Scripture is read from the New Testament, Paul's epistle to the Romans in chapter 3, reading verses 21 through 31. Romans chapter 3, the word of God reads from verse 21, And 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, whom God sent forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. Or is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not. On the contrary, we establish the law. We've been learning about justification, and I want to bring before you the instrument of justification. The instrument of justification is faith. So we've seen that justification meets the deepest needs of those who are unrighteous. We've seen that all of our sins are forgiven, that we are clothed with the perfection, the perfect divine righteousness of God, In justification we are declared as such and openly recognized as such. We've seen that this is based on the life and the death of the Lord Jesus, the Son of God. We've seen that this is due to the outpouring of free grace from the Almighty God. All of this is majestic, it is wonderful. Now we ask the question, is everyone justified Are all human beings declared righteous? Do they all receive this wonderful gift? No, they do not. Some people are justified and some are not justified. In human terms, what makes the difference? The answer is clear. It is faith. This is our subject. expressed in Romans 3.22, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. Faith is the crucial distinction between the justified and the unrighteous. Those who have exercised faith are justified. The others who have not exercised faith are still in their sins. This is the difference between heaven and hell. Heaven is the place of faith. Hell is the place of unbelief. To explain that faith is the instrument of justification, we'll survey five subjects. The status of faith. The solitariness of faith. The scandal of faith. The substitute for faith. and the suitability of faith. The status of faith. Our first topic is the status of faith as the instrument of justification. We are using the term instrument as was adopted by our spiritual forefathers. In the Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 11, Section 2 we read, Faith is the alone instrument of justification. alone has the meaning of the only instrument of justification. Charles Hodge in his commentary writes, The part assigned to faith in the work of our reconciliation to God is that of an instrument. It apprehends and appropriates the meritorious ground of our acceptance, the work, or the righteousness of Christ. Faith is the instrument justification, that is its status. What does instrument mean? Instrument is not a biblical word, it's a theological concept. Is this pointless hair-splitting? Is this important to be precise? Yes, it is hugely important to be precise. Major issues depend on our understanding of faith as an instrument. The key point is that faith is not the ground of our justification, it's not the basis, it's not the foundation. Faith is not upon which our justification rests. The slogan, by faith alone, can be misleading. It can suggest to people that faith is the basis on which we are saved. By doing so, it turns faith into a work. which is the exact opposite of what faith really is. It reverts the order of things, inverts the order of things. So, people think they are saved because of something they do, or something they have done properly. If a person is lost, it's because they haven't done something properly. If we misunderstand and think of faith as our ground for justification, we misinterpret being justified by faith. If that happens, what's the result? The result is we will start looking at our faith and examining our faith and trusting our faith. Depending on our faith, we will ask ourselves, am I saved? And we will say, what is the condition of my faith? Once you start doing that, you will begin to feel the spiritual ground quaking under your feet because faith is most shaky and unreliable foundation. Faith varies from day to day, week to week. Sometimes it's strong, sometimes it's wavering, sometimes it's almost non-existent. It's helpful to note the precision with which the New Testament uses its prepositions. The New Testament speaks of us being justified by faith, justified through faith, or justified upon faith. There is a Greek preposition in a particular case that means on account of or because of and the Bible never says that. We are never justified on account of our faith. We are never justified because of our faith. Faith is not the ground of our justification. We have seen what the ground is. The ground of our justification is the life and the death of the Son of God. That's the basis. It's recorded in Romans 5 verse 9 which says, we have been justified by his blood. That's the solid basis on which God is able to declare a guilty sinner as righteous. Think about it. What good would faith be as the ground of our acceptance? Should I come to God and say, I want you to let me into heaven because I believe? How does belief affect your sins? How does it affect God's broken law? How does it affect your character or your obedience? What relevance does it have that you believe? How does that change your past record or your present condition? What sort of reason is that to get into heaven? I believe, oh God. But if you said, Lord, your son died for me on the cross and paid for my sins in his own body, he has given me his perfect righteousness, and that's why I'm asking you to let me into heaven. Then you are on solid ground. Faith is the instrument by which justification becomes ours. We might think of the surgeon's scalpel That's an instrument that he uses in the operation, the knife. The scalpel is indispensable. He can't make an incision with his fingers. Without the scalpel, he can't save the life. And in that limited secondary sense, the scalpel saves us. It's the scalpel that repairs the damage or that cuts out the tumor, but the scalpel is only a means. The scalpel is only the link between the surgeon's skill and our ailment. Lying on the operating table, the scalpel is worthless. In the wrong hands, it becomes a deadly weapon that will kill instead of heal. When the surgeon takes it, it's a lifesaver. Yet the surgeon saves us, the instrument he uses does not save us. This is a poor illustration because it's the illustration the surgeon uses the scalpel, whereas we the patient are called to exercise faith that is given to us. Nevertheless, perhaps you see the main point. Our faith is the link between us and our sins and our Savior. Our faith is the channel by which His life and His death is credited to us. Our faith is the means by which His grace and mercy enters our lives. What we are saying is that faith in itself is worthless. In fact, if it's misdirected, it's lethal. Remember the people who had faith in Jim Jones, the founder and leader of the People's Temple? He's best known for the mass suicide, November 1978. of 909 members of the Jonestown Guyana. People all over the world have faith, but it's a misdirected faith, and it's a faith that will damn them. It's going to send them to hell, yet they have great faith. Faith itself is worthless, but when it is directed toward Jesus, it is saving. That's why the scripture often qualifies faith by which we are justified. It says, faith in Jesus Christ or faith in Jesus. Listen to B.B. Warfield. The saving power of faith resides not in itself, but in the Almighty Savior on whom it rests. It is not faith that saves, but faith in Jesus Christ. It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Jesus that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. Saving power resides exclusively not in the act of faith, or in the attitude of faith, or in the nature of faith, but in the object of faith. Faith is vital. Faith is indispensable. is an instrument. This is the status of faith, an instrument. The solitariness of faith. The second theme is the solitariness of faith. We are justified by faith only, or faith alone, Roman Catholic apologists have pointed out for the last 400 years that the two words faith and alone, or only, are brought together only once in the whole Bible. And this is in James 2 verse 24 where James says, You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only. This has been a strong point in Roman Catholic arguments. The only time that the Bible leaks faith and alone is that it tells us that that is not the way it is. Of course, the objection is superficial. John Calvin calls it an obvious, ridiculous shift. James is dealing with a different issue altogether. Paul makes it clear over and over again that faith by which we are justified is faith by itself, faith alone. Romans 3.28 says, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. That's faith alone. Additional verses are Galatians 2.16, Philippians 3.9. It could be clearer. It's faith alone. The classic passage is Ephesians 2. verses 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Not by works, not partly by faith and works, but faith alone. Paul is attacking attempts to earn salvation by keeping the commandments. The Jews in Paul's time were, in practice, legalists. The Jews believed that they could store up treasure for themselves by obeying the commandments. The more commandments, the better. It's really a mistake to think that the Jews were being burdened by a lot of commandments. They loved a lot of commandments. It was an opportunity to earn more credits with God. Rabbi Hillel said, Where there is much law, there is much life. Paul is attacking this. He is attacking those who rely upon their acceptance with God on what they have done. He describes it in Galatians 3.21 as righteousness by the law. In Galatians 2.21 he speaks of justification through the law. This is what he's attacking. Salvation by works is impossible. This is the solitariness of faith. Faith alone is the instrument of justification. Solitariness of faith. The scandal of faith. The third issue is the scandal of faith by faith alone. How we love the words. People who don't know any other Latin may know Sola Fide, one of the great watchwords of the Reformation. It speaks to us of the martyrs, of the reformers, of the faithful contending for the truth. It's a reassuring phrase. It's a familiar phrase. We're comfortable with it. We love it by faith alone. In contrast, not by works, it brings to mind the rosary beads of penance, the rituals, medieval superstitions, the dreary moralism, seems so absurd, so pointless, so foolish. We're sorry for people who believe in salvation by works. Faith alone, wonderful isn't it? But are we a bit hasty? Faith alone is a shocking doctrine. It is radical. It is mind-blowing. It is extremely controversial. and there is something in all of us that fights against it as being wrong. To illustrate the scandal of faith, imagine two men. The first is a notorious despot and the second is a beloved doctor. Think of some despot, like Saddam Hussein. All his life he has stolen, plundered, raped and murdered to make himself great. Tomorrow he is to be executed for his crimes. But tonight, a gospel tract comes to his attention. He reads it, the Holy Spirit opens his eyes, he repents of his sins, and in this last hour calls upon Jesus to save him. At the same moment that the notorious despot passes from this earth, the beloved doctor also dies. He's a country doctor in a small town in mid-America. All his life he's known for being a loving and kind man who has brought generations of babies into the world. He's cared for the whole community. He gave himself selfishly to doing good throughout all of his life. He is a convinced atheist and has no time for God. Yet he is loved and mourned by the whole community. These two individuals arrived together in the presence of God. The genocidal, bestial, torturer-murderer is welcomed into glory. The kindly humanitarian physician is cast into the torments of hell. Isn't that shocking? Salvation by works is what makes sense to us. Salvation by works is natural religion. seems to us the logical way of approaching God ever since Cain brought his offering to the Lord. It seems natural that people who try to be good should be accepted ahead of people who don't try to be good. Salvation by works is the creed of every other religion that there ever is or ever will be. It stands against this one faith, the Christian gospel, salvation by faith. Salvation by works seems to be just and fair. It seems to be the best way of making people good. It's certainly the best way of keeping people good. Throughout history, even God's people have easily become, have become uneasy about the freeness of the gospel. They have been very ready to drift away from it into legalism. By the middle of the second century, less than a hundred years after the resurrection, the gospel was almost lost at the church. Throughout the Middle Ages, the gospel was buried or hidden under, to a large extent, until it was rediscovered at the Reformation. We have more to worry about than the medieval church. We are all tempted, every one of us. We are all natural legalists. No matter how far we go in the Christian life, we will never be immune to work's righteousness. Reverend Ted Donnelly, Edward Donnelly, pastor of Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church, Newtown Abbey, Northern Ireland, professor with a doctorate degree in New Testament Language and Literature at the Reformed Theological Reformed Theological College in Belfast illustrates this tendency with a personal anecdote. He reported there was once a season in which he had a few bad days spiritually. This pastor said he wasted a lot of time in the study. He neglected to do what he needed to do. Without giving the details, he had a couple of really bad days. He came to the study the next morning. He knew it was time for him to pray, but he had lived such a wretched life for a couple of days he couldn't pray. He said to himself, I would be a hypocrite to go to God and to ask for his blessings considering the way I have been living and the state I am in. He said, what I need to do is to get myself sorted out to get my life in order. I'll get down at my desk, I'll do a good day's work, When I've done a good day's work, I'll be in a better frame of mind to pray to God." Isn't that a reasonable approach? He sat down at his work. And after about an hour, he said to himself, Ted, what are you saying? Oh God, I dare to come into your presence with five hours of study. That's my righteousness. That's my claim on you. That's the ground upon which I approach your holy presence. Pure legalism. Impure legalism. Whatever adjective you want to use. He'd been a minister for 35 years. He forgot the basic truth. Can you sympathize with him? Paul wrote Galatians 3 verse 3. Are you so foolish, having begun the spirit You are now being made perfect by the flesh. We make that mistake again and again. We keep forgetting it. Justification by works is insidious. It can tempt the best people. And it is the best people who are especially tempted. Other temptations feed on our weaknesses, our sins. This temptation feeds on our virtues, our graces, our strengths. It finds its home in those things in us which are good and feeds off them. The war against self-confidence is unending. The attacks of the enemy are subtle. There is something scandalous about faith alone. Not one of us is free from this temptation. We can rely upon our doctrinal orthodoxy We can turn that into a work. We can rely upon our reformed distinctives. We can turn that into a work. We can take pride in the vigor and clarity with which we teach salvation by faith alone. We can turn our denial of works into a work. I really deny works clearly and convincingly. Aren't I great? That's the deviousness of our hearts. Listen to Martin Luther. I have myself taught this doctrine for twenty years, both in my preaching and in my writing. And yet the old tenacious mire clings to me so that I find myself wanting to come to God, bringing something in my hand for which He should bestow His grace on me. I cannot attain to casting myself on pure, simple grace alone, and yet this is highly necessary. The old tenacious mire clings to us. We are not going into a discussion of the transformation of character that will inevitably accompany justification. The fact is that those who are justified will be new creatures and will obey God and will pursue holiness. But if we had a full treatment of justification, we would explain also sanctification. However, we don't even want to open that door. It would get us away from justification by faith alone. We have to embrace this scandal and realize that it is a stumbling block to us. Scandal of faith alone as an instrument of justification. The substitute for faith. The fourth item is the substitute for faith. To illustrate this, imagine a demonic council. The devil asks his demons, how can we turn people away from the gospel? One demon says, Teach them that salvation is by works. The devil answers, I don't think that's going to be very effective, but you can try it if you like. Then another demon says, teach them that faith, that salvation is by faith plus works. The devil says, now you have it. There's the answer. Teach them salvation by faith and a little works added to it. This is what we're naturally inclined to do. Here's another illustration. One of the great divisions in what is called Christendom is between Roman Catholics and Protestants. The great dividing issue is justification by faith alone. William Cunningham describes it as the great fundamental distinctive doctrine of the Reformation. In the latter years of the 20th century, attempts have been made to reconcile Protestants and Roman Catholics by means of reaching a common understanding on justification. The idea is, if we can agree on this, we can come together. We have been told that a massive breakthrough has been achieved. In 1983, a group of American Lutherans met with a group of Roman Catholics and published a document called, Justification by Faith. This is their conclusion. Our entire hope of justification rests on Jesus Christ and his gospel. We do not place our ultimate trust in anything other than God's promise and saving work in Christ. That's pretty good. Both Lutherans and Roman Catholics find it. In 1994, Evangelicals and Catholics Together group published a document called Christian Mission in the Third Millennium, co-authored by Richard J. Newhouse and Charles Colson. In it they said, Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ. It is time for Evangelicals and Catholics to be Christians together. They continued, We affirm that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ. J. I. Packer, in an article in Christianity Today called, Why I Signed It, says, Good evangelical Protestants and good Roman Catholics are Christians together. This seems to be good news. It would be a poor-hearted person who wouldn't want to see a second Reformation. It would be a wonderful blessing if God would come into the midst of millions of Roman Catholics and do a mighty work. We should long for that and pray for it. We're facing serious issues, abortion and other moral issues this day. Rome is strong on the supernatural. They're clear on the Trinity. So what's wrong? Robert Raymond says, the word alone is thundering by its absence. One little word is left out. Is that so important? The New Roman Catechism says, Justification is not only remission of sins, but also sanctification and renewal of the inner man. It detaches man from sin and purifies his heart of sin. Elsewhere this catechism says, Through the Holy Spirit, baptism is the bath that purifies, justifies, and sanctifies. Later in this catechism it says, the sacrament of penance makes it possible to recover the grace of justification. If you leave out the word alone, it enables people in good conscience to find a document that they believe in justification by faith and at the same time that they teach that you can be justified by being baptized or justified by doing penance. James Buchanan in the 19th century said, this diverts the mind from the external object of justifying faith which is Christ alone and directs it toward the inward effect of faith. It substitutes the work of the Spirit in us for the work of Christ for us. Faith plus works is no substitute. Our works, at their best, are imperfect and defiled with sin. Galatians 2.16 says, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. For by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. What happens in practice, if you believe in faith plus works, no matter how much lip service you give to faith, works will take over. Before you realize it, your justification in practice is based upon the sacraments, upon the penance, upon the works. It's like the Arab and his camel sleeping in the desert. It's very cold. The Arab is in the tent, the camel is in the cold. The camel pushes his nose under the tent to get warm. The Arab feels sorry for the camel and says, I'll allow him to put his head in. An hour later, the Arab is outside the tent. The camel is inside the tent. Works are like the camel. Once you allow it in, it takes over. It smothers faith. It destroys faith. Works destroy biblical assurance. It leads to chronic doubt. Have I ever done enough? Should I make more penance? Should I have at the sacrament again? Should I make more prayers? Should I give more money? You are kept on a treadmill of doubt. You're never sure. Are your works enough? Works lead to self-confidence and arrogance. I'm saved. I'm sure I'm saved because I'm a good person. Even if you contribute good works, what would result? it would result in an altogether different kind of righteousness. The righteousness that is imputed to us in justification is the righteousness of God. John Murray describes it as characterized by the perfection belonging to all God is and all God does. It's God's own righteousness. If we start adding to what isn't God's righteousness anymore It's part God's and part our own. We're wearing a fabric that is partly man-made. We have it woven together by our own good deeds. And that is a different kind of righteousness. This is the error that Israel is making. In Romans 10 verse 3 Paul says, For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. That was their error. They were good people. They were earnest, prayerful, zealous people. What was wrong? They were seeking to establish their own righteousness. That is an insult to our Lord Jesus Christ. Think about it. Are you going to add your pitiful little attempts at goodness to the spotless, perfect life of the Son of God? Are you going to stand at Calvary and see your Savior on the cross and say, Now Lord Jesus, I have a little contribution to make. I want to be in on this. I want to have a part to play. John Murray states it so beautifully, The sinner knows that he has nothing to offer. This truth assures him that he needs nothing to offer, that it is an abomination to God to presume to offer. It's an abomination to presume to supplement the work of the Son of God. Beware of the substitutes for faith. As Augustus Toplady wrote in 1776, Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy laws demands. Could my zeal no respite know? Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless, look to thee for grace. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die. Suitability of faith. The fifth, the last subject is the suitability of faith. Can you see how this all fits together? God's work is beautiful. There's a design to it. There's harmony to it. You look at it, it's absolutely perfect. we are justified through faith. That's not an arbitrary virtue. It's not as if God said, hmm, well now, will I opt for justification by patience or justification by honesty? No, I think I'll go with faith. They will be justified by faith. That's not what happened. There's a glorious logic about it. There is a compelling inevitability about the whole thing of faith. In his comments on the Heidelberg Catechism 60, how are they righteous before God? Zechariah Sirsinus observes, The mercy of God is the moving cause of our justification as far as it respects God. The satisfaction of Christ is the formal cause, while our faith is the instrumental cause, apprehending and applying to ourselves the righteousness of Christ. We must observe, therefore, that it cannot be said that we are justified in the same sense by the grace of God or by the merits of Christ and by faith. The first must be understood of the moving cause, which is in God, the second of the formal cause, which is in Christ, and the third of the instrumental cause, which is in us. We are justified by the mercy or grace of God as the chief moving cause. by which God was led to justify and save us. We are justified by the merits of Christ, partly as the formal cause of our justification, inasmuch as God accepts us in view of the obedience of Christ applied to us, and accounts to us the righteousness, seeing that we are covered with this, as with a garment, and partly as moving in a meritorious cause, inasmuch as God accounts of this acquits and freezes from the condemnation of the law. We are justified by faith as an instrumental cause by which we apprehend the righteousness of Christ imputed unto us. Heidelberg Catechism 61 even has a much more simple statement, a very personal confession of faith. It asks, why do you say that you are righteous by faith alone? The answer is, not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith, but because only the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God, and I can receive the same and make it my own in no other way than by faith only. We have seen that we are unrighteous, hopelessly, helplessly, unchangeably unrighteous. We have seen that God has made provision for our sins to be forgiven and for us to be clothed with His righteousness. We have seen that He has done this through free grace. We have seen that the ground of this is the Lord Jesus Christ, what He has done. Then what remains? Receiving what He has done. Believing what He has done. Trusting the one who has done it. And that is what faith is. Faith is simply receiving God's salvation in Jesus Christ. How could there be any other way to be saved? What other way can you imagine of being saved? If it's all of God, if we are helpless, if it's free grace, if it's in Christ, then when Christ is offered to us, if someone holds out a present to you, the only way, what's the only way of having it? You have to take it. That's what we have to do. Take Him. The Gospel brings Christ before us. The Gospel offers Christ to us. Faith in our helplessness is our helplessness linked to Christ's grace. Faith is receiving Him. So we've thought about the status of faith, solitariness of faith, scandal of faith, substitute for faith, and the suitability for faith. Faith. The just shall live by faith, moment by moment, day by day, year by year, trusting Him, resting Him. We hand ourselves over to Christ and lay the whole weight of our salvation on His shoulders. We look away from ourselves and focus entirely on Christ. There is a glorious inevitability about it. What other way could there be? Are you untouched by what we've been saying? If what we have been considering makes no impact on you, you should be very alarmed. Suppose you were struck suddenly deaf. You notice everyone in the room talking and you can't hear. Would you have a sense of a smug superiority? Would you just smile? No, you wouldn't. You would say, there's something wrong with me. All these people seem to be speaking and I can't hear them. You should realize, I can't repent. I can't believe. My heart isn't touched by this. I'm not interested in this. I'm not concerned about this. There's something terribly wrong with you. It's your lostness, it's your deadness and sin. What you need to do is to cry to God and confess your helplessness and your inability to believe. Others may be touched and know the truth. You know that you're a sinner and cannot make yourself right with God. You know that if you don't repent, God will judge you and cast you into hell. You know that Jesus is the only way of salvation. There is an inner voice telling you that this is the truth. Still you've never received Christ. I remind you of your sins and your needs. I remind you of Jesus, who he is and what he has done. I say to you here and now, I am commissioned to offer Jesus Christ to you as your only Savior. You are deciding whether or not to accept him or reject him. Now is the moment for you to call upon Jesus to save you. Don't reject Him. Jesus offers to be your Savior and to forgive all your sins. He offers to give you His righteousness and everlasting life. Jesus said there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The angels rejoice. The greatest joy is that of the shepherd himself, as Isaiah 53, 11 says, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. The good shepherd goes after the one that is lost until he finds him. When he finds him, he puts him on his shoulders rejoicing. He says, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost, to be right with God, to be justified. you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith alone is the instrument of justification. Let's pray. Father, the doctrine of justification is full. There are many aspects of it that we long to grasp and to understand. And it brings greater confidence into our hearts to understand what you have accomplished, what you have done, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we also do recognize how very close we are to being legalists. How often we want to propose that something that we have done, something we have thought would be commendable for your approval and not realize that all of our Actions are tarnished by sin and unacceptable by themselves. But as we are united to Christ, we are fully acceptable and brought into your presence. Father, we thank you for giving us this day to meditate upon your word. And we ask that you grant us greater clarity and greater use, that we might be of service both to counsel our own hearts and to challenge others around us, that they might know justification by faith alone in Christ alone. We ask these mercies in Jesus name. Amen.