The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
We’re Christians. Generally, people think of us as mainline Protestant Christians. As such, we know what October 31st marks. We know that 507 years ago the Reformation began. And we know why and how the Reformation began. Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the castle church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Without realizing it at the time, he was about to start, not a debate over indulgences, but rather a Reformation that would touch every aspect of life and change world history. So what was the truth that he nailed to that door 507 years ago? How did it lead, in fact, to a Reformation of the Western world? Well, the 95 Theses was a series of statements arguing that the sale of indulgences that the pope had authorized were, in fact, contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Indulgences were certificates, a piece of paper sold at the time by the pope’s representative, that told people that if they bought this particular piece of paper, this indulgence, they could spare themselves and their deceased loved ones years, perhaps centuries, free from purgatory. “As soon as the money clinks in the chest, the soul flies up to heavenly rest” — that was the song that was sung. Luther saw how corrupt the practice was, how it went against the Scripture, how it led people away from true faith, true repentance, and to fear and religion of works-righteousness. So he drew up these theses, 95 of them, and gave them the name “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences.” He posted them on the church door, written in Latin, for the purpose of having learned scholars debate him on each of those 95 points. But the theses were quickly translated — some think by his students — sent to the publisher, and pretty soon the document spread like wildfire all over Europe. And Luther had now become a target for theological and political attacks. But there was no turning back.
At this time, as the attacks increased, Luther was driven more and more into the Bible, into the Scriptures. And the more he studied, the more the light began to shine on him, and the more he began to speak out against indulgences and other errors in the church which led people away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of His true worship, and errors that robbed pious Christians of the comfort of the Gospel and the assurance given to them in the work of Jesus Christ. Now, the central truths that Luther discovered have been summed up in three great solas, as they are called: sola gratia, sola fide, and sola scriptura — by grace alone, by faith alone, by Scripture alone. It just so happens that Romans chapter 3, our Reformation reading — almost every single Reformation — happens to all contain all three of those solas in this short reading of the Scripture. So this morning we’re going to consider, on this Reformation, the three solas as we find them in Romans chapter 3.
And we begin with the first and most obvious of the three: sola gratia, by grace alone. Verse 21 and following: “But now the righteousness of God,” St. Paul wrote, “has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift.” Sola gratia, grace alone. By this gift we are justified. We are made righteous. This means we haven’t earned it in the least. We don’t deserve it either, in whole or in part. We are, through and through, sinners, and our sins cry out against the Ten Commandments of our Lord God, which accuse us each and every moment of the day and condemn us each and every moment of the day as sinners. There’s no distinction. Even the most pious among us can’t keep the Word of God, the Law, as it ought to be kept. We all earned God’s eternal punishment. And that would be our situation if we were judged by our own, lack thereof, righteousness. We don’t have any. We can’t produce any. We can’t make any, in the sight of God, no matter how delusional people think they, in fact, are pretty good. But we’re not judged according to our thoughts and our words and our deeds. There’s a righteousness that God gives as a pure gift from His grace. It’s a gift. We are justified, that is, declared righteous before God. It is by God’s grace that we are saved. It’s said again and again in the Scripture. Grace is a gift. Grace is, by the way, defined: this unmerited favor. We didn’t earn this favor from God. Grace is a disposition — God’s disposition toward us, we sinners. And this gift of grace is given on account of the person and work of Christ alone, because we can do nothing to contribute to it. John the Baptist said it this way: “For from His” — Christ’s — “fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” To receive Christ is to receive God’s grace. To reject Christ is to reject God’s grace. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Some people define grace this way: God’s riches at Christ’s expense. G-R-A-C-E. That’s what it says right here in our Epistle lesson: “justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as the propitiation by His blood.” Jesus paid the price. He is the atoning sacrifice. The Son of God shed His blood to set you free from sin, death, and the power of the devil. If He has set you free, then you are free indeed. You are redeemed, free, forgiven, because of what Jesus did and does for you in and through the Gospel. This is the G-R-A-C-E, God’s riches at Christ’s expense, for you. It is God’s grace alone. It’s not grace mixed with anything else. No good thoughts, no good deeds, no good intentions of any sort. Grace is grace. It’s like that word last week I said, “impossible” — there aren’t degrees of it. It’s just the thing itself, God’s grace. Romans 11:5 and 6: “So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.” That’s you. “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.” Any amount of work you try to do to add to grace takes grace away. A hymn written by Pastor Hendrickson, titled “By Grace Alone,” puts it this way: “By grace alone we are God’s own. This is His gift of salvation. We are put right, but not by our might, but God’s own declaration. Christ’s holy blood, the cleansing flood — the gift is free, and so are we, free from our sins and condemnation.” So much for grace alone.
Now on to sola fide, by faith alone. Our text says of the redemption earned by Jesus Christ that it is to be received by faith. Verse 28: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Luther, in his own personal Bible, when he came across this and thought about it, wrote in big letters, “Sola!” That’s where we got “alone” there, to emphasize the fact that we are justified by faith alone. Again, we’re not saved or found to be righteous in some combination with faith and works. That’s what most of your family members and friends think. “Oh, I’m not too bad. I’m sort of good enough. I do my share, and God takes care of the rest. He’ll save me because I’m worth being saved.” Again, we are not saved or found righteous by some combination of our faith and our works. There are Christian denominations that teach that kind of thing. You have to exercise the right use of your will to make a decision to obey Jesus, to follow Jesus, to obey the commandments, or that you have to do good deeds, good thoughts, works of contrition, in order to make up the gap between you and God. But this kind of faith is unique. Christian faith, saving faith, is unto itself. It is a faith, a trust, in the person and the work of Jesus Christ: in the person as the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Eternal Trinity, who took on flesh in the babe of Bethlehem, and His active obedience in His earthly ministry — that means He actively, consciously kept the commandments, all the time, every day — and His passive obedience — that’s where He allows people to crucify Him, as the willing Lamb of God who goes forth to make atonement for the world. Thus justification by faith, trust in Jesus, is in His person and His entire work of what He did for you and for your salvation. Jesus did it all. Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished,” He meant it was finished. The payment had been made. It had been accepted. All had been accomplished. Salvation depended not on our works, to any degree. We could never be sure of our standing before God if, in fact, it’s our works that do justify us. The question that haunted Luther was: how much can I do? How much should I do? For it never seems enough. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.” Faith conquers it all. True Christian faith, by faith alone, is one of the big Reformation truths that we can cling to and will never, ever be disappointed. Romans 1:17: “For in it” — the Gospel — “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.'” Then Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, not of yourselves. It’s a gift from God.” The second stanza about sola fide, though faith alone: “Through faith alone we trust in Christ, true God, true man, His cross the span that bridges sin’s separation. He is the gift who heals the rift. We thank the Lord that He restored this Gospel proclamation.” That’s why some of us make Reformation a big deal: because he came back and restored a second time to the people the true Gospel of salvation by grace through faith. For the church had fallen into a long period, century after century, of darkness that could be likened unto the church of Israel in the Old Testament that turned away from God, began to worship other gods, and based their salvation and forgiveness, their prosperity in their lives, on good deeds and good works and fulfillment of the Law — which always a fallacy and a delusion.
Third: sola scriptura, by Scripture alone. Where do we find that in Romans 3? Well, right here, where it says, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets” — that means the Old Testament — “bear witness to it.” To what? That the righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. The phrase “the Law and the Prophets” is another way of saying, simply put, the Bible, the Scriptures, the inspired and infallible Word of God, is where the person and work of Jesus Christ is manifested and made known to us. Anything that contradicts the Scripture in regard to salvation is to be dismissed — whether it is the teaching of the pope or of popular culture. It goes against the Scripture, it is to be dismissed. Not entertained for a moment. Not played with. Not passed around. It’s the Word of God alone. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof” — that means being rebuked — “for correction” — that means we make mistakes and we have to be constantly checked by the Word of God, the Bible — “and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.” Luther said of the authority of Scripture over lesser works, like commentaries and dogmatic textbooks and the like: “I would rather drink from the spring itself than the brook, as do all men who, once they have a chance to drink from the spring, forget about the brook — unless they use the brook to lead them to the spring.” The spring is the Word of God, the Scripture. Thus Scripture, too, must remain master and judge. For when we follow the brooks too far, they lead us too far away from the spring, and both lose their taste and their nourishment. That is: stick to the Word. Drink from the Word. Learn the Word. Cling to the Word. God’s Word remains, as you will, always. “Heaven and earth may pass away,” He says, “but My words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). His Word is infallible and without error. Again, 2 Samuel 22:31: “This God, His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.” I’m going to add the commentary: in Him, the Word. Luther again: “If the Holy Spirit had been so foolish as to expect or trust that councils and fathers would do everything well, and that they’d make no mistakes, there would be no need for Him to warn the church against the mistakes, by saying in First Corinthians that one should examine all things and be on guard.” “Whatever men build with straw, hay, and wood on the foundation” — “for every word proves true; He is the shield to those who take refuge” — that’s Proverbs 30:5, by the way. When we say “by Scripture alone,” we mean the Bible — not councils, not assemblies, not secondary, lesser works, by the way, not our feelings, not our intuition, not our opinions — but the Word of God has the final and definitive say in any spiritual matter. It alone establishes the articles of the Christian faith. Thus, at the Imperial Diet of Worms, Luther famously said, “I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other, unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from Holy Scripture, or with open, clear, and distinct grounds and reasoning on Scripture. For my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Then I cannot and will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.” Third stanza from Pastor Hendrickson’s hymn: “Scripture alone can make God known, breathed out by God’s inspiration. Man’s thoughts and dreams are man-made schemes, these are but mere speculation. Though holy light shines in the night, God’s Word is sure and will endure, it will endure to every new generation.” Sola gratia, unmerited favor. Sola fide, faith alone as a gift by God itself. Sola scriptura, God’s written, spoken, and incarnate-in-flesh Word, Jesus Christ. The three alone, all pointing to One alone. One who stands for eternity, to be worshiped and honored and praised. This is what Reformation was all about in 1517 and following. It’s what it’s all about now, 507 years later. O Christ alone, our cornerstone: the church is one foundation. On Him we build, as God wills. Of the great Reformation, upon this Rock, though men may mock, will take our stand in every land, with joy and glad celebration. Celebrate today, for you are saved by grace alone, faith alone, and Scripture alone. For there you have salvation. Amen.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.