Will We Be Finally ‘Saved’ by Faith Alone?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:04.000 | Alright Pastor John, today we address a controversy that you stirred up online
00:00:09.000 | back on September 25th of last year, 2017.
00:00:13.000 | Just as Protestants around the globe were beginning to celebrate the Reformation's 500th birthday,
00:00:19.000 | you spoiled the party with an article titled, "Does God really save us by faith alone?"
00:00:24.000 | In which you answered, "No, we are not saved by faith alone."
00:00:29.000 | Leaving Protestants everywhere dumbfounded and scratching their heads.
00:00:33.000 | In wishing more clarity here, a podcast listener named Sam wrote us to ask this.
00:00:38.000 | "Hello Pastor John, I've read your article on justification saying that we are justified by faith alone,
00:00:43.000 | but we are not ultimately saved by faith alone.
00:00:46.000 | You argue that works must be present for final salvation or glorification to be completed.
00:00:52.000 | Two questions for you. Number one, can you explain this a little further on air?
00:00:57.000 | And number two, what then is the link between justification and glorification?
00:01:02.000 | From what I see in Romans 8 30, glorification is secured by our justification.
00:01:08.000 | How would salvation and works fit between the link here in Paul's mind?"
00:01:13.000 | Well thank you Sam. I love to talk about this issue because it is endlessly perplexing for people
00:01:19.000 | and every effort we can make to clarify it the better.
00:01:23.000 | So let's start with some clarifications.
00:01:26.000 | The biblical term salvation is used to cover past, present, and future dimensions of God's work
00:01:37.000 | to bring us into everlasting perfection and joy.
00:01:43.000 | Ephesians 2 8, "Having been saved."
00:01:48.000 | 1 Corinthians 1 18, "We are being saved."
00:01:53.000 | Romans 13 11, "Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed."
00:02:01.000 | So past, present process, future completion.
00:02:06.000 | This is why we have to be so careful about using the term justification interchangeably with salvation.
00:02:17.000 | It causes so much confusion.
00:02:19.000 | Justification, as we ordinarily use the term, as Paul ordinarily uses the term,
00:02:28.000 | refers not to a process, but salvation sometimes does refer to a process.
00:02:35.000 | Justification is the point, point, point, like in geometry,
00:02:40.000 | where the Holy Spirit opens our blind eyes to see Christ for who he really is,
00:02:47.000 | unites us to Christ by faith alone,
00:02:51.000 | so that in that instant, at that point, we pass from being under condemnation
00:02:59.000 | into God's being 100% for us.
00:03:04.000 | No virtue, no works in us brought about this new standing with God.
00:03:12.000 | Justification is instantaneous and unchanging on the basis of the blood and righteousness of Christ alone.
00:03:23.000 | We are counted instantaneously as righteous, and God is 100% for us from then on.
00:03:33.000 | We're connected with this new experience of acceptance with God by being one with Christ through faith alone,
00:03:43.000 | and that happens in an instant.
00:03:46.000 | Now the question rises, how do our good deeds then fit with justification and final salvation?
00:03:55.000 | And my answer is, and it's the answer of the entire mainstream of the Reformed tradition,
00:04:02.000 | and really not just Calvinists would talk this way, many others would as well,
00:04:08.000 | works play no role whatsoever in justification,
00:04:14.000 | but are the necessary fruit of justifying faith,
00:04:20.000 | which confirm, this fruit confirms our faith and our union with Christ at the last judgment.
00:04:28.000 | So God can make a public pronouncement with a view to these works confirming the faith
00:04:36.000 | which alone unites us to Christ, who is alone the foundation of our acceptance as perfect in God's sight.
00:04:44.000 | So here's what the Westminster Confession says from 350 years ago.
00:04:49.000 | "Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ in his righteousness, is the alone instrument,
00:04:58.000 | the only, the sole instrument of justification, distinguishing instrument from basis,
00:05:05.000 | the alone instrument or means of justification, yet is it not alone in the person justified,
00:05:15.000 | but is ever," important word, "accompanied with all other saving graces,
00:05:21.000 | and is no dead faith, but works by love." End of quote.
00:05:27.000 | Now that is an allusion to Galatians 5, 6, where Paul says,
00:05:33.000 | "In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything,
00:05:38.000 | but only faith working through love."
00:05:42.000 | So the faith that justifies is the sort of faith that bears the fruit of good works, love.
00:05:51.000 | James 2, 17, "Faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself."
00:06:00.000 | Dead faith doesn't justify anybody, therefore faith without works is not the kind of faith that justifies anybody.
00:06:09.000 | And these works are, and here it starts to get difficult for people, but let me see if I can help,
00:06:16.000 | these works are necessary.
00:06:19.000 | Hebrews says, "Strive for the peace," strive, key word, "Strive for the peace with everyone,
00:06:27.000 | and strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12, 14.
00:06:34.000 | So we won't see the Lord Jesus, that is, we won't be finally saved without this "striven for holiness."
00:06:46.000 | And what is that? Or why is that?
00:06:49.000 | Because the Apostle John says, 1 John 2, 4, 3, 14, other places,
00:06:56.000 | "The one who says, 'I have come to know God,' and does not keep his commandments, is a liar.
00:07:03.000 | And the truth is not in him."
00:07:05.000 | Or, says later, 3, 14, "We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren."
00:07:14.000 | That's how we know, it's confirmed.
00:07:16.000 | "He who does not love abides in death."
00:07:21.000 | In other words, you haven't been born again, you haven't been united to Christ,
00:07:24.000 | you don't have saving faith because it's not confirmed by love.
00:07:28.000 | So, obedience and love are the necessary confirmations that we are born again,
00:07:36.000 | truly united to Christ by faith alone.
00:07:39.000 | Or here's the way Paul says it in 2 Thessalonians 2, 2, 13,
00:07:44.000 | "God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth."
00:07:57.000 | So, we are not justified through sanctification.
00:08:02.000 | Let me say it again, we are not justified through sanctification,
00:08:08.000 | but we are finally saved through sanctification.
00:08:13.000 | That is, through a real change in our hearts and minds and lives,
00:08:18.000 | without which we will not see the Lord.
00:08:22.000 | Now, people hear this, if they haven't been well taught on these things, here's what people do.
00:08:29.000 | They hear this, they say, "Whoa, necessary? These things are necessary for final salvation?"
00:08:38.000 | And they draw two inferences from that statement, and both of them are false.
00:08:43.000 | Number one, therefore they say, "Final salvation is dependent on us, decisively on us."
00:08:51.000 | And here's the next false inference, "Therefore, it's uncertain. I could fail. I could lose my salvation.
00:08:58.000 | I could be justified and then not be justified. A child of God might lose his justification."
00:09:04.000 | Now, both those inferences are dead wrong, both logically wrong and biblically wrong.
00:09:13.000 | The second one is wrong because the Bible says, "He who began a good work in you will complete it."
00:09:24.000 | At the day of Christ, you won't lose it.
00:09:27.000 | And Romans 8:30 says, "Those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified,
00:09:34.000 | and those whom he justified, he also glorified." No dropouts, no dropouts at any one of those links in the chain.
00:09:45.000 | No dropouts between justification and glorification. I'll say it again.
00:09:49.000 | Those whom he justified in the twinkling of an eye, by faith alone, in union with Christ, once and for all,
00:09:56.000 | will be, all of them, no exceptions, will be glorified.
00:10:01.000 | The reason no one will lose his justification is because God is the decisive worker.
00:10:11.000 | We work, but we're not the decisive worker.
00:10:14.000 | Philippians 2:12, "Work out your own salvation by all means.
00:10:19.000 | Strive for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
00:10:23.000 | Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Why?
00:10:26.000 | Because it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
00:10:32.000 | So God's sovereign keeping and working is the basis of our pursuit of holiness.
00:10:42.000 | The basis of it. The basis of it. The ground of it.
00:10:45.000 | I start with the fact that I am kept. I start with the fact that I'm justified.
00:10:50.000 | I start with the fact that God is 100% for me, and on the basis of that, I pursue the killing of my sin.
00:11:00.000 | Here's what Paul says in Philippians 3:12. I love this.
00:11:04.000 | He says, "Not that I am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own."
00:11:17.000 | Oh, get that logic right.
00:11:19.000 | So when Sam asks, as he does at the end, "How would salvation and works fit between the link in Paul's mind between justification and glorification?"
00:11:33.000 | Where Paul says, "All those who are justified are glorified."
00:11:36.000 | He's asking, "How does salvation and works fit in there?"
00:11:39.000 | The answer is this. Glorification in Paul's thinking is a process that begins at conversion.
00:11:49.000 | It doesn't begin at the last judgment. It begins at conversion and includes sanctification.
00:11:57.000 | It's consummated at final salvation.
00:12:01.000 | We know this because of 2 Corinthians 3:18, where we look to Jesus and are being chained from one degree of glory to the next.
00:12:13.000 | That's glorification right now as we look to Jesus.
00:12:19.000 | And Romans 8:30, then, "All the justified will be glorified," includes the promise, "All the justified will be sanctified,"
00:12:29.000 | because sanctification is included in glorification.
00:12:33.000 | Our assurance of final salvation, which is so precious, we don't believe that people should walk around unsure.
00:12:43.000 | Our assurance of final salvation rests on God's past work by Christ and his future work by the Spirit in us and both.
00:12:56.000 | One outside of us, one in us, both rooted in God's faithfulness to his covenant people.
00:13:04.000 | And I'll read this as my last verse. This is 1 Corinthians 1, 8, and 9.
00:13:09.000 | "He will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:13:18.000 | God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
00:13:28.000 | Very good. Hopefully that will clarify things for our listeners.
00:13:32.000 | It will for a few minutes. I've given up thinking I could solve this problem for people.
00:13:38.000 | And, you know, I think part of that is it's not hard to understand, but the devil hates it so much,
00:13:44.000 | he's going to constantly sow seeds, "You've got to do this. It's all depending on you," and so on.
00:13:52.000 | Amen. Yeah, that is a carefully defined understanding of justification and final salvation.
00:13:57.000 | And it's rooted in a long history of careful Reformation theology. Thank you, Pastor John.
00:14:03.000 | And to read Pastor John's original article, search for the title, "Does God Really Save Us by Faith Alone?"
00:14:09.000 | at DesiringGod.org. And there we have over 7,000 articles on all manner of topics for you to look through.
00:14:18.000 | And if you never have, I would encourage you to spend some time this weekend to browse and search through
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00:14:30.000 | all free of charge, and all for your joy in God.
00:14:34.000 | Well, thank you for listening and supporting the podcast.
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00:15:00.000 | Well, speaking of controversy, why are Christian singles getting married later and later in life?
00:15:08.000 | Our good friend Francis Chan says it's because of the prevalence of premarital sex.
00:15:14.000 | Other Christians say, "Whoa, wait a minute. I think there are many other factors at play here too,
00:15:19.000 | like women trying to pay off student debt and being so busy with the work they can't pursue relationships."
00:15:24.000 | We know singles in America are putting off marriage longer and longer, but why?
00:15:30.000 | And what hope does Pastor John have to offer those who are patiently waiting?
00:15:35.000 | That's the question on the table Monday when we return.
00:15:38.000 | Until then, I'm your host Tony Reinke. Enjoy the weekend. We'll see you on Monday.
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