May 22, 2026 Show with Mark Hamilton on “Justification: The Core Issue Separating True Christians from False”

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer

George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend

Jim Thorpe. It's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors,

Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage, we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better.

It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.

And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and the rest of humanity living on the planet

Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com.

This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Friday on this 22nd day of May, 2026, and I'm absolutely thrilled to have a returning guest today.

His name is Mark Hamilton, and he is pastor of Faithful Stones Church in Buffalo, New York, which is a

Reformed Baptist congregation, and today we're going to be addressing a very extremely important theme, justification, the core issue separating true

Christians from false, and we will also be announcing an upcoming Bible conference in Delavan, New York—and I don't know if I pronounced that city correctly—on justification and sanctification.

It's my honor and privilege and joy to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Pastor Mark Hamilton.

Well, praise God, Chris. Thank you for the invite once again.

It's good to be with you, brother. Amen. And I can think of few things more intimidating than not only a man being a

Reformed Baptist pastor, but also being a police officer at the same time. Tell us about your work with the police department there in the

Buffalo area. Yeah, I'm approaching two decades of faithful service to the community of Buffalo, New York, as I serve as a police detective going on, going into my ninth year at the end of this year.

But yeah, I've been on the force, and the Lord has blessed me to serve the people of God or the people of this city in a unique way.

And so I have some good influence from the people of God that I serve, and it's been a pleasure and a joy.

And what a wonderful experience it has been to just get to know the people of Buffalo, serve them in a way that the

Bible calls justice, and to reward the righteous and to be an assistant in punishing the guilty.

And it's just, again, it's been an unbelievable experience that the

Lord would choose me in two facets to serve the city of Buffalo and then shepherd the flock of God in Buffalo as well.

Well, I hope one day you get to meet a couple of friends of mine who have a similar background to yourself, one of which

I will be—actually, two of them I'll be seeing next week,

God willing—when I take a trip to Long Island, New York for the 30th anniversary of Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island, New York.

And Pastor Rich Jensen is the pastor of Hope Reformed Baptist. He is a retired homicide detective from Suffolk County, Long Island, and he is a dear friend of mine for many years, decades, and his church has been an extraordinary blessing to me in my life.

The second brother, also a retired detective, this brother, a detective in New York City, Jason Contino, he is the pastor of Harborview Christian Church in Port Jefferson, Long Island, and I'll be spending one night in his home, my last night on Long Island, next week with he and his lovely wife.

But one of these days, we've got to see if the

Lord can open up an opportunity for the three of you to meet. Yeah, that'd be great.

That'd be great. Well, tell our listeners a little bit more about Faithful Stones Church in Buffalo, New York.

Yeah, Faithful Stones Church is a Reformed Baptist congregation who was birthed out of just a love for the

Bible and a love to getting back to the Bible. When you see so many people drifting away from biblical truth, you want to uphold the standard and that biblical foundation where you stand upon truth and never drift away from it.

And so our congregation, since I've been pastor and since 2019, has been growing closer and closer to love and maintain the doctrines of grace and the biblical faithfulness that the

Reformation brought us. And so we didn't always start that way. As you know,

I told the testimony of us starting in a kind of a word faith movement kind of prosperity some 30 plus years ago.

And by God's grace, he had mercy on us and saw what we did not see.

And so when I took over in 2019, it was a surprise to me, one, but it was an immense blessing to start leading the church and taking another look at the book, because I think that is the fundamental issue when you have any drift from biblical truth is that they begin to look elsewhere as opposed to taking another look at the book and sticking to biblical faithfulness, biblical truth, and exalting

Christ the Savior over all things. So we simply like to say that again, the sovereignty of God over all things, the sufficiency of the scriptures in all things, and the supremacy of Christ over all things is the simple words of Reformation.

And so we are overwhelmed with the blessings of God who has saw fit to plant this church right in the middle of the city of Buffalo.

Praise God. Well, if anybody wants more details about Faithful Stones Church, especially if you live in the

Buffalo area or are going to be passing through there, or if you have family, friends, and loved ones who live in or near Buffalo, that website is faithfulstoneschurch .org,

faithfulstoneschurch .org. And since you reminded me of your Word of Faith background before coming to the

Doctrines of Grace, I just remembered a couple of more people that you need to meet eventually.

I don't know if you know of John Sampson, who is the pastor of King's Church in Tempe, Arizona.

He not only was a Word of Faith pastor before coming to the

Doctrines of Grace, but he was also a television host for the

Trinity Broadcasting Network, which is a primary Word of Faith media outlet.

And thank the speed of God, he was also rescued out of the heresy and is pastoring a

Reformed Baptist church there in Arizona and is also even a cessationist on top of that.

And also, a more recent acquaintance of mine, Otis Buckley.

Yes. Oh, you know Otis? Oh, yeah. That's a good friend of ours. Oh, praise

God. Otis Buckley. Yes. Otis Buckley has come to preach at our church.

Oh, really? Yes, he preached at one of our conferences, and then he preached on a Sunday for us.

I've been knowing that brother for going on two years now, and what a faithful brother to know and to be acquainted with.

Yeah, High Point Bible Church in New York City. And if I'm not mistaken, not only was it a health, wealth, and prosperity church at one time, but I think it was even

Unitarian. I think it was a non -Trinitarian church, if I'm not mistaken, a

Oneness Pentecostal. Yes, yes. But, well,

I am very enthusiastic to be helping you promote an upcoming conference in your area, a conference that you will be serving as one of its speakers on the roster.

Yeah. And that's going to be coming up very soon. Actually, it's next weekend, the 29th through the 30th of this month.

And now, perhaps you can correct me if I'm wrong, but Delavan Baptist Church in Delavan, New York.

Am I saying that correctly? That is correct. Oh, okay. And tell us more about this conference.

Yeah. Cory Measuresmith is the pastor of Delavan Baptist Church, another faithful brother, a good friend of mine that has done ministry with Faithful Stones over the years, and he is pastoring the wonderful congregation there.

And this is, I believe, the second conference that church has put on.

Justification, last year was the sovereignty of God.

And just wonderful topics for the body of Christ to be familiar with and to re -familiarize themselves with, because again, in an age of fast change and drifting away from the core truths of the gospel, it is a wonderful reminder and a wonderful encouragement to go fellowship with that church and those people in the city and really the body of Christ in Western New York to be edified in this topic.

Digging into the Bible, there's going to be some wonderful speakers. Cory Measuresmith is the host pastor.

And then you have Samuel Farad will be there as well. You are familiar with our brother there. Oh, yeah. Great friend of mine.

Just became a friend of mine about a year ago, if not less, but has become very quickly a cherished and treasured friend of mine.

Just a wonderful brother. I think we met him around the same time.

Oh, yes. Introduced, right? He needed a ride to my pastor's luncheon. And you graciously agreed to pick him up and take him to the luncheon.

And that's how you met him, I remember now. That is right. That is right. And we've been connected ever since.

We went to Shepherd Con together and spent some time and had some good fellowship there. And yeah, we stayed in touch.

What a wonderful brother. And he's doing good work. And I very much appreciate him.

Yes. And I'm looking through the other names on the roster. I don't know any of the other names other than John Cooper.

I'm assuming that's the same John Cooper who is the recording artist, musician, and so on.

Is that the same guy? No. Oh, OK. No. Same name, not the same guy.

OK. John Cooper is another wonderful brother who is a member of our church.

He is the pastor at Niagara Gospel Mission in Niagara Falls, New York.

They're doing wonderful work. If you have a gospel mission or a mission in your city, this is two-, three -fold better because as you see or hear in the name, the gospel mission, and they keep the gospel at the core as they are serving veterans, homeless veterans, and the homeless in Niagara Falls.

They're doing great work. And yes, he is heading that effort up there and making a big difference in Niagara Falls and even in Western New York because they're servicing a lot of people.

But more importantly, they're serving the people, the gospel, the much -needed food of their soul.

Amen. And tell us more specifically about your speaking theme at this conference.

Yeah. My assignment is Post -Tenebrook's Lux, After Darkness, Light, and be talking about how the gospel, particularly justification, the issue of justification, was recovered in the

Reformation. And so we all know justification is the core issue.

It is the core issue. Martin Luther said that it was the article by which the church stands or falls.

Calvin said it was the hinge of the Reformation. And so you think about historically what the issue of justification has meant to the church.

It's the dividing line, really. It is the splinter. It is what caused many denominations to form, you can say, throughout history on this core issue of justification, where God declares one righteous on the basis of faith alone.

And we'll be talking about how it was recovered historically and look at the

Scriptures and see how the Bible describes and instructs us to believe and simply rest in that faith and that perfect righteousness of God.

Hallelujah. And that leads us to our theme today, justification, the core issue separating true

Christians from false. I don't know if you share my discomfort, my sadness, my anger, when

I witness a growing ecumenism between Reformed Christians, professedly

Reformed Christians, and those in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church, where they are accepted as brethren and embraced as brethren, even though there will be an acknowledgment that there are differences in forms of worship and so on, there will still be a consideration that these folks are our brothers in Christ, simply because, and when

I say simply because, I'm not saying that these are unimportant issues, but these

Reformed folks that seem to be putting justification on a lower level of importance on the ladder of theology, they will be appeased by someone who has a biblical understanding of the

Trinity and if they understand the Trinity, well, that's good enough for them.

And the fact that they are not only not embracing the core

Reformation principle of justification by faith alone, that doesn't seem to bother them all that much, these ecumenists.

Am I the sole voice in this conversation who's that angry about this issue?

I'm certainly burdened by it, because in a city where we live, it is what you would call a blue stranglehold, a liberal kind of stranglehold with all of its policies and consequences of those policies and those thoughts.

And then you have someone that calls themselves the church not helping that situation because they have forfeited the gospel.

And so it is certainly a burden for me to address that issue wherever I can.

And one of those places is in our outreach, our gospel outreach, is we not only get out on the corner of where our church is in the city, but we go out to the abortion mills and we go to the

IVF clinics, but in particularly the abortion mill where you are usually greeted with other ministries, namely

Catholic, Roman Catholic ministries, come there. And you can see that they are zealous to pray, albeit to the wrong

God, different God in the sense of their, you know, sending up their prayers to Mary and the saints and all of the rest.

When we meet those particular neighbors,

I'll say at the abortion mill, you know, you're a burden because when they come up to us and say, can we pray with you?

Can we minister with you? And I have to politely but firmly reject it and tell them and tell them why we reject it, them standing with us.

And I tell them, frankly, that we're not connected. We don't have the same gospel.

And that's an area of contention.

But, you know, as I am frank and clear with them to say that, listen, we can't stand together because we're not together and we're standing on the gospel.

And so, yes, Chris, it burdens me that we have to have those conversations with our

Roman Catholic neighbors and try to win them with the truth by, you know, one, proclaiming the truth faithfully and then living out what we proclaim.

And so, yeah, I do share a bit of frustration, to say the least, and certainly a burden because Buffalo, New York, is surrounded by a good number of at least professing

Roman Catholics. They might wear the label as Roman Catholic or Catholic, but I'm not talking about practicing.

I'm just talking about wearing the label. Either they grew up in it and they just attach themselves to that name and do not understand the seriousness of the defection that they are in.

Yes. So yesterday I had a very interesting guest on.

His name is Pavel Steiger. He is a native of the

Czech Republic, and he wrote a book that has finally been translated and published in the

English language. My Glory I Will Not Give to Another, A Study in the

Absolute Sovereignty of God. And I think that that title, which obviously is a citation of Isaiah 42 .8,

that really, I think, is at the core of why getting the doctrine of justification wrong is so serious, because God says in that verse in Isaiah, I am the

Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

And especially the first half of that statement, that I am the

Lord, that is my name and my glory I will not give to another. I do not think that it is possible to get justification wrong without being guilty of trying to claim some of the glory of God for the salvation of men for yourself.

And I am not saying that people will say that. You will not hear non -Calvinists and anti -Calvinists typically say in an arrogant way,

I share the glory of my salvation with God. But even if they do not say that, or even if they do not recognize it, when they deny justification by faith alone, that is what they're doing, isn't it?

They're sharing the glory of God, or at least they're attempting to share the glory of God? No, I agree with that.

I agree with that. Faith or salvation that begins and ends with us is the height of pride and arrogance,

I believe. It is also evidence of what I believe is a false faith, because if you are resting on your work and not the work of Christ, then you have a different gospel that doesn't get you to heaven, that doesn't get you in fellowship with God, in a relationship with God.

Proverbs 8 .13 says, the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and evil speech, I hate. And I think when you take the glory of God, as was in the title of your friend's book, when you take the glory of God away from him by attributing his work to you, or trying to merit his work, his righteousness in any kind of way, then you have drifted off into a different gospel.

And also, as you said, if we get this wrong, Chris, I don't think it matters whatever we get right.

If we get this issue of justification wrong, it doesn't matter what else we get right, right?

It doesn't matter what else, because everything else crumbles under that faulty foundation.

If you're starting off with a false hope, a false faith, a salvation that is no salvation at all, it cannot save you if you do not start with this issue of declared righteous by a righteous and perfect and just God.

Amen. And just so we get our definitions laid out near the beginning of this program, when we are speaking of justification, we're speaking about the act of God declaring a sinner righteous based on faith in Christ.

And that righteousness possessed by Christ alone is imputed to sinners for whom he died, and it's called the great exchange.

Jesus took our sin upon himself on Calvary, and we, the beneficiaries of that perfect sacrificial substitutionary death, had his righteousness placed upon us.

It doesn't mean that we have been made right with God because we have been made better.

It's not our transformation into a better person that makes us right with God, although that happens with sanctification.

But that's not the basis of why we have peace with God. Am I making sense there?

You are. As I stated, it is a declared righteousness by God on the unbeliever, on the unrighteous.

In fact, you and I that are unrighteous are legally declared righteous by God by Christ's work being applied to you, as you said, imputed to you.

We have a foreign righteousness that does not come from us, our works. It comes from God alone.

That's the fundamental issue between true Christians and false

Christians. True Christians rely solely on the finished work of Christ rather than their personal works.

And that seems to be the returning, repeated issue. Is it my works that save me, or is it another?

Another is obviously Christ, his perfect work being laid to our account.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, or the

King James imputed to him as righteousness. And that is, again, the fundamental issue of true faith that leads to repentance, that produces fruit, and it is the separation of a false faith that looks to merit their salvation or merit because of their doing, their works.

And again, as I said, if we get this wrong, it really doesn't matter what else we get right, because everything begins to fall and to crumble when we look at justification as something that we do, as opposed to something that has been done for us in the declaration of Christ.

Amen. And we have to go to our first commercial break right now. If anybody listening would like to join the conversation with a question of your own, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail dot com.

Give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence.

If you live outside of the USA, please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter.

Let's say you are, for example, a Roman Catholic or somebody in the

Eastern Orthodox Church, and you are starting to doubt the things that you have been taught.

And perhaps you are considering departing from one of those churches, just as I did.

I was raised Roman Catholic, and by God's sovereign grace and mercy, left that church in my late 20s, when the

Lord opened up my eyes, when he gave me a new heart. And perhaps you are in that position right now, and you're not ready yet to identify who you are, because you're still in that church.

Well, we could understand things like that, but compel you to remain anonymous. But if you're asking a general question on the scripture, on theology, on church history, please give us your first name at least, your city and state, and country of residence.

Don't go away. We will be right back after these messages from our sponsors. I'm Simon O'Mahony, pastor of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Originally from Cork, Ireland, the Lord in his sovereign providence has called me to shepherd this new and growing congregation here in Cumberland County.

At TRBC, we joyfully uphold the Second London Baptist Confession, we embrace congregational church government, and we are committed to preaching the full counsel of God's word for the edification of believers, the salvation of the lost and the glory of our triune

God. We are also devoted to living out the one another commands of scripture, loving, encouraging and serving each other as the body of Christ.

In our worship, we sing psalms and the great hymns of the faith, and we gather around the Lord's table every

Sunday. We would love for you to visit and worship with us. You can find our details at trbccarlisle .org.

That's trbccarlisle .org. God willing, we'll see you soon.

Hello, this is Brian Nye, president of Hearts for the Lost ministry. Our sole mission is to serve the local church and work directly with and alongside pastors and elders with their efforts to equip, excite and educate their flock in biblical evangelism.

We also provide practical experience opportunities in sharing the gospel directly within your immediate community.

We accomplish this mission with training and Christ -centered outreach events designed to equip the church and proclaim the good news of the gospel.

Our services are always 100 % free. If you're looking to equip and mobilize your church for faithful gospel witness, please partner with us.

Hearts for the Lost ministry, serving the church, proclaiming the gospel. Contact us today at heartsforthelost .com.

That's heartsforthelost .com. Now, have a heart and go share your faith. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries and the

Dividing Line webcast here. Although God has brought me all over the globe for many years to teach, preach and debate at numerous venues, some of my very fondest memories are from those precious times of fellowship with Pastor Rich Jensen and the brethren at Hope Reform Baptist Church, now located at their new, beautiful facilities in Corham, Long Island, New York.

I've had the privilege of opening God's word from their pulpit on many occasions, have led youth retreats for them, and have always been thrilled to see their members filling many seats at my

New York debates. I do not hesitate to highly recommend Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island to anyone who wants to be accurately taught, discipled and edified by the

Holy Scriptures, and to be surrounded by truly loving and caring brothers and sisters in Christ.

I also want to congratulate Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham for their recent appointment of Pastor Rich Jensen's co -elder,

Pastor Christopher McDowell. For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.

That's hopereformedli .net, or call 631 -696 -5711.

That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island that you heard about them from James White on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

This program is sponsored by Hope PR Ministry. Hope PR Ministry is a podcast produced by Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan.

We are dedicated to sharing Reformed Biblical content every Wednesday and Friday. Tune in for sermons, lectures, and interviews exploring distinctive

Reformed doctrines. If you are looking for Christ -centered content, simply search

Hope PR Ministry on your favorite podcast platform to begin listening today.

Hope PR Ministry also offers Morning Meditations, a daily podcast featuring

Reformed devotionals designed to nourish your soul. Start your day with these spiritually enriching messages by tuning in to Morning Meditations wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Phil Johnson, Executive Director of Grace to You with John MacArthur. I've been a frequent guest on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and I highly recommend this show.

But today I want to tell you about one of its advertisers, Rare Document Traders, far and away my favorite source for quality

Charles Spurgeon memorabilia. Are you looking for that special, unique gift for your pastor or missionary friend or a loved one?

Why not purchase a piece of church history that any believer would cherish? Rare Document Traders is your one -step source for Spurgeon's handwritten manuscripts and letters, as well as other rare books and collectible items from church history.

In 15 years that they've been in business, they've earned a stellar reputation in the Reformed community with thousands of satisfied customers all around the world, including me.

Visit RareDocTraders .com today. That's RareDocTraders .com.

Don't forget to mention you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. That's RareDocTraders .com.

I'm Pastor Keith Allen of Lindbrook Baptist Church, a Christ -centered, gospel -driven church looking to spread the gospel in the southwest portion of Long Island, New York, and play our role in fulfilling the

Great Commission, supporting and sending for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. We're delighted to be a part of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio advertising family.

At Lindbrook Baptist Church, we believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired

Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God's will for salvation and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak.

We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, was purchased by Christ on the cross, and is received through faith alone, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual.

Salvation in Christ also results in righteous living, good works, and appropriate respect and concern for all who bear

God's image. If you live near Lindbrook, Long Island, or if you're just passing through on the

Lord's Day, we'd love to have you come and join us in worship. For details, visit Lindbrookbaptist .org.

That's L -Y -N -Brookbaptist .org. This is Pastor Keith Allen of Lindbrook Baptist Church reminding you that by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast of the

Lord's blessing and the knowledge of himself. I'm Dr.

Joseph Piper, President Emeritus and Professor of Systematic and Applied Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Every Christian who's serious about the Deformed Faith and the Westminster Standards should have and use the eight -volume commentary on the theology and ethics of the

Westminster Larger Catechism, titled Authentic Christianity, by Dr. Joseph Morecraft.

It is much more than an exposition of the Larger Catechism. It is a thoroughly researched work that utilizes biblical exegesis as well as historical and systematic theology.

Dr. Morecraft is pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, and I urge everyone looking for a biblically faithful church in that area to visit that fine congregation.

For details on the eight -volume commentary, go to westminstercommentary .com, westminstercommentary .com.

For details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit heritagepresbyterianchurch .com,

heritagepresbyterianchurch .com. Please tell Dr. Morecraft and the saints at Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, that Dr.

Joseph Piper of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary sent you. And please, folks, continue to pray for Dr.

Joseph C. Morecraft III, who you just heard mentioned in that commercial for Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, voiced by Dr.

Joey Piper of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. As you may recall, if you listen to this program regularly, my dear friend,

Dr. Joe Morecraft, fell in his home and he was injured, sent to the hospital.

Then, after weeks in the hospital, was sent to a physical rehab facility where he still remains recovering after months.

And we just ask of you that next week, when they expect to be able to discharge him and allow him to return home, we would ask that you pray that that does come to fruition and that he is truly well enough to return home and that he continues to grow in his strength and health and vitality and that he is able to return to his pulpit and return as a guest on Iron Trip and Zion Radio.

So please pray for this dear, precious brother and friend of mine,

Dr. Joseph C. Morecraft III. We're now back with Mark Hamilton, pastor of Faithful Stones Church, a

Reformed Baptist congregation in Buffalo, New York. We are addressing the theme, Justification, the

Core Issues Separating True Christians from False. And one of the things that I've experienced over the decades of being a born -again believer and being a

Reformed Baptist is that those who are on the ecumenical side of this discussion, those that embrace

Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and others who deny justification by faith alone, they are taken aback, they are angered, perhaps even disgusted by my refusal to acknowledge them as brothers and sisters, because they act as if I am being self -righteous, that I am using theological minutia to cause separation and division where it shouldn't, that I am nitpicking theologically,

I am among those that think they can count the number of angels who can dance on the head of a pin, and they really believe this is the kind of issue that should be regulated to the studies of pastors and theologians and perhaps circles of intellectuals smoking cigars and drinking brandy and just having intellectual scholarly banter about these things that really are not of the level of importance that they should leave those rooms and actually be a major part of the life of the faithful.

But this is a serious issue, isn't it? It's not theological trivia, and it so enraged the apostle

Paul, as we read in his letter to the church in Galatia, that the

Judaizers were adding one thing to faith in Christ in order for one to become a

Christian—that is, circumcision. That one thing enraged him and made him declare that these

Judaizers were false teachers with a false gospel, that is, no gospel at all, and declared that they let them be accursed.

And isn't this the same issue? People have claimed that, oh, it's just because of that specific thing that the

Judaizers were requiring—circumcision. That's what that is all about.

It's because it's a Jewish rite from the Old Testament. It's not because of any other reason.

But that's not true, is it? Not at all. As we've been talking about the core issue, when something is the core issue, it is the defining issue.

And I believe without it, you don't have the gospel. That's how important it is.

If you don't have God saving man rather than man saving himself, it is a battle for the gospel.

It is a battle for sola fide, faith alone. If you don't have that, you take away the core of the gospel.

And is the difference of a faith that rests on Christ alone between a faith that rests on self alone?

And man, the creature, always wants to give himself credit.

They find a way to try to merit what is reserved for God alone.

And so I don't think we make much of the issue enough. So it is far from being an insignificant issue.

When Jesus was addressing the crowds in John 6, the crowds were asking him, what must we do?

You always return back to the doing, the working. What must we do to be doing the works of God?

And Jesus' response was, this is the work of God that you believe on him who he has sent.

Believe, believing, believing, faith in God. Faith in God is what imputes the righteousness of God to those who trust in God.

The crowds were, when Jesus answered that way, their response was, okay, okay, but what sign do you show us?

What can we do? What can we seek to believe? And the response is the same.

And the teaching of Christ was very clear. Obviously, the apostles built upon that same teaching.

He didn't show them a sign because he was indeed the sign, and they needed to believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. What work do you perform for us? Or what do you do was their response after he said you need to be believing on the one who he has sent.

And so it is always that core issue that includes the gospel.

In fact, it is so connected to the gospel that if you take away justification by faith alone,

I don't know where you're going with the gospel. And so we see that consistently throughout the

Old and New Testament. We see that anyone that will be saved will be saved by faith alone, faith in Christ's work alone.

It's Romans 10 .10, right? For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved or saved unto salvation.

And so, again, this is the core issue, and we need to make a fuss about it and make much about it because it is the gospel issue that cannot be minimized.

Hallelujah. Amen. We have Timmy in Cheektowaga, New York.

That must be a Native American name, Cheektowaga. That's right outside Buffalo.

Oh, cool. Well, Timmy, if you have not yet visited Faithful Stones Church in Buffalo, I hope that you do.

I don't want to take you away from a church that's biblically faithful permanently, but it doesn't say you can't visit other churches from time to time.

And if you don't have a biblically faithful church, please visit especially and perhaps even join that faithful congregation.

But Timmy says the verse of Scripture that you constantly hear over and over again from Roman Catholics and others who reject the teaching of justification by faith alone is

James chapter 2 at the very end of verse 17,

Faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

How do you respond to that? That's a very good question, and what he said is very true.

In all the debates that I have done with Catholics, not that I have personally debated them, but the ones that I've hosted and arranged with primarily

Dr. James R. White and one with Dr. Tony Costa, whenever the issue of salvation is a part of the debate, this does come up.

And let me actually read a little bit further back than what Timmy cited, starting at verse 14.

What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works?

Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them,

Go in peace, be warmed and filled, yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

And isn't this really a teaching of the apostle, of James, that as one of my former pastors, my very first pastor, jokingly said that James must have been from Missouri, because Missouri is the show me state.

And therefore, he is saying that just because you say you have faith, as you and I know, there are millions of people who call themselves

Christians and they're not. Whenever I hear about these polls about the percentage of citizens of the

United States that are Christian, and it's such a large percentage, I know that it's not a real poll, or it's not reflecting truth, because so many people say,

Yes, I'm a Christian. They may say they have faith, but it is only lip service to God.

So isn't James really just saying that your faith can't be just lip service for it to be authentic?

Not that the giving to the poor is helping you earn salvation. It's just by saying that if you say you have faith, and yet you're disobeying

God unrepentantly, and you're not doing anything that is bearing good fruit and so on, that is evidence that you're not really saved at all and that your faith is false.

Because remember, we have in that verse, Can that faith save him?

Referring to the person who has faith without works at all. It's just an evidence that it's false faith, right?

That is correct, Chris. And again, that's the core issue. It's the separating, dividing line between true faith and false faith.

True faith leads to repentance and produces fruit. And that's how you can kind of summarize

James' teaching against Paul's teaching. They're not at odds. They're both teaching what

Christ taught. This is the true teaching of faith in God alone, but it is not a faith that is alone.

Right? I think R .C. Sproul said that so famously. He might have been quoting Martin Luther, but the faith that is genuine, that is true, produces fruit.

It's transformative, right? Because if a faith that marks a believer is just that, just faith—a personal, subjective, private kind of thing where there is no fruit seen, there is no evidence of that faith—then that is a faith that is truly alone.

And James argues, says, well, you show me your faith that produces works, because faith without works is dead, being alone.

And so what is attached to our faith, what is attached to our confession, is inevitably obedience.

It's fruit. It's Christ -likeness. It's being made more and more like Christ as you progress through sanctification.

And so, again, the core issue is that what divides true Christians from false

Christians. A faith that produces works. Not a faith that produces works for salvation, but a faith that produces work because you are indeed saved.

And I think if you say it in that way, it clarifies the result of salvation.

The result of salvation is to glorify God in our life and to carry out and to work out our soul's salvation in every part of life.

No believer is content with just a name -only

Christianity, just being a part of the family and escaping hell.

No. The point and the purpose of salvation is to bring us to God and to reflect that transforming work that He has done in the heart.

The work has been done in the heart, and it will work itself out in the life through the hands and the feet.

And to providing clothing, as James says, and doing all of these things that reflect a true faith.

Amen. And one of the complications of this is that, as you know, there are tragically many professing evangelicals who have a distorted and twisted and unfaithful interpretation of the

Scriptures that leads them to believe in the very false faith that the

Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are accusing all of us of possessing.

And that is a dead, worthless faith that is being held to as a genuine saving thing, just because it is an alleged faith in Jesus that they will say is sufficient to save the lost, even if it never proves itself to be the authentic article.

A classic example is the extremely popular preacher, televangelist, and author, the late

Charles Stanley. He wrote in his book on eternal security that a person could come to a genuine faith in Christ and immediately abandon it and be an atheist for the rest of their lives.

And that person will still be in heaven because they had that faith at one time that they presented to Christ, no matter how brief it was.

Now, unfortunately, you have Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox who wrongly get the idea that that's what all

Protestants and evangelicals believe, but that's not at all what we believe. And we would join them on that one area of condemnation of a false understanding of justification by faith alone when it is believed in a heretical fashion like that.

Am I speaking coherently here? No, you are.

You are. The issue of assigning the prerogatives of God and His work to us for salvation is, again,

I would say the height of pride and arrogance. And when He has offered Himself, He has offered

Christ and His finished work, that's something that we have a hard time believing and trusting, the finished work.

You know, salvation is a works -based salvation.

It is a works -based system, but it is not our works, it's His work. And that work is perfectly completed on our behalf.

And that's the glory and the goodness of the gospel where we look to Christ when we are failing, when we are on a consistent high level of consistency of doing what we ought to do.

And even in those times, we are to look to Christ because nothing in our hands we bring, nothing do we give and offer to God who has completed the work on our behalf.

But we always look to Him and we trust in Him and we are so thankful to Him because He has done it.

He has done it. And how can you sit and settle on anything less than to work out your soul salvation and to produce fruit because the work was done?

It is not dependent. Oh, my brother, you froze. The things that I have to do or doing things that I think

I have to do, but to rest in what God has done in Christ. Amen.

And once again, let me repeat those precious words from Isaiah 48,

I will not give to another. And that is the whole basis of our or the core basis of our outrage against not only professing

Christians who in practice are denying that truth, but those that embrace those denying that truth as genuine brethren, as if this is not such a big deal.

I don't know which scenario is worse, to be perfectly honest, but we have to go to our midway commercial break right now.

And if you have a question, just like we had Timothy in the western

New York area earlier, if you'd like to join him, our email address is

Chris Arnzen at Gmail dot com. Give us your first name at least city and state and country of residence only remain anonymous.

If your question involves a personal and private matter, we'll be right back. Don't go away. It's such a blessing to hear from Iron Sharpens Iron radio listeners from all over the world.

Here's Joe Riley, a listener in Ireland who wants you to know about a guest on the show.

He really loves hearing interviewed Dr. Joe Morecraft. I'm Joe Riley, a faithful Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener here in a tie in County Kildare, Ireland.

Going back to 2005, one of my very favorite guests on Iron Sharpens Iron is

Dr. Joe Morecraft. If you've been blessed by Iron Sharpens Iron radio, Dr. Morecraft and Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, are largely to thank since they are one of the program's largest financial supporters.

Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming is in Forsyth County, a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Heritage is a thoroughly biblical church, unwaveringly committed to Westminster standards. And Dr.

Joe Morecraft is the author of an eight volume commentary on the larger catechism. Heritage is a member of the

Hanover Presbytery, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and tracing its roots and heritage back to the great

Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Heritage maintains and follows the biblical truth and principles proclaimed by the reformers.

Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and God's glory alone. Their primary goal is the worship of the triune

God that continues in eternity. For more details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit

HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com. That's HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com.

Or call 678 -954 -7831. That's 678 -954 -7831.

If you visit, tell them Joe Reilly, an Iron Sharpens Iron radio listener, from a tie in County Kildare, Ireland, sent you.

Iron Sharpens Iron radio first launched in 2005. The publishers of the

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

Iron Sharpens Iron radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the

NASB. I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President and Professor of Systematic and Homiletical Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Taylors, South Carolina.

And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck White of the

First Trinity Lutheran Church in Tonawanda, New York. And the NASB is my Bible of choice.

I'm Pastor Anthony Methenia of Christ Church in Radford, Virginia. And the NASB is my

Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jesse Miller of Damascus Road Christian Church in Gardnerville, Nevada.

And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Bruce Bennett of Word of Truth Church in Farmingville, Long Island, New York.

And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rodney Brown of Metro Bible Church in Southlake, Texas.

And the NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Jim Harrison of Red Mills Baptist Church in Mayapac Falls, New York.

And the NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?

Consider restocking your pews with the NASB. And tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

Hello, my name is Anthony Uvino and I'm one of the pastors at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York.

And also the host of the reformrookie .com website. I want you to know that if you enjoy listening to the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio show like I do, you can now find it on the Apple's iTunes app by typing

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio in the search bar. You no longer have to worry about missing a show or a special guest because you're in your car or still at work.

Just subscribe on the iTunes app and listen to the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio show at any time, day or night.

Please be sure to also give it a good review and pass it along to anyone who would benefit from the teaching and the many solidly reformed guests that Chris Arnzen has on the show.

Truth is so hard to come by these days, so don't waste your time with fluff or fake news. Subscribe to the

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio podcast right now. And while you're at it, you can also sign up for the reformrookie .com

podcast and visit our website and the YouTube page. We are dedicated to teaching Christian theology from a reformed

Baptist perspective to beginners in the faith as well as seasoned believers. From Keach's Catechism and the

Doctrines of Grace to the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Leviticus, the Reform Rookie podcast and YouTube channel is sure to have something to offer everyone seeking biblical truth.

And finally, if you're looking to worship in a reformed church that holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, please join us at Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Corham, New York.

Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Invinio, and thanks for listening. Hi, this is

John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnzen and the

Iron Sharpens Iron podcast. I consider Chris a true friend and a man of high integrity. He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions while always defending the key doctrines of the

Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the

Internet where folk won't be led astray. I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide.

This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised Chris up for just such a time.

Knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry in prayer and in finances.

I'm pleased to do so, and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting

Iron Sharpens Iron financially. Would you consider sending either a one -time gift or even becoming a regular monthly partner with this ministry?

I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris, if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com,

where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com. I'm Pastor Keith Allen of Lindbrook Baptist Church, a

Christ -centered, gospel -driven church looking to spread the gospel in the southwest portion of Long Island, New York, and play our role in fulfilling the

Great Commission, supporting and sending for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. We're delighted to be a part of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron radio advertising family.

At Lindbrook Baptist Church, we believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired

Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, complete as the revelation of God's will for salvation and the supreme and final authority in all matters to which they speak.

We believe in salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This salvation is based upon the sovereign grace of God, was purchased by Christ on the cross, and is received through faith alone, apart from any human merit, works, or ritual.

Salvation in Christ also results in righteous living, good works, and appropriate respect and concern for all who bear

God's image. If you live near Lindbrook, Long Island, or if you're just passing through on the

Lord's Day, we'd love to have you come and join us in worship. For details, visit Lindbrookbaptist .org.

That's L -Y -N -Brookbaptist .org. This is Pastor Keith Allen of Lindbrook Baptist Church, reminding you that by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast of the

Lord's blessing and the knowledge of himself. I'm Brian McLaughlin, president of the

SecureComm Group, and an enthusiastic supporter of Chris Arnson's Iron Sharpens Iron radio program.

The SecureComm Group provides the highest level of security, close -circuit television, access control, and communication systems for Manhattan's top residential buildings, as well as churches, commercial properties, municipalities, and more.

We custom -install exactly what you need to protect yourself, including digital recording, off -site viewing, and connectivity from most smart devices.

From simple code -activated systems to the latest technology using facial recognition, the

SecureComm Group has it. We also provide the latest in intercom and IP telephone systems.

In addition, we provide superior networking platforms. We'll create, maintain, and secure your local network.

Whether it's a Wi -Fi or hardwire network, we'll implement the latest secured firewall, endpoint solutions, and cloud backup.

I would love to have the honor and privilege of helping protect the lives and property of Iron Sharpens Iron radio listeners and their associates.

For more details on how the SecureComm Group may be of service to you with the very latest in security innovations, call 718 -353 -3355.

That's 718 -353 -3355. Or visit securecommgroup .com.

That's securecommgroup .com. This is Brian McLaughlin of the SecureComm Group, joining

Chris Arnzen's family of advertisers to keep Iron Sharpens Iron radio on the air.

Here at Iron Sharpens Iron radio, praise

God for the generous monthly financial support of Royal Diadem Jewelers, educated by and affiliated with the

American Gem Society, Jewelers of America, and the Gemological Institute of America.

For the perfect custom -designed engagement ring or any one -of -a -kind piece of jewelry created exactly according to your imagination and specifications,

Royal Diadem Jewelers has you covered. No matter where you live in the world, Royal Diadem will walk you step -by -step through every stage of the process and even hold a high -tech internet virtual visit using state -of -the -art jewelry design technology to serve you.

They start by listening carefully to determine your needs. They're interested in making what you want, not what they want to sell you.

From rough design to digital model, to photorealistic image, to wax prototype model, to the finished product, they're continually listening to your input, likes and dislikes, making any changes necessary along the way.

This will ensure that your custom jewelry will turn out exactly as you dreamed and well beyond your expectations.

Visit royaldiadem .com. That's royaldiadem .com today.

Sterling Vandewerker, owner of Royal Diadem Jewelers, his wife, Bronnie, his business partner and manager,

Brian Wilson, and the entire family, thank you all for listening to, praying for, and supporting the work of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

And the owners of royaldiadem .com love Iron Sharpens Iron Radio so much that not only do they provide for us financial support every single month automatically, on top of that, royaldiadem .com

gives Iron Sharpens Iron Radio 100 % of the profits from any sale of jewelry to our listeners, as long as our listeners mention

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio when they make their purchase of jewelry at royaldiadem .com.

So whether you're purchasing jewelry for yourself or someone you love, or whether you are purchasing jewelry that they already have in stock at royaldiadem .com,

or if you're having a one -of -a -kind customized piece of jewelry created, like taking your church logo, for instance, and turning it into a pendant, a necklace, or a ring.

Or doing the same with your parachurch ministry logo, or your seminary logo, your denomination logo, your business logo, and turning it into a stunning piece of jewelry.

Or perhaps it's an engagement ring you need. Whatever the case is, they will take whatever your imagination and creativity can conjure up in your brain and turn it into a physical piece of stunning, head -turning, mind -blowing piece of jewelry.

And I have seen firsthand the mastery that royaldiadem .com has over customizing jewelry.

They will create this jewelry exactly according to your specifications and even exceed your expectations.

So please, if you're purchasing jewelry and you love Iron Trip and Zion Radio and want us to remain on the air, go to royaldiadem .com

to purchase your jewelry and mention Iron Trip and Zion Radio so we will receive 100 % of the profits from that sale.

It's royaldiadem .com. And I've got to give a special shout -out today to my friend

Sterling Vandewerker, one of the owners of royaldiadem .com, who knows of the financial hardship that Iron Trip and Zion Radio is currently facing, and they sent an extra gift to us today.

So we thank you so much, Sterling. I cannot form into words an adequate expression of how grateful

I am to you and how grateful I am to God for you, for your friendship and generosity to Iron Trip and Zion Radio.

Before I return to my conversation with Mark Hamilton and our topic that we are addressing, the doctrine of justification being the core issue separating true

Christians from false, before I return to that conversation... Oh, and by the way, folks, please forgive me for one time misquoting the text that I will not give my glory to another.

My glory I will not give to another. I think I said Isaiah 48 before we went to the commercial break.

I meant Isaiah 42 .8, but I'm 64 years old and things like that are happening more and more.

But anyway, before I return to that conversation, please remember, folks, that we are in a financial crisis right now, and I'm not exaggerating.

I just had to borrow money out of a life insurance policy in order to pay bills and in order to enable myself the ability to travel to Long Island, New York next week for the 30th anniversary of Hope Reform Baptist Church, a church that has been a very important part of my life for all its years of existence.

And my pastor who was involved in the planting of that church, my pastor at Calvary Baptist Church of Amityville, Long Island, later

Grace Reform Baptist Church of Long Island, America, he was a very crucial figure in helping

Pastor Rich Jansen and Hope Reform Baptist plant that church. He is going to be there, and I didn't want to miss that opportunity to see him because it's been years since I've seen

Pastor Mike Gaydosh, who actually baptized me. But that's all to say that the description of Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio being in a financial crisis is not hyperbole.

It's not an exaggeration if it led to me having to borrow money off of a life insurance policy.

So please, if you really love this show and you don't want it to go off the air, go to IronSherpaandZionRadio .com,

click support, then click click to donate now. You could donate instantly in that fashion with a debit or credit card.

If you prefer snail mail, mailing a physical check at your post office to a physical mailing address, there will also be a physical mailing address that appears on your screen when you click support at IronSherpaandZionRadio .com,

where you can mail your checks made payable to Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio. If you want to advertise with us, whether it's your church, para -church ministry, your business, your private professional practice, like a law firm, a medical firm, maybe it's just a special event, whatever it is.

Whatever that is, as long as it's compatible with my beliefs,

I would love to help you launch an advertising campaign as quickly as possible because we're just as much in urgent need of your advertising dollars as we are in your donations.

So, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.

Now, with all of this urgent talk of my need for your financial support and my pleas for donations, please, folks,

I never want anybody in my audience to ever give your own church, where you're a member, less money than you normally give your church on the

Lord's Day in order to bless Iron Sherpa and Zion Radio. Never do that.

Never dip into the money that you have set aside for your Lord's Day giving to your own church in order to bless us.

Leave that money alone and only use it to bless your church on the Lord's Day.

And if you're really struggling to survive and make ends meet, please wait until you are back on your feet and more financially stable before you bless us with a financial gift.

But having said all that, if you do love the show, you don't want it to go off the air, and you are blessed financially above and beyond your ability to provide for your church and family, and you have extra money for benevolent, recreational, and trivial purposes, please, if you love the show, share some of that money with us at ironsherpanzionradio .com,

click support, then click click to donate now. Last but not least, if you are not a member of a

Christ -honoring, biblically faithful, doctrinally sound, theologically solid church like Faithful Stones Church of Buffalo, New York, I have helped many people in the

Iron Sherpanzion Radio spanning the globe find churches that are biblically faithful.

I have helped people find biblically faithful churches in Mexico, in England, in Canada, in Germany, in all parts of Africa, and in addition to all 50 states of the

United States. And by the way, Lee in La Grange, Georgia, who just sent me a request for a church in that area,

I am going to get to that as soon as I can, Lee. Actually, Lee is the middle name of this listener.

Portia is the one requesting a church recommendation in La Grange, Georgia, and beautiful name,

Portia. Well, I will get to that as soon as I can after this live program. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a church.

But if you are in that predicament yourself, and you do not have a biblically faithful church home, no matter where you live, send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

and put, I need a church in the subject line. That's also the email address, or you could send in a question to Mark Hamilton, pastor of Faithful Stones Church, on our discussion on justification.

That's chrisarnson at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, city and state and country of residence.

And Joey in New York, I'm trying to remember the name of the city where Joey lives.

It's escaping me right now. As I mentioned, folks, I'm 64. But Joey cheered me up a little bit because he said,

Chris, you are not wrong. God says that in both Isaiah 42 and 48 .11.

Okay. Thanks for cheering me up. And going back to our discussion,

Pastor Mark Hamilton, we have a listener in Canada with a question for you.

We have Lester in Georgetown, Ontario, Canada.

And Lester says that the book of Romans is a treasure trove when we are seeking to discover the precious truths of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

And also when we are specifically trying to confirm our belief in justification by faith alone.

And one of the texts from that wonderful passage of Scripture that I repeatedly return to when having these conversations is that we are justified by faith and not by works of the law.

And very often the comeback to that will be that this series of verses is only relegated to trying to use the

Jewish ceremonial law in order to merit salvation.

It is not talking about basic good deeds and other

Christian rites like baptism. How do you respond to that? Well, is it

Lester? Yes. Yeah, and thank you for the question,

Lester. I was looking exactly at Romans 4 as Chris was reading that question.

And Paul answers that in verse 9. Is this blessing then only for the circumcised?

That is the Jews, right? Or also for the uncircumcised?

And obviously the question is clear, or the answer is clear. It is for both those who place their faith in Christ, the one who believes in God.

In fact, you read verse 5, and to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the

Lord will not count his sin. And then he goes on further into the verse

I just read in verse 9. Is this just relegated to the Jews? And obviously it is not.

It is to those whose faith is placed in God. God counts them as righteousness.

And then he goes on and just gives examples and reasons for that assertion.

For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him?

And he just goes on to show how faith is counted as righteousness.

And it is not because of the works. It is not because of the works of the law. It is not because you are of Jewish heritage.

And so we find the wonderful example, the master class, if you will, the great response of Paul to all the objectors and to all the detractors to this issue of justification in chapter 4.

Yes, and I believe as far as the exact verse that Lester was talking about in Romans 3 was in verse 28.

For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. And I know that someone who

I think has sadly received far too much respect and accolades as a sound theologian is

N .T. Wright. And he believes, and this is

I think the basis of his new perspective on Paul, is that Paul's condemnation of the

Judaizers in Galatians is not that the

Judaizers are adding works to faith in order for salvation to be received.

It is specifically that Paul was condemning the

Judaizers for forming an exclusive Jewish Christian club. And of course

I am paraphrasing. I am not quoting N .T. Wright. I do not think directly. But that is not what

Paul is condemning. I mean, that may be a part of it, of course, because the

Judaizers were doing that. But that is not the exclusive reason he was condemning their false gospel, is it?

No, because again, as I said, Paul's words, his instruction is not to the

Jew only, but it is to Gentile believers as well. And so he makes that clarification of circumcision referring to the

Jews and uncircumcision referring to non -Jews. And so as he speaks to the

Romans, he is clarifying this issue, this court issue of justification on the basis of Christ's perfect, completed work to all men who believe.

And he gives Abraham and David as examples for this. And so to relegate it only to the

Jews would be a disservice and a misinterpretation of the text. Because I think

Paul answers the objections to the Jew only or to the specific group only in this particular work.

I think he covers that well and answers those objections.

Amen. And by the way, Joey, I just remembered where you are from, New Rochelle, New York.

How could I possibly forget that you're in New Rochelle?

Because every time you send in a question, I always am immediately remembering the

Dick Van Dyke show, which probably three quarters of our listeners are too young to even know what

I'm talking about. Mark, I don't know if you remember the Dick Van Dyke show, do you? I do.

It was reruns and when I'm my younger days, for sure.

Well, thank you for making me feel a little bit younger then. It's amazing how often.

Go ahead. I was just going to say, did he guest on the

Bewitched show? Did Dick Van Dyke ever guest appearance on the

Bewitched show? If he did, I don't remember that at all. OK, OK. Well, those shows were in those shows, those kind of shows were in rerun, honestly rerun.

And I got a glimpse of those when I, you know, as a youngster. So I do remember the reruns of those shows for sure.

Amen. And would you be as bold as I am to say that Reformed Christianity is the only system of theology that truly preserves the idea and the concept of not giving glory to anyone else other than the glory of God, other than to God himself.

I think that outside of Reformed theology, you do not find that.

Now, I'm not saying that individuals in non -Reformed churches do not give the glory only to God, but I think that they are doing so in contradiction to their said faith.

But I'm talking about people who are logically consistent with their theology.

We are the only ones that are declaring this in a logically consistent fashion, are we not?

I mean, is that too bold or arrogant to say? No, I would certainly agree with you where in the

Reformed world and the Reformed tradition is unashamedly proclaiming and declaring the glory of God and the glory of God alone.

In fact, sole deo gloria is the mantra, it is the shout of the

Reformers where we want to, we must commit to the glory of God alone.

And so that is always our cry, because we're always saying like, the psalm is not unto us, not unto us, but to your name give glory.

Amen. And let me repeat, just so nobody accuses me of something that I'm not saying.

There are Christians in non -Reformed churches that live far more godly lives than I do, that are a better reflection of what a true

Christian should be than I am. So I'm not trying to boast about myself when

I said the things that I just did. I'm talking about people being logically consistent with what they say they believe.

That's what I'm talking about. Because you have people, you even have people who are born again within the systems of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, because they are not believing in the gospels of those false churches.

They perhaps even are unconsciously rejecting those false gospels because they don't even really know what their churches are teaching.

They may be believing in a biblical gospel, not even knowing they're in rebellion against their own churches.

But as far as being consistent with what you say you believe, the

Reformed faith has really got an exclusivity with being consistent with that.

Am I saying too much here? No, consistent is the word, especially as you talk about proclaiming that truth.

And as you said, I agree. There are many brothers, many faithful brothers outside of the

Reformed world and the Reformation doctrine that holds you to the doctrines of the

Reformation that would faithfully and boldly, courageously proclaim that truth that we proclaim.

But as you said, consistency at the top of our list where we are putting that forth and in the forefront,

I think that is a fair statement. Amen.

Well, Ben, before we go to our final break, if you could just provide more important information that you cherish about what we are talking about to further drive home the crucial importance of the doctrine of salvation and justification, specifically by faith alone.

Yeah. Justification, as we've been talking about, is the core issue.

We believe that—I believe you and I are lock and step with when we believe the

Scriptures that if you take away this core issue, you take away the gospel. At least you are confronting the gospel with a false gospel.

Because to believe that anything else saves us is to assault the truth of the

Word of God. Christianity, true Christianity, rests in this declaration, this truth that God saves sinners.

God saves sinners. Sinners have no ability to save themselves.

And if that is the idea, and if that is the perspective of anyone that claims

Christ, then you are flirting with a false gospel.

Because the false faith teaches that justification is a process. It's me cooperating with God.

And I would argue that we are, as a result of God working in us, we are just working what

He has worked in us. And it's a result of God working, not anything else.

And so the core issue of our faith is justification by faith alone, where God declares unworthy, unrighteous sinners righteous, implying the perfect work, the completed work, the finished work of Jesus Christ to our account.

They believe—that is, we believe, every born -again believer believes— that we are justly justified solely, solely on the account of the obedience of Christ, on the shedding of His blood, that His work was sufficient to satisfy all the demands of God the

Father, which is credited, which is imputed, which is applied to us as believers.

And that, again, is the core issue, that if we do not get right, it doesn't matter what else we get right.

Amen, and we're going to our final commercial break. Don't go away. We are going to be right back after these messages.

I'm Dr. Tony Costa, professor of apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary. I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love,

Hope Reform Baptist Church in Coram, Long Island, New York, pastored by Rich Jansen and Christopher McDowell.

It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God, like the dear saints at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Coram, who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of Christ in His Holy Word, and to enthusiastically proclaim

Christ Jesus the King and His doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island, and beyond.

I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love, as I have.

For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.

That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711.

That's 631 -696 -5711.

Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Coram, Long Island, New York, that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.

Pastor Bill Sousa, Grace Church at Franklin, here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support Iron Sharpens Iron radio financially.

Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in Scripture through the person and work of our

Lord Jesus Christ. And, of course, the end of which we strive is the glory of God.

If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe ten minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some

Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.

Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org. That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.

This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our

Sovereign Lord, God, Savior, and King Jesus Christ today and always.

I'm Pastor Nate Pickowitz of Harvest Bible Church in Gilmanton Iron Works, New Hampshire, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rich Jensen of Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Sule Prince of Oakwood Wesleyan Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor John Samson of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck Volo of New Life Community Church in Kingsville, Maryland, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Steve Herford of Eastport Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and the

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Roy Owens, Jr. of the

Church in Friendship in Hockley, Texas, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

Here's a great way for your church to help keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air.

Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart? Consider restocking your pews with the

NASB and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

And this program is also paid for in part by the law firm of Botafuco &

Associates. If you are the victim of a very serious personal injury or medical malpractice anywhere in the

United States, please call my longtime, very dear friend and brother in Christ, Daniel P.

Botafuco, who I have known and loved fellowshipping with since 1991.

Please call Daniel P. Botafuco at 1 -800 -NOW -HURT, 1 -800 -NOW -HURT, or visit

Dan's website, 1 -800 -NOW -HURT .com, 1 -800 -NOW -HURT .com.

Please make sure you tell Daniel P. Botafuco, attorney at law, that you heard about his law firm,

Botafuco & Associates, from Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Also, I want to remind all men in ministry leadership that you are all invited to my next free biannual

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Pastors Luncheon, featuring keynote speaker for the very first time,

Dr. David A. Harrell, who is pastor of Calvary Bible Church of Jolton, Tennessee, and he is the author of a number of books, including the book that he is going to be highlighting as his theme for his keynote address at my luncheon,

Why America Hates Biblical Christianity. That's going to be held on Thursday, October 1st, 11 a .m.

to 2 p .m. at Church of the Living Christ in Loisville, Pennsylvania.

If you would like to attend this free event, if you're a man in ministry leadership, just send me an email to chrisarnzen at gmail .com,

chrisarnzen at gmail .com, and put Pastors Luncheon in the subject line. Not only is admission free, and you're meal free, and your time of fellowship with old acquaintances and friends and new ones alike, your time of laughter and feasting and sharpening iron with colleagues in ministry, all absolutely free, but on top of that, every man in attendance will receive a heavy sack of free brand new books personally selected by me and donated by Christian publishers all over the

United States and the United Kingdom. So send me your registration, your free registration, to chrisarnzen at gmail .com.

Give us your full name, the full name of your church or parachurch ministry, its location, and the number of men who will be joining you.

That's chrisarnzen at gmail .com, but Pastors Luncheon in the subject line. And if you could,

Pastor Hamilton, put in your own two cents about your own experience at my

Pastors Luncheon. Yeah, I had the pleasure of joining you, along with Samuel Farag, another brother from our church, for the first time last year, and it was a wonderful experience to fellowship with brothers from around the country and around the local area,

New York and Pennsylvania, to just be edified in the Word of God. I believe

James White was there for that particular luncheon, and we enjoyed a nice lunch, but the fellowship was sweet, getting to know those brothers, pastors, for sure, and just thanking

God for the ability that you provide, or for the opportunity, excuse me, that you provided to allow pastors to rest and enjoy a

Saturday lunch, a good meal, and a good, you know, exposure to the

Word of God, and then provide us with some wonderful resources. I think it's just a wonderful idea.

I wish I would have known about it sooner, but I've been telling everybody about it. It's a wonderful experience. I look forward to coming back.

The only reason I wasn't there this year is because I had a conflict with Shepherds. I think we talked about it, but barring any of those kind of conflicts,

I plan to be there with other brothers and pastors to come and enjoy that luncheon.

It's a blessing. It's special, and I appreciate you for it. Amen. Well, I'm looking forward to seeing you face -to -face at my next luncheon.

We have Graham in Harpswell, Maine, and Graham says,

Aren't there some who identify as Reformed Christians, who have a distorted understanding of the doctrine of justification?

I heard that John Piper, who at one time was universally loved by Reformed Christians, has a view of future justification that has been seen as extremely problematic, to say the least.

What are your opinions on that? I must say that I have never delved into a study of that issue.

Perhaps I should have since I host a podcast and radio program, but I never have delved into a thorough examination of John Piper's view.

I can remember years ago that I was contacted by N .T.

Wright's publicist, or one of his publicists, who wanted me to arrange a debate on my show between N .T.

Wright and John Piper, and I never heard a response back from John or anybody at the church where he was pastoring at the time in Minnesota.

But do you know more about that issue than I do? Because I really don't know anything to speak with authority on it.

Yeah, I can't speak to that either. I can't say that I've heard that. First of all, I have a great deal of respect for John Piper.

He's been an immense blessing in my ministry personally, and I'll say that.

And let me just say this too, while not speaking to that issue directly, in general, when you think of brothers who say things or might have said things or written things, you want to hold them accountable to the

Scriptures and have the Scripture as your standard. It doesn't matter who they are, what personality they may have obtained.

We want to allow the Scripture to be the standard. And if something is said, we only agree with and affirm those who are faithful to the

Scriptures. And when they drift away from that foundational truth, whoever it may be, then we don't support that.

Or we would reject that, I would say. We would reject whatever drift from the

Scriptures there would be, whether it is in a comment, an article, or a preaching or teaching series, or a moment.

So I would say that about anyone. But as far as the particulars about his view on what was stated by the questioner,

I cannot speak to that because I'm not aware of that. I hope that is helpful.

And I'm not dodging the question at all. I just don't have enough information or aware of any particulars as the question that was asked.

Well, Graham, you've just given me the idea to perhaps have a show on this at some point with somebody who actually has read everything that John Piper has written on this issue.

I know that he has even recently been invited by Grace Community Church to speak at John MacArthur's funeral.

Did he not speak there? That's correct. And I would be surprised if they invited him to speak at the funeral if they deemed his view to be so heretical or wrong that it placed him outside of the body of Christ.

But not that Grace Community Church is the sole arbiter of truth, but it gives you an idea that I'm sure that they are very meticulous at vetting people and so on.

But we'll get back to you about that. I do know that there has been controversy even over the

Puritan Richard Baxter over some confusing ways of expressing his understanding of justification.

And I've even heard by Puritan experts that the Reformed pastor is the only book that we should read by him.

But I can't say more than that. Well, I'd like you to close,

Pastor Mark, with what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today before I repeat not only your contact information, but the necessary information about the conference.

Yeah. Again, thank you, Chris, for having me on. I really appreciate the opportunity to chat with you about some important issues of our faith, particularly the core issue, justification by faith alone.

What I want to say to the listeners and everyone that will come across this broadcast is that it is the core issue of our faith because we have no faith if we don't get this right.

Believing in God, God justifying us through that faith.

Christianity, true Christianity, is a religion that rests.

It is the perspective that one rests in God, if you can say it simply like that.

The true faith, the true gospel that rests in God. False faith, false

Christianity is the one that works to gain favor, to gain something from God.

And if you can simply state it in those words, that's how I would do it. But I want to encourage everyone that hopes in God, that rests in God, to continue to do so because it is enough.

Just as Abraham and David and the ones throughout the great faith hall of fame and Hebrews, by faith, by faith, and that faith was a lone faith.

It was placed in the perfect, completed work of Christ, a sufficient

Christ. And so true faith presents a perfect righteousness for us based entirely on Christ's work, providing the believer with absolute assurance.

If our faith is not in God, we cannot have assurance. We cannot rest.

We have to continue to work and go through this process of works and sacraments and endless efforts to gain and to merit something that we can never merit, namely a good standing, a right standing, a righteous standing before God.

And so trust in the finished work of Christ. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You will be saved.

And that's enough. False Christianity, on the other hand, is that never ending process that we talked about, a never ending process of salvation where you're left in doubt.

You're left without a right standing, a righteous standing before God. And it forces us, or it forces that one to rely on their own works.

This is the glory of the gospel, that we get to rest in God, in Christ, who has done all the work for us, and we are to hope in Him till the end, because He is faithful to see us to that end as we rest in Him.

Well, for the website for Faithful Stones Church in Buffalo, New York, go to faithfulstoneschurch .org,

faithfulstoneschurch .org, to register for the conference next

Friday and Saturday, May 29th and May 30th at Delavan Baptist Church in Delavan, New York.

Go to delavanbaptistchurch .org.

I want to thank you so much, Pastor Mark, for doing such an exquisite job today. I want to thank everybody who listened.

I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater