has got nothing to do with some experience you had. Salvation is Christ. Please hear me. Salvation is by grace alone. Grace alone. Grace alone. And all grace is in the Son of God. Only in Him. So preacher, the way you talk, if what you're saying is so, Everybody I know is going to hell. God help us, I'm afraid it's so. I'm afraid it's so. What are we going to do? Tell them the truth. Rex is not going to help your family, your sons and daughters, your mom and daddy, your brother and sister. He's not going to help anybody to lie to. It's not going to help anybody to continue.

Well, it might be all right. That's probably okay. Yeah, you're probably okay. Just because you worship a stump, that doesn't matter. You're sincere. God will honor that. Just because you base your salvation on your will, well, we know we have some different understanding, but everything's all right. Why don't you pull out a gun and shoot him? If everything's all right, What are we doing? Everything's not all right.

The time has come when once again men must stand and give a clarion note of the gospel of God's free grace, God's glory that's at stake, the souls of men are at stake, the truth of God's at stake. I call for you to rally to the call and the challenge of the day and the hour and proclaim every opportunity God gives you by every means God gives you the free grace of God, this world's perishing in darkness. The third cry of the Reformation is faith alone. This third great principle of the Reformation, this third article of faith, needs once more to be proclaimed and understood in a world of lost religious men and women. The only way any can ever obtain God's salvation, the only way any sinner can ever be justified before God is by faith in Jesus Christ. Turn to Romans chapter 3 for just a moment. Romans chapter 3. And while you're turning, give me your attention. Give me attention now.

When this word of God declares that we are justified by faith, The Word of God is not teaching, nor is there any implication that our faith is the basis of our justification. Justification is not accomplished by faith, it's received by faith. Do you understand the difference? The object of our faith, Jesus Christ, justified us when he died. We receive justification by faith. Look here in Romans chapter 3 and verse 20.

Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, that is, by the faithful obedience of Christ as our substitute, The righteousness of God is unto all and upon all men that believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely." Do you see that word freely? It means without a cause. When our Savior said, Merle, they hated me without a cause, that's the word he used. Justified without a cause.

Without any cause in you. without any cause on your part, justified without you paying anything, justified without you doing anything, justified freely by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, God's righteousness that God might be just and the justifier of him which believeth. Where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now skip over to verse 25 of chapter 4.

The Lord Jesus Christ, whom God set forth to be our propitiation, was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. What does that mean? The Lord Jesus died under the penalty of God, being delivered over to the hands of divine justice as our substitute to pay for our offenses. and to demonstrate that we are now justified to declare publicly, in the most visible manner possible, that our sins have been put away. He was raised again, and the risen Christ, the empty tomb, Christ on his throne, declared that God Almighty has accepted his payment for sin. Therefore, do you see it?

Therefore, verse 1 of chapter 5, Therefore, because Christ was delivered for our repentance, because Christ was raised again for our justification, therefore being justified. Being justified, not in order to be justified, but therefore being justified, and quite literally the comma ought to be after the word justified.

Therefore being justified, comma, by faith we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Justification is accomplished, or was accomplished, by the death of Christ at Calvary. And we receive justification when we believe on him. That is, we receive all the benefits of justification. We are at peace with God.

Our conscience is afraid of death. God speaks in a man's soul. When a man believes, when a sinner trusts the Savior, God the Holy Spirit speaks in his soul by the word of grace and says, you're justified. And his conscience echoes, the blood of Christ is enough! I'm justified. Justified. Just as if I've never sinned. True Christianity is involved in these three crucial issues.

This book alone is the word of God. This book alone is authoritative. Nothing else. That's the reason we don't give honor to creeds and confessions and catechisms and all that stuff in this place, because this book's authoritative. This book. Say, well, the creeds will help keep folks in line with the book. Okay, well, if men ignore what God says, they'll sure as hell ignore what I say about it. This book alone is authoritative. Salvation is by grace alone. Salvation is obtained, enjoyed, received by faith alone. Faith with only one object, Jesus Christ. And that faith is the gift of God. It's the gift of God.

When we were in school, they taught us how to preach. You introduce a message, and you lead up to a climax, and you bring everything up to a crescendo, and you get the people in the mood, and you stop right then, give an invitation, and strike Father Aaron's heart so folks can't get away. We'll be interested in deceiving men's souls, yeah. But we recognize we can't persuade folks to believe. So you got to catch folks when they're when they're in trouble. Catch them when somebody just died or somebody about to die and you can get them to make a confession of faith. You can get them deceived with religion, but you can't get them to believe Christ.

What do we do? We simply put out the truth. We just, God gives us the opportunity to print something. Here, take this. Take this and listen to it. A book, take this and read it. Just whatever means we have, we discriminate the truth. And wherever God's pleased to make his word effectual, chosen, redeemed, lost, dead sinners are made alive. According to the gift of the grace of God. Now if you believe, if sitting where you are, suddenly you realize, I believe in that. I trust the Son of God. I believe Jesus Christ alone is my Savior. I bow to Him. God gave you that faith. God gave you that faith.

And if God doesn't give you that faith, You'll never believe. That's the reason we don't gobble before sinners, we gobble before God. We don't beg sinners, we beg God. We don't plead with men, we plead with God. God give faith to those who have not. Give faith.

Amen. Lindsay mentioned this morning in his opening comments in the Sunday School Hour, sometimes it appears Nobody pays any attention. And it appears that we make no headway. It appears the whole world's going to hell in a hand basket. But God's message, scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, will win the day. And Christ shall be honored. And God's elect will hear it and believe. Let's be faithful in all things. I think maybe a good benediction would be for us to sing number 36 of Mighty Fortress. I believe it's number 36. This is one of those hymns Martin Luther wrote.

He used to say to his friend Melanchthon, when Melanchthon would come giving some bad news, he'd say, come, let's sing the 46th Psalm and spite the devil. And he wrote this hymn to spite the devil. and we'll sing it to praise our God and give spite to him who is our adversary.

The Time of Reformation

What does the Bible say about the authority of Scripture?

How do we know salvation is by grace alone?

Why is faith alone important for Christians?

How does the Reformation impact today's church?

What does faith alone mean in relation to justification?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Time of Reformation

What does the Bible say about the authority of Scripture?

How do we know salvation is by grace alone?

Why is faith alone important for Christians?

How does the Reformation impact today's church?

What does faith alone mean in relation to justification?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

More from Don Fortner

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Don Fortner

Books by Don Fortner

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book