Sermon: By Faith Alone

“By Faith Alone” Romans 4:17-22 July 9, 2017 On October 31 this year, we will mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses (topics for debate) on the door of the Wittenberg (Castle) Church. Historians typically interpret that event as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. And the Reformation is vital to […]

Salvation and Sola Fide

In his great text on the doctrine of justification, Paul notes that it is acquired only by faith — “the righteousness of God [is] through faith in Jesus Christ.” He will reiterate the necessity of faith several times in this passage: God displayed Jesus Christ “publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (v. […]

A godly man is moved by faith

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Godly Man’s Picture. As gold is the most precious among the metals, so is faith among the graces. Faith cuts us off from the wild olive of nature, and grafts us into Christ. […]

What Is a Christian?

A Christian is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the […]

Where is your faith?

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1; NASB) “Where is your God now?” It is a hard question, often asked under the most burdensome circumstances. Job’s friends and wife asked the question. And even though they didn’t ask it, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, Moses, […]

Faith or works?

“This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.” (Titus 3:8; NASB). There is a popular question which debates whether the chicken or the egg was […]

Four questions about sanctification

Not only is the means of our salvation — justification — essential, but so is the process of our salvation, called sanctification. If one asserts (as is true) that justification is only by faith in Christ, then so must our sanctification be by faith in Christ. Or to state the same truth in the opposite […]

Faith and works: Are Paul and James contradictory?

John Piper sets out to resolve the question of whether Paul and James contradict each other about the relationship between faith and works: Paul says in Romans 4:2,3: “If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and […]

Living a life of faith

“Taking up the shield of faith…” Paul says (Eph. 6:16). His words are an encouragement exhortation to trust the Lord in all things. We safely nod in agreement, but all too often our lives reveal a different source of trust. We trust ourselves, our reason, our strength, our intuition, our sight. And, should our hearts […]

If the Bible is not enough, nothing else will be either

Reviewing a bad book about a good topic, Tim Challies concludes with this statement: If you struggle believing what the Bible says, but learn to find security in the testimony of a toddler, well, I feel sorry for you. And I do not mean this in a condescending way. If God’s Word is not sufficient […]

Faith mis-defined

Charles Schultz understood the tenor of the day. I do not know what year this panel was drawn, but it could have been this year, for the way that it reflects the mindset of too many. Oh, contraire, my friend, Linus. It is only the object of our faith that will help (read: save) us. […]

Today’s Quote – Anxiety (Mueller)

George Mueller: The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith; and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.

Today’s Quote – Gratitude (Piper)

John Piper, Future Grace: There are ways that gratitude helps bring about obedience to Christ. One way is that the spirit of gratitude is simply incompatible with some sinful attitudes. I think this is why Paul wrote, “There must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving […]

Today’s Quote – Faith (Bonar)

Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness: Faith is rest, not toil. It is the giving up all the former weary efforts to do or feel something good, in order to induce God to love and pardon; and the calm reception of the truth so long rejected, that God is not waiting for any such inducements, but […]

Saved by grace through – how much? – faith

We are saved by grace. We are undeserving of it, yet recipients of God’s benevolent love all the same. In Ephesians, Paul also includes the prepositional phrase, “by faith” as a component to the process of salvation. That is, faith is not the cause of our salvation — grace through the work of Christ is […]