The central protest of the Protestant Church is that justification is by faith alone and not by the works of the law.
When it comes to our standing before God, works won’t work.
Why? Because the law says that we’re guilty. When the law speaks, we become aware of our sin and are held guilty before the law (Rom. 3:19 & 20).
Martin Luther, whom God raised up to begin a Reformation of the Church 500 years ago this month, saw this very clearly.
Martin Luther believed that he could be justified by his works. He tried very hard to be declared righteous on the basis of what he did.
He also saw that he had sin, so he would spend two hours confessing his sins, walk away, and realize he had committed more sins that he had forgotten. This led him to adopt very strict practices and even to inflict pain on himself as a way of paying for his sin.
The more he worked, the more he saw the futility of it.
He realized that no one would be justified by the law because all have sinned, and all stand condemned and guilty before God.
Now, most people don’t take that approach. Most people aren’t trying that hard to do what’s right. Most people get around the weight of their sin by bringing the law down to their level.
We can do this in a variety of ways. Most of the time, we think we’re OK with God because we’re not that bad, perhaps go to church, and don’t do anything society considers really bad.
Sometimes, people avoid the law by focusing on a few moral issues. However, usually that morality does not touch our heart. It’s external things that we can easily avoid and look down on others for. “We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew, and we don’t run with boys who do” (see Mt. 23:23).
Sometimes, we can make religious knowledge or awareness the basis of our standing before God. I know these doctrines, so I’m OK. Those who don’t are not in the club.
Sometimes, even grace can become a sort of club. I’m better than others because I get grace!
Wherever we tend to view ourselves highly and look down on contempt on others is a place where we are tending to rely on as our righteousness before God.
But none of these will work. They’re actually a distraction from the real issue.
They won’t work because God’s holiness demands that we obey His law, all His law, to be declared righteous.
And we haven’t. We’ve all sinned. So, we’re in trouble.
We all stand guilty and condemned before a holy God.
So, where does that lead us? To Luther’s glorious insight. We stand guilty and condemned before God, but God offers us acceptance as a free gift because of what Jesus has done.
“All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
That’s justification by grace alone through faith alone. This is what the Reformation is all about. This is what the Bible is all about.
We all stand guilty before God, but God accepts us a free gift to be received by faith alone because of what Jesus has done.
That’s a rallying point. Think about it. Meditate on it. Live it. Let it transform you. Let it transform your churches. Let it soften your heart.
Works won’t work, but the Gospel will.