Righteousness is by Faith…Alone.

Posted on July 16, 2009 by theoldadam

 

 

          Is faith in Jesus Christ, alone…enough?

          How can you be so sure?

Filed under: Faith, Luther

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32 Responses

  1. Howard Nowlan, on July 16th, 2009 at 4:42 am Said:

    Because all of our righteousness falls miserably short – as dead and as lacking as a relic, how ornate the box we place it in. Christ alone is the only provision from God, from heaven to earth, to bring the mercy and the salvation that is, otherwise, beyond our reach.

    Reply
  2. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 4:48 am Said:

    Very well put, Howard.

    Thank you.

    Reply
  3. Alden, on July 16th, 2009 at 5:14 am Said:

    Gee, I love that movie. Haven’t seen it since I was a kid.

    In Galatians, Paul gives 3 reasons why he is sure of the Gospel he preached: 1) it was given to him by Christ in person, 2) it was approved by the Apostles, and 3) he confronted Peter regarding Peter’s actions in submitting to Jewish dietary regulations, and Peter agreed with Paul.

    For this reason, he was able to say, “Even if I or an angel from Heaven preach another gospel, let him be eternally condemned.”

    Sola fide, sola gratia, sola Christus! To add one iota of human effort to the equation equals the loss of the gospel completely.

    As Luther wrote in his into to the commentary on Galatians:

    “I have taken in hand, in the name of the Lord, once again to expound the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians; not because I desire to teach new things, or such as you have not heard before, but because we have to fear, as the greatest and nearest danger, that Satan take from us the pure doctrine of faith and bring into the Church again the doctrine of works and men’s traditions.

    The devil, our adversary, who continually seeks to devour us, is not dead; likewise our flesh and old man is yet alive. Besides this, all kinds of temptations vex and oppress us on every side. So this doctrine can never be taught, urged, and repeated enough. If this doctrine is lost, then is also the whole knowledge of the truth, life and salvation lost. If this doctrine flourishes, then all good things flourish.”

    (Sorry for the preaching, but sometimes I can’t help myself!)

    Reply
  4. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 5:17 am Said:

    No need to be sorry, Alden.

    You quoted Luther yourself,

    “So this doctrine can never be taught, urged, and repeated enough.”

    Amen!

    Thank you!

    *Good post on your blog about whether we are losing the gospel.
    http://aldenswan.com/2009/07/are-we-in-danger-of-losing-the-gospel/

    Reply
  5. Dorci, on July 16th, 2009 at 5:23 am Said:

    A need for faith in anything other than Jesus Christ and He would cease to be God. If something or someone else were necessary, He would be less than perfect, less than adequate, less than spotless, less than pure. Faith in anything else is simply idolatry.

    Works flow from faith in Jesus, but they do not replace it.

    Reply
  6. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 5:48 am Said:

    Amen, Dorci!

    Thank you!

    Reply
  7. waynedawg, on July 16th, 2009 at 11:55 am Said:

    Nothing in my hand I bring,
    Simply to thy cross I cling;
    Naked, come to thee for dress;
    Helpless, look to thee for grace;
    Foul, I to the fountain fly;
    Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

    Christ saves me through faith alone in Him.

    I can’t bring anything. I can’t ‘do’ anything. I simply cling to the Savior; He’s all I need because He’s all I got.

    Dorci nails this….my works flow from faith in Him!

    Reply
  8. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 12:36 pm Said:

    I appreciate that very much, Wayne.

    Thank you, my friend.

    Reply
  9. centralityofthegospel, on July 16th, 2009 at 1:51 pm Said:

    This (the newer Luther Movie) was so good. I highly recommend it. My PHD LCMS Pastor, when I was LCMS, went to it several times and said it was 90%+ historically accurate and did a good job portraying the real Luther. At one timed I owned the DVD of the movie until I gave it to our Church Library.

    I think I watched the older one at least once too.

    Reply
  10. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 1:54 pm Said:

    Thanks, Jon!

    I’ve heard that this Luther guy was a real bulldog for Christ.

    I’ll have to the movie a look-see! :D

    Reply
  11. centralityofthegospel, on July 16th, 2009 at 2:09 pm Said:

    That whole bulldog for Christ thing caused quite a stir in the Church and still does today. … :-)

    Reply
  12. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 2:13 pm Said:

    You are quite right, Jon.

    The religionists of yesterday are now the religionists of today.

    Nothing has changed.

    Christ alone was never popular and probably never will be short of His New Kingdom.

    Reply
  13. Larry, on July 16th, 2009 at 3:32 pm Said:

    As a friend of mine put it, in that newer Luther movie scene, “there is more Gospel in those 15 seconds than 99% of the churches out there 99 to 100 percent of the time preach.”

    That is a great movie.

    L

    Reply
  14. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 3:40 pm Said:

    “there is more Gospel in those 15 seconds than 99% of the churches out there 99 to 100 percent of the time preach.”

    I believe that, Larry!

    Reply
  15. jeofurry, on July 16th, 2009 at 3:44 pm Said:

    I saw the newer movie a few years ago and loved it. It was surprisingly well done. The scene where he talks to the woman from his congregation who has purchased an indulgence and tells her it is worthless was really powerful.

    Reply
  16. Patrick, on July 16th, 2009 at 4:54 pm Said:

    Preach it Marty!

    Reply
  17. Howard Nowlan, on July 16th, 2009 at 4:54 pm Said:

    It truly amazes me how so much ‘christian’ religion amounts to nothing more than seeking to keep that ‘thick, dark curtain’ firmly in place, to effectively hide the love and mercy of God revealed in Jesus Christ from us in the same manner it was so cruelly done in Luther’s day. Why? Because to truly speak as Luther does here is to bring sight to the blind, liberty to the captive. It makes my heart leap, my tears flow, my soul rise in thanksgiving – there is a place in this world, wrecked by our mischievous undoing, where God meets us, and makes straight this crookedness by means of His redemptive love alone – in the life and death of His Son, we poor prodigals are truly made free! Peace with God, through the reconciling work He has provided in Christ Jesus.

    Reply
  18. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 4:58 pm Said:

    Right, Howard.

    Men love the darkness.

    Reply
  19. theoldadam, on July 16th, 2009 at 4:59 pm Said:

    Patrick,

    You too, my friend. You keep preaching it as well!

    Reply
  20. Jim Robertson, on July 16th, 2009 at 6:07 pm Said:

    Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,and today, and forever.

    Reply
  21. centralityofthegospel, on July 16th, 2009 at 6:07 pm Said:

    Ok, I think we need a movie night. Is North Dakota half way at jeofurry’s place?

    Reply
  22. jeofurry, on July 16th, 2009 at 7:23 pm Said:

    Jon,
    I am just over an hour and a half or so from the geographical center of North America, so it is possible.

    Reply
  23. Alden, on July 16th, 2009 at 7:38 pm Said:

    Jeofurry, you’re from Langdon? I grew up in Hallock, MN, not that far away…

    Reply
  24. jeofurry, on July 16th, 2009 at 7:50 pm Said:

    Alden,
    I am not from Langdon originally, but that is where God has planted me now and I love it here.

    Reply
  25. Howard Nowlan, on July 16th, 2009 at 8:24 pm Said:

    Sounds like a great idea – both films certainly are filled with some very special moments.

    Reply
  26. centralityofthegospel, on July 16th, 2009 at 8:24 pm Said:

    My wife is from Alice, ND. The ‘Ol Buffalo/Alice exit on 94. I grew up in Sioux Falls, SD. Live and work in Shakopee, Mn now.

    Reply
  27. Bror erickson, on July 17th, 2009 at 1:48 pm Said:

    It better be enough. If it isn’t, I’m screwed!
    But seeing as the bible doesn’t point to anything else offering salvation, I’m dying with Christ today, tomorrow, and every day for the rest of my life.
    For what it is worth for this MN. reunion. My mom is from Roseau, Dad is from Brainerd, we lived in Staples for six years, longest anywhere for my family, did my vicarage in Parkers Prairie.
    I think though I have found home in Utah, debates ring your doorbell here.

    Reply
  28. Pastor Mark Anderson, on July 17th, 2009 at 7:20 pm Said:

    Ditto to Bror Erickson…it’s Christ or nothing!

    I’ll join the MN union also: great grandfather and father both pastors from MN…I was born in Minneapolis, went to Concordia College in Moorhead, seminary in St. Paul, served congregations in Fergus Falls and Fertile.

    Reply
  29. Larry, on July 18th, 2009 at 1:44 am Said:

    Is faith in Jesus Christ, alone…enough?

    Yes.

    How can you be so sure?

    Here is where one must go to the Word and Sacrament alone for men, preachers, and theologians have long since well learned to confess with their mouths what their hearts do not truly believe in order to avoid being overtly labeled as a heretic or false confessor. So that one may here an affirmation of “justification by faith alone” and then comes the “Yea but…” However, “yea but” is nothing more than fashionable and PC way of saying, “No”. Men have even learned in our day a more fashionable way of smuggling in their false doctrine by avoiding adding the “yea but…”, rather by tossing an out of context Scripture of “law” into the conversation of justification by faith alone. Much like throwing a skunk into a crowded room and running.

    Larry

    Reply
  30. Bror Erickson, on July 18th, 2009 at 2:12 pm Said:

    Mark,
    My Dad always talks about the greatest headline he ever read from a paper in Fertile.
    “Fertile Woman Killed in Climax”
    Probably wasn’t as funny for the family of the lady that died in the car accident in Climax, but … when you’re detached you read a little humor into those things.
    For the rest of you Climax is a town not too far from Fertile.

    Reply
  31. Alden, on July 18th, 2009 at 3:46 pm Said:

    That headline is hilarious – it makes you wonder if the writer did it on purpose. Those town names were always the subject of jokes when I was a kid.

    Reply

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