Bobservations' Column
Titled - "Works vs. Faith"
Written by: Pastor Bob Lawrenz
In the Seven Letters to the Churches which were in Asia, recorded in Revelation 2 and 3, we read that each church had unique problems that warranted correction. But one thing becomes clear in every church, that is, that loving faith through grace leads us to correct doctrine.
Many churches respond to Jesus by entering into a works-based salvation, and it’s easy to follow that example because Jesus did good works throughout His ministry. But something is missing, because works becomes the goal.
In Matthew 9:20-22 we read of a specific woman. She had heard of Jesus and His ability to bring healing. He was nearby; crowds had gathered; He was teaching and healing others! But she was unclean because of a disease. If only she could get to Him, even just to touch the hem of His garment. She saw Him as her last chance to be healed. She stayed low to not draw attention to herself because of her uncleanness. She reached out to touch just His garment.
Jesus did not feel her touch, but he suddenly turned because He sensed His healing power go out to someone! “Who touched me?” He asked. He looked down to where she was and understood; “Daughter, thy faith has made the whole.” Jesus perceived her faith, and His healing flowed out to her.
We see in all of His healings that it took the faith of those healed to get to Him for the healing to begin. The man with the withered hand; the man born blind; the paralytic, and blind Bartimaeus on the road near Jericho; all had faith just to get to Jesus. Faith and works go hand-in-hand to complete God’s work in us. But God’s gift of faith comes first. Then good works follow.
We look to be healed, and Jesus looks for our faith, and in Ephesians 2, we learn that even our faith is a gift from God, so that no human can boast of their own faith. Exercise that gift of faith you have received and watch what happens. You will find His strength to endure, and your mind to understand what true healing is meant to be. (Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56)
Written by: Pastor Bob Lawrenz
In the Seven Letters to the Churches which were in Asia, recorded in Revelation 2 and 3, we read that each church had unique problems that warranted correction. But one thing becomes clear in every church, that is, that loving faith through grace leads us to correct doctrine.
Many churches respond to Jesus by entering into a works-based salvation, and it’s easy to follow that example because Jesus did good works throughout His ministry. But something is missing, because works becomes the goal.
In Matthew 9:20-22 we read of a specific woman. She had heard of Jesus and His ability to bring healing. He was nearby; crowds had gathered; He was teaching and healing others! But she was unclean because of a disease. If only she could get to Him, even just to touch the hem of His garment. She saw Him as her last chance to be healed. She stayed low to not draw attention to herself because of her uncleanness. She reached out to touch just His garment.
Jesus did not feel her touch, but he suddenly turned because He sensed His healing power go out to someone! “Who touched me?” He asked. He looked down to where she was and understood; “Daughter, thy faith has made the whole.” Jesus perceived her faith, and His healing flowed out to her.
We see in all of His healings that it took the faith of those healed to get to Him for the healing to begin. The man with the withered hand; the man born blind; the paralytic, and blind Bartimaeus on the road near Jericho; all had faith just to get to Jesus. Faith and works go hand-in-hand to complete God’s work in us. But God’s gift of faith comes first. Then good works follow.
We look to be healed, and Jesus looks for our faith, and in Ephesians 2, we learn that even our faith is a gift from God, so that no human can boast of their own faith. Exercise that gift of faith you have received and watch what happens. You will find His strength to endure, and your mind to understand what true healing is meant to be. (Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56)
“Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” - James 2:18
Bobservations' Column - Audio Version
Sunday Morning Message:
Galatians 2:14-21 - "Works vs. Faith"
Summary/Additional Commentary & Definitions:
Galatians 2:14-21 discusses the core of the gospel: justification by faith in Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law. Paul confronts Peter's hypocrisy in publicly distancing himself from Gentile Christians after initially fellowshipping with them. Paul argues that if righteousness could be attained through the law, then Christ's death would have been unnecessary. He emphasizes that believers are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer they who live, but Christ who lives in them.
What do the scriptures teach about justification?
First, “Justification is the ACT OF GOD whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ.” In other words, it is an act, NOT a process. No Christian is “more justified” than another. Later in Galatians we’ll talk about another fifty-cent word, Sanctification. Now that’s a process. Sanctification is the continual process God uses to conform us to the image of His Son.
Justification isn’t something we do; it’s something God has done. The Bible speaks of justification as a done deal. Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) He didn’t say “we are being justified,” or “we will be justified.” It was a past reality. We HAVE been justified.
Second, “Justification is the act of God whereby He DECLARES the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ.” In other words, it doesn’t mean God MAKES you righteous. If you don’t feel very righteous, that’s okay. In our sinful nature, there is nothing good about us. Justification involves courtroom language. The Judge DECLARES you righteous, even though you’re guilty. In justification God says, “Not guilty. Never guilty. Never guilty again!”
Third, “Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing SINNER righteous in Jesus Christ.” God justifies sinners, not “good people.” The reason some people haven’t been justified is because they continue to insist they’re good people; they refuse to admit they are sinners.
Finally, “Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner RIGHTEOUS in Jesus Christ.” I’ve been talking a great deal about righteousness in this Galatians series. A few weeks ago a lady came back to the Bethany Suite after the message and said, “I’m a little confused about what ‘righteousness’ is. Can you explain it to me in simple terms?” For a second I smiled as I thought, “There are entire theological libraries devoted to that topic, and I’m going to summarize it in one sentence?” So after thinking for a second I said, “Righteousness simply means ‘right standing’ before God.” That’s it in a nutshell. A sinner standing in his or her own attempts at righteousness can’t stand before a Holy God. But when we stand before God IN Jesus Christ, we are clothed in HIS righteousness, and as Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:12, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” If you try to approach God on your own goodness, you can’t stand—you’ll die. But if you approach God in Jesus, He sees the righteousness of Jesus.
Sunday Morning Audio Message:
Galatians 2:14-21 discusses the core of the gospel: justification by faith in Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law. Paul confronts Peter's hypocrisy in publicly distancing himself from Gentile Christians after initially fellowshipping with them. Paul argues that if righteousness could be attained through the law, then Christ's death would have been unnecessary. He emphasizes that believers are crucified with Christ, and it is no longer they who live, but Christ who lives in them.
What do the scriptures teach about justification?
First, “Justification is the ACT OF GOD whereby He declares the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ.” In other words, it is an act, NOT a process. No Christian is “more justified” than another. Later in Galatians we’ll talk about another fifty-cent word, Sanctification. Now that’s a process. Sanctification is the continual process God uses to conform us to the image of His Son.
Justification isn’t something we do; it’s something God has done. The Bible speaks of justification as a done deal. Paul wrote, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) He didn’t say “we are being justified,” or “we will be justified.” It was a past reality. We HAVE been justified.
Second, “Justification is the act of God whereby He DECLARES the believing sinner righteous in Jesus Christ.” In other words, it doesn’t mean God MAKES you righteous. If you don’t feel very righteous, that’s okay. In our sinful nature, there is nothing good about us. Justification involves courtroom language. The Judge DECLARES you righteous, even though you’re guilty. In justification God says, “Not guilty. Never guilty. Never guilty again!”
Third, “Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing SINNER righteous in Jesus Christ.” God justifies sinners, not “good people.” The reason some people haven’t been justified is because they continue to insist they’re good people; they refuse to admit they are sinners.
Finally, “Justification is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner RIGHTEOUS in Jesus Christ.” I’ve been talking a great deal about righteousness in this Galatians series. A few weeks ago a lady came back to the Bethany Suite after the message and said, “I’m a little confused about what ‘righteousness’ is. Can you explain it to me in simple terms?” For a second I smiled as I thought, “There are entire theological libraries devoted to that topic, and I’m going to summarize it in one sentence?” So after thinking for a second I said, “Righteousness simply means ‘right standing’ before God.” That’s it in a nutshell. A sinner standing in his or her own attempts at righteousness can’t stand before a Holy God. But when we stand before God IN Jesus Christ, we are clothed in HIS righteousness, and as Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:12, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” If you try to approach God on your own goodness, you can’t stand—you’ll die. But if you approach God in Jesus, He sees the righteousness of Jesus.
Sunday Morning Audio Message:
Key Words and Definitions with Reference:
Live in the manner of Gentiles (2:14) - Before his gradual withdrawal, Peter regularly had fellowship and ate with the Gentiles, thus modeling the ideal of Christian love and liberty between Jew and Gentile.
Sinners of the Gentiles (2:15) - In the legal sense, Gentiles were sinners by nature, and they had no revealed divine written law to guide them toward salvation or living righteously.
Works . . . Faith (2:16) - Three times in this verse Paul declares that salvation is only through faith in Christ and not by law. The first is general, "a man is not justified"; the second is personal, "we might be justified"; and the third is universal, "no flesh shall be justified."
Justified (2:16) - A basic Greek word describing a judge declaring an accused person not guilty and therefore innocent before the law. Throughout Scripture, it refers to God's declaring a sinner not guilty and fully righteous before Him by imputing to him the divine righteousness of Christ and imputing the person's sin to his sinless Savior for punishment.
Works of the Law (2:16) - Keeping the law is a totally unacceptable means of salvation because the root of sinfulness is in the fallenness of man's heart, not his actions. The law served as a mirror to reveal sin not a cure for it.
Minister of Sin (2:17) - If the Judaizers were right, then Christ was wrong and had been teaching people to sin because He taught that food couldn't not contaminate a person (Mark 7:19; cf. Acts 10:13-15).
Things which I Destroyed (2:18) - The false system of salvation through legalism was done away with by the preaching of salvation by grace alone through faith alone.
Died to the Law (2:19) - When a person is convicted of a capital crime and executed, the law has no further claim on him. So it is with the Christian who has died in Christ (who paid the penalty for his sins in full) and rises to new life in Him. Justice has been satisfied, and he is forever free from any further penalty.
Crucified With Christ (2:20) - When a person trusts in Christ for salvation, he participates spiritually with the Lord in His crucifixion and His victory over sin and death.
No Longer I who Live, but Christ (2:20) - The believer's old self is dead having been crucified with Christ (Romans 6:3, 5). The believer's new man has the privilege of the indwelling Christ empowering him and living through him.
Gave Himself for Me (2:20) - The manifestation of Christ's love for the believer through His sacrificial death on the Cross (John 10:17, 18; Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 5:25-30).
Christ Died in Vain (2:21) - Died needlessly. Those who insist they can earn their salvation by their own efforts undermine the foundation of Christianity and render unnecessary the death of Christ.
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