Sola Fide (part 2) - [Romans 4]

Years ago, a song was penned and the lyrics are,

Jesus is just all right with me. Jesus is just all right, oh yeah. Jesus is just all right with me.

Jesus is just all right. I don't care what they may say. I don't care what they may do. I don't care what they may say.

Jesus is just all right, oh yeah. Now that gospel song was written by Arthur Reynolds and he first recorded it with his group,

The Art Reynolds singers in 1966 and I like the album title Telling it like it is

Kind of picking up on the slang. Jesus is cool. Jesus is all right But is that really the right way to think about Jesus see just all right.

Everything's kind of cool between you and Jesus I'll make it more biblical and more pointed.

Are you right with God? Are you right before God when you stand before him are you right with him and Even a more pointed question is this

Is God right with you? That's an even more important question. Is God in fact right with you?

If you'll take your Bibles and turn them to Romans chapter 3, that is the question we'd like to ask and then answer the doctrine of Justification by faith alone

How is a person justified before God? How can you stand before a thrice?

Holy God? We're sinful. We're fallen. We have Adams inherited sin

Adams imputed sin and our own sin How could we stand before God in his holy heaven?

Thankfully there is a way and once you understand this way It turns your

Gloom into joy to stand before God what greater feeling could there be to stand in the presence of God with great?

joy To think God has cast all my sins behind his back and I can stand in his presence

To say with David bless the Lord. Oh my soul and forget none of his benefits including

I am justified by faith alone If you understand

Justification by faith alone sola fide it unlocks everything for you. It unlocks assurance.

It unlocks judgment day Hopes and unlocks godliness but of course the background of sola fide comes from an argument between Protestants and Roman Catholics.

Oh It might go back to Augustine you say but it it boiled up in the 1500s when the

Reformers Luther and Calvin and Zwingli and others would say you're justified by faith alone and the

Roman Catholic Church would say no you're not and Rome hasn't changed and we haven't changed

What will be interesting today as we go through this passage? Both Protestants and Catholics can't be both right at the same time when they teach different things.

I Think Robert just told me he drove past the Oakdale rest home. And what was it what their signs say? Love unites it doesn't divide that close.

Where are you when I need you? Okay. Yes, I mean That's why we don't try to put up like kind of dumb slogans in front of the church here

We just try to put the sermon, you know titles Love rejoices with the truth

It is important even so important that we might have to disagree with our family our relatives our

Roman Catholic neighbors Yes, how do you stand before God both cannot be correct

This is important in Paul's day. It was important in Abraham's day David's day This issue is not peripheral and it never will be

How is a sinner right in the eyes of God? No wonder One reformer said we might take great pains and care to know it

For if we do not know what God's will toward us is we will have no foundation on which to establish our salvation or Builds us up in piety and fear of God This is one of the doctrines that Jan Hus is burnt for Burnt alive at the stake for refute for refusing to recant this truth

He said God is my witness in the same truth of the gospel Which I have written taught and preached drawn upon the sayings and positions of holy doctors.

I am ready to die today and Sadly in evangelicalism people aren't willing to die for this doctrine at all

They can't fast enough say this doctrine doesn't matter anymore because love must triumph over everything

We must be unified. So last week we looked at Romans chapter 3

Justification by faith alone and today we're going to look at chapter 4 as well and ask some questions

About the errors that can creep into this doctrine. We're going to be taught the right thing justification by faith alone but then what are the errors that could creep in because if any doctor needs to be taught with Crystal clarity this must be the doctrine

And I'll ask you questions as we go and the questions relate to Sola Fide not as a scholastic enterprise

But as a heartfelt truth, are you trusting right now on the Lord Jesus Christ?

Are you resting in him? The entrance to be right with God is through faith alone based on the merits of Christ.

So are you believing? Paul said in Galatians curse

It is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them

Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident the righteous man shall live by faith

You will stand before God one day and you will stand as justified as long as you're trusting alone in Christ Jesus has work that means you're not trusting in your baptism not trusting in your

Confirmation not trusting in your catechism not trusting in your church membership Not trusting in anything else if I keep going

I'm gonna fall right off of this and I'm gonna need surgery again an utter dependence upon and faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ taking God at his word plus nothing Sola Fide and Justification by faith alone means this when

God looks at you believer the gavel comes down a legal declaration is

Announced and you are declared to do two things number one have no sins to pay for because Jesus has paid for them all and Secondly God declares you as if you've perfectly obeyed the law of God If you take the two greatest commandments to love the

Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and love your neighbor As yourself God says every time you didn't do that Paid because Jesus paid for them and even though you didn't do those things

Jesus did and then credited to your account and so when you stand before God he can't hold anything against you because they're paid and He says

I commend you because you've perfectly kept the law that is Jesus has kept it for you

Justification means to pronounce it means to treat as just Because the question is really how much righteousness do you need to enter heaven a?

Little more than your neighbor Jesus said in Matthew 5 for I tell you unless your righteousness

Exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven

You just pick the most religious person You know you need more righteousness than they have to get to heaven

And there's two ways to approach this the righteousness of the law some would call it And that is you need to perfectly obey are the righteousness of the gospel

You're trusting in one who perfectly obeyed for you and paid for your sins at Calvary Look back at chapter 3 verse 24 with a brief reminder

Romans 3 24 this great book about righteousness that God is righteous and he thankfully bestows righteousness to all those who would believe in the risen

Savior 324 and are justified by his grace as a gift to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus God declares us righteous based on the righteous one

Jesus Christ And what you have to wrap your mind around initially when you think of justification is this there's a difference between state and standing

Justification has nothing to do with your state or the inward heart are your affections are your person

There's a different category for that and it's called regeneration What we're talking about here is standing before the tribunal of God God doesn't know what to know your state

He wants to know your standing and your standing is not guilty if you're a believer It's your status before God God deems you righteous on the basis of another there's therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus not

Guilty, so this is so important You know

Satan must attack it he's not going to attack these peripheral issues. He's gonna go straight for the heart for the hinge

And so let me give you no particular order Some errors about justification by faith alone

And then we'll take a look at scriptures to make sure we see these errors properly and will be particularly in Romans 4 today error number one

People believe that is justification by faith plus Instead of faith alone so left feed a they believe in faith plus How do you stand right with God you stand right with God by believing plus doing something else plus not doing something?

else So Luther comes along and Luther says the just shall live by faith.

I can stand in the presence of God on behalf of another man's work Jesus Christ work

And who also is the sin bearer and God has nothing to hold against me I have no sin to bear

Jesus bore it and God's not going to have double punishment double jeopardy and Jesus as my representative perfectly obeys

This was what was going on in 1519 1525 1530 But of course that didn't set well with Rome the counter -reformation begins

And if you would have gone with me to Rome just a few weeks ago I was in a church a Roman Catholic Church, and it has a big statue of Mary and This part.

I'm not I'm not trying to make light of she has a huge cross a bronze cross and she's wielding it like she is a sword and she has her foot on the neck of Luther and Calvin and The little postcard in the gift shop says

Mary crushing the heretics With little demon imps at the very bottom of Calvin and Luther where their books are ripping the pages out

And I automatically feel the need to make sure you understand the second we talk about these issues if your default is

There goes more Catholic bashing Then then I would appeal to your reason.

How do you stand before God? Both can't be right you're either on the narrow road that leads to eternal life or on the broad road

Don't you want even if you're a visiting Catholic today? Don't you want to know what the Bible says? The Council of Trent recognized.

It's not by faith alone in their opinion. This is what the Trent says It has not been revoked to this day if anyone says that by faith alone

The impious is justified by the way. I am saying that in such wise as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to the obtaining of the grace of justification and That it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will

Let him be Anathema if you think it is justification by faith alone adding nothing else trusting in Christ alone

Rome says you're damned Now how can I just say when

I live around 80 % Roman Catholics and my grandmother was a Roman Catholic My friends are my neighbors my loved ones.

You know what we both believe the same things That's categorically not true

Canon 14 if anyone says that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified

Because he assuredly believes himself absolved and justified that no one is truly justified

But he who believes himself justified and that by this faith alone Absolution and justification are affected.

Let him be Anathema yet.

What does Paul say right there in Romans 324 being justified as a cooperator?

Justified by faith plus justified as a gift by his grace

It's free. That's what the word gift means without cause remember they said of Jesus our

Jesus said they hated me without a cause for no reason they hated me and Paul uses the same language here justified for no other reason except God just says

I I'm a generous God. I give you these things sovereign grace 1st

Peter 224 he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness 2nd

Corinthians 521 for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin So that in him we might become the righteousness of God When we say our sins were imputed to Jesus We're talking about a

Standing before God Jesus has not turned into a sinner and the same thing when

God pronounces us righteous He's not turned us into a saint when it comes to justification. It affects our standing

He turns us into a saint via regeneration. That's true. But with justification our nature doesn't change

By Christ righteousness imputed to us any more than Christ nature is changed by our sin imputed to him

The priest

John Eckert writes on EWTN The Catholic Church affirms the necessity of faith for salvation, but it is not of itself sufficient for salvation faith

If the first step which leads to the essential step of baptism Which is followed by the obligation to live in accord with the law of Christ and the church

Yes, it's faith but it's not faith alone it's faith plus and what that father just said

The Catholic position we start with believing and then it's baptism and then my friends. Here's the bad news.

Keep the law How could anyone do that? Justification is a declaration

It's not some kind of infusing I remember being in in Europe and we'd rent a car and so the fun part about renting the car was the

Audubon That was a lot of fun in Germany and I had this actually was driving a Ford SUV and so I got up to about 128 miles an hour that seemed pretty fast until the

Maserati flew by me at like 160 and so I would fill up my car with benzene with petrol with diesel and Then we would drive for a while and by the time

I got into Belgium I'd have to stop again and fill it back up and then we got over to Normandy I'd have to stop again and fill it back up.

That's the version of Catholicism Grace, is it something? That's Stemming into a declaration.

It's like medicine. It's like fuel you get a fill up with baptism And then throughout the week you run out of gas you come back on Sunday, and you have the mass again, etc

And it all starts with baptism my question to you if it's faith believe the Lord Jesus Christ And you shall be saved that's faith alone.

So why add baptism and for me I don't have to only pick on Catholics for me.

It was baptism when I was a Lutheran It's faith alone. What are you trusting in to stand before God?

Because what what the Bible wants you to do is to get away from yourself because I have bad motives sinful motives fallible things

I've sinned I do sin. How can I have my sin stand before God? I can't I need another

Vatican dot VA website catechism of the Catholic Church Baptism is also called the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the

Holy Spirit 1257 the Lord himself affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation 1263 by baptism all sins are forgiven

Original and personal as well as all punishment for sin. Well, let's like it look at Romans chapter 4 and see

What the biblical mandate is is it sola fide or is it faith plus?

You may have asked yourself the question, how is anybody saved in the Old Testament? This is the answer.

How is anybody ever saved? This is the answer if I heck if I must enter heaven on God's terms

What are the terms this is the answer and when you look at it says

Abraham justified by faith Even in my liner notes of the Bible the star don't forget isn't

Abraham. It's the one Abraham believes in Faith alone our faith plus circumcision.

There's nothing in here about baptism, but everything here is a circumcision Is it faith plus a religious ordinance prescribed by God or is it faith alone?

For Abraham, is it faith plus circumcision or is it faith alone for our modern -day application?

Is it faith plus baptism our faith alone faith plus my parents faith our faith alone?

Verse 1 of Romans 4 what then shall we say was gained by Abraham our

Forefather according to the flesh the Paul asks these questions and Paul is so brilliant He can see the hand going up in class and the hands gonna go up in class and says, you know

What if you're saying Paul that no one gets to heaven based on their own righteousness Well, I think

Abraham I think he maybe did Abraham didn't he get to heaven by keeping the law

And Paul's gonna say that's not correct, but this is what he's anticipating And if you're a

Jew, do you love father Abraham? When you read the New Testament how many people? How many times is there a reference to Abraham over and over and over?

Remember when my kids were little father Abraham had many sons and I'm like, you know, like all songs

They just dive into and spiral down into bad theology. So I had to rescue that song

Here's how I rescued it obviously not by singing it father Abraham and many sons many sons had father

Abraham I'm one of them and so are you if you believe so, let's just praise the Lord Paul's anticipating this objection father

Abraham. He's in he kept the law. He got circumcised. That's why he's in it's not faith alone

And you can just hear you mean to tell me I can live any way I want to as long as I can believe as long as I believe

No, I'm telling you as Long as you believe and trust in the work of another you will be saved.

They loved Abraham He's the embodiment of salvation But Paul knew these

Jews thought justification by faith plus works Here's some

Jewish writings Quote at that time this has nothing to do with the Old Testament, but just traditions of the

Jews Apocalypse of Barak taught at that time the unwritten law was named among them and the works of the commandment were then fulfilled

Before even Moses had given the law Abraham kept that law completely

Ecclesiasticus not Ecclesiastes Said Abraham kept the law of the Most High and was taken into covenant with God Therefore God assured him by an oath that the nation should be blessed in his seed

One of the mission I said Abraham was blessed because he obeyed me and kept my charge my commandments my statutes and my laws

How do you get to heaven by obeying? I just have a side rejoined her

So Abraham obeyed was that the first time he said sleep with my wife. She's my sister are the second

To obey all the law not just externally remember

Jesus wants the heart of the matter Book of Jubilees Abraham was perfect in all his deeds

The prayer of Manassas God didn't appoint repentance to Abraham.

Why because he kept the law Did he verse two? For if Abraham was justified by works by law -keeping

By getting righteousness by him personally obeying what God said He has something to boast about But not before God Abraham would be in heaven saying

I did it. I kept the law. I perfectly obeyed But there's no basis for that because standing before God you can't work your way to heaven

Well, what does Scripture say? Maybe that would be helpful verse 3 Paul appeals to Scripture Thankfully, what does the

Scripture say if you were to say what does the Scripture say? What is the bulk of the Old Testament say but he he has a particular verse he's honing in on what does

Scripture say? Literally what he means is what does Genesis 15 6 say?

Here's what 15 6 says Genesis 15 6 Abraham believed God He trusted in God he relied on God he he entrusted himself to God and it was counted

This is justification by faith alone language. It was counted to him as righteousness and Wonderfully in the

Greek that word believed is putting a position in the Greek sentence that it's it's leading it's up front

So you can't miss it Abraham relied on God he trusted in God It's not faith in faith

It's not Abraham's faithfulness faith has an object and that object was the Messiah Who even back in Genesis chapter 3 was talked about?

I love John 8 56. Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see my day the day of the

Messiah Jesus said and he saw it and was glad Abraham was looking forward to the

Messiah that would come he was trusting in God's promises Abraham's faith wasn't the ground for his salvation.

Why are you in heaven Abraham? Because I myself believed No, no, that's that's the ground of something that can't be he would have something to boast in but the channel the means that God gives

Righteousness is through his faith and God says to sinful

Abraham the moon God not long ago Worshiping Nanar the moon God and he says in my sight you're justified

Based on the work of another I see you as perfect This person

Abraham is righteous in my sight Paul goes on verse 4 now to the one who works

You get a paycheck His wages are not counted as a gift, but as his do You've heard many pastors explain it this way you work all week and the boss

Calls you in his office at Friday at 501 says by the way, you've been a hard worker this week And I have a gift for you.

Oh great Here's your paycheck No, no, I I earned that His wages aren't counted as a gift, but it was do but Abraham received something as a gift righteousness

God's righteousness and If you could get to heaven by having Jesus not die in the cross, then maybe

I would understand it But why have Jesus die if you could get there on your own just by circumcision just by baptism

Verse 5 and to the one who does not work We're talking about for salvation. We're not talking about your job your nine -to -five job, but the one who doesn't work for salvation

But believes in him say the words alone not there. Well, yes, it is Theologically, it's there but Believes in him no work no work, but faith faith alone.

No works who justifies the ungodly So you don't have to be better to be saved

He justified people who ungodly his faith his faith in the Messiah is counted as righteousness

I mean if you want to describe my cave and Roth before I was saved

Probably the best word you could use is I was ungodly the way

God thought how God was holy I was unholy what

I did wasn't like God My words weren't like God and that was the exact same thing with Abraham.

That was the exact same thing for Noah But what God does is says here's the promises that I have for you and the response of Abraham was

I believe that's the doctrine of faith alone and Everything in us wants to say no.

No, no, that's not how it works. We work we contribute we do things You get because you give

What goes around comes around work hard karma and the list goes on but Abraham was ungodly he was a pagan and God just blessed him.

Anyway, I mean isn't this the gospel?

God justifies the ungodly by the way, if you're here today and you say to yourself I have committed so many sins

I'm not a Christian, but I've committed so many sins God could never forgive me because in my heart of hearts in those quiet moments in places that no one ever knew that I went

To I am sinning so much God can never accept me and you know what the Bible says God justifies people just like you who are ungodly.

I mean, why was Noah picked? To be the standard -bearer in the ark and you say because he was blameless and upright in the sight of the

Lord. No He was running around like everybody else a pagan but the text says what he found favor in God's eyes

Don't ever let anyone tell you you're too sinful to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be forgiven

I can think of somebody else who was sinful and God forgave and Isn't he a hero of the faith verse 6?

Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts

Righteousness apart from works friends. That is faith alone He counts righteousness

Apart from works You can't say Abraham's the

He's the one that's you know, the exception to the clause No, no, David to what about David?

Here's a comparison just as And there's lots of reckon and imputing language both in Genesis 15 and now in Psalm 32

How can David stand before God approved?

Can you imagine on that day standing before God David? I approve you now

Remember God is so holy every sin has to be taken care of David can't get to heaven with one sin

Let alone adultery let alone murder. Let alone cowardice. Let alone. Let alone.

Let alone But God can look at Abraham Abraham and David and say based on the work of Jesus the last

Adam. I accept him through faith And you see that in verse 7

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered

Have you ever broke the law and got in trouble for it? The judge just said forgiven.

I Think you'd be happy In Europe you drive around and they don't have a lot of policemen there in Germany, but they have cameras everywhere so when you speed you get your picture taken and I Was just hoping a lot of my pictures weren't would not be sent to Christian Andreessen as I borrowed his car

And so I got to back to his house after one of our excursions and he put some mail out for me.

I Have no German address But miracle knows where I live

And I opened it up and I thought I know I was feeding. I'll just pay I opened it up It was for the

IKEA family pass. I made it so happy This Isn't just a regular lawless deeds you get caught cheating on your taxes and they give you a deferral they give you forgiveness

This is before God Who's a blessed person no matter what you're going through no matter what's going on in your life this week

Particularly Wednesday at 10 o 'clock in the morning Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven

How'd you like to be forgiven whose sins are covered? Your sins are hurled away cast away put off No wonder

Micah says who's a god like you who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of his remnant

Who's a god like you who forgives? verse 8

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin

Remember Augustine what a wicked sinner he was Augustine running around with all kinds of loose ladies and prostitutes and Augustine realizes, you know,

I I Know I shouldn't do this Lord. I want continence sexually, but not yet That was his prayer to God and then

God saved Augustine And he took a little piece of wood and engraved

Romans 4 8 and put it at the edge of his bed. So in every night he went to bed

He looked and saw blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin

Credited to Jesus account were his sins Say but what about these works issues?

What about circumcision? I mean baptisms in the Bible Well, very good parallel here verses 9 and following circumcision is prescribed in the

Bible as well We're not making up some kind of weird church Ceremony that's not in the Bible both baptism and circumcision in the

Bible. Do they contribute to your salvation or is it faith alone? verse 9

Is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised for we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness

You can see Paul is talking to that person who's maybe raising his hand don't forget I've read the

Bible Paul and Abraham was circumcised That right makes us

That right RIT gives us a right standing with God our IGHT.

Well, how Paul answer that? don't forget in this mail of Circumcision that was going on in Paul's day

They taught that if you were circumcised, you'd never die and go to hell Rabbi Menachem our rabbis have said that no uncircumcised man will ever see hell.

They even taught That if a Jew got into idolatry That before God would send them to hell.

He would uncircumcise him Because if you're circumcised, you're certainly not going to go to hell

Really verse 10. How then was it counted to him?

Was it before or after he had been circumcised? Here's what Paul is saying

What's first in the Bible Genesis 15 or Genesis 17 Because Genesis 15 is when

God declared Abraham righteous through faith alone and Genesis 17 is when he got baptized

And so Paul is saying have you forgotten which comes first? He answers verse 10 It was not after but before he was circumcised

And when you hear things you go to a mass a funeral mass And one of the first things you hear besides greetings are a prayer is we know this person's in heaven because of what?

Because they've been baptized really Not while circumcised but while uncircumcised verse 11.

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of righteousness This is important, but it's not salvific that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

That's all it is is a seal a sign The purpose was to make him the father of all who what believe without being circumcised

So that righteousness could be counted to them as well This is just an evidence.

This circumcision is that I belong to God and I believe his promise. That's all that is to me Verse 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who not merely circumcised

But who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised

Now time is going to prevent us from going through the whole chapter But I want you just to see the faith that Abraham had.

I love the way Romans 4 Describes Abraham's faith not his works not as good deeds not anything else verse 20

What what's saving faith like? What's a real trust in God like Hebrews?

What's a real rest upon Christ like no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God Even though he's old even though he cannot have children.

He didn't what does the King James say? I can just hear my brother -in -law Steve say it He Staggered not at the promise of God, but grew strong in his faith as he gave him glory

You want to know what real faith is fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised

That's what faith is. I'm trusting my entire life. Yay my eternity on Jesus has claimed that he's the eternal

God who lived a perfect life who died for my sins and was raised from the dead and Frankly if Jesus is a liar,

I'm ready to go to hell in other words.

I'm trusting only in him I have no other hope because every other hope boils down to this

I stand before God and I hope my good outweighs my bad and friends I'm telling you they won't because you stand there with one sin

James 2 10 and you're held guilty of all Even if you stop sinning today and never sin again in the future.

You still have to pay for all those sins Friends if God could get you to heaven any other way

I mean God is merciful and compassionate and gracious and he wants people to come to his heaven holy heaven

But he cannot compromise his justice or his holiness. So how do you get wicked sinful ungodly people to heaven?

Well, just get circumcised just get baptized just have last rites You see how that demeans the work of Jesus.

Do you see how that taints everything everything I touch It's like I have pitch on my hands you ever get tar or pitch

Sometimes I think it's about that time of year again. You redo your driveway with all the black What's it called sealant last year?

I thought I was gonna really do a good job And instead of buying the cheapest thing and putting it as thin as possible

I got like the extra five -year -plus stuff and I just lathered that thing on I slather that thing on I was all happy I didn't do things like the cheap

Avondroth way. It's just cut corners, you know when possible That thing still is looking awful this year

I was duped my original strategy was much better Cheap is better Some things cheap is better.

Some things are so I tried to keep that stuff off my shoes

The star the tar sealant I tried to keep it off my legs. I tried to keep it off my shorts

I tried to keep it off my hands But if you just look at the old broomstick deal squeegee thing that I had it's everywhere

And it's like I'm trying to get rid of my own sins, and it just keeps multiplying and multiplying That's exactly what works righteousness does and so Abraham could never make it

David could never make it Adam could never make it Sarah could never make it Paul could never make it because if you've got one sin

You're not going to make it What a lie for the devil to just go just have some water put on your head when you're a kid you're good to go

Really if you're here today in your Roman Catholic Can't you as you read

Romans 4 say? Well, I might not like it It does say faith alone.

I'm still trusting in what my priest says, but it still says faith alone What did

Paul say to the jailer? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will what be saved does that sound like faith alone to you

What about the thief on the cross far away from water? Does that sound like faith alone?

What could the thief contribute and? Again, I can feel the pressure because we live in crazy world and crazy world is don't ever criticize anyone because it's unloving

Friends if you just let your Catholic friends go to hell and never tell them don't trust in baptism because it's faith alone

Then I'm not the unloving one you are and if you're a

Catholic, and you don't try to convince me that your ways, right? I'm not the unloving one you are this is no game, and it affects evangelicals.

Oh, you know what I prayed the prayer Decisional regeneration I asked Jesus in my heart. He has to save me.

We're good to go. I go live like hell really But see

I know you because I am one of you. I'm weak and this mind that God has given me for creativity

Think about how people compose music and art we are so creative because we've been made in God's image and likeness

But what do we then do our creative minds come up with machinations to figure out? I don't really care what

God says I'll get to heaven on my own and We even then begin to think my faith is the one that saves

Faith is not the cause of your salvation. It's a gift Philippians 129 for unto you it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake

For by grace you've been saved through faith. That's not because of faith and that not of yourselves It is the gift of God the instrument of our salvation is faith, but the ground

It's Christ's work We have evidence in our life of fruit, that's certainly true, but the fruit has nothing to do with Justification so I ask you are you trusting in anything except Jesus for your salvation?

Spurgeon remember this or you may fall into error by fixing your mind so much upon the faith

Which is the channel of salvation as to forget the grace, which is the foundation and source even of faith itself

Faith is a work of God's grace in us No man comes to me says Jesus except the

Father who sent me draws him So that faith which is coming to Christ is the result of divine drawing

Grace is the first and last moving cause of salvation and faith essential as it is

Is only an important part of the machinery which God's grace employs we are saved through faith

But salvation is by grace Sound forth those words as with the

Archangels trumpet by grace you are saved What glad tidings for the undeserving and I rejoice that God's grace could find out a man like me

Enslaved in the Lutheran system that says as long as you're baptized You're good, and if God can open my eyes to faith alone.

He can open your eyes and your neighbor's eyes true Because God loves to save sinners

He wants sinners to bow the knee because why have his son do that if it was for no reason

Jesus's death on the cross was not merely an act of love although it was it was so that God could uphold his standards and say

I can be both holy and Gracious at the same time. Let's pray.

I thank you father for these words found in Romans 4 I Pray for those who are trusting in Jesus alone today to rejoice

There's nothing they have to add to stand in your presence Believing in Jesus and his promises

That's the channel. I pray for those who do not believe for whatever reason maybe young Maybe visiting maybe a member

Holding on to something. I just pray That you would let them see those some things are tainted by sin and just let them go and rest in your son and father

I pray I pray for my dear Catholic friends and neighbors That they could see free grace for what it is