The Roman Catholic Controversy Part 14

Well, good morning, beloved. Let's open in a word of prayer, jump into our study. Father, we do come before you thankful for the teaching of thy word, which informs us of our justification by faith in Jesus Christ.

Lord, we thank you and we approach you this morning knowing, God, that there's nothing that we can do nor add to thy perfect work of redemption, which you've accomplished in Jesus Christ through his perfect obedience, through his sufferings, through his death on the cross, by his glorious resurrection from the dead, and also,

Lord, through his intercession work as our mediator and high priest in heaven even now. We thank you,

Lord, that we can add nothing to that perfected once and for all work through the shed blood of your son,

Jesus Christ. We pray, God, that you would help us to continue to marvel in the majesty of thy grace, marvel in the majesty of the good work of salvation that you've accomplished in the hearts of your people.

And we pray, God, that you would help us to come to a greater depth of understanding and of appreciation of this marvelous doctrine of justification as we continue to examine it under the light of Scripture and also in light of the

Roman Catholic controversy. And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, beloved, we want you to come to a deeper appreciation for this glorious doctrine of justification.

We've been going through this, and this doctrine kind of comes up almost on a weekly basis when we're talking about Roman Catholicism because it really is at the basis of our major distinction between Protestant and Catholic theology is the basis of our justification, whether it be by works, faith, or a combination of such.

We want to help you continue to develop this idea, this notion of justification, so we're going to stay on chapter 10 this week and continue going through this teaching.

And I want you to turn to page about 148. Before we even go into it, is there any items or anything that you found of interest or benefit in this chapter that you'd like to share?

And we're in chapter 10 of the Roman Catholic controversy, talking about justification.

Towards the end of it, it was talking about how it's so obviously against how humans would assume that salvation was because we want to say that it can't be that easy, or that we could, you know, maybe do it, or it's just, it's so against human beings.

It says, it is contrary to the natural religious impulses of all human beings to be so bereft of reasons for boasting, you know, and it just doesn't make sense to you.

That's right. That's right. You know, I was talking, I think I've mentioned this before, but I was talking to a

Roman Catholic several weeks ago now, back in July, and he's a friend, actually. I went to his,

I think maybe it's his niece's quinceanera yesterday, and very, very nice guy.

Oh man, just such a sweet guy. Grew up Roman Catholic, but I actually think he's an atheist.

He, and I only know this because someone else who's close to him told me, hey, he's actually an atheist.

He's, he just does the church stuff because he thinks it's good, and he thinks like it's helpful, but he doesn't really believe in God.

And what's interesting of this individual is that he, talking about faith and works and stuff, and he really relies on his works for everything, and he'll bring up instances where he'll ask me the question, well, which one is more just?

The person who at his, who's lived a terrible life and has bedside, you know, makes a, you know, deathbed confession and then goes to heaven, or the person who lived a good moral life his whole life and then ends up in hell?

Like how, how could that be just, right? And what an appropriate discussion when we're talking about justification, okay?

Which is just? And I try to tell him, well, you know, the Bible says, and as soon as I say that, he's, no, no, no, no, what do you say?

I say, well, I'm going to say what the Bible says, and again, and it becomes a question of authority.

Okay, well, what's your, what authority you're appealing to? Because our experiences are subjective, right?

If you're going to ask me what I think, well, again, I base what I think on God's Word, the Bible.

That's the basis of my authority. Where do you get your authority from? And again, everyone has an intrinsic sense of right and wrong.

Everyone has an intrinsic sense of authority within oneself, which is the error and sin of Israel in the

Old Testament. You remember the times of judges before, before, you know, the kings.

What was the sin of Israel was that everyone began to do what was right in their own eyes, okay?

That was their sin. Everyone began to do what was right in their own eyes, and God's law was put to the wayside.

And so, this is the world that we're living in today. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

Another word for it, more modern term for it, would be modern, post -modernism or moral relativism, okay?

Where everyone does what's right in their own eyes. That's literally moral relativism or post -modernism, in which we are unfortunately in right now.

And so, when it comes to the issue of justification, so many individuals want to feel and feel that they have to contribute in some way, shape, or form because it is intrinsic in man to work.

And that's a good thing, actually. In the Garden, God created Adam and Eve, and He put an intrinsic desire for work.

If you've ever been unemployed, you kind of know that feeling where, at first, the first week is great because you get to sleep in.

Second week, you get a little bit antsy. You start worrying more and more, and you get this overwhelming feeling of you need to do something, and it becomes overwhelming.

You have an intrinsic desire, and you were created for work. It's good.

It's part of the created order. Now, where work becomes bad is when we think that we can work for God's approval, or we can work for God's blessing, or we can work for salvation.

And why that shift? Why are works good in one sense, but then bad once it gets on that end of the spectrum?

Why does it become bad? Because work is good according to creation, right?

The creation mandate. That's a huge one, right?

Because when you work for something, what do you feel? You feel like, proud. I did this.

I accomplished this, right? And there are a few things in which we cannot take ownership or pride over.

One is creation itself. We can only take pride in so much as we contain it, not so much as we have added to it.

We didn't create. God created all things, which is why ultimately He gets all the glory as the Creator. And the

Lord also gets all the glory in all things of life, but in particular in creation and in salvation, because these are things that He has exclusively done.

You know, God is so jealous over His works that He says in Isaiah 44, verse 24, He says,

I am Yahweh. That is My name. And I created the heavens and the earth. I stretched them out with My own hands.

And He asked the question, who was with Me? Okay? And so He's saying, I'm the

Creator. And this is in contrast to the false gods that the Israelites were flirting with at the time. And He says, I made the heavens and the earth.

I stretched out the earth and the heavens. I did it by Myself. Who was with Me? You know,

He says elsewhere in Isaiah 42a, He says, I am Jehovah. That is My name. And I will not give My glory.

I will not share My glory with another, nor My praise with graven images. And so this is how jealous

God is over creation, the fact that He made everything. But He's also jealous over salvation, because He alone accomplishes it.

He alone does it. No one else can add, contribute to those things.

And so God is jealous over these things. And this is a godly jealousy. You know, we tend to think as jealous, especially in today's world, we think of jealousy as something that's bad, right?

So if you're jealous, you're toxic, right? Don't you want your husband or wife to be jealous over you?

It means that they care, that they love you, that they desire you, that they want an exclusivity with you. And God is jealous in that same way.

God desires exclusivity in His devotion, in His worship, in His praise. And so this is a good thing.

So God is jealous over creation. He's jealous over His name. He's jealous over salvation, because He alone accomplishes it.

And He alone is exclusive in being able to do it and accomplish it. So it is a good thing that God is jealous over these things.

In the same way then, we have to understand that when we talk about justification and works,

God gets all the glory because He alone accomplishes it. You have nothing to add to it other than being a grateful recipient.

Just like you are a grateful recipient of creation, God puts you on this beautiful earth, and He's given you now a creation mandate.

So also when we are born again, we receive this spiritual new life, and now there's a spiritual mandate to a life of gospel obedience.

But it's not the root of salvation. So you didn't earn it, but by God's grace, you can continue to receive the blessings and benefits of it.

Any questions so far? Any thoughts or comments? That's right.

That's right. Let's look at the, again, in page 148 in the

Roman Catholic Controversy, in this subheading of works and faith. It quotes Galatians 2 .16.

I want to read that verse. It says, Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, since by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified.

And so here you have a clear contrast, clear statement between justification by works and justification by faith.

Now, what are some of the things that maybe Roman Catholics, Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses would say in rebuttal to this text of Scripture?

Correct. Correct. So they say, that's absolutely right. So a Jehovah's Witness, a

Catholic, a Mormon would say, well, that's talking exclusively about the Mosaic law.

They'll look at a Scripture maybe like in Galatians. This is Galatians chapter 2. They'll probably look at Galatians chapter 6, and there's a statement there about the law of Christ.

And so say, well, the Mosaic law is what's being tossed out, but we still have to follow the law of Christ in order to have a share of that justification.

And then they'll likely point to another Scripture. Do you know what Scripture they'll likely point to? Come on, guys, it's an easy one.

James what? James chapter 2. Let's go there for a moment. Now, let's do some apologetics here, starting in verse 22.

Actually, let's start in verse 21. James chapter 2, verse 21, was not

Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son

Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works, and the

Scripture was fulfilled. That says Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness, and he was called a friend of God.

This is almost in clear contrast to what Paul says in Romans chapter 4, where in Romans chapter 4,

Paul's making the other side of the argument, quoting the same text of Scripture in regard to Abraham, where Abraham believed and it was counted to him as righteousness.

And in Paul's argument, Paul's saying, no, it was by faith by which he was counted as righteous.

James is saying, well, no, it was faith along with works, which almost seems to be contradictory.

So much so that, as you probably know famously, you know, Martin Luther, you know, wanted to throw out the book of James because it seemed to contradict the doctrine of justification by faith.

So where's the harmony here between what Paul says and what

James is saying? Is there a clear contradiction? Let's read a little bit more. Verse 24 of James 2, you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Wait a second, wait a second. Don't we believe in, you know, faith alone? Isn't that one of the mantras of our faith, by faith alone?

And James here is saying not by faith alone. That's a pretty scary statement. It seems flat out contradictory to what our creed is.

And so, okay, verse 25, in the same way, was not also Rahab the prophet justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way?

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

How do we harmonize these two things? Oh man, this is a silent bunch of Baptists right now trying to figure this out.

Let's just stop for a real quick second. Let's acknowledge that this is kind of hard. It's not so easy.

I mean, you've got some statements here that really need some exegesis and really need some harmonization here.

So, all right brother, give it your shot. Yeah, you know what's interesting is that James and Paul are probably writing around the same time.

People don't realize this. They are writing probably exactly the same time.

So, Galatians written around 49 AD. This was written probably around that same time.

And so, this conversation was very fluid in the early life of the church. But a little difference is that James is more of a pastor than Paul.

Paul is more of a missionary church planner. He's going all over the place. James was more so in the local church in Jerusalem.

And there's a difference between someone who's a missionary and someone who's a pastor.

Let me just give you some insight as a pastor. James is one of the best pastoral books because it expresses the heart of every pastor for his congregation.

And it starts really in chapter one. I want you to look at verse 22 in chapter one. And this is really the heart of every pastor for his congregation.

Be doers of the word and not hearers only. So, now we begin to see the heart of what he's going to be later saying in chapter two.

Okay. So, he says, don't just be hearers of the word. Church is filled with hearers. People, the whole structure, the way we even do church is conducive for hearing, not always doing.

And so, we have a building. We have pews. You sit down and you listen. Okay. That's good.

We need to listen for instruction. But church is not always conducive for doing because you hear, but are you actually doing?

Right? And James gets this. And James is talking to an audience of hearers, people who he knows are hearing

God's word, but they're not always doing it. Right? So, he says, be doers of the word and not only hearers, deceiving yourselves.

So, if you only hear the word, but you don't do the word, you're actually deceiving yourself. Man, like pastors, like we love this text because it expresses the truth and the reality of preaching.

Preaching isn't only just for your edification so you feel good, you walk out the doors, but so that you put it into practice.

And that's what James is saying here. You have to not just hear God's word, you have to put it into practice.

And so, that's the heart behind chapter two. Okay? So, I want you to keep this in mind.

This is the heartbeat behind this chapter two. Then he goes off to list the sin of partiality.

He says, listen, some of you guys are not getting what church is about. Some of you guys are acting towards favoritism, towards the rich.

You know, you're putting aside the poor. You're not really getting what it means to be a Christian. You're not really getting what it means to follow

Christ. And then he begins to say, listen, in verse 14 of chapter two, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works?

Can that faith save him? Then he begins to give us a kind of a laundry list of examples of where I think he's literally saying where the church is falling short.

So, he's talking about his particular church in general here. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warm and filled without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

So, again, James is like, he's a good pastor. Like, he gets it. Like, listen, there's needs in the church.

There's needs among God's people. And you're not fulfilling those obligations. Like, what good is it to say to that person, hey, be warm, be filled, you know, hope you have a great day.

And then you don't help them in their daily needs, in their daily walk. Like, you're missing the point of Christianity here.

It's not just about saying. It's not just hearing. It's also about doing. Okay. So, at the heart of what

James is getting at is saying, listen, ultimately, don't just be hearers, but you have to be doers. Because by being a doer, you're demonstrating that that faith is authentic.

You're demonstrating that that faith is real. You're demonstrating that you're actually one who is justified by faith.

And this is where we begin, okay, having the discussion of faith and works. What Paul is not saying,

I mean, what James is not saying is that he's not pitting faith and works, you know, against each other in this way, theologically, in which we would think of it today as we look at theological debates between Catholics and Protestants or Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and Protestants.

He's really coming at it from a pastoral perspective. He's looking at real -life issues in the church, and he's saying, listen, what good is it if you say you have faith, but you're not doing what faith requires, right?

So, ultimately, what he's pointing to is the authenticity of faith. How do we know that faith is authentic?

Because anyone can say they have faith, which is what he goes on to say, even the demons believe. The demons believe, okay, they have a level of faith, yet they're hell -bound, yet they are bound to destruction.

What sets apart true saving faith is a life of doing the

Word, not just hearing it. That's what sets a person apart, is someone who has a life of obedience.

Not that that obedience wins them salvation, but rather it is a demonstration, which is why he would go on to say in verse 24 or in verse 22, see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his work, which is to say that the works were a demonstration of that person's authentic faith.

What good is it to say to your partner, I love you, but then you do things contrary to such, right?

Are you demonstrating love? You can say you love the person, but are you demonstrating love for that person? In the same way that we would in the church today, if someone has a real need, what good is it to say, okay, be blessed, be well, but then if there's something that I can do to help you, and I don't do that, that I'm failing in my walk,

I'm demonstrating that, maybe I don't actually care for you the way that my words just communicated, right?

And so this is at the heart of what James is getting at. He says your talk and your walk should match.

That's simply put. This is simply what this is pointing to, okay? You know,

I think we maybe overanalyze this theologically, and we are making it bigger than it needs to be in that sense.

This is really a pastor's heart towards his people. And so, and as a pastor,

I read this and I totally get it. Like, I don't see the conflict whatsoever. Like, I totally get it. And so hopefully now you begin to see that as well.

Does that kind of satisfy some of the tension here? Again, so a Christian, you know, a duck naturally quacks, a dog naturally barks, a

Christian naturally does good works. It's the overflow of his salvation and his justifications. That's right.

Absolutely. So even though... Yeah, that's right.

You know, I think about this often. I'm always trying to rehearse. What am I going to say when I meet

Jehovah? You know, when I stand before that great and terrible throne. And really is, as nothing to the altar

I bring, only to the cross I cling. You know, I bring nothing. I'm destitute.

I'm a sinner. I'm naked before you. You see me for all that I am and all that I've done. And yet the only thing that I can cling to on that great day is the cross of Jesus.

Right? That's my only crying plea is the blood of Jesus. And so, man, that's deep stuff when you think about it.

Any thoughts or questions so far on this? Yes. That's right.

Correct. There's actually like four meanings to the word justified, but yeah.

Yeah. Can someone explain it?

Okay. So there's actually about four ways we can understand justification according to the original

Greek word. And so justification is primarily a legal term. Right?

So it's primarily connotates, you know, kind of you're in a court, you've been justified, which means that you've been proven in a court of law to have not committed a crime or to be in right standing with the court.

Right? So there's that just straight legal definition. There's also a more colloquial term that it can be understood as more so as works.

You know, I am, we use it today as well. Right? So you hear a police officer, maybe he has to pull a trigger on someone.

He'll say, I was justified in my actions because I was in danger.

I was justified. It means I was proven correct in taking the action that I did, taking, doing the work that I did.

Right. So that's one way of understanding it is, is, is taking, you know, kind of personal accountability.

And in the Greek, there's two, there's two other ways you can kind of understand justification as well. I think those are the two primary ones.

And so when we look at how James is using this, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm almost certain that he's using it in terms of saying this is, this is a demonstration of my, of my faith.

And so I'm justified not by faith alone. I'm justified in, in, in my actions, demonstrating my faith.

Right. Yeah. Well, are you asking how does a

Roman Catholic view this term? Correct.

Correct. This should demonstrate. And, and, and it's like, and I think that's how it's being used here is that this is a demonstration.

You had your hand up. Yes. Yeah. Demonstration.

It's like, okay. I mean, he, he used the term here in the Greek, actually. Let me see where I'm not sure where I have to bring up my, my

Emmanuel's not here, so I can't ask him to pull up his Greek lexicon. Correct.

Correct. Right. Yeah. The words show that this person is righteous.

Correct. Paul uses a different way where he's saying the faith makes the person righteous.

Right. It actually changes their standing. That's right. No, it would be the same.

It's the same word. It's the same word. But, you know, there, there,

I, I, and I'm, I'm pretty sure somewhere in here, I think the Greek term, it's not, it's not reflective here in the English translation, but is,

I think one of the phrases here is prove to be righteous, or demonstrate to be righteous. And so, by works.

And so there, again, it's a demonstration. So my works are a demonstration of the declarative act of God upon my life of being made righteous, right?

And so, yeah, that would help with that. Is that gonna get to the heart of your question, or where, okay.

Anyone else have any thoughts or questions? And so this is pretty important stuff here as we look at it.

And again, we're kind of examining works and faith here.

I wanna, if you can, turn to page 149 in your book, if you have it. And he quotes from Romans chapter three at the bottom.

And I'm gonna read that text for us, and it says, but now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.

For there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed.

So here Paul asserts that we are justified freely by grace here in Romans chapter three, and again in Titus three.

Is Paul contradicting himself by saying that we are justified by grace, that we are justified by grace, and that we are justified by faith?

Is there a contradiction there? Because he says in one breath, we are justified by grace, and in another one, we're justified by faith.

So which one is it? Correct. And this is where the heart of it is, right?

So we believe that faith is not a possession of all men according to the scriptures. Faith is also a gift that is imparted upon the elect person, right?

So faith is not a possession of every person, okay? And Romans chapter three makes that pretty clear, right?

There is none righteous, no, not even one. There's no one who seeks for God. You know, the world's belief is that, well, people are all seekers, we're all seeking.

No, the Bible does not teach that. The Bible does not teach that men are seekers. Rather, we are seekers, but we're seekers for our own pleasure.

We're seekers of our own gods made in our own images, but we're not seekers of the one true God, Yahweh. Rather, you know, as theologians have long put it, we long after the idols of our hearts.

That's what we long for, that's what we seek after. But that is true.

Faith and grace are gifts imparted to the elect. Does that make sense?

So. So. Now, what's interesting is that he'll go on to, in the paragraph here in page 150, he says, for salvation to be of grace, it cannot possibly be of works.

Can't possibly. So here we have to, a strong, we have to make some strong definitions here.

Because as Paul says in Romans 11, six, anyone know what Romans 11, six says?

If you're reformed and if you believed, you know, in the doctrines of grace, you have to memorize this text.

And it's a really short text. Let's go there. Romans 11. This is probably one of the best verses you can use with Roman Catholics or with Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons.

This is probably like, this is, man, this is like the sniper shot to the heart.

In terms of this issue. And it's so short and it's so sweet. Romans 11, six.

But if it is by grace, and this is actually in the context of election and salvation.

If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.

Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace. Okay? So here we have some strong definitions.

Okay, grace, undeserved, unmerited favor. If you can merit it in any way, shape, or form, it cancels it out.

It's no longer grace, it's something else. So when the scripture says that justification, the act of being declared righteous, is by faith and grace, then it can't possibly be of anything else.

Because then it would cancel it out. If it's by works. So again, if it is by grace, it's no longer in the basis of works.

There's no basis of works by which you can be justified. Otherwise, grace will no longer be grace.

So grace is always unmerited? Always unmerited. That's literally the definition, right? So it's kind of like how, you know, in our church, how we view baptism.

So you have the word, and the word has a definition. So words have definitions, therefore words matter.

Okay? So anything that has a definition matters. So if baptism is defined literally as the baptism of being dunked, then anything that isn't that, isn't baptism.

Okay? In the same way that if it's anything that is merited versus unmerited, then it's something different, right?

Grace is unmerited favor. If you can merit it by some way, shape, or form, then it's no longer grace. We're talking about something totally different now.

Right? So you can't divorce the meaning of the word from the theological importance that is displayed in scripture.

And that's simply, that's just simply put. Anyone have any thoughts or questions so far? Yes, sir.

Yeah, and just to say, it's not gonna work out as well.

That's right. You know, and again, when we understand that James is a contemporary of Paul, and that Paul and James probably wrote

Galatians and James around the same time, Ephesians comes after Galatians.

Galatians is probably like the first letter by Paul. And Ephesians comes after the fact.

And I think Paul probably, knowing some of the controversy between James' statement,

I think he then comes up with this famous text of scripture in Ephesians chapter two, verse eight through 10, which says, for by grace you've been saved through faith.

And that is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, and the result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his worksmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. That's the key, right?

And this is how James and Paul don't contradict each other, okay, they are adding to one another.

It says, we are saved for good works, not by good works. Very important distinction.

Which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them, okay? So we are saved for good works, not by good works.

Big difference, right? And that's exactly what James is saying, is that you are saved for good works.

So if you say you have faith, but you don't demonstrate it, are you actually saved, right? Are you actually justified?

Have you been declared righteous by the creator, okay? And so, again, there's no contradiction between Paul and James.

This is just, again, part of the marvelous outworking of salvation, and the consistency of scripture is clearly shown here.

And when you kinda know these little smaller details about the timeline of the writing of these letters, it becomes all the more clear.

So, any questions on that so far? So it's clear, salvation is a gift of God, not just the bare plan of God, or even just the bare grace of God that prompts us to move toward God.

But all of salvation's of God. It's like the Roman Catholic would say, well, this is just the initial phase. And I don't disagree that there's phases to salvation.

So the Roman Catholic will really hone in on that concept, and they'll say that salvation is a process, and I don't disagree with that whatsoever.

I just disagree with them what the process is, right? And so, the Christian understanding of the process of salvation is really, it's quite simple.

It starts with justification, sanctification, future glorification, right?

That's what the scripture gives us as the process of salvation, which is why Paul can write to the

Corinthians saying you are saved and being saved, right? So there's a process. You are saved. You've been declared righteous.

Now there's the outworking of that salvation that Christ is accomplishing in you that's leading you to a perfect image of Christ, where you ultimately receive that perfect image completely at your glorification, where it says, for we shall be like him, right?

So we shall see him as he is, and we shall be like him. Yeah. But it's a one -time event, or is that justification?

Well, so again, it's both. You are saved at one point in time. Matter of fact, actually, you know, so we all have a birthday.

We all have a spiritual birthday. But where does salvation actually start?

That's right, in eternity past. Ephesians 1. He chose us before the foundation of the world that we should be blameless and walk blamelessly in his sight.

So that starts in eternity past. So in eternity past, God had already chosen his elect, chosen his people for salvation, had appointed

Christ as the redeemer of the world, the heir of all things, and then the outworking of that is what we see in history, in biblical history, and then what we see is, of course, that personally applied to us in real time and space when we experience it ourselves.

And so we were saved in eternity past, really. Okay, that's where it starts. It's obviously then happens in real space and time in the redemptive work of Christ, and then also when it's personally applied to us upon a belief.

And so you are saved, and you're being saved. So that's the biblical, you know, word on that.

You were saved in one point in time, really started in eternity past, but then you experienced it at a moment in time, and it will carry you into eternity when you will eventually be glorified and raised from the dead and be like him.

So pretty cool stuff. Salvation is eschatological.

You know, it starts in the past, there's a present aspect to it, and there's a future aspect to it.

And that's the beauty of it all. Any other thoughts or questions so far?

Good stuff, good stuff here. I wanna also point out the fact that this issue of sola fide, right?

So sola fide, you know, we believe in, what does that mean, sola fide?

What's that? Faith alone, right? Sola fide, very simple concept. And again, we looked at James, where it says not by sola fide.

So it's like, oh man, how do we harmonize that? So I think we've done a good job harmonizing that and looking at what the scripture says.

You know, not pitting James against Paul, but looking at James as the pastor that he is and looking at the issues at hand, which led him to make that statement in the first place.

And then seeing how Paul comes into the picture and says, okay, now let me make a declarative theological statement.

We're not saved by works. We're saved by grace through faith, but we're saved for good works, right?

So it's showing what we're saved for onto, not by. We're saved by faith and grace in Jesus Christ.

And so justification, again, is by faith alone so that it can be by grace alone.

That's the gospel. So this is really, again, this comes to the heart of the gospel. And it comes to the heart of this issue.

And so what's the basis for our justification? Like, what's the basis of it all?

Every, you know, so if you're in a court and the judge is looking at the evidence, what would be the basis for making you justified or for sending you to hell?

Yes, sir. Now, look at what the statement here in page 152 says.

It says, one of the fundamental differences between the Roman Catholic doctrine, the Protestant doctrine, is simply this.

The righteousness by which we stand before God, according to the Protestant, is the righteousness of Jesus Christ alone.

Okay, that's important, alone. Even within Roman Catholicism and just faith and practice, do you appeal to Jesus Christ alone?

No. Who do you appeal to? Appeal to priests, saints,

Mary, angels. You ever go to a bodega in the hood?

And, yeah, you ever go to a bodega in the hood and there's a little section there of candles and it's all these

Catholic saints, angels, Saint Michael, you know, Saint Jude. They got all these and they got prayers in the back and all these different prayers, right?

And it's because they appeal to them for mercy, for grace, for power, for help, for justification, for right standing.

All these others that they add. But for the Christian, it's

Jesus. It's Jesus alone. Yes, sir. Yeah.

I, that's a great question. I've never been, you know, I'm not, I did chaplaincy work at a hospital in Door County.

And so you have the, you know, you have the Roman Catholic chaplain and then you've got, like, kind of a Protestant chaplain and then you have, like, a universalist chaplain.

That's for, like, everything, for all the pagans. But the, you know, you're actually, like, not allowed in when he's performing that because it's like a, you have to be, like, a member of the church.

And so I've never observed a last rite. Like, I've never been there. And so I don't know exactly what they say or appeal to that.

That's a great question. I'm gonna have to look, I wanna look into that. Yeah. Certainly, I mean, you know, just by virtue of that ceremony, they're appealing to an authority other than Christ, right?

Because it's not, that's not mandated by Christ. There's no mandate to do such thing.

And it's usually, I'm pretty sure, the impartation of the elements of communion is usually given. And so, again, they want that person to, very clearly, very plainly, what they're appealing to is works, right?

Let me get this last rite, let me get this last act of obedience in. You know, it's very similar to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

You know, Jehovah's Witnesses are notorious for refusing blood transfusions, right?

So my older brother, when he was born, shortly after his birth, he had a brain aneurysm.

And this was back in the 80s, and he required a blood transfusion to save his life. My parents, being

Jehovah's Witnesses, said, no, we won't do that medical procedure. The state of Connecticut actually took away custody of my brother from my parents in order to force that procedure on the newborn, my brother, so that he could live.

Had the state not done that, my brother would have died. And the reason for his death would have been because of this doctrine of refusing blood transfusions.

Now, the way Jehovah's Witnesses views this is this is likely an end of life, you know, it's life or death.

And if I can demonstrate obedience at this last stage, at this end point,

I'm almost all but guaranteed paradise. And so they see this almost as a ticket to paradise.

And so if I just, even if I was a bad Jehovah's Witness, if I'm obedient in this aspect, and I give my life for the cause,

I'm all but guaranteed paradise. And it's very, every workspace religion has a version of this.

And so the Roman Catholic version would be like the last rites, you know? This is my last act of obedience, this is gonna guarantee me a spot in heaven.

And it's all works, it's all works. So, anyone's got a question?

Oh, there it is. Also. Yeah, I mean, you know, again, like I'm not the biggest fan of the sinner's prayer, but I think there is a fundamental difference between one who confesses what seems to be a genuine, devout confession of faith versus someone who is just merely, you know, yeah.

So for instance, can that be like an act of works? Absolutely, you know, if the pastor says, hey, just raise your hand.

If you just raise your hand, this will get you to heaven. Like, who wouldn't do it, right? Who wouldn't just raise their hand?

Who wouldn't just walk down? It was that easy? Man, everyone would do it. You know, which is why probably

Billy Graham had so much success as he did. It's because, you know, he made it really easy. It was really the beginning of easy believism.

But it's all about how the invitation is made, because I really believe there needs, that the preacher has an obligation to push to a point of decision, right?

So here's the information. Here's what God's word says. What are you gonna do with it, right? So it certainly can be that, but I don't think it necessarily has to be that.

I don't see it completely as equals, if that makes sense. Okay, so, all right.

We're almost done here with this chapter, guys. The basis for justification, as Brother Kyrie said earlier, it's

Jesus. Jesus is the one who, according to 2

Corinthians chapter five, it says, he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Right? So the basis of our righteousness, of our justification, is Jesus. He who knew no sin, which means that he never committed sin.

He was righteous in every way, yet on our behalf, as our substitutionary atonement, as the one who paid the propitiation of our sins by taking upon himself the wrath of God, he became sin on our behalf.

Substitutionary atonement right here. Substitutionary atonement. So that we might become the righteousness of God.

So what happens in the doctrine of substitutionary atonement is this. My sin, our sin, the collective sin of the elect, placed upon the shoulders of Christ.

And Christ fully takes upon himself the burden and the consequence of that sin through his sufferings on the cross and through his alienation with the

Father. Now this alienation of the Father isn't quite as extreme as some other groups would put it, but that's a whole other discussion for another day.

But rather, in Christ, there is a true payment for that sin, for the consequences of our sin.

And then what happens is that what's applied to us is the perfect work and obedience of Christ.

It's a perfect switch and transfer. It's a legal transfer, which is why

God is able to declare us righteous, not because we are righteous intrinsically, but rather, we've now received the righteousness, the merit of another.

It's been perfectly transferred. It is literally almost like a blood transfusion, right? And so in order for your life to be sustained, you must take the life.

Now the Bible says in Leviticus 17 .10 that the life is in the blood, which is why Jehovah's Witnesses oppose to blood transfusion, because they don't believe it to be right to be sustained upon the blood of another.

Yet that's kind of the story of the gospel is that you will literally be sustained, saved by the blood of another. And Jesus is the ultimate blood donor in that sense.

And so you are literally being sustained spiritually through the lifeblood of Jesus.

And so it is that perfect transfer, and that's the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. And so that can't be divorced from our concept of justification.

Those things come hand in hand. They're intrinsically intertwined. And so Catholics would deny the full breath and power of substitutionary atonement, which is, again, where all the works and rites and rituals come in, because they have to add to that work so that on the cross,

Jesus didn't really mean it when he says it is finished, because what do they do every

Sunday in the Eucharist? Right, they bring

Jesus up to the altar, and they're hoisting him up in the elements, and they're saying, you know, we're crucifying him all over again, and now let's partake of his blood, let's partake of his body.

And so the once and for all finished work of Christ is just constantly denied every single

Sunday, every Lord's Day, in this mockery of the Eucharist, in this mockery of the rituals and rites of Rome.

And this is why, and honestly, guys, you have to understand this, it's an offense to God. Rome is truly an offense to God.

This is not just mere theological quarrels between equals, between brothers in Christ.

We're talking about a religious establishment that is offending God in every corner.

So this is not just a mere small differences between quarreling denominations.

This is fundamentally something else. Roman Catholicism is fundamentally something other than authentic, genuine

Christianity. So, especially today, where we just wanna make it all nice, and we're all kind of equals.

No, this is truly, one of the reasons why we're going through this book is to highlight that what

Rome is teaching is damnable heresy, and it's an affront, an offense to the true

God and to the true gospel. And so, we need to make sure that's clear. Oh, yeah.

I had to look more into that, because I'm like, what's going on in that video? I know that video that he's talking about has kind of gone viral.

It's probably like in South America or in Europe somewhere. And they're having this huge ritual, and they have the

Statue of Mary, and everything is so adorned. And you have this guy randomly just running full speed to the altar with his kid on his shoulder.

And he lunges the kid on top of the idol, on top of the statue, and he just walks away.

And I was like, what is going on here? And actually, what I found out as I dug a little bit deeper is that it's very customary, because of the false doctrines of Rome, for when these rites and rituals are being done, for you to bring small children to touch the altar, touch the idol, because then the superstition is that that person, that saint, will now be with that child for the whole life, for the rest of their life.

And so you can see how the superstitious false doctrines of Rome lead to some really weird things and really just damnable beliefs.

And so, yeah, pretty wild stuff. Let's quickly go through one last thing here.

And it's, what does impute or reckon mean? What were the differences between impute or reckon that was highlighted here in this chapter of the book?

And, that's right. Yeah, let's look at how

Scripture uses this term a couple of different ways. Like Leviticus 17 forward says that the blood guiltiness is to be reckoned to that man.

And he says here, surely this guilt is not infused into the man, but he is legally declared guilty of blood.

So it's not infused in that it's now part of his very being rather than, this is a legal term, to impute or to reckon is a legal term, which is that you're now being held responsible with the effect of that, right?

Sure, it's an effect, it's an outward thing. And so are you imputed or reckoned the righteousness of Christ?

No, is it? But here's where it gets interesting, right?

We have some of these scriptures that are listed here. And what comes to mind is that it's very similar.

There's certainly a connection. You are imputed and reckoned. But there's a difference in that one is more in line with kind of an, almost like a, there's a difference between the outside and the inside.

If you went for a flu shot and they just squirted you with the antidote, it's a little bit different.

You're covered in it, but it didn't really go inside you. It's not having its true effect. Versus if it's injected in you, it's infused versus just reckoned, there is a difference.

One is more outward, one is more intrinsically inward. There is a little bit of a difference.

No. Infused and reckoned are two different. That's kind of what he's bringing up here in this.

Or impute, impute and reckon are different. Impute and reckon are a bit different.

But again, it's so correlated, it's so connected. Again, we're running out of time, folks.

Sorry if I can't get to all of this real quick. I just want to make sure we get to the end of this chapter so that we could move on to chapter 11 next week, which is really interesting.

It's gonna be on the mass. What was Luther's dunghill? Luther is just a funny guy.

What was the dunghill? It was no longer seen, but is there still dung underneath the snow?

Yeah. And so, you can wrap it up as nicely as you want, as pretty as you can, but dung is still dung.

Man, he's just a funny guy. When you read some of the things that he says, he's kind of vulgar as well. He's just an old school, you can tell he was a

German priest. I once spoke to a, actually,

I spoke to a German priest once. It was a German priest who was over the church in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

And me and my friends went out there to his church to kind of evangelize the Roman Catholics there. And they had just done a class on, what's the classes that they do again for catechism?

Yeah, they have like a catechism class. And I kid you not, we were trying to have honest discussions with the priest and with other people there.

And he was just incredulous. He just couldn't believe people were like, that we were doing what we were doing. He's like, listen,

I'm not gonna, for the sake of the children, I won't say exactly what he says, but he says, you can't BS a BSer. And I just didn't know what to say to that.

I'm like, what are you, what mission are you making here? Like, man, this is kind of wild.

But man, it was just interesting. But these are kind of vile people. And Luther was kind of vile himself in a lot of ways.

When you read some of the things that he said, he's just kind of wild. It's almost like, he reminds me of like a drunken

German who's just ranting sometimes. But he sure is entertaining. And I think he has obviously the right heart in these matters.

And so yeah, Luther's dunghill is a great, great interest here.

And so at the end of it, let's just ask this final question. Does it really matter, these distinctions between justification by works and the

Roman Catholic concept and the Protestant concept of justification by faith? Does it actually matter?

Why, what's at stake here? That's right.

That's right. John? There's four

Gs that I want you to keep in mind that are at stake here. Gospel, grace,

God, and his glory. Those are the things that are at stake here. Can it get more all encompassing than that?

No, I mean, that's what it comes down to is everything. It really comes down to that. And so there are no higher biblical concepts in the four that I just laid out.

So that's what's at stake here. It's God's gospel, it's God's glory, it's

God's grace, and it's God's person. That's what's at stake here. And so that's the difference. And so this is of utmost theological importance and difference and distinction that we should all consider and remember to hold on to.

And so if such things are at play and at risk here, then we need to do the best that we can to be well equipped to refute those gently who hold to such views and point them to the true gospel of grace, of God, and his glory.

So with that said, let me pray. Father in heaven, we thank you that you are a good

God. We thank you, Lord, that your grace has been displayed to us through the once and for all sacrifice of your son,

Jesus, by which now we can be declared righteous, justified by faith, by grace, in this world that is so broken and fallen.

Father, help us to realize that there is nothing that we can add, nothing that we can bring. We are but naked, sinful creatures before thy sight.

And Lord, we cling only to the cross of Christ. And so Lord, I pray that you would help us destitute naked sinners, marvel in this glorious mystery of justification, how we are now declared righteous, not by anything that we've done, but all that he has done, all that God has done and accomplished in Jesus Christ.

So Father, help us to continue to marvel in this truth, to love it, to observe it. And Lord, to teach it to others, so they too may come to know that salvation is of the