Instrument of Justification

But anyway, Galatians 2—Galatians 2 is where we are. It probably helps to etch it into everyone’s memory if you announce it from the pulpit, aiding the memory.

Trust in his efficacious blood. Fear thy banishment from God, since Jesus died for thee.

As we continue looking at the doctrine of justification, this evening we wish to look at the instrument. We’ll be dealing with how faith is the instrument that reaches out and appropriates the benefits of Christ. And I want to take time, for the sake of the context, and making sure we’re familiar here with what goes on, we’ll read all of Galatians 2.

Now, we will be looking at verse 16, which is remarkable in its own right. Paul uses the word justified six or eight times in this book in the form that you have it here in verse 16, but three of them are all packed into one verse. So it is powerful.

Let’s read from verse 1, because there’s some history and context here to Paul driving home the point that no matter whether you’re Jew or Gentile, the only way to be justified before God is by faith in Jesus Christ. And if you try to go back, or you burden anyone with additional things—even if you, in fear of the Jews, which is what Peter did, in fear of the Jews—he cuts himself off from fellowship, or eating with the Gentiles, afraid of what might be perceived, and so on. And in doing so, by implication, is adding burdens. And Paul sees his act as a threat to the gospel itself.

And so let’s read from verse 1. Galatians 2 verse 1.

Then 14 years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run or had run in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren, unawares, brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage, to whom we gave place by subjection, though not for an hour. that the truth of the gospel might continue with you, but of these who seem to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me, God accepteth no man’s person. For they who seem to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me, but contrarywise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter, For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship, that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision. Only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do.

But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed, for before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?

We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid, for if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead to the law that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Amen. Ending the reading at the close of the chapter. And what you have heard is the infallible and inerrant word of the living God, which you are to receive, believe, and obey. And the people of God said, amen.

Let’s pray.

Lord, we ask for help. Illuminate our minds and enable each one here to gain more clarity on what it is to be justified before God. We pray that thou wilt come by the Spirit, and again in that way that no man can manufacture, and in that fashion that is only the work of the Spirit, let there be light given, clarity granted, and the Spirit of God stirring the heart to love Christ, to believe on Him. And should there be one here without Christ, or living in an illusion where they’re not truly resting in Him, we pray that they may come to understand their precarious place and believe on Christ truly this night. Come, give help now. Please give the Holy Spirit. We lean on Him. In Jesus’ name, amen.

We have, on a number of occasions through this series, noted repeatedly that faith is the means by which we receive Christ. You’re not justified. You do not obtain the merit of Jesus Christ by attending church or by some other religious activity. It is by faith alone that a man is justified.

And I want to press this matter a little further this evening in order to help you understand some aspects of what we have termed the instrument. Faith is this instrument whereby the guilty come to experience what it is to be declared just in the presence of God. And one of the clearest statements, though it has its own complexities, is found in Galatians 2.16:

knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

The previous verse—verse 15—pardon me, the apostle is saying… he’s not saying (it might be helpful just to clarify), he’s not saying that the Jews are fine and Gentiles are sinners, and only them, because we know there are many times when the apostle identifies himself as a sinner. In fact, he calls himself the chiefest of sinners.

But what he is looking at as he’s speaking as a Jew and pulling himself in this covenant language—those of us who are of the lineage of Abraham—we, right, like Peter and Paul and so on… and we are Jews by nature. And there’s those Gentiles, and we perceive them, by virtue of being Gentiles, they are sinners.

When you’re in this context: yet even we know that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. We who have these privileges, we who stand in this position, still recognize that to be right before God requires not the keeping of the works of the law, but believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul had viewed what Peter did as dangerously confusing the gospel. If the gospel permitted—and it did—Peter to eat with Gentiles, that all that law before that prevented him, which God had addressed when he met with Peter and showed him that vision and then led him to Cornelius’ household and helped him understand that there is a pulling down, a removing, of those previous ceremonial barriers. That he can now sit with Gentiles and eat with them without violating anything.

That by moving away from that, he is suggesting that this law is still in place. And effectively then, by implication, saying to the Gentiles, there’s something else you need to do. I can’t eat with you until you comply to the things that would enable us to eat with you.

Paul saw then the act of Peter—in feeling that fear of those Jews and moving away from what he knew to be right—to be a threat to the clarity of the gospel itself. And so that’s why he withstood him, and seeks to bring this clarity afresh to the Galatians, showing again how important this is. And this man is going to fight tooth and nail in any context to maintain the clarity of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Now, as we look then at this verse, considering the instrument of justification, I have just two main headings.

The first of which is the failure of works. I want us to understand how works fail us. That in order to be right before God, if we are going to look at any form of works, we’re going to find ourselves unable to be satisfied—that there’s not in any kind of works what we need.

Now, the apostle here refers to the works of the law in verse 16: knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. There’s been some argument as to what exactly he’s referring to. Some suggesting, well, the works of the law are specifically referring to ceremonial things, and it’s not really dealing with the moral aspect of the law, and so on and so forth.

But I’m gonna answer what the works of the law refer to with the language of Martin Luther. And he wrote this:

Take thou the work of the law, therefore generally, for that which is contrary to grace. Whatsoever is not grace is the law, whether it be judicial, ceremonial, or the Ten Commandments.”

What Luther does there in that language is, it is not about trying to categorize the works of the law as some specific area of activity. Paul’s whole argument is to say that there’s salvation by grace, through faith, in Christ, and anything else—everything else—could come under this category. You say it either includes that, or it is by that: that is the works of the law, and therefore it is excluded, it is removed.

So however you categorize the works of the law, and whatever specific aspects you may look at—whether it be the ceremonial things, or the moral law, or whatever it is—it is all a threat to the gospel, and so salvation cannot come by that. It cannot justify anyone. And there’s a reason why it fails.

The works of the law fail, and they fail for a number of reasons.

First of all, they fail because of a problem. There’s a fundamental problem with works, righteousness that comes by works. There’s no problem with God’s law. There’s no issue with what the law is in terms of what it is reflected here, if you think of the summation of it in the Ten Commandments. That’s not defective.

Romans 3.10 declares that the problem is in man: There is none righteous, no not one. It’s not an exaggeration. It’s not saying that just for rhetorical impact—there’s no one righteous. It’s driving home the point that the problem is not the standard we are compared against; the problem is us. We don’t meet the standard.

And so later on in that same chapter: by the works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law shows us what sin is, but it cannot save. Its work towards a fallen man is not to try and save him. It is to reveal the problem. It is to expose the disease. It is to show the defect so that, in turn, we might go to the actual remedy.

So the failure of works fails because of this problem—the problem of man and his fallen condition. I’m not going to dwell on that because we have dealt with it more fully in the past.

It fails also because of the purpose. The law doesn’t justify. We can’t turn to any kind of formal works, however they’re categorized, in order to save us. And specifically when you think of the law as it is given in God’s Word, the moral law can’t save us because it was not intended for man in a lost condition to save him.

Paul will write in chapter 3 of this epistle, verse 24: wherefore the law was our schoolmaster. to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. So it’s taking us somewhere. It leads us somewhere.

The schoolmaster was that household servant whose purpose again was to supervise the children, restrain them and show their folly, and bring them to the teacher who would teach them then what they truly needed. And so this is what the law does. It exposes our folly. It chastens us in our conscience. And it ultimately leads us then to Christ, who alone can save. But it cannot save us.

It can point out the problem, just like you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror and the mirror points out the problems, right? The things that need to be addressed before you leave the house. But the mirror isn’t the solution, right? If something needs cleaned, you’re not using the mirror to clean, right? But it shows you the problem. There’s soap for the dirt or whatever else it is you’re trying to deal with, right? There’s something else.

And that’s what the law is. The law shows the issue. It’s the mirror, as it were. It shows, here’s a problem in your heart—a defect, a shortcoming. But it can’t save.

The law will make us aware. Of course, that’s what the apostle had to discover for himself, having lived in this way in which he describes—and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration—when he gives a little bit of his past in Philippians 3 and he describes himself as touching the law blameless. Outwardly, there was nothing that could be seen as a shortcoming in my life. I was scrupulous in the way I attended to the demands expected of me. And yet that standing of blamelessness before the eye of the world did not help him when he became aware of the shortcomings within his own heart.

In Romans 7 verse 7 he says, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had not known lust except the law had said thou shalt not covet. And so his entire body of labor, his behavior of adhering to expectations, and by the assessment of his peers and superiors he was blameless—yet within the heart was a shortcoming. There was sin there.

Of course, this is what our Lord Jesus dwells on in the Sermon on the Mount. He addresses the heart, doesn’t he? He deals with expressions of adultery as lust in the heart. Or he deals with the commandment pertaining to murder when he deals with anger as well.

Anger, again, is something that bursts forth internally within the heart, and he puts his finger there, and he shows man to come up short: accept you be as perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. You have no hope.

So the purpose of the law then is not to save. We are going to use works, or adherence to the law, or some external commands… we’re going to find that it comes up short.

It also fails because of what we might describe as the pull of the human heart. The human heart is stubborn in the sense that it is always looking for credit. We want a little bit of credit. We struggle to step aside from any involvement in our own salvation and standing before God.

There’s this, as I say, stubborn pull of the heart to try to do something ourselves. Even if it’s not entirely our own body of work, we try to add something that we think is meaningful. And we do this for a number of reasons.

Some of it is pride. The pride of your heart wants to contribute something. You want to feel like you have earned something. So that pride rises up within man and adds his little whatever he can.

Some of it’s control. You want to have control over your performance and how it’s perceived, or you want to try and measure things or manage things. You want to, again, just to reassure yourself that by your own assessment of what you think is right, you can add a little bit of your own input.

And maybe some of it is fear. Because we believe deep down that God appreciates sincere effort, and so I’m going to be really sincere.

And so this leads us into works—a performance-type salvation—trying to do what we can to attain to what is necessary before God.

Turn to chapter 5 of this book, just to read one verse of what Paul says to those who try to contribute something. Whatever the motivation, it doesn’t matter what is driving you. It could be peer pressure. It could be internal drive—your own pride.

But here’s the issue. In verse 4 of chapter 5, it says: Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law. You’re fallen from grace.

So the motive doesn’t matter. But we have this strong pull. And this is what Paul is addressing in the Galatians. They feel this—this tendency, this longing—to try and do something, to marry the gospel to their own efforts. And the apostle says, in so doing, Christ is become of no effect. You nullify it. The benefit of Christ is not yours. The benefit of Christ is received and known exclusively by recognizing it is Christ only.

So we must avoid any kind of pull within the heart to formulate something that we think God will be pleased with as the grounds of our justification—whether it be adding to, or entirely constructing, our own effort to save ourselves. The apostle says, no. No compromise. None whatsoever. There can be no machinery, or moving anything. This is a very black and white issue. It is Christ and Christ alone, received by faith, or it’s false. You’ve turned on to, as he says in chapter one, another gospel—entirely distinct—not recognized by God, not acceptable.

So having looked then at the failure of works, let’s consider a little more fully then the function of faith, because this is our emphasis tonight.

What then? If works are abandoned entirely, then let’s consider this instrument—faith—and how it functions. Faith is uniquely suited to be, then, the instrument of justification because the whole aspect of it is to look away from self and to rest in another.

Now, I want us to look at it a number of ways.

First of all, in its nature. If you go back to the verse that we looked at, the way it is translated, it can throw people off a little bit because it speaks of, by the faith of Jesus Christ. I’m not going to get into Greek grammar. I don’t think you’d find much joy in it anyway. And really the grammar doesn’t help you. It’s the context that helps you.

Because the grammar allows you to translate it: by the faith of Jesus Christ, or faith in Jesus Christ. Both the objective and subjective are permissible in terms of the grammar. So we don’t understand what Paul is saying by looking at it purely that way. We understand what Paul is saying because some will come to this and they’ll say the faith of Jesus Christ is referring to Christ being faithful. We are justified by Christ being faithful.

Now, Christ being faithful is a key component, and we don’t deny how essential it is, but it’s not what Paul is dealing with here. And that’s clarified whenever he changes the verb from faith to belief: Even we have believed in Jesus Christ. That’s the point. And so this faith of Jesus Christ—this faith in Jesus Christ—is synonymous with believing… believing in Jesus Christ.

Faith in its essence, then, is the empty hand. We’ve described this before: that empty hand that reaches out to receive. It is that image of the beggar stretching out his hand for bread. The hand doesn’t earn the bread. There’s nothing about the beggar that earns the bread. It simply receives the bread. You can’t look at the beggar and say, you’ve earned this somehow. No. If we see the reaching out of the hand as earning it, we’re misunderstanding. It’s a receiving of something.

And the faith then, as we’ve mentioned in the past also, is not about it in and of itself. The nature of faith is not to examine it and see that salvation is grounded in the faith in and of itself. It is what is received is the key. Faith reaches out and receives Christ and all of the benefits of the gospel. It reaches out and lays hold upon what is promised, that by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ thou shalt be saved.

So we don’t examine faith in such a way to find in it something meritorious in and of itself. The strength of faith, so to speak, is that which it receives, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lenski, who’s a well-known Bible commentator, he noted this. We talk about the instrument, but he refers here to the contents:

It is ever the contents of faith that justifies and saves, and never faith apart from its contents. It is the Christ in the faith, and not the faith devoid of Christ. All the believing in the world secures nothing but damnation from the judge, but the tiniest believing in Christ secures acquittal on the instant.” End quote.

It is ever the contents of faith that justifies. Now, you need to remember that. Because if you start examining your faith, and you see in your faith that it’s weak, then because it’s weak, then you wonder, does it exist at all? It causes your head to spin trying to figure out, how do I get relief from this? You’re looking in all the wrong places.

I want you to imagine for a moment the children of Israel, as they’re commanded by God with the final plague to take the blood of a lamb or a goat and sprinkle that blood upon the doorposts of the lintel of the home. And of course, the threat is that the firstborn will die if there’s not obedience to what God has said.

Now, I want you to imagine, out of all those hundreds of thousands of homes in which the children of Israel dwelt, it does not seem—though we’re not given detail—it does not seem beyond the realm of possibility. It seems very plausible to imagine that there may have been different experiences as the children of Israel dwelt in their homes that night.

You have one man who has gone through this in obedience to God, and he has taken the blood and he’s applied it to the doorpost and the lintel of the home. And he goes through everything that God requires, and then he commits his family to God, and they go to bed and they rest. He sleeps like a baby—which is a funny kind of statement. All the new moms are like, “sleeps like a baby.” That takes on a whole new meaning. We don’t always sleep the way we want. But he’s totally at rest.

And there’s another. And he has gone through exactly the same thing. He’s obeyed God, and he’s taken the blood and he’s applied it to the doorpost and the lintel of the door, and goes into his house and he tosses and turns. No rest. Filled with anxiety. The judgment of God is gonna pass over. What about my firstborn? I mean, I think you can imagine it, can’t you? You can imagine that there is this variety of experiences in the households.

Here’s what I want you to grasp. Did the feeling—did the examination… perhaps the anxious one says, “did I apply enough? Was there something wrong in the way I went through the procedure? Maybe I missed something.” Anxiously, he goes back out to check the door and make sure it’s all there, and maybe back in and out several times, wondering. “I wonder what God meant by this.”

Who is safer? They’re equally safe. The faith of one is rock solid, doesn’t doubt for a moment. He’s taken God at His word, absolutely and entirely. He’s applied the blood and he’s at rest. The other one has also taken God at His word, applied the blood, but there isn’t the same rest. There’s an uncertainty—feeling in the heart that wanders—tossing and turning and questioning and wondering.

But they are equally safe. Because though the faith of one is absolutely steady and totally at ease, and the faith of the other is trembling and wavering and feeble, it’s not—the merit is not about looking in to examine the measure or the quality of their faith. It is that the blood has been applied, and God will keep His Word.

Across this room, there are some of you, and you do not doubt. You can barely remember the last time you doubted your salvation. And others of you may be doubting this very moment. And instead of looking into your own heart and trying to examine it and pull it apart, ask yourself: has the blood been shed? Has it been shed for me? And rest in God’s promise to save.

The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Its nature. Its origin. What is the origin of this faith?

I think Scripture is clear that this faith in Jesus Christ, or the faith of Christ, is not something we generate out of our fallen nature—and it’s a good job. Our nature is fallen. We’re depraved. There’s nothing in us that can be trusted.

And so, faith—we are told by Paul in Ephesians 2, verse eight—for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. That faith is the gift of God.

See, the problem is that which is outlined by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. That would answer so many queries in people’s minds if they would just believe what it says. The natural mind—it cannot, it refuses. It is incapable of receiving the things of the Spirit of God.

Our Lord Jesus, in John 6, 44: “‘No man can come to me,’ if we understand coming as believing, “‘no man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him.’” And so what God must do is what He did for Lydia: open her heart, that she might attend unto the things spoken and exercise them—that which God does within. That life shows itself forth in genuine faith and repentance.

So why is that important to understand? It’s important to understand because, again, it causes you to look out of yourself. You’re not trying to generate something yourself. But realizing that in looking to Jesus Christ, and seeing Him as the Savior of sinners, as soon as you view Him in that way and you want the benefits of what He offers and you’re willing to take it in the way that He requires—on His terms—the glory is God is at work. He must be; otherwise you wouldn’t think that way.

So in its nature, in its origin, in its elements—let’s be clear about what we mean by faith as well.

People have gotten this wrong. Use this broad understanding of the word faith or belief. James writes in James 2.19, thou believest that there is one God. Thou doest well. The devils also believe and tremble. The devils also believe and tremble.

So we talk about saving faith, not just faith, but saving faith—faith that has genuinely done the work, that is a real work of God, so that the person truly is justified before God.

The theologians will talk then about having three elements to saving faith. They will refer to knowledge, assent, and trust. In order for there to be saving faith, there must be knowledge, assent to that knowledge, and then trust. The individual truly trusts based upon what is revealed to him and what he agrees with. Now, there’s more to it than that, but those things are key.

You think about knowledge—one must know the gospel. You must know who Jesus Christ is. You must understand what He has done. Romans 10, 14: how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How is it possible? It’s not possible. This is why we pray for more laborers, because there are people out there who have not heard. It’s why the Christian must open his mouth, because people haven’t heard. There must be, then, this declaration, this communication of the information necessary.

Knowledge itself, however, will not save. How much knowledge did Judas have? Judas had a lot of knowledge. But he was not saved.

Then there is assent. We must judge this information—this knowledge that has been passed on to us, that we have discovered, we have read, we have heard. We must judge it to be true—the gospel to be true. Is it true that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Is it true that He took on our nature? Is it true that He lived? Is it true that He died? Is it true that He rose from the dead? We assent. I agree. I have the information, and I agree this is true. But even that is not enough.

In Acts 8, we are told of Simon. Simon who believed and was baptized. By most assessments, he did not possess saving faith. When Paul said to Agrippa in Acts 26-27, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. And what the apostle is getting at there is he’s not just dealing with knowledge. He is driving at the heart saying, I know, Agrippa, you assent to what the prophets have said. Believe the story of the prophets. You don’t just know what they said. You don’t just know what they have declared. I know you believe the prophets. I know you assent to what the prophets have declared. But Agrippa was not saved.

He responds to Paul: “‘Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.’” He had the information. He had the knowledge. He assented to the knowledge. He agreed. Paul knows enough about the man that he prods it. He tries to scrape away, tries to expose his heart, to drive him to the point of decision—that he might actually trust.

So he has the knowledge. There’s the knowledge. There’s the assent. But the heart of saving faith is the trust—the personal reliance, the casting yourself upon Christ. That is the key. You know the truth, you agree to the truth, and you’re going to cast your all on that revelation.

Before I leave it there, let us prod a little further.

When A.W. Pink wrote about saving faith, he has a very, very revealing article. At one point, he says the following, and this is kind of a summation of some of the things that he addresses. A.W. Pink says:

it is impossible to say how far a non-saving faith may go and how very closely it may resemble that faith which is saving.

He’s pointing out that you’re not looking at, you know, when the devils believe—whenever you have that kind of extreme—they believe there’s God. He’s showing that there are forms of faith that have the knowledge, and they have the assent, and they seem to have some element of the trust as well, and yet it is still not saving.

He continues. Now listen. This is searching.

It’s impossible to say how far a non-saving faith may go and how very closely it may resemble that faith which is saving. Saving faith has Christ for its object. So has a non-saving faith.

Now there he turns to John 2, and it talks about those who committed themselves, who believed on Jesus, but he didn’t commit himself onto them, because he knew what was in that. There’s some kind of commitment. There’s something there. There’s an allegiance that is expressed at the end of John 2, aligning with Christ that Christ sees is not genuine.

Saving faith is wrought by the Holy Spirit. So also is a non-saving faith.

He turns to Hebrews 6 verse 4, and those who have been once enlightened, tasting of the heavenly gift, and so on. The Spirit of God has been at work.

Saving faith is produced by the Word of God, so also is a non-saving faith.

He goes to Matthew 13, 20 and 21.

Saving faith will make a man prepare for the coming of the Lord, so also will a non-saving faith.

Of both the foolish and wise virgins it is written, then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Matthew 25.

Saving faith is accompanied with joy. So also is a non-saving faith.

Again, Matthew 13, with that receiving of the word with joy. But it’s not genuine. That’s horrifying.

You bring all of that together and there’s a horrifying exposure of an oversimplistic understanding of saving faith that Satan uses to keep souls in the bondage of their sin, yet in an illusion that they have what they need.

Many, Jesus said, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord.

So how can we illuminate this a little without spending too much time on this?

Saving faith includes a trust that not only agrees—it submits. It not only embraces a Savior, but a Lord. It abandons all rivals and reflects a heart that is tender, humble, and willing to endure suffering for Christ to the end. There is a loyalty to Christ that is absolute.

So Peter writes in 1 Peter 2: unto you therefore that believe, he is precious. Precious.

When the rivals come—Christ for me. When the temptations come—Christ for me. When the threat of what we considered this morning—whatever threatens—we will conclude: Christ for me, no matter what.

Our Catechism says, faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. But that receiving and resting is to the exclusion of everything else.

The issue of those—I’ve pointed this out before—those in Matthew 7, who built their house upon the sand, who said, the Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and cast out devils and done many marvelous works? The issue is they had mixed their religion, their faith, with a sense of being impressed with their own accomplishments.

If you’re impressed by you, you’re lost. The Christian is not impressed with himself—ever. He will say as a Christian, I am the chiefest of sinners. And in that spirit of recognition of his complete lost condition—accepting Christ—of his utter inability to live as to the standard God demands, Christ is what will be precious. And he will cleave to Christ and have no room to cleave to anything or anyone else.

And look at faith in its result as we consider its function—we see it in its result.

What does faith do when it is real? There are many things that could be considered here, but first, it brings rest. When you grasp it—it’s all that I need is bound up in the person of God’s Son—I can rest.

When we stop trying to impress God—or obey God, we’ll get to that in just a moment—but don’t try to impress. Don’t live trying to impress Christians… impress your pastor… impress… Live at rest with the sufficiency of Christ and find relief. Oh, such sweet relief!

God is satisfied in His Son—the words: it is finished. The very model of the gospel—a completed work. We cannot add to what Christ has done without insulting him, or by poisoning what he has accomplished.

But it not only brings rest, it brings fruit. It does not lead to careless living. This abandonment to Christ, and justified by faith—receiving all the benefits of Christ and everything we need to be justified before God—the argument, of course, has been raised from the beginning. Doesn’t that give license to sin? And Paul says, God forbid. How can we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?

Faith that justifies joins you to a living Christ. You abide in the vine, and you produce the fruit expected. You die unto sin and live unto righteousness. You are continually endeavoring then to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ. This union with Him cannot leave you unchanged. It’s impossible. faith that justifies must also sanctify.”

And this is the point James is making—James 2.24. It’s often that’s pushed back against Galatians 2.16: “No, they’re contradictory.” No, they’re not contradictory. They’re two men arguing from a different perspective to a different point.

James writes: you see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. He’s not contradicting Paul. He is answering a different question. He is insisting that works are the evidence of a saving faith. That should someone say, I have saving faith, and yet there’s no evidence of it, he says it’s a sham. It’s not. It’s a sham. Whatever you have is not real.

So a man is overwhelmed by his lusts and continues to serve his lusts—there is a huge question mark. That’s what James is arguing. There’s no evidence here.

When God justifies the ungodly, there’s a principle of life in them. And that principle of life will bow before the commands of the King and grieve every time they’re aware they’re living as a contradiction to the King’s will.

So, we confess our sins daily. We say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. The truth is not in us. We say we have no sin, we make God a liar. That’s in 1 John 1, and then a few verses later he goes to the evidence: that we walk even so as he walked.

What a way to live. What a driving principle within the heart—to walk even so as he walked. You can’t hear those words and not be convicted if there’s any life in you at all. I can’t quote them. That’s one of those verses I quote relatively regularly, and I do not quote them without ever feeling some sense of their convicting edge—to walk even so as he walked. What does that demand of me?

Genuine faith, which justifies, will change the life.

But the bottom line of the argument here this evening is: we know that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of or in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Going down to the very end: if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. The entire work of Christ is null and void.

The great day is going to be very revealing. You want to make sure that you’re living in the confidence that the gospel gives, and not in some facade.

Is Christ truly Lord? Do His commands resonate and govern your decisions? Do you see what Peter meant when he said, unto you that believe he is precious—something to be prized, to be held onto, to stay close to, to live subject to? Or is there… is there reason… is there a reason just to question where you are?

Turn your eye afresh on the Christ. You say, preacher, what I’ve heard tonight has made me wonder—what am I to do? First principles. Turn on the Christ. He receives sinners. He delights to save. It is His glory to take in the vilest and to make them clean by the power of His shed blood. And all He is asking is: fully, entirely, trust Me—not just in this moment, but throughout the rest of your life. Keep on believing. Keep on trusting. Keep on following. Stay in the shadow of the shepherd, listening to every command, endeavouring to obey all His will, and rejoicing in all he has accomplished.

May God help us. Let’s bow together in prayer.

Oh, for a saving interest in Christ. The alarming, the alarming fact that people can sit under the Word and not have a saving interest in Christ. May God have mercy on you. If you need any help, if you need to get clarity on any matter, I’d be happy to open the Word and spend some time helping you the best I can.

Lord, bless Thy Word. Please give help. We’re thankful for the simplicity of the gospel. We also recognize that there is a great enemy who seeks to deceive souls. Help us then to trust entirely in the efficacy of Christ and His shed blood. May we enjoy the full benefits of walking in the freedom of all our sins being pardoned, and the delight of doing Thy will and living for Thy glory. Help us this week. Sanctify us through Thy truth. Search out every heart and lead everyone into that confident waiting and knowledge: Christ is mine, and I am Christ’s.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit be the portion of all the people of God, now and evermore. Amen.