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Serenity: Soothing Inspirational Favorites Performed On Piano

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Well, good morning, good to see you on this Reformation Sunday, it's called. This is 505th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses on that door in Wittenberg, which sparked a, almost said revolution, but that isn't the right word, a reformation.
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And we're grateful to the Lord for that step he took and for all of the argument and debate and so forth that proceeded from that, and for the crystallization of truth that had been distorted and overlooked and even defied for a number of years, and we'll be saying more about that in the message this morning.
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But we're glad you're here on this Lord's Day, hope you're looking forward to a good day together. After the service this morning, we're planning a potluck, we have a potluck meal scheduled back in the fellowship hall,
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I encourage you to stay for that meal, we'll have an afternoon service and we'll just stay right there in the fellowship hall.
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We have some hymnals back there, we'll have a piano back there, we'll sing a couple of Reformation -era hymns, they were written by Reformers, I think one by, maybe two by Luther and one by Calvin, I can't remember if the third one is or not, but anyway, we'll sing those together.
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And then we're going to see this interesting little video on the
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Scottish Reformer, John Knox, and I'll just describe it a little bit now and introduce it more greatly later, but it's produced, it's called
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John Knox as told by the Littles, the Littles, L -I -T -T -L -E -S, and the
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Littles is, I guess, a common phrase or popular phrase now for children, for little kids.
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So, it's really a unique way in which that video was produced and tells a little bit of the story of John Knox and I think it'll be a help and a blessing to you.
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Not a very long thing, it's about 21, 22 minutes long, and then at the end of that, we'll have our quarterly business meeting together, so I encourage you to stay for that afternoon time today.
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Wednesday evening this week at 7 o 'clock is just a ladies -only meeting here at the church, started this a month ago for one
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Wednesday night for ladies and then another one for the men. This Wednesday is for the ladies, meeting here at the church at 7.
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And then Saturday night, this big blurb in your bulletin there, this friendsgiving potluck party, potluck dinner, it is right now scheduled to be at the
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Bliss's, outdoors with campfires and a lot of warm food to keep you warmed up.
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There is, in this extended forecast state, a pretty good chance of some rain on Saturday.
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If that happens, the whole thing will be moved to Erin and Diana's home in Polo.
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You'll be informed of that ahead of time if that change comes, but just at least now you're aware of that possibility.
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If you're looking at the forecast yourself and you're saying, I don't think I want to risk being outside in the rain, that won't happen.
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You do need to sign up for that though, for that meal time together Saturday.
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There's a sign -up sheet on the bulletin board. You can do that or there's a website you can go to as well.
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For those of you who are more technologically savvy and can do things that way, it is there for you.
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All right, we have gathered together today to worship the Lord. Psalm 145 tells us, says to us,
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All your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power, to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.
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All your saints shall bless you. We want to stand and bless the Lord today as we sing in our hymnal number 55, hymn number 55, the hymn,
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Sing Praise to God. Let's stand together as we sing, shall we? Remain standing, please, for prayer.
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Father, your glory is set above the heavens, and your name is excellent in all the earth.
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And we just wonder, who are we that you're mindful of us,
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Lord? You've blessed us with so many things, and we just are grateful for that,
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Lord. Thank you for giving your son to rescue us, and we just praise you today and exalt your name.
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We just pray that you would be with our worship and that you'd be glorified with that, and that you'd just present your word to us in the way that you'd have, and pray that you'd change our lives.
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We just praise things in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you. You may be seated.
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Dan? Our psalm reading this morning is from Psalm 8 on the back of your bulletin, verses 1 through 9.
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Follow along as I read. O Lord, our
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Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! Who have set your glory above the heavens?
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Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and avenger.
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When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you visit him?
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For you have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with the glory and honor.
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You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea.
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O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! Amen. Let's sing the song in the
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Psalter that corresponds to Psalm 8, it's number 15 in that red book there on your pew.
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Number 15, O Lord, our God, how excellent. I think the tune you will recognize, it's a familiar one set to this text.
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Please notice that there is a fifth stanza at the bottom of the page, so let's sing that together as well.
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On the fifth. Well, we want to pray together today, and as we do so, we want to remember our missionary of the week, the
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Hammermeisters, Darren and Elizabeth, their daughter, Karis, serving in Surrey, British Columbia, just outside of Vancouver.
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Pray for them and their work. It's very difficult work that they're endeavoring to plant this church there in that area, very transient area.
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It's a, it's a, it's, the predominant language is probably not
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English, not first language. I mean, English is the predominant language, but it's not the prominent, predominant first language there.
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A lot of people come from Asia and other parts of the world to Vancouver, it's quite a melting pot, but they have a great opportunity before them, but a great challenge.
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One of the things Darren mentioned in that work is that because people come from all over the world, they, they tend to gravitate toward their own, their own ethnic group, and so therefore, they don't, they don't intermingle very well, which makes it difficult because that's what a church is supposed to do, you know, it's supposed to intermingle and become one, regardless of our ethnic backgrounds and so forth.
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So, I want to pray for that work in Surrey. Also, a couple of things regarding other missionaries,
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Scott Williquette, our missionary with the Pastoral Enrichment Program, and when his turn comes up as the
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Missionary of the Week, I often mention his work, it's, he's involved in training pastors in third world countries, areas that, where men called to the ministry do not have the opportunity of a seminary.
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Scott and another associate will go to these places and they'll be, they'll have a couple of weeks of teaching, intense teaching.
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Pastors come from all over the area, wherever they are, and they, they're there all day long for like two weeks in this intensive training.
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Right now, he is in Chad. He arrived there last week, he taught there through the course of this past week, and he said there's about 130 pastors, men in the ministry or wanting to get into the ministry who have been attending the class this past week, and they have another class, a course ahead this week.
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So, I want to pray for Scott Williquette. And then, also want to remember the Bacharachs.
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Some of you that are on Facebook and happen to be friends with Doug and Ruth Bacharach, Doug and or Ruth, would have probably received or seen a statement this week from Maranatha Baptist University that Doug and Ruth have accepted a position there at Maranatha that begins next year, next school year.
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So, Doug and Ruth will be in the Philippines through the course of this school year.
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They'll wrap things up in the spring there and then be moving to Maranatha up in Whitewater, Wisconsin, and be coming off the field.
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So, they have several months of transition here. I wanted the congregation here to be aware of that coming transition since we are supportive of the
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Bacharachs financially and in our prayers. So, pray for them. And then, we do want to pray for our shut -ins,
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I think today particularly of Bob Klein, Jerry, who cares for him.
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Bob has seen some declining in the last few weeks. He got really sick a couple of weeks ago, has not made a full recovery from that, and he's just really struggling, and Jerry, of course, caring for him.
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So, pray for that couple. Also, continue to pray for Jody Knapp, as well as Dean Kinnaman, and pray for God to be gracious to them.
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So, let's look to the Lord in prayer today, shall we? Our Father and our
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God, we are grateful to you today for your gracious work in our behalf.
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We have seen great evidence of your grace throughout the history of the church and all that you've done to preserve the truth, preserve the gospel, and see to it that the gospel goes forth to bring to faith in Christ those whom you have called to yourself.
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And we're so grateful for how you work in the hearts and lives of men, even to bring out of darkness your light that has been obscured by error.
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We praise you and thank you for that. We thank you today, Father, for those who are serving you faithfully in the proclamation of that glorious gospel of grace, and we pray today for Darren and Elizabeth Hammermeister in British Columbia.
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Pray that you would bless and prosper their labor. Father, they've been through many ups and downs in the last several years, and Father, I pray that by your grace you would draw people to that work and to the preaching of the gospel there, and through that preaching of the gospel you would bring many to faith in Christ, that a church would be established in Surrey that would outlast
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Darren and Elizabeth in their ministry, and it would be a permanent fixture in the community there until Jesus comes.
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Use them, we pray, to that end. We pray for Scott Williquitt this week as he teaches in Chad, perhaps preaching and ministering the word on this
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Lord's Day. Pray that you would use him as an associate with him. Help them to be a blessing and an encouragement and a true help to these many pastors who've come for instruction and encouragement and guidance in the work of the ministry.
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We do pray for Doug and Ruth Bacharach, and thank you for them and their faithful ministry over the years in the
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Philippines. As they face the prospect of a transition back to the States, I pray that you would encourage them.
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I pray that they would have stability in the work there, that leaving the field and coming back to the
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States, the work might carry on and might grow and prosper even as they depart.
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And I pray you would bless them in the new chapter of life that you have for them in the months and the years ahead.
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Father, we do pray for your people who are hurting today. We pray for Bob and Jerry and pray that you would give
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Bob strength and grace in this declining health, and Jerry grace as she cares for him.
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We pray for Jody, that you would encourage her and meet her needs, or give her a measure of strength and raise her up to some measure of health, we pray.
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For Dean Kinnaman, encourage him today and bless him, even in his condition, in his position, not being able to get out to services.
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Father, we pray for our nation today. We are a divided nation. We are a nation that is plunging ever deeper into darkness.
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And Father, I pray that you would bring forth a great revival. It is distressing to our hearts to read of the decline of the influence of Christianity and those who would profess to even be
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Christians of any kind. Lord, what we need are real Christians, those who truly know
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Christ. Those who have been brought by your grace to faith in him and stand justified before you.
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We need, Father, a revival in this land. We have coming up here in just a short time elections where decisions will be made regarding those who will serve us in the capacity of government officials.
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I pray that by your grace, those who are chosen would be people who would be more inclined to the truths and principles of your word, and that those who are wishing to further the culture of death and immorality, that they would be defeated and there would be a turning, mostly we pray, for a turning to Christ.
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May these dark days cause the light to shine all the more brightly, we pray.
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And, Father, we ask these things now in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. All right, we want to take our blue books, our song supplement books, and in a moment we'll sing number 58, number 58, but let me explain and introduce this song a little bit.
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This song was written in 2016, just before the 500th anniversary of the
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Reformation, the 95 Theses posting, written to reflect upon the
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Reformation and its importance and the doctrines that were brought out and emphasized during that period of time.
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Today in that Reformation Sunday, we remember what's called the five solas, the five solas.
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We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the
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Scriptures alone, for the glory of God alone. All five of those truths emphasized as a result of that period of the
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Reformation. It's a good crystallization of some important doctrinal truths. Some of that is brought out here in this hymn that we want to sing today.
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We've been learning this the last, some Sunday nights recently, and I kind of teased the
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Sunday night, those who were here on Sunday night, I said, you're going to be the choir. I said, you're going to come up in the choir loft and sing it for us so that we can learn it together, but I was just teasing.
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I'm not going to have them do that, but we're all going to, those of you who've never heard it, learn it with us today. Let's stand together as we sing.
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I think it's a simple enough tune that you'll pick it up. By the second stanza, if you've never heard it before, you can sing out good and robustly with us.
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Number 58 in your supplement. Thank you.
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You may be seated. That is a hymn that should not be reserved just for the last
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Sunday of October, I don't believe. I appreciate Liz Giza playing for us today.
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Giza's visiting with us this morning from over in the Davenport area. We're glad for her helping us out on the piano this morning.
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Would you take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter three for our scripture reading this morning. I want to read chapter three, verse 19, down to chapter four, verse eight.
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Incredibly important passage of scripture that Martin Luther came across, which compelled him to realize justification is indeed by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
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Now, Romans three, beginning in verse 19, Paul writes, now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.
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Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
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But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.
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For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
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God set forth as a propitiation by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness.
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Because in his forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
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Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works?
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No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.
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Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the
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Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
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Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law.
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What then shall we say that Abraham our father is found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
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For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
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Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
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His faith is accounted for righteousness. Let's pray. My father,
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I pray this morning that perhaps there may be someone here who has been counting on his works to get him into heaven.
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May see today that that doesn't work. The rest who have by faith come to Jesus Christ, trusting in him for their soul's salvation, encourage them and remind them today that that faith, that justifying faith, requires nothing but faith.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So when you finally come to the conclusion, or maybe I should say the unmistakable awareness that there is a holy
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God and you are not, that there is a holy God and your sin separates you from that God, He is absolutely sinless, but you are alienated from that sinless and holy
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God by your own sinfulness, when you realize that, the most pressing question at that point becomes, how do
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I get right with this God? How can I ever be justified before Him and therefore be acceptable to Him?
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How can that be? How is that possible? This question, how can
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I be right with that holy God, and the biblical answer is so important that Martin Luther wrote this.
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He declared that justification before God was, quote, the first and chief article of Christian theology.
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He had a colleague by the name of Philip Melanchthon, and he concurred. Melanchthon insisted that justification by faith alone is the most important topic of Christian teaching.
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And John Calvin noted that justification is, quote, the main hinge upon which religion turns.
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It's the article on which the church stands or falls. So it's no surprise that the five solas that I mentioned earlier summarize the
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Reformation's theological impact. Those five solas all concern justification.
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Based upon the Scripture alone, we are justified before God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to God's glory alone.
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So notice that the scriptural answer to the question, how can I ever be justified in God's sight?
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Well, the answer to that question is through faith alone. You can be justified before God by His grace alone, through faith alone, plus nothing.
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Now let's, before we go any further, let's clarify this whole matter of justification.
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In the late Middle Ages, the idea came to be held predominantly in the
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Western world at that time, that a sinner, the sinner is justified. Now you've got to be sure to catch this, okay?
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The sinner is justified before God, watch, as he has cooperated, cooperated with God's grace to a sufficient degree that he becomes righteous.
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So you get the meaning of that. You get the importance of that. That idea is that, okay,
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God is gracious enough to you to give you the opportunity to cooperate with that grace enough by your works that somehow, some way, you can cooperate sufficiently to the point that you finally become righteous.
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That's the medieval, the late medieval idea, which was eventually codified by the
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Roman Catholic Church in the Council of Trent in the mid -1500s, in 1547.
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This is what the Council of Trent says, this is Roman Catholic teaching and it stands to this day.
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It says, quote, if anyone saith that by faith alone the impious is justified, if anyone a sinner is justified by faith alone, in such a wise as to mean that, number one, nothing else is required in order to cooperate in the order of obtaining the grace of justification, and that two, it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will, let him be anathema.
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In other words, what the Roman Catholic Church has codified in its theology is that if you teach and believe that justification is by grace alone through faith alone, then you are anathema.
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The Roman Catholic Church would be fine with saying you're justified by grace through faith, but you also have to have cooperating works, cooperating efforts, and endeavors, and you have to exercise your own will in all of this to make this justification possible.
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Now, again, in Roman Catholicism, there are two important works that are related to your justification.
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One of them is baptism, baptism. Baptism is the primary instrumental cause of your justification.
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So for example, if you want to be a Catholic, if you want to be in a Roman Catholic Church, I mean, the first step, you have to be baptized into the church.
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That's how you become justified initially, initially. But of course, you sin, and you can end up committing a mortal sin.
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And if you commit a mortal sin, the church teaches, you lose that grace of justification.
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And the only way to get it back is by doing penance. Penance, then, is the secondary restorative cause of justification.
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So you initially can be justified in Roman Catholicism by being baptized. That baptism brings you into the church, it justifies you.
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But then when you lose that grace of justification, you can have that grace of justification restored as you go to the priest, you confess what your sins are, and the priest tells you, okay, this is what you need to do in order to be restored to the grace of justification.
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And he'll tell you all these different things that you need to do in penance. So that's the late medieval idea that was eventually codified in Roman Catholicism.
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What is the biblical understanding of justification? The biblical understanding is this, that the sinner, you and me, the sinner is counted righteous, having the perfect righteousness of Christ credited to your account through faith plus nothing.
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Let me say that again. The biblical understanding of justification is that the sinner is counted righteous, having the perfect righteousness of Christ credited to his account through faith plus nothing else.
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Let's talk about this matter of justification by grace alone through faith alone, and do so in a series of questions.
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The first question is this, what is the source of that justifying faith?
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How does one receive? How does one ever have justifying faith?
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You can go to Ephesians 2, 8, and 9 and get an answer to that question. In Ephesians 2, verse 8, it says, 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.
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What those two verses tell us is that God is the causal source of your faith.
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In other words, the capacity to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is not something that you drum up in yourself.
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It's not something that you become convinced of in your own mind because of some very articulate arguments or anything of that nature.
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No, the capacity to savingly believe in Jesus Christ is the gift of God.
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It is, look at the verse again, by grace you have been saved through faith, and that, speaking of the faith, that is not of yourselves.
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That whole thing is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, otherwise there would be works involved, and then you would have a reason to boast, and that would no longer be a gift.
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So God is the causal source of your faith, but God as the causal source of your faith uses an instrument, and that instrument is
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His Word. Look with me at Romans 10, if you would. Romans 10, verse 17, says that,
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Romans 10, verse 17, says that so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
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God uses His Word as the instrument to give the gift of faith to the hearer of His Word.
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Now notice in verses 14 and 15 here in Romans 10 that justifying faith does not occur in isolation from the gospel.
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So you can't just be, you know, like out in La La Land somewhere and all of a sudden God gives you the gift of justifying faith, and you therefore consequently have this gift within you, and you therefore are justified in God's sight.
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No, it is tied to, it is connected to the gospel. We see this in verses 14 and 15.
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It says, how shall, I mean, verse 13 says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
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Lord shall be saved. But then verse 14 says, how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?
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Exercised faith. And how shall they exercise faith or believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
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And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they be sent?
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As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.
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So this justifying faith that comes as a gift of God, He gives it as a gift from Himself, but He uses
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His Word as the instrumental source of that faith. He uses the gospel as the instrumental source of that faith.
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And now notice, God gives the gift of faith to some sinners as they hear the gospel preached.
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To some. So like in verse 16, first part of the verse says,
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But they have not all obeyed the gospel. They've heard, but they have not all obeyed the gospel.
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And then verse 20 goes on to say, Isaiah is very bold and he says, I was found by those who did not seek me.
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I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me. There were those who weren't necessarily seeking after God, but God in His grace brought the gospel to them.
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And in bringing the gospel to them, He brought the Word of the gospel to them.
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And utilizing that instrument of the gospel, God gave the gift of justifying faith to this sinner who had previously no real interest in it whatsoever.
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And that sinner then came to faith in Christ. The conclusion of the question is this, the question being, what is the source of justifying faith?
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The conclusion is, God is the source of justifying faith. And that, now listen, that is why, that is the reason for the fifth sola.
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That is the reason that all the glory goes to God alone.
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You and I have nothing of which to boast. He that boasts, let him boast in the
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Lord. If you have been justified by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, then give glory to God alone and don't try to take any for yourself as if you are somehow so worthy of that saving faith.
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You see this back in chapter four, verse two. If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
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No, justification is sourced in God. Well, then the next question is, what then is the nature of this justifying faith?
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What is the nature of this justifying faith? Let me suggest three answers. First of all, justifying faith is foundational.
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It is foundational. Or another word we could use is it is essential. It is absolutely essential.
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Justifying faith is foundational. You must believe in order to be saved.
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Remember what the Apostle Paul told the Philippian jailer when that earthquake came and he thought, he was, the jailer thought,
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I'm doomed and he was going to kill himself. Paul says, don't kill yourself. And then the jailer eventually asked the question, sirs, what must
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I do to be saved? What was the answer? Believe on the
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Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Justifying faith is foundational.
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You must believe in order to be saved. Let's turn back with me, if you would, to Acts and you turn to chapter 13,
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Acts chapter 13. I want to show you a couple of other things here in the book of Acts.
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But you must believe in order to be saved. You furthermore must believe in order to be forgiven, to receive the forgiveness of salvation.
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When Peter went to the Gentile Cornelius' home, remember that?
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Peter told Cornelius that whosoever believes, whoever believes in Christ Jesus will receive remission or forgiveness of sins.
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So, in this gracious gift of justification by faith alone, this justifying faith is necessary in order to be forgiven of your sins.
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Thirdly, you're in Acts chapter 13, look at verses 38 and 39.
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Acts 13 verse 38 says, Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man, speaking of Jesus, through this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins.
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And by him, everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
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So, you must believe, you must have this justifying faith in order to be justified before God, in order to be able to stand before God as acceptable and welcomed.
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You need this faith. And then we could also see, look in Acts chapter 15 at verses 8 and 9, that we need this justifying faith in order to be cleansed.
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Acts 15 verse 8, at the Jerusalem council, Peter got up and he said,
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So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them, that is the Gentiles, acknowledged them by giving them the
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Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith, by faith.
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So, what we can say about this justifying faith is that you need it.
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It's absolutely essential in order to be saved from eternal damnation. It's essential if you're going to receive the forgiveness of sins.
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You need this justifying faith if you're going to stand justified before God. You need this justifying faith in order to be cleansed of your unrighteousness.
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Justifying faith is absolutely essential. Second thing we can say about it is that it is a repentant faith.
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It is a repentant faith. We see in the book of Acts that the call to faith, the call to believe in the
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Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved is coupled with a call to repent.
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The call to faith is a call to repent. I want you to notice a few verses here in Acts, beginning of chapter 2, verse 38.
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This is that initial sermon on the day of Pentecost, and what did Peter say in conclusion to this sermon?
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He said, Repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the
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Holy Spirit. Repent, turn, turn from sin to Christ.
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Paul speaks of that repentance to the Thessalonians this way in 1 Thessalonians. He says, you have turned to God from idols.
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Repentance, turning, a change of mind that results in a change of life, a change of behavior.
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In Acts 3, verse 19, on another preaching occasion,
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Peter preaches and says, Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.
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Justifying faith is a repentant faith. Turn to chapter 11 in the book of Acts, chapter 11, verses 17 and 18.
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And Peter is defending that going to Cornelius' house and bringing the gospel to the
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Gentile, Cornelius and his household. And he says in verse 17 of chapter 11, he says,
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If therefore God gave them, that is these Gentiles, the same gifts as He gave us when we believed on the
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Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?
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When they heard these things, they became silent, and they glorified
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God, saying that God, then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.
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Now, notice he didn't say God has granted to them salvation, or God has granted to them faith to believe, but they equated the idea of repentance with this justifying faith.
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God has given to the Gentiles repentance to life. Repentant faith, it is a unit, it's two sides of the same coin.
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The call to faith is a call to repentance. And these two things, repentance and faith, are inseparable.
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You remember in the parable of the rich man, I'm sorry, the
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Pharisee, and the publican that Jesus told in Luke chapter 18.
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These two men, they went up to the temple to pray. And first, Jesus says, this is what the
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Pharisee prayed. The Pharisee prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men.
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Basically, he was saying, I thank you that I am so righteous in myself. I have done so much that justifies me in your presence.
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I give tithes of all that I possess. I don't do all the wretched stuff that sinners like this guy over there does.
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I'm not like them. And then Jesus said that the publican, who was considered to be such a vile sinner in the eyes of the
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Pharisee, the tax collector who everybody hated, the publican stood off over off to the side, and he wouldn't even so much as lift his eyes up to heaven.
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Even in his body language, he was communicating repentance. And what instead did he do?
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He just simply beat his breast and said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
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An expression of repentance, an expression of repentant faith, that he would cry out to God is the expression of faith.
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The acknowledgement that he is a sinner in needing mercy is an expression of repentance.
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God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And then Jesus asked the question, which of the two do you think went home justified?
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It was rhetorical, wasn't it? The answer is the publican. The publican.
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Are you still in the book of Acts? Look at chapter 26. The inseparability between repentance and faith is also seen in Paul's commission.
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Paul's commission. He is recounting, Paul is recounting the experience of his calling to take the gospel, not to be the apostle of the
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Gentiles, really. He's recounting that calling here in Acts 26, verses 17 and 18.
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And Paul says this, this is what I was told. The Lord told me, I will deliver you from the
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Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you. I'm sending you to the
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Gentiles, the Lord says, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
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That last whole section there, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me, is talking about the position of justification.
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And as we'll see in a little bit, some of its benefits, its results. Justifying faith is a repentant faith.
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And the third thing we can say about it is that justifying faith is exclusively directed.
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It's exclusively directed. It is not enough simply to be a person of faith.
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The critical question is, in whom or in what is your faith placed?
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Justifying faith is exclusively directed to Christ. This is why
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Paul said to the Philippian jailer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
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And that brings up our third question. What is the object of justifying faith?
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And we can answer this question generally, and we can answer it specifically.
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Generally speaking, you must believe the gospel. You must believe the gospel.
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Turn with me, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 15, and I'll join you there in just a moment. You must believe the gospel.
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The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1, verse 13, he says, in Christ you also trusted, listen, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, speaking of Christ, also having believed, you were sealed with the
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Holy Spirit of promise. But you trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.
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In Romans 10, hold on there in 1 Corinthians 15, I'll be there in a second.
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But in Romans 10, Paul writes this in verse 8, what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.
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That is the word of faith, which we preach. And then down in verses 14 and following, we've read this already.
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How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
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How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach unless they be sent? And then how beautiful it is, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things, but they have not all obeyed or had faith in the gospel.
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They have not obeyed the gospel. Now, in 1 Corinthians 15, notice verse 11,
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Paul writes, he's summarizing his first 10 verses, he says, therefore, whether it was
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I or they, so we preach and so you believed. What did he preach?
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What did he preach? Well, we've got to go back to verse 1. He says, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, which
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I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved.
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Did you get this? By this gospel, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast to the word which
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I preached to you unless you believed in vain. Now, what did I preach to you? He says, for I delivered to you, first of all, that which
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I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
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And you can go on down through verse 14 and read the fuller authentication of that resurrection, but I want you to notice in verses 12 through 14.
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He says, now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead?
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But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is dead. Christ is not risen.
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And if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching empty and your faith is also empty.
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All right, so look, here's the deal. You need to have this justifying faith needs to be centered on, it needs to have an object of that faith, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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In other words, there are people who have a great deal of respect for and say they have faith in Jesus, but deny some critical components of the doctrine of Christ, like His deity, like the reality of His death or the reality of His resurrection.
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Such persons who say, oh, I believe in Jesus, but who deny that He rose from the dead or deny that He suffered a vicarious death on the cross or deny that He is
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God in the flesh, such a person is not indeed justified in God's sight.
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You must believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the general answer to the object question.
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More specifically, though, you must believe in Jesus Christ.
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2 Timothy 3 .15, the Apostle Paul writing to his young protégé Timothy, he says, speaks of the
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Holy Scriptures. He's talking about Timothy's salvation. He says, the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
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This justifying faith must be in Christ Jesus. This is the emphasis of the
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New Testament writers. It's the emphasis of the gospel of John. You remember how
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John almost ends his gospel in chapter 20, verse 31? He says, these are written to you, the things that I've written to you in this book, these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
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Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
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The object of faith? Jesus Christ. What about Jesus Christ? That this Jesus is the
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Messiah, the promised Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures, that He is the
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Son of God, and that therefore you may have life in His name. In the beginning of his book, of his gospel,
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John writes in verse 12 of chapter 1, he says, but as many as received Him, Jesus, to them, those who believed,
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God gives the right to become the children of God to those who believe in His name.
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And, of course, you know John 3 .16. You can quote it with me. All right? You know it. Quote it with me.
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For God so loved the world. He loved the world in this way. God so loved the world that He gave
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His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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Whoever believes in Him, the Son of God. In John 6, verses 68 and 69,
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Jesus had taught some things that were hard to accept. And a lot of the people who were following Jesus because they were fascinated by the things
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He did, they were excited by some of the things He said, when they heard these things that were hard, a lot left.
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Jesus turned to His disciples and said, are you going to go too? And Peter replied and said,
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Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, He says, we have come to believe and know that You are the
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Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of the living God. And then
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John writes in chapter 11 at the resurrection of Lazarus, in chapter 11, verses 25 and 6,
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Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
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And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. The message of John's gospel is that you must believe in Jesus Christ.
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You must believe in Jesus Christ. This, furthermore, is the apostolic message.
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In Acts 13, verses 38 and 39, we already read this earlier.
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In Acts 13, verses 38 and 39, we read this.
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Let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man, Jesus, is preached the forgiveness of sins. And by Him, by Jesus, everyone who believes in Jesus is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
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In Acts 16, 31, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
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Have you gone back to the book of Romans yet? Go back to Romans chapter 3. And notice that this believing that is centered in, that is focused exclusively in Jesus Christ, is also the emphasis of the apostle
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Paul. Here in Romans 3, verses 21 through 26, we read earlier.
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But now the righteousness of God, apart from the laws revealed, being witnessed by the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
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And you see that same idea or phrase of in Jesus Christ repeated throughout this passage.
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Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
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Verse 25, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith.
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And in verse 26, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
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Paul emphasizes the fact that justifying faith is centered in Jesus Christ.
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He is the object of such faith. He communicates this very clearly in the book of Galatians.
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Galatians was written, of course, to combat a gospel, another gospel that wasn't really the gospel.
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And in chapter 2, verse 16, Paul writes this, he says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
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He says, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by faith in Christ.
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This was another one of those critical passages that sealed it for Luther, justification is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
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Paul goes on to say, we are justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law, no one is justified.
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So what do you make of this? What is the application of this, that Jesus is the exclusive object of our faith?
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It is this, you must believe and wholly depend upon who
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Jesus is, God who became man.
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You must believe and wholly depend upon who Jesus is and what
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Jesus did. What did He do? He lived a perfectly sinless life, fulfilling all the demands of God's righteous law.
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So at the moment when He gave up His spirit, He was giving up His spirit as the perfectly righteous, sinless, blameless, spotless
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Lamb of God. And that when He gave up that spirit, He died in your place as a lawbreaker.
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And He, in doing so, took upon Himself the penalty for your offenses, for your sins, and then
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He rose from the dead. And when He rose from the dead, it was a testimony to the sufficiency and the acceptance of that sacrifice on that bloody cross that was offered in your place.
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Justifying faith is centered in this Jesus, this
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Jesus, the Son of God who took your place. How is such justifying faith expressed for our fourth question?
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Back in the book of Romans, look with me at Romans 10, Romans 10, and look at verses 9 and 10.
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Paul writes, "'If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised
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Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with a heart one believes unto righteousness, and with a mouth confession is made unto salvation.'"
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How is justifying faith expressed? Notice, first of all, you must confess with your mouth, confess with your mouth.
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You confess with your mouth, literally here, Jesus is Lord. You confess with your mouth,
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Jesus is Lord. In other words, you agree with and you depend upon all that the
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Bible declares regarding Jesus' identity, His position, and His authority.
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So, the person who says, "'Well, you know, I believe Jesus is the
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Savior, and I want Him to save me. I'm going to… I trust Him to save me, but He's also the
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Lord. He's the Lord Jesus. Well, you know, I really don't want
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Him telling me what to do. You know, I don't want, like, some kind of master that I'm a slave to.'"
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You don't know Jesus. You don't know Him. You are confessing that you don't know
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Him. The person who has justifying faith in the Lord Jesus Christ says, "'Yes,
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I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died in my place, and therefore has the right to tell me what to do.
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I submit, I agree with, I depend upon His identity, His position, and His authority.'"
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Now, admittedly, when a person first comes to faith in Christ, he may not have a clue what all that entails.
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He certainly doesn't. There's where sanctification comes in. We spend the rest of our life growing in the grace and in the knowledge of the
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But one cannot begin the journey of the
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Christian life saying, I want a Jesus who saves, but I don't want a Lord who masters it over me.
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You must confess with your mouth. And secondly, this text says, you must believe in your heart.
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The last part of verse 9, "'Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.'"
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First part of verse 10, "'With the heart one believes unto righteousness.'" And what this simply means is that you agree with and you depend upon in the very depths of your being, all that Jesus did as the perfect God -man, as the substitutionary sacrifice for your sins, and the resurrected
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Lord. There can be no reservation about, well, did
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Jesus really die on the cross? Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
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No, there's no reservation. I fully believe in the depths of my heart, and I am trusting in who
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Jesus is and what Jesus did as the perfect God -man. How is this justifying faith expressed?
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There's a confession with the mouth, Jesus is Lord. There's a believing in the heart, full dependence from the depths of your being.
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But then verse 13 tells you there's also a calling upon the Lord in your helpless need. "'Whosoever calls on the name of the
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Lord shall be saved.'" Now, this does not have to be some kind of formulaic thing that is very elaborate and very detailed.
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The publican, standing afar off, wouldn't even lift his eyes up to heaven, smote his breast, "'God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'"
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And he went away justified. But there has to be that calling upon the
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Lord, and you will be saved. What then are the effects of justifying faith?
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Lastly, what are the effects of justifying faith? Romans 10 .13 says, "'Whosoever calls on the name of the
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Lord shall be saved.'" All right, what are the effects? There are four of them.
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One of them is that as a result of or the effect of justifying faith, there's a no -brainer, you are justified in God's sight.
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You are justified in God's sight. Back in Romans 3 verse 24, it says, "'You are being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.'"
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And chapter 4 verse 5, "'But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.'"
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What does that mean that you're justified in God's sight? It means that your sin, your sin that put
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Jesus on the cross, your sin is credited to the sinless
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Jesus, and that Jesus' perfect righteousness is then credited to your account.
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It's credited to you. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, "'For God made
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Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.'"
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Justification deals with this sinfulness of ours, places it on Christ, and our lack of righteousness, it deals with that by imputing
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Christ's righteousness to us. You are justified in God's sight. A second effect of justifying faith is that you are reconciled to God.
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You're reconciled to God. Look at chapter 5 verse 1 here in Romans. He says,
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Paul writes, "'Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ.'" And Paul goes on here in Romans 5 talking about how we were aliens, we were enemies of God, we were antagonistic to God, we were far off from God, but justifying faith brings reconciliation.
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We now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what he writes in verse 11.
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He says, "'Not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.'"
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And that reconciliation, it is so thorough, it is so complete, it is so embracing that God, the gracious God who gives the gift of faith so that we might believe in the
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Son and call upon Him to save us and therefore reconcile us to God and cause us to be justified in God's sight.
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This God who gives us this gift embraces us as His own children.
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He adopts us into His family. As John 1 .12 says, "'As many as received
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Him, to them He gave the right to be the children of God, even to those who believe in His name.'"
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You are reconciled to God. A third effect of justification is that you are indwelt by God, by God the
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Spirit. Galatians 3 verses 13 and 14 say this, "'Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, that we might receive the promise of the
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Spirit through faith.'" You receive the gift of the
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Holy Spirit. And then a fourth effect of justification is that you are preserved for God.
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You are preserved for God. Look here in Romans 5. We'll look at that verse in a minute.
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But remember John 3 .16, "'God loved the world in this way.
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He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'"
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The effect of justification is that you are preserved for God. We call this the perseverance of the saints.
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God keeps you saved. God preserves you for all eternity. And here in Romans 5 verses 9 and 10,
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Paul writes, "'For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having now been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.'"
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And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ, and we have received the reconciliation. How do we receive that reconciliation?
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Go back to verse 9, "'Much more than having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.'"
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We are preserved by God. Turn over to other pages in your Bible to chapter 8 and look at verses 30 and 31.
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The effect of justifying faith is eternal preservation by the God who justifies.
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Verse 30 says, "'Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called, and whom
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He called, these He also justified, and whom He justified, these
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He also glorified.'" What then shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who is against us?
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Do you get the significance of the end of verse 30? Are you glorified?
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You're right. Far from it, aren't you? Me too. Very far, very, very far from it.
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Are you justified? If you have come to faith in Jesus Christ, by God's grace, you have put your faith in Him and you are trusting in Him alone for your soul's salvation, you stand justified before God.
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You are also preserved by God so that your glorification that yet in experience is far off in the future is as settled right now as your past.
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You are glorified in God's sight. And verse 33 says, "'Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?
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It's rhetorical. No one. Why? Because it is
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God who justifies. You are preserved by God.'" Are you?
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Are you? Are you justified in God's sight today? Have you, by God's grace, come in faith alone to Jesus Christ, recognizing who
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He is and what He did for your soul's salvation?
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And have you come to that place of recognition that then called, that brought forth the expression, the call to that God to be merciful to you on behalf of Jesus Christ?
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If not, my friend, listen, call upon Him today. Call upon Him today.
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What is the promise of Scripture? Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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Well, over 500 years after the beginning of the Reformation, nothing has really changed in Rome.
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Being righteous before God is still your job. Nothing's changed in the world.
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The adherents to any religion elsewhere in the world still believe that their salvation, however they want to define it, is up to them.
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But the Bible, the Bible declares that you can be righteous before God only by faith in the person and work of Christ.
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Have you come to that place of trusting only in Him? If not, do so, do so today.
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Let's pray. Our Father and our God, I pray this morning that every justified person in this room today would be rejoicing in your grace, your grace alone that has given this wonderful gift of faith and by that faith alone in Christ alone has wrought justification.
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May we give you the glory today for that justification. Father, if there is one here this morning whose heart is burning within them right now because they know, they know they have never called upon Christ to save them.
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They've come now to believe in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for them on the cross.
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Oh Lord, I pray that by your grace they would express that faith with their mouth, they would believe in their heart, and they would call upon you to be merciful and save them.
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May they trust Christ today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Now would you take your hymnals and turn to number 328.
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328. I'm going to sing a couple stanzas of the hymn, Only Trust Him.
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And let's stand, shall we, as we sing? 328. If there's any that we can help after the service today, work through some of this that you heard,
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I'd be glad to help you as God gives us the ability. Welcome to stay for this meal.
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Hope you will, back in the fellowship hall, having a potluck meal together. We'll wait till we get back there and pray together as a unit.
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So when you get back there, just find a seat, and then we'll pray together, and then we'll be served.
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Let's pray. And now may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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In Christ's name we pray it, amen and amen. You are dismissed. As you know or may not know, this is pastor appreciation month, month of October, and I was contemplating how we were going to do this, and it sort of worked out well with this dinner today, but it's been 20 years since pastor has ministered to us in this place, and I thought it was just very appropriate to honor him this day, give
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God the glory for the many years he's ministered us in this place. How the word of God has went forth from this pulpit, and we're so thankful for that.
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I don't think we should ever, you know, trying to think of the word, you know, but thank you pastor and Chris.
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I know Chris, he slipped out like so, but I just want to appreciate pastor and all he does at this place.
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Thank you. Thank you, Dan. Appreciate it. Appreciate that. Yeah, it occurred to me, it's occurred to me a few times that, yeah, we're in our 20th year.
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We're wrapping up our 20th year, and today is that day.
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So next week begins year 21, but we really thank the Lord for his grace in bringing us here, and using us here, and blessing us with a wonderful congregation of people.
01:26:06
Some have been here through that whole time. Some have come more recently, but whatever the case, we're grateful for every one of you, and for all that you mean to us, and we look forward to many more years of ministry together, and looking forward to that.
01:26:21
May God bless us all together. So thank you. I appreciate that, Dan, and now you are dismissed.