I have discovered the same is true whenever the Gospel is
truly preached and heard. Martin Luther
declared that justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church
stands or falls. This cardinal doctrine of the Protestant Reformation was the
battleground for nothing less than the Gospel itself. Simply put, “justification” is the act by
which unjust sinners are made right (righteous) in the sight of a just and holy
God. How is this done? The Gospel states that it is done by God who
applies the righteousness of His perfect Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to the
sinner’s life. Paul puts it this way in
Romans 3:20, “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”
It is all God’s doing in two ways: Christ’s finished work of righteousness and the
Father’s declaration that Christ’s righteousness is now credited to our account. The certainty and finality of this declaration
was called a “forensic” act by the Reformers.
That is, we are declared, counted, or reckoned once and forever to be
righteous when God imputes the righteousness of Christ to our account. Indeed it is this forensic act that is the necessary
condition for anyone to be saved. And it
is faith in Christ alone, and His work alone, that is the necessary condition
for justification.
Now, while all of that may seem rather technical and
esoteric to many, it has real world relevance to us here at Hebron today. As in times past, in the face of the preached
Gospel people are asking “How can this be?”
“If God is sovereign and He’s the One who does all the saving, all the
keeping, all the insuring of one’s standing before God, what is there for me to
do? Why not just live like hell? If all threats of eternal judgment are
removed, if our new life in Christ can never be lost, then what kind responsibility
do I bear?”
These aren’t new questions.
These aren’t new reactions.
Indeed, in his expansive commentary on Romans 6, Dr. D. Martyn
Lloyd-Jones famously issued a warning to all those who preach the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. He writes:
The preaching of the
true gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of the charge
of antinomianism (lawlessness). Indeed,
there is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New
Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand
and misinterpret it to mean that because you are saved by grace alone it doesn’t
matter what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will
redound all the more to the glory of grace.
If your preaching and presentation of the Gospel doesn’t expose it to
that misunderstanding, then it’s not of the Gospel that you are preaching or
presenting. Let me show you what I mean.
If a man preaches
justification by works, no one would ever raise this question. If a man’s preaching is “If you want to be a
Christian, or stay a Christian, and if you want to go to heaven, you must stop
committing sins, you must take up good works, and if you do so regularly and
constantly, and do not fail to keep on at it, you will make yourself one, no
misunderstanding would arise.
Why? Because that‘s the message the church of Rome proclaimed in Luther’s day. That’s the same message that is widely proclaimed today – even in the preponderance of Protestant churches today.
But, praise God, it is not so at Hebron. Today, as in times past, the question has
been raised, “If God is sovereign, if justification by faith alone is true, why
do I have to do anything? Why can’t I,
then, live like hell?” There’s a clear
answer. Paul knew it. Luther knew it. Calvin knew it. Whitefield knew it. Edwards knew it. Spurgeon knew it. Every student of Scripture ought to know
it. And this week we’ll give it. Sunday’s message is intentionally “piggy-backed”
on Ken Wagoner’s message from two weeks ago, “The One That Got Away.” If you haven’t listened to it, you
should. There’s a verse in Jonah 2 that
will be the pivot point in this Sunday’s message. It’s Jonah 2:8, near the end of Jonah’s
incredible prayer. It’s the centerpiece
of God’s answer to the question, “If God is sovereign, what does it matter what
I do?”
In preparation for Sunday’s message, “The Prayer of Jonah,”
from Jonah 2:1-9, you may wish to consider the following questions:
1. What
is Paul’s answer to the charge of antinomianism in Romans 6?
2. How
does Jonah’s prayer differ from the prayer of Jabez in I Chronicles 4?
3. What
does Jonah’s father’s name mean?
4. Who
is the one responsible for Jonah being thrown into the sea? The sailors?
Jonah? God?
5. Who
does Jonah believe to be the responsible party?
6. How
did God “bring up his life from the pit”?
See verse 6(b).
7. What
does Jonah mean in verse 7?
8. How
do you think verse 8 is best translated?
Check several and then if you are able, examine the Hebrew text.
9. What
idols was Jonah clinging to?
10. What does
it mean to forsake godly mercy by clinging to idols?
See you Sunday as we consider the
fruit of justification!
