Understanding Saving Faith: Union with Christ

First, he says, "We must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us." "As long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from Him, everything that Christ has done, everything that we have explored in the gospel, thus far," says Calvin, "is useless. It is of no value for us unless we are joined to the Lord Jesus Christ." [00:06:49]

We are bound to Christ in the purpose of the Father in His holy election from before the creation of the world; we were chosen in Christ. We are bound to Jesus Christ because He has taken to Himself, assumed our humanity, and assumed that humanity in order to bear our sins and God's judgment against them on the tree. And we are bound to Jesus Christ by the glorious sovereign ministry of the Holy Spirit as He descends upon us mysteriously and powerfully, and ultimately, irresistibly, to bring us to new birth, so that if anyone is thus by the Spirit in Christ, there is a new creation. [00:09:04]

The election of God, the incarnation of Christ, the present ministry of the Holy Spirit are all engaged in bringing us to living personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, as Paul expounds what Christ has done for us in these verses 21 through 25, and uses all the big words of the gospel; there is propitiation from the wrath of God in Jesus Christ, there is justification in Jesus Christ, there is reconciliation in Jesus Christ, but his great emphasis is all of this needs to be, as he says here in verse 25, "Received by faith." [00:11:49]

And, of course, the Reformers understood, they had sensitive ears or ears sensitized to the gospel that while the church of Rome throughout the Middle Ages proclaimed that salvation was by grace, when the Reformers asked the church, "Tell me how you spell grace?" it was at that point that they realized that the spelling and the syntax of that medieval way of salvation was actually a medieval way of damnation. [00:15:17]

And so, faith is this whole-souled, whole-being entrustment of myself to the Lord Jesus Christ as the alone sufficient One, to bring me pardon from my guilt, deliverance from my bondage, and eternal glory in the presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Father and all the saints and angels and cherubim. He alone can bring me there. And by faith, the simplest, poorest, weakest individual who takes hold of this strong and all-sufficient Christ may rejoice in the assurance of their salvation. [00:21:09]

And you see, Paul is trying to say by re-crafting even the language he is using that when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, that faith in Jesus Christ does not come to Jesus Christ to detach from Jesus Christ, one of the blessings of the gospel, and then comes again to detach from Jesus Christ another blessing of the gospel. Incidentally, it's this error that I think lies behind the whole epoch of controversy that Dr. MacArthur was speaking about yesterday. [00:27:47]

And you see, this is why the Apostle Paul says that the redemption is to be found in Jesus Christ. We are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. Here are some marvelous words of the late professor John Murray, and I quote them not just because he was a Scott, but because he was a great theologian. Listen to this. The students used to say they needed to go for their dictionary after his lectures. [00:30:24]

And Paul answers these questions in, as it were, a short form at the end of chapter 3. And then, in an amazing way, he says in chapter 4, "Now think about Abraham," and he goes through each of these three questions in chapter 4 and says, "How do we find the answer to these questions in the Scriptures?" So, you see, he's put before us justification by free grace through faith in Jesus Christ, he's raised three absolutely vital questions, and now, he is expounding the Old Testament Scriptures and showing us how we learn this from the Scriptures themselves. [00:48:33]

Saving faith boasts of nothing in itself but everything in Christ. Look at what he says in verse 27, "What becomes of our boasting if justification is by faith?" "It is," he says, "It is excluded." But now follow his reasoning which is the reasoning I think of a genius who sees the simple truth. By what kind of principle of works is boasting excluded? By a law of works. Now, think about it. Boasting is excluded...on what principle does the gospel exclude boasting? [00:50:54]

And so, there is no boasting because it's the ungodly who are justified by faith. And yet, and yet, and yet, chapter 5 verse 2, chapter 5 verse 3, chapter 5 verse 11, the mouth that has been shut under the condemnation and wrath of God that has taken hold of Jesus Christ begins to boast and boast and boast; boasts in the hope of the glory of God, boasts even in its sufferings, boasts in God Himself. It's all gloriously, gloriously, gloriously of grace. [00:53:22]

Saving faith excludes our obedience from justification but marvelously fulfills it in sanctification. And this he marvelously works out again in chapter 4 verse 13 when he speaks about Abraham who was justified by faith, growing strong in faith as he gave glory to God, and no longer looked upon the circumstances of his life to determine the stability of his salvation, and was, especially in the sacrifice of Isaac, willing to be obedient to the Lord. [01:00:00]

Saving faith shuts my mouth, excludes boasting, but leads me to boast in Christ. Saving faith focuses on Christ, not on sacraments, but is blessed by receiving the kiss of Jesus Christ in the sacraments. Saving faith is not dependent upon my obedience, but obedience is the hallmark of the man or woman filled with the Spirit. "Nothing in my hands 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, Savior, or I die." [01:01:38]