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

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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.

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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 Samson, 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 ShepherdCon 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.

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. 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-Tenebrux 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? And that 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 .com. Give us your first name at least, your city and state of residence, and your country of residence.

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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 could 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 has 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.

Belief, believing, believing, faith in God. Faith in God is what imputes the righteousness of God to those who trust in God. The crowds were... And 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, 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 Chictahuaga, New York. That must be a Native American name, Chictahuaga.

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.