A little bit of faith produces a lot of big things.

Steve Brown:
A little bit of faith produces a lot of big things. Let’s talk about it, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’ve suffered too long under a do more try harder religion, Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free. Steve invited Pete Alwinson and Justin Holcomb to teach this week. Pete is the founder of ForgeTruth.com and Justin is a bishop, teacher, and author.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you’re just joining us, Justin and Pete and I are sitting around the table in this studio and talking about the Reformation. And you say, why are you doing that? Because, dummy, next Sunday is Reformation Sunday. And we remember Martin Luther standing before the church door at Wittenberg and hammering up his 95 big statements that changed the world. That was in 1517, and it was an amazing movement that changed everything. Not just Protestants, but Catholics too. The Catholic Reformation, much later, remedied a lot of the things that bothered Luther, and there have been lots of discussions of late and declarations from evangelicals and Catholics. So, if you’re a Catholic, and a number of you are, and that’s okay, I mean, I wouldn’t suggest you have to be a Presbyterian to get to heaven, but why take a chance? But we’re remembering Reformation Sunday and we’re talking about some of the solas of the Reformation. This is the statement.

Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone.

Talked about grace yesterday. Talking about faith. Let me give you a verse on faith.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then yesterday we looked at Ephesians 1:8 through 9.

By grace you have been saved through faith.

What’s faith, Pete?

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah, well, you know, at the time of the Reformation, all Christians believed in faith. It was the sola fide, it was faith alone that was the thing that shook everybody. And then the reality is that when you start thinking about how do I get faith, the beginning of Ephesians 2 starts out.

You were dead in your trespasses and sin.

So, Luther really wrestled with the whole idea. How does a dead person get faith to begin with? And then why is it just faith alone, rather than faith and good works? That was the big part of the controversy that shook the world at the time.

Steve Brown:
It really is. Now, I don’t want to get into the Ordo salutis stuff.

Justin Holcomb: Me neither.

Steve Brown:
I mean, I just don’t want to go there.

Pete Alwinson:
Why guys? Come on.

Steve Brown:
But basically that says that this is all a gift of God, even your faith.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
And you couldn’t have come to Jesus if you hadn’t gotten that gift. And so, when people Justin, sit around and say, I’ve got to have faith, what have I got to do? Are these the ten steps? If I do this, will I have faith? They’re barking up the wrong tree, right?

Justin Holcomb: Amen. Well, going back to what Pete said, looking at Ephesians, well, what Paul said, and Pete repeated, we were dead. We’re dead in our sins. And God makes us alive. He regenerates us. And then the first thing someone who’s been made spiritually alive does is they trust in Christ. Like if you were at the bottom of the ocean and you couldn’t breathe and you’re brought to the surface, you’re going to gasp for air. That’s what faith is, is gasping for air out of desperation. All of the pictures in the Bible of Jesus talking about faith are people who are going, my kid’s dying, my kid’s dead, I have leprosy, I can’t, I’m bleeding for twelve years. It’s people who realize they can’t fix it themselves, they are desperate, they are not able to fix their situation. And Jesus goes, well, you’re coming to me. Why? And they’re like, apparently you can do something. And they’re like, you said, small amount of faith. Like it’s the reality that they’re powerless to solve their situation. They know that Jesus is, and every time he says, your faith has made you well, go. He doesn’t even need to be there. They like, I mean, the one, the centurion, he’s like, you know, the kid’s not even there. He’s like, go home, your kid’s fine. And so, faith is a trust in the work of Christ for your being made right with God. So, we’re justified by faith alone. Justified means reconciled, made right with God. So, are we made right by God because I am right with God, like I am holy. No, no, no, no, no, he forgives you of your sin. He declares you righteous. So, you’re made right with God, you’re reconciled with God because our sins go to Jesus and Jesus’ righteousness goes to us. And so, the accounts, we were in debt, and now our account, our debt is forgiven, and he deposits into our account Christ’s righteousness of holiness. And so, all by faith, by trust. And so, there’s different dimensions to faith, is the content, like, what do you actually believe in? Jesus is God. Jesus is man. He died. He rose again. That’s the content. And then there’s the assenting to it. Like, well, that’s true. Okay, I believe that’s true. But then there’s the trusting in it. And that’s what Luther’s getting to. And that’s what Paul was saying, is your only shot standing before God is to look to Christ and his work of what he’s done. And faith is that, it’s not your strength of faith, it’s not your intention, it is your trusting that when you go before God, that Jesus Christ is your advocate. And that’s what that sola means.

Steve Brown:
That is so good. And I believe that, I’ve got faith, and I don’t know why, that’s crazy. What you just said is crazy.

Justin Holcomb: It is.

Steve Brown:
And the very fact that we believe it means it may be true, you know, it’s the foolishness of God. And what you said is plain foolish. I mean, it’s counterintuitive on steroids, but I believe it. And it’s true. Do you Peter?

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah, absolutely. But the divine logic of it is that we’re dead, is that there is absolutely nothing we can do to make ourselves come alive again. My first funeral I ever did, as a young pastor, I was ushered into the room and there was the corpse and they said, I’ll bring the family into you in a few minutes. And I went over and touched that corpse. It was embalmed and it was hard and cold and I could have yelled and screamed and it wouldn’t have been able to move a bit. And so, faith is a gift. It’s a supernatural gift where in an instant God enables us to see our absolute inability to do anything to save ourselves. And that’s why Sola Gratia and Sola Fide have to go together.

Steve Brown:
Yeah they do.

Justin Holcomb: Dude, that’s weird, first of all. You’re touching dead bodies.

Pete Alwinson:
I know. I know.

Justin Holcomb: I never did that Steve.

Steve Brown:
Me neither.

Justin Holcomb: That’s a whole other show.

Steve Brown:
I don’t believe I’d have said that.

Pete Alwinson:
It was my first funeral. I’d never done this before.

Justin Holcomb: Now, I’m curious.

Steve Brown:
Did you, do you know that story about the woman who was at the funeral of her husband? Was leaning over the casket and crying out, George, speak to me! Speak to me, George! And there were two ladies sitting in the pew, and one said to the other, if George speaks to her, I’m out of here, where’s the nearest door? And the other lady said, well, it’s a long ways from here. And then the other lady said, well, where do they want a new door?

Justin Holcomb: So, let’s get back to the faith and works part because you brought up work, Steve. And we’re talking about how works play into this. And you said at the very beginning, Pete, that at the time of the reformation, everyone believed in faith. It’s just a matter of where in the equation do works go. And Luther, I mean, look at Luther. He talked about loving God. He talked about works, he just didn’t think works were justifying that works didn’t fix your relationship with God. And so, the shorthand of saying this is that we are saved by faith alone, but a saving faith is not alone. And so, there’s two equations. What we’re saying is faith equals salvation, and then works follow. So, faith equals salvation plus works. Works are the result of our faith. And the Roman Catholic Church was saying, Faith, lots of faith, faith is great, plus works equals salvation. So, the whole thing hinges on where in the equation do you put works, on the front end to get salvation or on the back end as a result of salvation. And so, just so people know, we’ve read James, we know that it says faith without works is dead, we’re not countering James, I mean, if you have faith in no works, it could be an indication that you’re probably, maybe you’re pointing to yourself and not trusting Christ. And there’s a whole nother conversation with James. James is not contradicting Paul saying that we’re saved by faith in Christ. So, that’s important to say, but that’s where works go. We believe in works, we just think they’re the fruit, not the cause of our salvation.

Pete Alwinson:
And that is absolutely crucial. That is one of the big issues today, I think that Christians still struggle with a great deal. They don’t know where the works thing and there’s still, you ask them, how many of you if you were to die right now know that you would be welcomed into heaven. Many of them say, I hope so.

Steve Brown:
Yeah. I haven’t been good.

Pete Alwinson:
I’m not sure. I think so. But I’m not sure.

Steve Brown:
Yeah. That’s so true. In fact, it’s really true. You know, the faith that God has given, as a gift makes me better. And that’s called sanctification. If you preach that too harshly and too much, for instance, if you’re going to live in Hebrews 12 and talk about the discipline, that can skip over. Because God knows that if he gives us an inch, we’ll take a mile. And so, we have to stop every time and make sure they get the grace and the faith right and where the works go because we’ll change it. Our DNA requires that we change it. I change it every day. And tell God, are you proud of me now? I did that right. You must be glad I’m your son. And he’s not. Well, he is, but not for what I did. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
And that was Steve Brown, Pete Alwinson and Justin Holcomb continuing to hang out and discuss the five solas as we journey through Reformation Week. This style of Key Life is not just fun and engaging, it is unprecedented. So, thanks for being part of this unique event, and more to come tomorrow. Don’t miss it. Well, next Tuesday is Reformation Day. It’s also another holiday that involves asking strangers for candy and wearing masks, but what about the other 364 days of the year when the mask we wear is figurative? Let’s be honest, there’s something in us that just wants to project that everything is cool, even when it’s not. Well, in his book Hidden Agendas, Steve invites us to drop our masks and remember once again that thanks to God’s grace, we are forgiven, redeemed, accepted, and loved. We took sections of that book and put it into a special booklet. Get your free copy of that booklet right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You could also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that booklet. To mail your request go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the Hidden Agendas booklet. And finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you support that work through your giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word, two words. It doesn’t matter, text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.