Advent II—Midweek

Sola Fide

+ IN NOMINE IESU +

The Lutheran Reformation was a movement about sufficiency. Those who opposed Luther and the Lutheran theologians of that day were not teaching that grace, faith, Scripture, and Christ were unimportant. These things were extremely important to the theology of the Roman Church. But they were teaching that these things were insufficient for the fullness of theology. The Lutherans responded that indeed, grace, faith, Scripture, and Christ, are sufficient, and to drive that point home, they used the word alone. Grace is sufficient. Faith is sufficient. Scripture is sufficient. Christ is sufficient. Grace alone. Faith alone. Scripture alone. Christ alone. These became watchwords of the Lutheran Church.

A watchword conveys the heart of one’s beliefs. The heart of the Lutheran Church’s beliefs is the doctrine of justification, the teaching that sinners are declared righteous in God’s sight by grace alone (sola gratia) through faith alone (sola fide) for the sake of Christ alone (solus Christus), a truth revealed to us in Scripture alone (sola Scripture).

Tonight we turn to faith, faith alone. Faith is sufficient.

What is faith? When we are talking about faith alone we are talking about saving faith. Saving faith is in opposition to historical faith. Historical faith is a faith that even the devil and his demons have. It is the type of faith that knows that Jesus was a real person, that He is the son of God in the flesh, that He died on the cross outside of Jerusalem and was raised from the dead three days later. Saving faith, however, is the fervent trust that what happened in time, in history, is for me. Faith is the trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ for me.

Thus Luther’s emphasis in the meaning of the 2nd Article of the Creed:

“I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death,”

Saving faith is simply the hand that receives all the benefits of Christ, the benefits of forgiveness of sin, eternal life, and everlasting salvation, which He accomplished for us by His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. Faith saves because of its object, because of the thing in which it trusts.

Faith in Jesus Christ is only bold and strong because of Christ. When the one that you trust in is the crucified and risen Jesus Christ our Lord, the very Son of God, enthroned at the right hand of the Father, then your faith is bold and strong because the thing to which you cling is bold and strong.

Thus under the banner of sola fide, you can stand in the midst of persecutions and threats, sufferings and disease, you can even face death, for it is not the strength of your faith that saves you, but the strength of the object of your faith, the strength of Him in whom you trust. And the object of your faith is the one who has destroyed death and hell by dying and rising again for you. For just as nothing can now conquer Christ, so nothing can conquer you, for you are forever connected to Christ by faith.

Faith in Christ is sufficient for salvation because Christ’s atoning work is sufficient. For we confess that we cannot be justified before God by our own strength, merits, or works but are freely justified for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that we are received into God’s favor and that our sins are forgiven on account of Christ, who by His death made satisfaction for our sins. This faith God reckons to us as righteousness. Thus we receive the righteousness of Christ are seen as righteous in God’s sight by faith, by trust in Christ’s atoning work. We are saved and forgiven on account of Christ and we receive this by faith alone.