Sola Gratia: Grace Alone + Nothing

Transcript

Good morning. Well that was a really good song to lead into our sermon text this morning and our subject this morning. And we’re going to continue this series that we started two weeks ago, which we’re calling Light After Darkness, the five solas of the Reformation. This morning we’re going to look at the first of the solas, which is sola gratia, grace alone. You might recall two weeks ago, as Thomas gave us an introduction to this subject, that grace alone would be one of those things that would free us from performance-driven culture. And I think you’re going to see why this morning. And I would add to that, that it should free us from performance-driven religion and the tendency that we as humans have to think that we must in some way contribute to our salvation. So this morning we’re going to look at Romans chapter 3, verses 21 to 26, as well as many

other scriptures that will link up with this. So I’ll ask you to be ready to turn in your Bibles to a lot of texts this morning, or if you’re unable to do that, you can follow along on the screen. So now if you would please open up your Bibles to Romans chapter 3. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there should be one under the seat in front of you. This text will be found on page 885. And as you’re turning there and getting ready, I forgot to introduce myself if I don’t know you. But for those meeting me for the first time, my name is Greg Taylor and I serve as one of the pastors here. Romans chapter 3, verse 21, and if I could ask you please to stand for the reading of the word of God. Hear now the word of the Lord to you.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus

— Romans 3

(ESV)

. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Well let’s start by going before the throne of grace to get the help that we desperately

Grace Under Attack

need this morning. Let’s pray together. Our Father and our God, we pray this morning that you would empower all of us by the Holy Spirit in order that we may see and know and learn the truths that you would have for us this morning from your word. Give us ears to hear, give us eyes to see, and help us, God, to behold the awesome and merciful God that you are in how you deal with sinners like us. And we ask all this in Jesus’ name, amen. Well prior to the Reformation in the 16th century, there was terrible corruption within the church. Many priests were uneducated. Many had concubines and children out of wedlock. Corruption in the church was rampant. The practice of simony was common. If you’re not familiar with that term, what it was is that it was people could purchase prestigious offices in the church like priest or bishop with no regard for qualification.

There was the buying and selling of indulgences. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs. The average person in the church did not know any doctrine. They did not own or have access to a Bible in their own language. Along comes 1512 when Martin Luther becomes a monk. And as he got into his order, he began constantly falling under the conviction of his sin. He would spend literally hours in the confessional and still later be totally consumed with his sin and with guilt and with fear of the wrath of God. Rome at the time had what was known as the treasury of merit. Think of it like this. It’s like a heavenly bank account made up of righteousness, mostly the righteousness of Jesus, but also some of Mary, some also of the saints. And the Pope has the keys to this treasury and can give it to anyone he chooses.

The church taught something called infused righteousness versus what churches like ours would teach, which is called imputed righteousness. We’ll get to that in a little while. Now infused righteousness occurs when a person is baptized, usually as a baby, thus infusing the person with righteousness, 100% of the righteousness they will need to go to heaven upon their death. But as they grow up and they begin to sin, they lose that 100% righteousness and it falls below the requirement of 100%. It must be earned back by works, but it cannot ever really be made all the way up to 100%. This is why purgatory was invented, which is not found in scripture. It is like a middle state between death and heaven. It’s a hell like place where one must go to pay for their sins to get back up to 100% righteousness. Now some people actually die with more righteousness than 100%.

Mother Teresa would be a modern day example. And their extra righteousness goes into the treasury. Well as Luther began reading and studying the Bible, once he hit Romans 117, the righteous shall live by faith. Luther realized that the righteousness he needed could only come from the righteousness of Christ. He could only be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. He realized that justification, being declared righteous by God, only happens to a person because of God’s grace and it is a gift. Years later Luther would go on to say that ultimately justification by faith alone is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls. And since the Reformation, it has been the doctrine that has truly separated Protestants from Roman Catholics. Now when Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door in Wittenberg in 1517, he was challenging this system. He was challenging purgatory, the Pope’s supposed powers, the idea of indulgences and the practice

of indulgences, and how this system was leading the people astray from the gospel by making people think that they had to earn part of their salvation as if that could even be done. Listen to what he said in Theses number 62. He said the true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. So you’re probably wondering why I just presented to you an overly simplistic explanation of some of what our Roman Catholic friends and neighbors have been taught. It is because if followed, it would lead a person to have to remove the alone from grace alone. And I show you this as a way of contrasting the biblical doctrine of grace alone versus one of the largest works righteousness systems that is very active in our culture today. And unfortunately, it is not alone. There are countless groups that claim to be Christian, yet teach a form of works righteousness.

The Biblical Truth

Now when we as Protestants say sola gratia, grace alone, we are referring to the fact, the biblical truth, that God in His goodness has a plan to save some people. And He does this not because we deserve it or because we have done anything to earn it. On the contrary, we have committed what R.C. Sproul referred to as cosmic treason against God through our sin and our transgression. We are not in some neutral position before God. We are criminals, enemies of God awaiting His judgment and wrath. But God indeed shows mercy to some. Listen to what A.W. Pink says about grace. He says, grace is the sole source from which flows the goodwill, love, and salvation of God unto His chosen people who have no merit in them and for which no compensation is demanded from them. It is the favor of God shown to those who not only have no positive worth of their own,

but who are thoroughly ill-deserving and hell-deserving. So any system of supposed Christian religion that adds works to grace for salvation cannot be grace alone. It is grace plus something else. Now we see Paul write most clearly against this in Romans 11.6. In speaking of salvation, Paul says this, but if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. Pink goes on to say that grace and works shall no more unite than an acid and an alkali. Grace is just part of who God is. One of His attributes is to be gracious. Nehemiah, in praying to God a corporate prayer, he runs through all the unfaithfulness of Israel through the centuries, and he concludes with this. He says, nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Friends never ever forget or doubt that God shows grace and mercy to sinners, but you must remember that He does this because of who He is, not because of what you do or can do. That is why it is so damning of a heresy to teach people that they must do something to add to their salvation. It cannot be added to. That is not how grace works, and that is not what grace is. Luther said, but no man can thoroughly be humbled until he knows that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, devices, endeavors, will, and works, and depends entirely on the choice, will, and work of another, namely of God alone. So this morning we will see that what people cannot do for themselves, which is to be perfectly righteous before a holy God, God has done for them through sending His Son to redeem

us from our sin, to give us His righteousness, to take away the wrath that we as sinners justly deserve. And God does this based not on anything that we can do, but based on His grace, which is a free gift. So let me ask you this morning, do you ever think that God owes you something because of the ways you have served Him? Do you ever think that maybe you have contributed just a little bit to your own salvation because you attend church, or you are in ministry, or maybe because you know your Bible really well, or maybe because you know the right doctrine? Well, as we look into these verses this morning in Romans 3, hopefully you will see with utter wonder and amazement the mercy and grace of our great God and all that He has done to make you right with Him through the Lord Jesus.

The Promise

Now as we draw near to the text that we will be going through this morning, verses 21-26, I want to say at the outset that 21-24 of Romans 3 are often referred to, I heard Ferguson say this recently, they are often referred to as the gospel in a nutshell, those verses. And that is Christ’s death for our sins, God’s wrath propitiated, and we are justified. So let’s look into this morning in detail, and to do that I have divided our text up this morning into three sections. We will look at the promise, the problem, and the propitiation. So let’s start with the promise this morning. Look with me at verse 21. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. When Paul says here, but now, this indicates that he’s making a change in his argument.

Because earlier in this chapter, he has been telling us that we are all in a very bad way because we do not possess our own righteousness, nor can we do anything to make ourselves right before a holy God because of our sin. Now we’ll look at that in detail in a minute when we get to the problem. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, and the law and the prophets bear witness to it. This is the great promise that the law and the prophets were pointing to the gospel and to the one who would come to save God’s people and to make God’s righteousness available to his people. This has been God’s promise going all the way back to Genesis 3. He promised to send a man to make salvation for his people after the fall. God told the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring

and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Well, in the very opening of this letter, Romans, Paul has already established for these readers the great promise of the gospel that came from the prophets. Look at 1.1. Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, here it is, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. That’s the Old Testament he’s referring to there. Now look at verse 22. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. Well, the way that a person comes to receive the promise, which is the righteousness they need, is only through faith in Jesus. Now the Sola Fide, which is faith alone, that’s going to be covered in a few weeks, so it isn’t my goal to cover that in detail here, but you should know that when it says this

here, this is a reference to people putting their trust in Jesus alone to receive the righteousness that comes from God. It was said of Abraham that he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now when Paul says here there is no distinction, what he’s saying is that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, man or a woman, boy or a girl, slave or free, because we have all sinned and we all need another’s righteousness. It is what Luther called an alien righteousness that we need. It means it comes from outside of us and it can only come from Jesus. And it is available to all who will trust in, place their faith in the Lord Jesus. So this is the great promise, that the righteousness we need that we can never create on our own comes to us from God through his son.

Now let’s look at the problem. So before the but now in verse 21, Paul was telling us about this problem we have earlier in chapter 3. So let’s look back a ways in chapter 3. Let’s go to verse 10. Listen to what Paul writes. He says

as it is written, none is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. Look down at verse 20. For by the works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin

— Romans 3

, 20 (ESV)

. Pretty plain. So our first problem is that we cannot keep the law because we are sinners. It is impossible for people to create their own righteousness through keeping the law. This is what James told us in 2.10. He said for whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all

of it. Paul told the Galatians that to rely on the works of the law for your salvation is to actually be cursed. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them. Now look at verse 23. Paul says that this condition of being a sinner is the status of all people. There’s no distinction. Everybody is. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are sinners from birth. In just two more chapters, Paul tells the Romans, just as sin came into the world through one man, that’s Adam, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned. All that a person needs to do is just look around at this world to see that something

The Problem

is very badly messed up with everyone and everything. The entire creation is broken and that’s because of sin. It is as Augustine would say in his fourfold state of man, all those not in Christ are not able to not sin. It’s their default position. So this is our problem. We can’t keep the law because we are sinners and we cannot create our own righteousness before God. Charles Spurgeon said you can never weave a righteousness that can cover your nakedness before God. We are sinners who have committed cosmic treason against a holy God who is our creator and he is the one with whom we must give an account. The person not in Christ has God’s wrath abiding upon them because they don’t have perfect righteousness and that is why we need God’s grace to bring us to saving faith in his son. That brings us to the third point, propitiation.

The Propitiation

Verses 24-26, this is where we’re now going to see God’s grace put on display and where the promise is spelled out for us and where our problem is solved. And friends, it is glorious. So I’m going to read these last three verses and then we’re going to look at them in detail. Verse 24, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Well there is a lot here that flows from the grace of God and there’s a few big words here

none of which should we shy away from, justification, redemption, and propitiation. And I want you to leave here this morning, if you don’t already know what these mean, I want you to leave here this morning knowing what these mean and more importantly knowing how these truths should lead you into a greater love and appreciation and worship of God for his grace to you. Let’s read 24 again, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So the first word justified, let’s talk about that. To be justified is when God makes a forensic or legal declaration that your sin is forgiven and then you are given the righteousness of Jesus. Some call this the great exchange. It is your sin for Christ’s righteousness. And Jesus achieved those things for you in his cross work. And it’s not that you’re now just as if you had never sinned, but you now actually have

the righteousness of Jesus imputed to you. Remember I said earlier about the infused? This is the opposite. This is imputed. This is done only by God. This means that you can now approach God. He sees you as righteous. Listen to what Wayne Grudem says about justification. He says that it is an instantaneous legal act of God in which God thinks of our sins as forgiven Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us. And he declares us to be righteous in his sight. That’s amazing. If you were in Christ this morning, you will never do anything to change God’s mind about how he sees you. Now I want you to see something is that God’s gift of grace to us was actually planned by God from all eternity. Flip over to second Timothy chapter one. I’m going to read two verses there, eight and nine. Paul wrote this to Timothy.

He said, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Grace alone was in God’s heart for his people from before time began. Did you know this about God? Friends, God is so awesome. We throw that word around in our culture. I’m guilty of it. But when we really stop and think about what that word means, I think God is the only one that deserves that adjective. God is truly awesome. Now this justification is by his grace as a gift. Think about that, a gift. When’s the last time you earned a gift?

You can’t, can’t be earned. Do you see why? It is so eternally dangerous for people who are in cults or aberrant religious systems, many of whom claim to be Christian, yet teach people that they must add their own works to receive salvation. This is why the purity of the gospel must be contended for just as much now as when Athanasius and Wycliffe and Hus and Luther did it, as well as many, many other faithful Christians throughout history. Kind of a side note here. I’d love to encourage you if you don’t do this now to read church history. There’s a book written by a man. He’s now with Jesus. His name is Bruce Shelley. He wrote a book called Church History in Plain Language. Even though it’s in plain language, it’s about 500 pages long, but it is very accessible and it will give you a really solid foundation of what our spiritual forefathers and foremothers

did. I mean, we truly stand on the shoulders of giants, people. I hope you know that. Sadly, I wonder if the people that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7 were counting on their works for salvation. On that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name? And I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Those have got to be four of the scariest words in the Bible, I never knew you. Many of the people who knock on your door trying to talk to you about their religion are living their lives on a treadmill of works. And it is misery for them. They have been taught damning and untrue things like it is by grace that we are saved after

all we can do. If you don’t know that, good, because it comes out of the Book of Mormon and it is a gross misrepresentation of grace. That isn’t grace. That’s a treadmill. You are required to do all you can to be saved. And the truth is, you can never do enough. Your works cannot save you. Paul will write in the next chapter, Romans 4, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. That’s beautiful. I asked you earlier what you might have in your life that you could be adding to grace, maybe even if it’s just subtly in your thinking, something we should all ponder. Listen to this quote from Mike Bird. It’s a long quote, but it is extremely powerful and it makes the point much better than I

could. He says this. He says, in my short time as a follower of Jesus, I’ve had people tell me that in order to be saved, I need to speak in tongues, partake of some sacrament, only read the King James Bible, subscribe to a certain confession, believe in a specific diagram of the end times, jump through a dozen other hoops that seem to serve the purpose of validating the rantings of some lunatic with an opinion and desperate desire to force it on others. Fortunately for me, I was well discipled by Christian leaders and attended churches where the pastors were committed to biblical preaching, so I never got suckered into the Jesus plus stairway to salvation. But sadly, many do. There are countless souls who have fallen for grace plus something or Jesus plus something, and that is not the gospel. If you have a grace plus something and you’re able to identify it, seek the Lord to get

rid of it. This is very important. Salvation is a gift from God by grace alone to sinners, and it comes through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. That’s our next word. Let’s talk about this word redemption. It’s a really important word, and to the first century reader who was looking at Paul’s letter, this was the kind of language used in the world of slavery. And it means this. It means to purchase the freedom of a captive through paying a costly price. If you are in Christ today, you were once a slave to sin and to the devil, and the costly payment made by God to rescue you was his son. John wrote the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. One of my favorite verses of Scripture that is very meaningful to me in how God saved

me is Colossians 1, 13 and 14. See if I can get through this. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. That word carries with it the idea of a powerful ruler removing persons from one country and settling them into his. I remember literally being picked up by God from one life and given a new life. And I can tell you, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t earn anything, and I certainly didn’t deserve anything. And if you’re in Christ this morning, neither did you. It was by grace. Now it doesn’t need to be said that our Christian lives are not without works. That would be to, as James put it, to have dead faith. And actually, our works are foreordained by God for us. They do not add anything to our salvation or help in any way, but they are a byproduct

of being saved by grace. Ephesians 2, 8, 9, and 10. Most of you probably know this by heart. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. That is redemption. Now let’s look at what we are saved from in our last word, propitiation. Verse 25, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. The whom God put forward is Jesus, and the propitiation is made by the blood Jesus shed when he died for you on the cross. Now this word that gets translated in the ESV, propitiation, in other English translations

is sometimes not translated propitiation. I looked up a few of these. Some Bibles will say atoning sacrifice, expiation, the new English translation says mercy seat. Some say sacrifice. Listen to what one commentator says about propitiation. He says Christ’s role as a propitiation takes away our sin and appeases God’s wrath. Once Christ forgives our sin, it can no longer rise against us. So because of our sin before we come to Christ, we justly face the wrath of God. Paul told the Romans this in the first chapter, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. But there is very good news. God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved.

We are saved from God by God. Ponder that. Saved from God by God. Now if you’re here this morning and you do not believe in the Lord Jesus, you wouldn’t consider yourself to be a Christian, I’m very glad you came to church to hear the truth of the gospel. And you should know that you need to be saved from God. The author of Hebrews wrote, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But you do not have to. Do not have to face his judgment and you do not have to fear God. Because Jesus will forgive your sins and he will give you his righteousness if you will turn away from your sins and seek him to be your Lord and Savior. If you picked up a bulletin when you came in toward the back of that thing, there’s

a little prayer in there called a prayer of belief. It’s not a formula, the words aren’t magic, but you could use that to formulate your own prayer and ask the Lord to save you. And he looks at the intentions of your heart anyway, so he will know. You could also ask anyone in here, Are you a Christian? Tell me, how do I no longer have to fear God and deal with my sin and my guilt? And they will be more than happy to help you. When Paul gets to the end of verse 25 and then into 26, he says this, this was to show God’s righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. Verse 26, it was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This just means that God was proving himself to be both a God of justice because he does not let sin go unpunished. All sin is going to be paid for either by the sinner or by Jesus. No one is getting away with anything. It seems like it in this world oftentimes that people get away with things, but they will not in the world to come. This also shows God to be merciful and gracious because he made the way for those he chose to be justified and to forgive them and to set Jesus’s righteousness upon them. And friends, this would all be done by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, through the message of the gospel preached from the scriptures alone to the glory of God alone. These five solas are all over your Bible. G.K. Burkauer once observed that the very essence of theology is grace.

From beginning to end, salvation is of the Lord, and it is not something we earn or deserve. It is given freely from the mercy and love and grace of God. Closing this morning, I hope that you can better see now that what people cannot do for themselves, which is to be perfectly righteous before a holy God, God has done for them through sending his Son to redeem us from our sin, to give us his righteousness, and taking away his wrath that we as sinners justly deserve. And God does this not based on anything that we can do, but based on his grace alone, which is a free gift. This truth should cause each one of us to avoid anything that we may be holding on to that even hints of works righteousness, any kind of checklist, legalism, spiritual pride. Let your attitude be one of, I don’t have to do this, I get to do this.

God is willing to use me to do the things that he’s gifted me to do. It should also cause us to approach our neighbors and our friends who are trapped in a system of works righteousness with great compassion and with the gospel. If you’ve ever been on the treadmill of works righteousness or you have known anyone living that way, it is exhausting for most of them. And yet for others, it leads to a spiritual pride and a self-delusion that makes them actually think they’re doing it, I’m doing really well. That is so dangerous and that can only be broken by the Holy Spirit working through the truths of the gospel preached. And lastly, friends, this should make your heart sing. It should give you renewed purpose and identity and community and desire for holiness and hope in the new creation as you seek to live for Christ all the days that he gives you.

Amen. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, this is truly, truly good news that we have heard this morning of your grace for sinners as a free gift. God help us root out any performance-based religion from our thinking. Any spiritual pride we may have, any checklists we may follow. Give us favor with our neighbors and our family to share this great truth that they too can be made righteous through Jesus alone because of your grace to us as a free gift. Father, if there’s anyone here this morning who needed to hear this, use it to set them on a new path. Help them to trust only in Jesus for salvation because of your grace. God, we recognize that you alone are truly awesome. And God, we love you. We pray for your protection upon us. And God, we pray that you will give us this motivation, this holy motivation to do the

things that you would have us to do as a byproduct of the salvation that belongs entirely to you. We pray all this in the name of our great Savior Jesus. Amen.