Martin Luther and Pope Francis' Articulation of the Gospel, the Kerygma

Both Martin Luther and Pope Francis understand the need of all people to hear the gospel, not just initially for our salvation, but repeatedly, in all ways and in countless ways throughout our days.

"The law is divine and holy. Let the law have his glory, but yet no law, be it never so divine and holy, ought to teach me that I am justified, and shall live through it. I grant it may teach me that I ought to love God and my neighbour; also to live in chastity, soberness, patience, etc., but it ought not to show me, how I should be delivered from sin, the devil, death, and hell. 

Here I must take counsel of the gospel. I must hearken to the gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do, (for that is the proper office of the law,) but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me : to wit, that He suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth.

Most necessary it is, therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually."

–Martin Luther, St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.

Take One Year to Study Romans

Why study Romans. Should we take up to one year to study Romans slowly and prayerfully and with some depth and detail?

• Martin Luther called Romans "really the chief part of the NT, and ...truly the purest gospel. It is worthy not only that every Christian should know it word for word, by heart, but also that he should occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul."
• John Stott says, "(Romans) is the fullest and grandest statement of the gospel in the NT...a timeless manifesto of freedom through Jesus Christ."
• John Piper regards Romans as "the greatest letter ever written."
• Ray Stedman calls Romans "the master key to Scripture." "If you had no other book of the Bible than this, you would find every Christian teaching at least mentioned here. If you really grasp the book of Romans in its total argument you will find yourself at home in any other part of the Scriptures."
• Douglas Moo, NT scholar, says, "Romans is Paul's summary of the gospel that he preaches. The theme of the letter is the gospel."
• Countless people have been changed (and changed the world) through Romans: Augustine (386), Martin Luther (1515), John Wesley (1703-91).
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached on Romans for 13 years and John Piper preached through Romans in 8 years.
  

Justification and the Righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-26)

Rom 3:21-26 is regarded by scholars and theologians as "the center and heart" of Romans as as "possibly the most important single paragraph ever written."

Rom 3:21-26 is loaded with key theological terms, and the phrase "the righteousness of God" stands out. This is a great text where Paul brings together so much, which is central to his presentation of the gospel. This passage has almost unparalleled power, not so much in its individual elements but the fact that Paul brings so many things and key ideas together: Our standing before God, how God secured that through Christ on our behalf, the importance of faith, what God did on the cross. (Douglas Moo — The Epistle to the Romans, NICNT, 1996. 3:21-23 17 min; 3:24-26 27 min.)

1. The noun "righteousness" {δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē)} occurs 4 times (Rom 3:21, 22, 25, 26).
2. The verb "justify" {δικαιόω (dikaioō)} occurs 2 times (Rom 3:24, 26).
3. The adjective "just" {δίκαιος (dikaios)} occur once (Rom 3:26).

Justification by John Stott

"'Justification' is a legal term borrowed from the law courts. It is the exact opposite of 'condemnation' (cf. Deut 25:1; Prov 17:15; Rom 8:33, 34). 'To condemn' is to declare somebody guilty; 'to justify' is to declare him…righteous. In the Bible it refers to God's act of unmerited favor by which He puts a sinner right with himself, not only pardoning or acquitting him, but accepting and treating him as righteous." – John Stott, Galatians, p.60

How Most Christians Misunderstand Justification

Most Christians rely of their sanctification (how well they are doing and living and performing as Christians) for their justification (who they are in Christ):

"Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives… Many… have a theoretical commitment to this doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their sanctification for their justification… drawing their assurance of acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luther's platform: you are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude…

The Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone

"A right understanding of justification is absolutely crucial to the whole Christian faith."

When Martin Luther realized the truth of justification by faith alone, he became a Christian and overflowed with the new found joy of the gospel. The primary issue in the Protestant Reformation was a dispute with the Roman Catholic Church over justification. If we are to safeguard the truth of the gospel for future generations, we must understand the truth of justification. Even today, a true view of justification is the dividing line between the biblical gospel of salvation by faith alone and all false gospels of salvation based on good works. (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology)

What is justification?

The Westminister Shorter Catechism (17th century) defines justification as: "An act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone" (Q. 33). This is the basics of the doctrine of justification by faith alone (sola fide).

The Reformers insisted, on the basis of clear biblical texts, that justification (in the Greek, "to declare righteous," rather than "to make righteous") was a forensic (i.e., legal) verdict. In other words, whereas Rome maintained that justification was a process of making a bad person better, the Reformers argued that it was a declaration or pronouncement that had someone else’s righteousness (i.e., Christ’s) as its basis. Therefore, it was a perfect, once and-for-all verdict of right standing. (Michael Horton, The Disturbing Legacy of Charles Finney: http://www.mtio.com/articles/aissar81.htm)

How can a sinner be justified in the sight of God? He can only be justified if another man stands in his place and offers the perfect obedience, or righteousness, that God requires. This is what Jesus has done for the one who looks to him by faith. Jesus suffered the penalty of our sins throughout his earthly life culminating with his crucifixion on the cross. God the Father accepted Jesus' perfect sacrifice by raising him from the dead, securing the victory over sin and death. The sinner contributes nothing to his justification. The 19th century Scottish theologian and poet, Horatius Bonar, wrote, "Thy works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart; they tell me all is done; they bid my fear depart."

It is by God's grace alone (sola gratia) that God justifies the sinner. God has every right to condemn the sinner, but he shows him mercy and shows him grace. Justification is through Christ alone (solus Christus), as it is the work of Christ--his life, death and resurrection--that serves as the judicial basis for the believer's verdict of righteousness. And the sinner is justified by faith alone (sola fide). In other words, it is never the obedience or good works of the sinner. Rather, it is that the sinner looks exclusively to the person and work of Christ to receive this verdict of righteousness rather than the verdict of condemnation that he deserves. These 3 points are the basics of justification by faith alone.

John Calvin, the 16th century 2nd generation reformer, explained that "unless you first of all grasp what your relationship to God is, and the nature of his judgment concerning you, you have neither a foundation on which to establish your salvation nor one on which to build piety toward God." It was for this reason that Calvin believed that justification was "the main hinge on which religion turns." It is no wonder that a 17th-century Reformed theologian, Johann Heinrich Alsted, one of the delegates to the Synod of Dort (1619), which gave us the “5 points of
Calvinism,” would later write that the doctrine of justification is the articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae, “the article upon which the church stands or falls.”

Briefly, justification is a legal or forensic term, belonging to the law courts. Its opposite is condemnation. Justification is not simply forgiveness and pardon, for justification is not just negative -- the remission of a penalty or debt -- but justification is also positive -- the bestowal of a righteous status, the sinner's reinstatement in the favor and fellowship of God.

If justification is not pardon, neither is it sanctification. To justify is to declare or pronounce righteous, not to make righteous. But although justification (a new status) and regeneration (a new heart) are not identical, they are simultaneous. Thus, every justified believer has also been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and so put on the road to progressive holiness. Calvin said, "No one can put on the righteousness of Christ without regeneration."

Only because of justification, do we receive and enjoy the following 6 fruits and results, which are more precious than anything else in the world.

1. We have peace with God (Rom. 5:1).


2. We stand in grace (Rom. 5:2a).


3. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5:2b).


4. We rejoice in our sufferings (Rom. 5:3-8).


5. We shall be saved (from the wrath of God) through Christ (Rom. 5:9,10).


6. We also rejoice in God (Rom. 5:11).

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