The Just Shall Live By Faith

Reformation Sunday

October 27, 1991

Romans 1:14-16

Four-hundred-seventy-four years ago this week a Roman Catholic clergyman nailed a long list of religious statements to the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany. Martin Luther was that clergyman. He is a giant figure in Church history.

Martin Luther was the child of a rigid legalistic system. He was a brilliant scholar and teacher. He was a seeker after the assurance of salvation. In his searching and Bible study, Martin Luther "re-discovered" the phrase, "The just shall live by faith," (in Romans and Galatians,) and as it became more and more clear to him, he came to stake his very life, here and hereafter on the truth of that one phrase.

The defiant act of nailing the list of "95 Theses" to the cathedral door is now the 'nominal beginning' of what we call The Reformation.

Reformation Sunday is seen by many in our pluralistic society today as underscoring a time of separation and rejection. And perhaps it is; and there may be times when conscience causes rejection and separation. But Reformation Sunday commemorates a protest of sincere love and concern for the true church in the face of practices and teachings that failed to bring life and assurance. True reformers are NOT usually interested in destroying their church; they are men of LOVE, and not hate.

[Transition:] But Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 are not the only places in the Bible where we see the phrase: The just shall live by faith. In both places, Paul is quoting from the Old Testament. In fact there are four separate places this statement appears, and each time it has a slightly different setting or emphasis. Taken together these four statements give an insight into saving faith.

The four references, and their settings are these: In Habakkuk 2:4 the setting is faith in God's WORD; in Romans 1:17 we see faith in God's grace; in Galatians 3:11 (even though the emphasis there is also grace,) we see faith in God's justice; and in Hebrews 10:38 the emphasis is faith in God's faithfulness.

I. GOD'S INTEGRITY, HIS WORD IS THE FOUNDATION OF SAVING FAITH

Habakkuk 2:4

  1. Habakkuk's prophecy: A complaint that there is wickedness in Judah; a charge that the people in large part have simply forgotten their God.
  2. But Habakkuk is prophet and not just a reporter. He is concerned with the way GOD sees the situation, the view from the Throne, and not just the band-aid proposals the human mind can conceive. Habakkuk says, "If we can get quiet and listen, God will, speak to us!" (2:20 "The LORD is in His holy Temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.")
  3. And this is where this great text "fits." God will not help solve the problems of those who refuse His Word. The pride and the arrogance of unbelief effectively block God's love and grace. (2:4 "Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by HIS faith (-or God's FAITHFULNESS!))
  4. GOD WILL NOT DISAPPOINT THOSE WHO LOOK TO HIM IN OBEDIENT TRUST (and there isn't any other kind of trust when God is involved!)

    The prophet declares that the only possibility of our righteousness is based on the foundation of God's Word. And in spite of terrible circumstances, Habakkuk closes the words of his prophecy on this truly powerful note (3:16-19 "I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He makes my feet like hinds feet, and makes me walk on my high places.")

  5. If Habakkuk were to visit New England we might see that he is a prophet and not just a reporter! It doesn't take too much wisdom to see something is seriously wrong when millions of unborn babies are killed in our country each year, and politicians make decisions based on what gets them re-elected rather than on what is right or wrong. It isn't hard to see the bankrupt moral fiber of our nation when illicit drugs are such big business that "all the kings horses and all the king's men" can't seem to shut down the supply, and public morality is too weak to shut down the demand.

    Habakkuk might tell us that men like Bruce Wahl and Michael Haynes and John Borders are worth hundreds of policemen in Roxbury and Dorchester- not that we don't need the policemen, too, just now. I wonder how Habakkuk would view our efforts at Second Church there in Codnman Square?

    We get totally involved in peripheral matters. It is important to save a species of owl, or to preserve our natural treasures. But we only get one chance at each generation of HUMAN BEINGS! And only God Almighty can deliver us from the chaos in which our sins have entrapped us as a nation and a race.

[Transition:] But we have already said that Martin Luther "discovered" this text from Paul, as he quoted Habakkuk in the Book of Romans. And there it shows us the wonder of God's great love extended:]

II. GOD'S LOVE REVEALS AN OPEN DOOR TO SAVING FAITH

Romans 1:16-17

  1. Saving faith is based on the fact of God's integrity: what He says, He means! But faith is more than just a mental acceptance of that fact. Paul's use of the phrase: THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH is in the context of THE GOSPEL.

    "GOSPEL" AS USED HERE IS A NARROW TERM. It doesn't just mean 'good news' or 'truth,' as we often use it. It doesn't mean the general use of scripture principles and precepts in order to give is 'the good life.' But the Gospel means the Good News about what God has done for us in the victory of His Son, Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection and Session! The gospel in one verse is John 3:16. The gospel is for the "WHOSOEVER" that believes in God's only begotten Son!

    It is in the context of response to God's grace- God's LOVE in Christ, that Paul declares that we live by faith. [Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIFE BY FAITH."]

  2. The important word, so far as you and I are concerned, is "whosoever!" The great grace and power of the Gospel of which Paul declares he is not ashamed is available to you and me just now!

[Transition: But God's word/integrity and his love/free grace do not exhaust the meaning of salvation by faith. A third time this phrase appears, in Galatians 3:11, and there the context is God's justice:]

III. GOD'S JUSTICE, RECONCILED, MAKES SAVING FAITH POSSIBLE

Galatians 3:11

  1. The "HOW" of obtaining salvation was where Martin Luther was particularly offended. He had followed the teachings of the church of his day on penitence, and he had found no assurance whatsoever that his sins were in fact and deed forgiven. He had observed excesses, such as the sale of indulgences that permitted wealthy people to buy absolution while poor people had to suffer purgatory or hell. And so it was that when the truth dawned on him that all sins were already provisionally 'paid for' it was certainly good news that broke in on his soul!
  2. But Galatians makes it clear that salvation is not God merely 'excusing' sin.! God cannot merely ignore sin as if it never had happened. The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel tells us (twice) The soul that sinneth shall die! (Ez 18) and Romans 6:23 says, he wages of sin is DEATH!
  3. A just God has had to deal with sin in justice! God cannot simply look the other way. But the context of this text in Galatians says God's love can be extended to us because in the cross of Calvary Jesus has redeemed us from the curse of breaking God's law.

    It is in the CROSS that God's MERCY and God's JUSTICE meet. [Galatians 3:11 "Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident, for: THE RIGHTEOUS MAN (THE JUST) SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!]

  4. So, while it is true that God's LOVE is extended to us; and it is true that we are authorized to say (AT THIS TIME) "Whosoever will may come!;" it is also true that we dare not presume on that great love! God is not able to offer us saving faith on the basis of our own goodness, or our sincerity, or any other merit of our own. It is in Christ that God's justice is satisfied, and we trust in Jesus Christ, and we trust "TODAY!" (Now is the accepted time!)

[Transition: But there is one more place where this text is found, in Hebrews 10:38.]

IV. GOD'S FAITHFULNESS ESTABLISHES THE SAVING RELATIONSHIP

Hebrews 10:38

  1. We are not only saved by faith as a one-time crisis, but we have the privilege of walking day-by-day with Christ in faith. By its very nature walking "by faith" means that we are NOT walking "by sight." It means that this relationship, with God will be severely tested.

    Saving faith is NOT a mental theory. It is not "an ideal" to which we aspire along predictable, textbook lines and formulae.

  2. And so this last great word (Hebrews 10:38) is in the context of real life, of battles, of perseverance! This is not now the language of revival, and getting saved, going to the altar; not about Bible study and understanding the atonement as the pastor "explains it." This is the language of Jesus in the laundry room, in the high school classroom, of Jesus on-the-job with you and me! (Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful!)

    And also Hebrews 10:35-39 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of patience, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure ion him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

  3. This is "a whole seminar" on perseverance! We are to be:
    1. (22) be drawing near to God;
    2. (23) be holding fast the confession of HOPE without wavering— what God promises, He carries through!
    3. (24) be considering one another! LOVE THE CHURCH! Walking by faith is ALWAYS in the context of FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS!
    4. (25) not forsaking coming together! Using all the means of grace.
    5. (35) Summarizing: DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD'S FAITHFULNESS!
    6. (36) "Ye have need of endurance!" God is not capricious! I am not playing games with Him! I can, I will depend on Him to bring me through

Conclusion: So— the "text of the Reformation" is THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH! What a powerful truth this is, that triggered a great Reformation throughout the entire Church of Jesus Christ.

  1. Perhaps we need to return to the spirit of reform again. Not along lines of power, or too-easily-understood slogans and doctrine. Reform isn't that simple!

    Reform begins in the heart of those who would be pure in heart, as they ask themselves the question: AM I LIVING BY HIS FAITH? Or am I the kind of Christian that is selective, and chooses the benefits of grace, or the kind of Christian that swallows unchallenged assumptions of fundamental doctrine, or lives by selfish withdrawal from the battle?

  2. We need a love and loyalty for Christ's church that will not serve blindly, BUT THAT WILL CONSTANTLY CALL THE CHURCH TO DEEPER, PURER OBEDIENCE! What we say will not speak as loudly as our own personal life-style, and the integrity and love of our relationships, and our own obedience to scripture and the Holy Spirit!
  3. God is NOT exhausted! God is not "burned out!" What God did with Luther and Wesley ... He can do with people today who dare to take His Word seriously! THE JUST STILL LIVE BY FAITH!

Prayer: Spirit of God, Come breathe God's life in us; Blow through Your Church, a cleansing, mighty Power for Righteousness. Lift up the Lord Jesus Christ for all the world to see Until every knee shall bow And every tongue confess that He is LORD! To the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Hymn