I ask that you remain standing if you're able, and we'll read the sermon text from Romans 3, Romans 3, verses 21 through 24, and those are on page 1106 in the Pew Bible. Hear God's word, Romans 3, 21. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Amen. You may be seated. And I ask that you pray with me. Lord, we thank you for gathering us together on this, your day, the Lord's day. And we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would teach us, that we would lift up the Lord Jesus Christ, and that you would draw men, women, and children to yourself. Thank you, Lord, that you have given us good news. Thank you that you have provided a way for us to be saved. a way for us to have eternal life, to know you and to make you known. And so we pray, Lord, that your spirit would teach us and that we would be built up and prepared for the good works that you predestined that we would walk in. And so we thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name, amen. Sermon title this morning is Why the Reformation Still Matters. Why the Reformation Still Matters. And so on the last Sunday of October, we celebrate Reformation Sunday, commemorating that on October 31st, 1517, The monk named Martin Luther took his 95 theses or 95 statements regarding indulgences and nailed them onto the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Now, that might seem like a strange thing to take something and nail it to a door. It was a wooden door. And the door of the church in those days was like the bulletin board. So if you wanted to let people know of something that was going on, you put something up on the bulletin board, the church door, and then people would spread the news far and wide. Luther didn't realize is when he put those 95 statements up on the door that someone would take them and then print them, translate them into German and print them and disperse them throughout Germany. And so, In a short time, Luther found himself in the middle of a great controversy. And eventually, under a number of situations, he was called to recant, but he would not. He would not take back what he said. And, of course, we have the the very dramatic retelling of that story in various Luther movies where he says, I will not recant. I cannot go against the word of God or against conscience. To do so is not safe, not right. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. And the Lord did help him. and enabled him to stand, and you would have expected someone making that stand to be burnt at the stake, and certainly there were those who experienced that fate, but that wasn't the Lord's plan for Luther. The Lord protected him and enabled him to stand. And, What we find is that through that event, that nailing of those statements to the door, it led to the greatest transformation of Western society since the apostles first preached the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. and provoked a debate that eventually culminated in what we call the Protestant Reformation. Now Luther was an Augustine monk and so he was an heir of Augustine of Hippo. And he studied under the Augustinians, and he became a great center of controversy when these statements, the 95 Theses, were copied and distributed throughout Europe. Eventually, Luther's study of scripture led him to oppose the Church of Rome on issues including the primacy of the Bible over church tradition. So there was this big controversy. How do we know what we know is true? And at the time, the thought was, well, if the pope says something is true, then it is true. And so the idea of people infallibility was believed. But Luther said, no, we popes and councils in the past have erred, and so we need to go by scripture. And if the pope can show me from scripture, then that's more reliable than just the Pope. And then also, there was a, and this is probably one of the biggest things, there was an occlusion or a covering over what truly constitutes the gospel. And so, The Roman Catholic teaching, which continues to this day, is grace is conferred through faith and through the work worked. So the Roman Catholics would teach that not faith alone, but faith plus works saves us. Whereas the Bible would teach that faith equals salvation plus works. So you have to have faith and works on the right side of the equal sign. The Roman Catholic would say faith plus works equals salvation, but there's a problem there because what happens is when we add works, then we have to trust in our works and our record. and the Bible is clear, and we read it this morning, it says that, now the righteousness of God is, from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. It is a righteousness of God apart from the law. even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. And so our righteousness is not based on works of the law, what we do, our righteousness is based on faith in God's promised Messiah, the Lord Jesus, amen. And so the Reformation still matters because the gospel still matters. The Reformation was a return to the gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Amen. So Luther said, the doctrine of justification by faith alone is the article on which the church stands or falls. And R.C. Sproul adds, the doctrine of justification by faith alone is the article on which you stand or fall, and it is the doctrine on which I stand or fall. Amen. And so we need to recognize that we're made right in God's sight, not because of what we've done, but because of what Jesus did on the cross in our place. Amen. And so I urge you today, brothers and sisters, to stand on the righteousness of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ. That's the main point this morning. Stand on the righteousness of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Now, there's a danger. Having said this, that we're standing on the righteousness of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ, there's a danger to congratulate ourselves and say, well, we're the good guys. We believe in justification by faith in Christ alone, and we're not the bad guys. However, there is a tendency in our flesh to want to justify ourselves by what we do. And so how many times do we say, well, I didn't do that, but I'm doing this. And so I'm not as bad and so and so because of this, this, and this. Well, aren't I still trusting in my righteous deeds in that case? If I'm drawing attention to what I did or what I didn't do as opposed to what Jesus did in my stead on the cross and in his righteous life. So are we trusting Only in the alien righteousness of Christ? Or are we trusting somewhat in our works, or our record, or our performance? What does standing only on the righteousness of God look like? Well, let's look at that from our passage, Romans 3.21. says, but now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed. So our righteousness is apart, separate from the law, and separate from our keeping the law. And it is through faith alone. Verse 22 says, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all believe. Now I said through faith alone. The word alone does not appear in our text, but the idea of it appears. The idea is there in verse 21. It is a faith apart from. or in exclusion from the law. And so we're trusting not in what we do regarding the law, but what Jesus did regarding the law. He kept the law perfectly. And then he also died in our place to pay for where we didn't keep the law perfectly. Thank you, Lord Jesus, amen. And this standing only on the righteousness of God is a standing in Christ Jesus. Verse 22, it says, even the righteousness of God through faith, where? In Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus. And so, beloved, we need to always lean on him who we are in, amen? And this is a remedy, not just for us, but for all sinners. Verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And as all have sinned, there's that possibility that those who believe can be justified, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So there is a remedy. Thank God there's a remedy for all sinners, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and they are being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. How many have experienced the free justification by faith in Christ Jesus? Hallelujah. What a great blessing to be redeemed by the blood of the precious lamb of God. Amen. And so this is given freely, so it is a gift. It's not something we earn. So again, works are excluded. It's a free gift of justification, it's not earned, and it's a redemption. Who knows what a redemption is? A redemption is a buyout. And so God bought us up, he redeemed us, he made the payment. Jesus said, it is finished or it is paid in full. Made a payment that we could never pay and purchased us for himself. So we are twice owned by God. We're owned by him, by creation, and also by redemption. So we are his. And so thank God that we have a standing, a standing in righteousness by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And so beloved, stand on the righteousness of God through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And avoid the danger, avoid the danger of trusting your own works. And remember that we only can trust in the work of God, the work of Jesus, the work of the Father, the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Amen? Amen. Just one last thing, wanna make sure that we keep our equations right. Remember, it's not faith plus works equals salvation, it's faith equals salvation plus works. Why do we say that? Well, in Ephesians 2, it says, for it is by grace, You have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, so that no one can boast. So no one can come along and boast and say, well, I did it. I saved myself. I did all these good works, so God needs to accept me. No, we receive salvation as a gift because God did it. and God saves us and God makes us righteous. But Ephesians 2 goes on to say, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that he predestined that we would walk in. So we're saved not by good works, but we're saved to do good works. And so on the other side of the equation, there are good works. So it is faith equals salvation plus good works. Do those good works save us? No. But they're evidence that God has given us a saving faith. Amen? Amen. Well, let's pray. Lord, we want to thank you Thank you for the gospel. Thank you that it is by grace that we've been saved through faith, and this not of ourselves. It is a gift of God, not by works. And so there's no room to boast in what we've done, but there's all the room to boast in you and in the great salvation that you've given us through Jesus Christ. And so we thank you, Lord. Thank you that we can stand and stand on your righteousness that you give as a gift just by believing, believing in what Jesus did. And so thank you, Lord, for his perfect life Thank you for his perfect sacrifice on the cross. I pray, Lord, that that's what we would trust in, that we would not point to our record or to what we've done or what we will do, but only on what you've done to be just and the justifier of those who have faith in Christ Jesus. And so give us grace, Lord, to always look to you and to your son, Jesus, our sin bearer. And so, Lord, I pray for any who have not yet received the free gift of salvation in Jesus, that you would give them grace to believe on him and him alone for salvation. And so thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have been set forward as a savior, as the one who takes away our sins. Thank you, Lord. And pray your blessing on each one here. Fill us with your spirit. Fill us with your word and with your good news. And we pray in Jesus' name, amen.