THE REFORMED WITNESS HOUR
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prca.orgDear Radio Friends,
The church of the Lord Jesus Christ
today celebrates a wonderful work of God called the Reformation of the
sixteenth century, the time in which God arose and restored the gospel to the
church through His servants Martin Luther, John Calvin, and many others—the
gospel of justification by faith alone.
The apostle Paul
explains this wonderful truth of the gospel throughout his writings and
epistles, especially in the third chapter of the book of Romans. We will direct our attention today, in commemoration of the Reformation, to that chapter (
Rom. 3),
with particular
emphasis upon verses 29 and 30.
Justification, which the apostle Paul is explaining in those verses, is
the wonderful truth that we are made right with God only through the work of
Jesus Christ upon the cross. His
righteousness, or His perfect obedience rendered upon the cross, is imputed,
that is, reckoned to the account of all of God’s elect, so that I am innocent
in the court of heaven, forgiven of my sins, and declared to be innocent and
righteous before God, solely, exclusively, only, and surely upon the work of
Jesus Christ for me on the cross. Martin
Luther put it this way: “Thou art my
righteousness; but I am Thy sin. Thou
hast taken what belonged to me; Thou hast given me what is Thine. Thou becamest
what you were not so that I might become what I was not.”
As a very good
teacher, the apostle Paul, after explaining this wonderful truth, proceeds in
Romans 3:27-31
to bring out implications, for our lives, of the truth of justification
by faith, namely, that we are made right with God through the work of
Christ. The first implication, which he
brings out in verses 27 and 28, is that boasting is excluded. The second implication, which he brings out
in verses 29 and 30, is that human distinctions are abolished. Justification by faith means that there is
one way of salvation for all men, whosoever they be. The third implication, which he brings out in
verse 31, is that justification by faith upholds the law, does not subvert the
law. Justification by faith (the truth
that we are declared saved and forgiven solely by the work of Christ) does not
gender a godless life, but it is the source of a new and true life of obedience
to God.
In commemoration of
the Reformation we want to look today at verses 29 and 30—that second
implication of the truth of justification by faith. We read:
“Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also
of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles
also: seeing it is one God, which shall
justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircum-cision
through faith.” The apostle Paul is
bringing out an implication of the truth of justification that our minds do not
usually think of. When we think of
justification by faith, the truth that we are made right in the work of Jesus,
we think of personal peace. We think,
especially today, of the need to defend this truth against all notion of any
merit. The sinner, the child of God, the
chosen of God, cannot and does not stand right before God on the basis of any
work that he or another human being could do, but only on the work of
Jesus.
But here the Holy
Spirit is bringing another application of this truth. And that application is that the one God
saves in one way out of every nation.
The blood of Jesus Christ was shed for the elect of all nations. Black, white, brown—all
nations. Justification by faith
is, therefore, the catholic gospel—the word “catholic” now being used in the
sense of universal. God saves, out of
all the earth, out of every race, out of every nation, one way—through the
blood of Jesus Christ, through the great truth of justification by faith alone.
So, beware,
Christian, of your prejudice. We could
read the verse this way: “Is he the God
of the middle-class American believer only?
Is he not also the God of the Far East,
The apostle Paul
says, “Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by
faith”—that would be a reference at that time to the Jewish nation; “and uncircumcision through faith”—a reference at that time to
the Gentiles, or to those who were not Jews.
He says, “The one God justifies.”
The God who justifies is one.
Now what does that
mean? Well, it means, first of all, that
there is only one true God, not many gods.
There is one God. This is
absolutely necessary to the Christian faith.
This is truth, absolute truth.
Isaiah 44:6:
“I am the first, and
I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”
Isaiah 43:10-12:
“Ye are my
witnesses, saith the Lord…that I am God.” This is what the apostle Paul says of God in
Romans 11:36:
“For of him, and through
him, and to him, are all things: to who be glory for ever.
Amen.” If, now, that is what it
means to be God—that all things are of Him, through Him, and to Him—there
cannot be two gods. All things are of
Him.
There is one God
who is the ultimate source of all things.
All things are through Him. God,
one God, is the sustainer of all things.
And all things are unto Him, that is, the goal of all things is His own
glory. There is only one God. This is crucial, now, for the truth of
justification. There is one God before
whom all men stand. And there is only
one way to be right with Him. It is not
dependent upon your culture or your skin color.
It is alone through His Son Jesus Christ. Every man stands before Him and is answerable
to Him—the Hindu in
This point is so
crucial in our day of pluralism—the belief in many gods. Do we, as the Christian church, dare open our
mouth and share our faith? Jesus Christ
is the way, truth, and life. No
one comes to the Father but by Him. In
an age in which religion is accounted to be this, that everyone’s view,
everyone’s religion, is right, and the only evil is to be exclusive—in such an
age, do we, the children of the Reformation, stand in awe of God?
In our day it is
said that all religions are equal. It is
said that we are all climbing a mountain, one on this side, the other on the
other side. God is in us all. We are all going to the summit. But then comes the
truth of the Christian gospel: there is
one God; there is only one way of salvation with Him. The conflict and opposition of the world of
unbelief to the Christian church is inevitable.
Many will make it very clear to you, as a Christian, that they are very
happy for you to have your God. And they
have theirs. It does not matter which
one you have, as long as you have one and you are a nice man and you care about
other people. Some will believe, in some
kind of hazy way, that there are several gods, and to each
his own. Others believe that God
is so indefinable that you really cannot know anything real or true about
Him. And then comes the gospel saying
there is only one God—the God of Holy Scripture who shall justify one way. There is only one way to Him, through the
blood of Jesus Christ. The important
question, the only question of your life, is this: Are you right with the only true God? And there is only one way to be right with
Him: in the blood of His dear Son shed
upon
There is one
God. That statement of the apostle
implies what we call God’s simplicity, or oneness. God is what He is, and He is not something
else. He is a God of fixed
attributes. He does not change. He does not reveal Himself to those people
over there in the world with this personality and to these people over here
with that personality. He does not say
to these people, “This is the way to please Me and to
come into My presence,” and to another group of people, “No, this is the
way.” He is not a God of wrath, fire,
and judgment in the Old Testament and now in the New Testament a God of
love and mercy. He does not reveal
Himself one way in the Philippines and another way in Ghana and still a third
way in western Michigan, and then in a fourth way in Sumatra. He is one.
He is the I AM THAT I AM. He is not multi-personality. He is not contradictory revelation. He is united in His being. He is who He is.
You meet a fellow
believer, a Christian, on a business trip from
This has tremendous
implications. The true Christian faith
is threatening to our age of religious pluralism. The truth of justification by faith is the
most threatening thing to the world of unbelief. Why? Because it is the absolute claim of God on all persons of all
nations and religions. He is God
alone and there is but one way to Him:
through faith in Jesus Christ. It
calls for repentance from all false religions and all false faiths. And faith in the one true
God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the
Christian gospel. Since 9/11, we are
more and more aware of pluralism. A
hundred fifty years ago we were not so well acquainted. Now, with modern technology, the whole world
lives next door to each other. We are no
longer protected and isolated. We stand
as Christians in the midst of a world of idols.
But this is not the first time that that has been true of the Christian
church. The early church, in the first
centuries, lived in a pluralistic world of many gods. Christians in the first century confessed one
God and one Lord Jesus Christ and one salvation, and they suffered and died in
the Roman coliseums because they reverenced the one God and cherished His one
Son Jesus Christ.
Now we, today, as
the Christian church, represent this same message—the saving gospel of God in
this world. Apart from faith, the world
will see this as a threat. Not because
our God and His Son are advanced by guns and bombs or by democracy. It is the false gods who are advanced by force. Christianity is not advanced by force. Christianity advances irresistibly by the
proclamation of this God in the Holy Scriptures, and then by the lives of the
people of God who are chosen and believe in Him. It declares that God is God alone. There is but one way to Him—through His Son
Jesus Christ. Repent or perish!
I know that I will
be called arrogant and filled with presumption.
Many will say, “Who do you think you are? The Muslim must be converted or he perishes? The Hindu must renounce his Hinduism? The self-willed, pleasure-mad American must
turn from his materialism or he will perish?
How arrogant. How bigoted! Who makes you to know?”
In response,
standing upon the Word of God, we declare that all religious pluralism is
antichrist religion. It is pious,
outwardly pious, but it is intolerant of God, the One God, and the only way of
salvation. To declare God and the only
way of salvation through His Son—this is love.
For if you do not know Jesus and what God has done by grace through Him,
you will perish. This is what love
prompts us to do. As Christians we go
out into the world with this message:
“God is God alone. And only in
His Son, by grace, through His death, is there life, true life, to be found
with God.”
The oneness of God,
says the apostle, implies that there is only one way of salvation for both Jew
and Gentile, for the elect of God out of all peoples. The apostle asks, “Is he the God of the Jews
only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.” God has willed to gather His church out of
all nations. The elect
And so Paul says,
“Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith,” it is only through faith in
Jesus Christ, in the blood of Jesus Christ, that one is saved. Hear the gospel! The Indian is not saved by his belief in a
spirit world. The Sherpa
of Nepal is not saved by his prayer-wheel.
The sheik in Arabia is not saved by bowing toward
That call of the
gospel is not simply for those who live in a slum or live on crack or who are drunken or who are degenerate. It is equally for the respectful, for the
decent, for those who are raised in the church.
Here is the gospel: there is one
God. You must and you will answer to
Him, for He made you. There is one way
of salvation—through faith, God’s gift in His Son Jesus Christ as my
righteousness.
And to all
else—Muslim, Hindu, Americans, with their self-sufficiency and
complacency—unless you repent, you will perish.
The way of salvation that God has provided cuts across all ethnic,
cultural, and national barriers. God
will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision
through faith. The gospel of
justification is the only way to heaven.
God is no local deity. Baal in the
Old Testament might have been the god of the Canaanites. Zeus might have been the god of the
Greeks. Diana of the
Ephesians and Allah of the Muslims.
But God is the God of the earth—every square inch is His. And from it He will take one people in Jesus
Christ, who will proclaim, “Worthy is the Lamb who hath redeemed us to God by
His blood out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation.” Out of every culture, color, height, look He
redeems in the blood of His dear Son—one elect church, justified one way,
through the blood of Jesus Christ.
So the Reformation
gospel is the mission gospel.
Declare His name among the nations.
Sing unto the Lord a new song.
Sing all the earth to God. Tell
His salvation from day to day. Declare
His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all people. Do you understand? The blood shed to justify me, the sinner, was
shed to justify the elect out of all nations—black man and brown man, one
culture and another culture—all chosen eternally of grace.
The gospel must go
forth to bring the redeemed in the blood of Jesus home to the Father. Go into all the
world and preach the gospel. Preach one
God. One problem—sin. One Savior—Jesus Christ. One possibility—God’s
grace. And one call—repent and believe.
For is He the God
of your church only? Is He not also the
God of His people in the
Is He the God of
the aged only? Or of
parents only? Is He not also the
God of children? Yes, seeing there is
one God who shall justify His people one way.
Does He come only for a certain social class? Is He the God of one social class only? Is He not the God of the poor and the lowly,
as well as of the rich and the lofty?
Yes. He is the God of all those
who by His grace alone confess Jesus Christ as their righteousness and their
joy and their only hope.
For this gospel,
our Reformed fathers gave their life.
They died in order that it might be published. Let us not fear in this age, an age that
wants to shut the mouth of the gospel of salvation by grace in Jesus
Christ. But let us publish, let us
preach, let us pray, let us live the gospel.
Let our hearts feast on the gospel.
It is truth: Righteous in Jesus
only. It is amazing. God has justified out of all nations, in the
blood of Jesus, one people to live before Him and to praise Him—
Why should that
seem incredible to you? For He has justified the chief of sinners, Christian, in yourself.
Let us pray.
Father, we thank
Thee for Thy Word so precious and so pure.
Seal it to our hearts in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Last modified: Nov. 13, 2007