Romans chapter 3. I want to read verse 28 of Romans
chapter 3. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in. The name of thy son. And we ask that you would be
pleased. To speak to us. By your spirit. through your word. And that we
might be enabled to hear the gospel. And believe the gospel. Lord, we are so thankful for
the gospel of your son, the gospel of your grace. The good news
of the forgiveness, the full, complete forgiveness of sins
in my son. Lord, would you manifest yourself
to us? Forgive us of our sins for Christ's
sake and cleanse us from our sins for Christ's sake. Lord,
we pray for our friends that are sick, ill. Lord, we pray for your healing
hand to be upon them. Meet with us. Meet with all your
people wherever they meet together. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Faith alone. What does that mean? Faith alone. Now, look what Paul says to conclude
what he'd said up to this point. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith, and you could just as easily say
alone. without the deeds of the law. Now, thank you, Drew. Faith alone. Now what is faith? And this is a very important
question. What is faith? What is meant by faith? Turn
to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15, verse 4,
and behold, the word of the Lord came unto him. That's the word. This is, I think,
a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. The word of the Lord
came to him. saying, this shall not be thine
heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels
shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad
and said, look now toward heaven and tell the stars if they'll
be able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall
thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord. Quite simply, faith is believing
what God said. I can't emphasize the importance
of that enough. Quite simply, faith is believing
what God has said. Now look back in Romans chapter
4 now. Faith alone. This is what we're
trying to consider. Faith alone. Verse 5, but To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now, here's two things that can
never coexist, working and faith. To him that worketh not. but believeth on him that justifies
the ungodly. His faith is counted for righteousness.
Now that does not mean that his act of faith is counted as righteousness. Look in Romans chapter three,
again, this is important. Verse 20. 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 without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ. Now, I'm justified by the faith
of Christ, his faithfulness, his obedience. I believe that. That's what faith is, I am relying
on that. Faith alone. Now I want you to look at 2 Timothy
1.12 with me. 2 Timothy. Chapter one, verse 12. for the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed.
Now, here's what I believe is the clearest definition of faith
in all the word of God. I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. I know. You can't believe what
you don't know. I know. There is knowledge in
faith. You don't believe anything that
you don't know. But notice he doesn't say, I
know what I believed. I know whom I have believed. Christ himself is the object
of faith. Faith is knowing who he is. If you know who he is, you will
believe. As a matter of fact, everybody
who knows who he is knows him. It really is that simple. I think
the clearest example of this is the thief on the cross. He
knew who Christ was, and everything he said came out of the fact
that he knew who he was. He said, don't you fear God?
He knew Jesus Christ was God. How did he know that? Same way
you know it. God revealed this to you. That's how you know that
Jesus Christ is God. He said, don't you fear God,
seeing you're in the same condemnation? We indeed justly, we're getting
what we deserve, but this man has done nothing amiss. Now,
how did he know Christ had done nothing amiss? Because he knew
who he was. You can't know who Christ is
and believe he could sin or do anything amiss. And then he said,
Lord, he knew Jesus Christ was the Lord. Remember me when you
come back into your kingdom. He knew that he wouldn't stay
on the cross. He knew he wouldn't stay dead. He knew he would come
back as a mighty reigning king. How do you know that? Because
he knew who he was. Faith is knowing who he is. Do you know who he is? I'm not
asking you if you know you're saved. I'm not asking you if
you know that you are a believer. I'm asking you, do you know who
he is? The Christ, the son of God, incapable
of failure. I know whom I have believed. And look what he says next. He
said, I am persuaded. I have been persuaded. Actually,
that I am persuaded is in the passive voice. I've been persuaded.
The only way you're persuaded is if God persuades you. When
he persuades you, you're persuaded. You believe. I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded. I am convinced. And what is it
you're convinced of, Paul? I'm persuaded that what? He is
able. That's what I'm persuaded of.
I'm persuaded of his ability. What do you mean by that? Well,
it was said of Abraham, he was fully persuaded that what God
had promised, he was able also to perform. When God said to
Abraham, when the word of the Lord came into him and said,
so shall your seed be like the stars, Abraham believed God was
able to do that, even though he didn't have any children.
It's believing in his ability. Now unto him the table, Jude
24, now unto him the table to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless, faultless before the presence of his glory
with exceeding joy. Do you believe he's able to present
you faultless with no help from you? That faith. I am persuaded, Paul
said, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is
able, all my persuasion is in his ability, because I know who
he is. I know he's able. I'm persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him. Now, what is this thing of committing
unto him? A lot of times when we think
of commitment, we think of, well, I'm committed to this. There's
a sense in which that is true, but the word committed is entrusted. The simplest illustration is
you put your money in the bank, you're entrusting that money
to the bank. Now, if they take care of it, you're in good shape.
If they don't, you're in bad shape. But you've entrusted your
money to the bank. I've entrusted my salvation to
Christ. I've entrusted my salvation to
this. By his grace, here's all my hope. When he said it is finished, I was saved. That is where I have entrusted
when he said, it is finished. Nothing else is needed. I am
complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's what salvation by
faith means. It's entrusting yourself to him. That is all my eggs are in that
basket. And if that is not enough, it
is finished. I won't be saved. You believe
that? That's the very foundation of
faith. I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded, I've been
persuaded that he's able. I believe he's able to make me
perfect before God, that I believe he's able to where I really am
perfect before God, and I have no sin before God. He's able
to do that. To keep that which I've committed
to him against that day, judgment day, when my name is called,
everything is gonna be fine, he's gonna answer for me. I'm
persuaded of that. Now, if I have this faith alone,
and that's what Paul said, we conclude that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law, totally apart from any
works, faith alone. If I have this faith alone, it's
the result of spiritual life. It's not the cause of spiritual
life, it's the result of spiritual life. The reason I believe is
because God gave me life. The reason I believe is because
God gave me faith. It is the gift of God. Faith is impossible for the natural
man. No man who is not born of God,
born again, given spiritual life, can believe. It's impossible.
It's outside of any natural man's ability. By grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. How shall they
call on him whom they've not believed? Well, they can't. They
can't. You can't call on somebody you've
not believed. And when you do believe, you
will call. When you know who he is, you
will call. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That's the act of faith. Whosoever. I love the word whosoever. I'm
one of them. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord, that's his person, that's who he is, that's his
attributes. Calling on his name to save me
by an act of your sovereign will, save me by an act of your justice,
save me by an act of your grace and mercy, save me by an act
of your power, save me by an act of your wisdom. Now, calling
on the name of the Lord is faith. It's not something you do one
time, it's something you do all the time. You're calling upon
the Lord, Lord, save me. Lord, save me. That's not a one
time prayer, that's an all the time prayer. You look to the
Lord only. Now, faith alone looks to Christ
alone and continues to look to Christ alone all the way to the
end. It's never faith and. It's always faith alone. And here's what perseverance
is. Perseverance is not remaining religious. Perseverance is looking
to Christ only until you die. And that is by the grace of God. This is the result of spiritual
life. Now, what is the reason for this
faith? Let me ask a few more questions,
faith alone. What is the reason for faith?
Well, the scripture says faith comes by hearing. Why do some people hear this
as good news and some people are kind of indifferent toward
it? Some people hear this, this is
great, I thank the Lord for this, this is good news. Somebody else
says, well, you know, what's next? Why is that? The reason is a sense of need. Now we've been talking about
these Scriptures alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone,
the glory of God alone. I need the Scriptures alone. Let me begin there. I need for
it to be that way. What else do I have if I don't
have that? The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God. You
can't really believe the Word of God unless you believe the
Bible's the inspired Word of God. I need this. I need Christ
alone. I won't be saved if Christ did
everything in my salvation, I won't be saved. I need Christ alone. I need grace alone. Oh, my soul,
I need it. I need faith alone. This is a
thing of need. He healed them that had need
of healing. The whole need, not a physician,
but they that are sick. This is a thing of need. Well,
why is it that some people have a need and others don't? His grace. His grace. Who makes you to differ
from another? God did. What do you have that
you didn't receive, that he didn't freely give you? Just even this
sense of need is the gift of his grace. Now, I see what faith is, I see
the reason for faith, His grace. Here's a question I want us to
consider. What is my ground for believing the gospels for me? Now, understand with regard to
faith. Faith is in Christ. Somebody
says, well, I could believe if I knew God elected me. No, that's
none of your business. I could believe if I knew God
elected me. I could believe if I knew Christ died for me. That's
not faith either. I could believe if I could feel
the work of the spirit of God in me. That's not faith either.
Faith is wholly looking to him alone. Now, what gives me the
ground for believing the gospel is for me. One answer to that question. Am I a sinner? That is the only ground upon
which you or I can believe that the gospel is for us. I'm not
asking you if you're elect. I'm not asking you how much you've
grown. I'm not asking you anything but
this. Are you a real sinner? Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. If you are a sinner, now I don't
mean a generic sinner, I mean a real sinner, someone who commits
sin. Someone who all you do in and
of yourself is sin. Someone who cannot not sin. Somebody says, well, I've mastered
that one. Somebody, their sin's all their
fault. You can't blame God's sovereignty. You can't blame
your circumstances. You're no victim. Your sin is
all your fault. And you really, truly, from the
depths of your heart, you can't look down in judgment on anybody. Nobody. Now that person is a
sinner. You have no claims on God because
of your sin. You forfeited all claims on God.
You are a sinner if that is you. Listen to me. Christ died for
you. That's the only people he died
for are sinners. You're only ground. of believing
the Gospels for you is the fact that you are a sinner. When we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Now, if you think that your ground
for believing is because of anything you've done or thought or intend
to do, you've missed faith alone. You're only ground for faith.
to believe that what Christ did was for you is that you're a
sinner, and He came to save sinners. You know, most people would say,
well, sure, I commit sins, I make mistakes, but they don't really
believe what the Bible says with regard to their sin. But a believer
does. He Trust Christ to save him from
his sins. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Okay. Okay. I've got that. But let me ask you this. Being
a sinner, what gives me the right to think I'm called to believe
the gospel? I hear what you said. But me
being what you described me to be, what in the world makes me
think I have the right to believe that the gospel's for me? What
gives me the right to trust Christ the way Paul did? How can I say,
I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him against that day. How can
I do that? Because he commands you to. Any other reason needed? God commandeth. All men. Are you in that group?
Everywhere. To repent. To change your silly
views of how you can please God and look to Christ alone. To
quit your planning and scheming about what you're going to do,
how things are going to be better. Look to Christ alone, God commands
you to. This is a command. Sirs, what
must I do to be saved? Not what must I do to save myself,
but what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. I want you to look at John chapter
3. Verse 18. He that believeth on him shall
not be condemned. I didn't read that right, did
I? He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Right now. He that believeth,
you are resting in Christ only. All of your hope is when he said,
it is finished. Everything needed for your salvation
was accomplished by what he did. He that believeth on him, and
I, I, all of my salvation is resting in that what he did,
without any works from me, without any contributions from me, what
he did is my salvation. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, never will be condemned. Right now, I stand before God
without sin. That's what justification is. I stand before God without sin. Faith must be alone, or it's
not faith at all. Faith alone believes the scriptures
alone, Christ alone, and grace alone. Faith alone. May the Lord
enable us to believe. Amen.