By Grace Alone Through Faith Alone In Christ Alone

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law…What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification…Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Is this so hard to understand? Abraham was without ability to fulfill the work that God had set before him. God took it completely out of his hands. In fact, when considering in whom the seed would be blessed, it wasn’t Abraham, but Isaac.

To say it another way, Abraham’s faith was based in the promise of the one coming, not in what Abraham had done, nor anything he would or could do, but in one not yet born. Paul further tells us that it is not Isaac who is spoken of, but Christ, the Seed, in whom faith would abide. Furthermore, we see that Christ is spoken of as the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world. This is in perfect harmony with Hebrews where Christ is called the author and perfecter of our faith. It is he who we look to, his works begun and completed on our behalf.

Then the passage in Phillipians rings clear. The beloved work out their salvation, always. It is inherent in faith that it is sure and certain to attain the thing which is possesses, Hebrews 11:1. We will work it out because it is God who works in us both the willing and the doing of his good pleasure. This statement in Phillipians is a reflection on another verse there:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This is our faith, not in ourselves but in the One to come. Indeed, how could there be any hope, any joy, any peace if we could not say that:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Jason Engwer has written a succinct rejoinder to one Roman Catholic apologist’s take on the necessity of a works to complete the salvation package:

Works (including involvement in baptism and other sacraments) are 100% absent in the paradigm case of Abraham (Genesis 15:6) and 100% absent in the historical descriptions of how others were justified (Mark 2:5, Luke 7:50, Acts 10:44-48, Galatians 3:2-9, etc.). Works were present in Abraham’s life, a point made in James 2, and they would have followed faith in cases like those in Mark 2, Luke 7, etc. But justification occurs at the time of faith, not at the time of baptism or any other work. Not only would it be a less natural interpretation to dismiss these passages as exceptions to a rule, but some of these passages are presented in contexts that are about what’s normative, not what’s exceptional. People like Abraham, the tax collector of Luke 18, Cornelius, and the Galatians are treated as if the means by which they received justification was normative. Every one of them received justification through faith alone, without the presence of baptism or any other work.

The beauty of the parable of the tax collecter and the Pharisee cuts to the heart of Roman Catholic doctrine. It is precisely the dependence upon good works that kept the Pharisee from being justified. In contrast to him was the sinner who knew the only plea for his justification was to the merciful works of God.

I would also recommend this Dividing Line program on the same subject.