October 8, 2017

At the time of the Reformation and for the next 500 years, there are a number of themes that have been very important in the Lutheran Church. We even name them in Latin: “Sola Gratia: Grace Alone, Sola Fide: faith Alone, Solus Christus: Christ Alone, Sola Scriptura: Scripture Alone.” Today, let’s talk about “Sola Fide: Faith Alone.” A. What is “faith”? B. Why it was important at the time of the Reformation. C. Why it is important for us today.

A. What is “faith”? Sometimes it is a girl’s name, or a church name. Sometimes it means a religion, like the “Christian faith” or the “Buddhist faith.” In the Bible, the expression “to have faith” is exactly the same as “to believe.” It means to trust, to have confidence, to remain steadfast, to be faithful, and to accept something as true.

B. Martin Luther was a man who knew he was a sinner. He was afraid of the punishment of God. He thought he had to confess each and every one of his sins, big or little, and then receive forgiveness. He thought he had to live a good life and do good works in order to receive the salvation of God. This was the common belief of all Christians at the time. Luther became a professor at the Wittenberg University. He taught the Bible and so he studied the Bible in order to give good lectures. And as he studied the Bible, especially the Books of Romans and Galatians, he found the Gospel that gave him great peace in his mind and soul. It gave him peace because he realized that we do not save ourselves by what we do, but we are saved by the work of Christ. Here are three of the many Bible passages that speak to this.:
 Romans 3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”

 Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

 Galatians 2:16 “[We] know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Like St. Paul, Luther also found what it means to live by faith in God. It is peace and freedom and security. Faith is relying on the faithfulness of God who promised to save all who believe in him,
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

But the teaching of the church in Luther’s time was that faith alone was not enough; you also had to do good works to be saved. Luther said, as did St. Paul, that good works are a result of faith that believes in God. They are necessary, but a result of faith. Although we try to lead a good Christian life, the only good work that saves us is the work of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to forgive our sin and who rose on the third day to give us eternal life. It is not by our weak work; therefore we can be sure of our salvation because we are saved by Christ who is almighty. And so faith also means confidence, trust, hope, acceptance and faithfulness to God.

C. What does this mean for us? Why is “faith alone” so important? The short answer is freedom. We do not have to worry about hell, purgatory, or the wrath of God. That is the perfect peace in a Christian’s heart, the “peace that passes all understanding.”

And yet we know that we are sinners in the eyes of God. The words of Jesus speak to us when he said, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” And so the first action of faith is not good deeds, but rather repentance. That is why we start our worship service with the confession and absolution. Martin Luther wrote his famous 95 Theses. The first one reads, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Repentance is possible because it is done in the faith, in the trust, that God will forgive us through Jesus Christ. It is not because of what we do, but because of what Christ has done for us.

The danger for us is that we will become like that old Lutheran who said with pride, “I know that I will surely go to heaven because I have never done one good deed in my life.” The danger is that we might become complacent in our faith life. We might think that our sin is not so very bad. We might think that Jesus will forgive us anyway, so don’t worry. But if sin were not bad, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross. We live our lives somewhere between the fear of God and the love of God. And knowing that, we do not have faith in ourselves, but rather, we have faith in God. We do not trust ourselves, we trust God who is faithful to his promise of salvation. That is the meaning of “sola fide, faith alone.” It does not make life easier. There are still the problems and diseases and disasters and death and deceit and the devil all around us. But Jesus who suffered death and hell for us will be faithful to us. That is the power of “faith alone.”

Amen.
“The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Amen. （Philippians 4:7.）

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

Sermon Index